Nightingale ( )

Date: February 14, 2011 05:54PM Posted by:Date: February 14, 2011 05:54PM

SQ says:

"If people wish to participate in any organization, religious or not, they have to play by the rules. And, that is always about money: money to join, money to donate for causes, whether it's religious or political. Support is always about money. Volunteer time is a minor part of any organization. Without money none of them can survive.



"I always thought that tithing and temple ordinances for the dead was very clever. That way the tithing continues on and on and on and the organization has a constant supply of incoming assets.



"Other churches could learn something from the Mormons! hehe"



Yeah, but the BIG difference, SQ, is that people are born into Mormonism (or convert without full knowledge of history and practices). It's not like being free to choose to join a group or not. If I want to join a book club I know it will cost me money and I know when, what for, and how much. Also, I can quit any time without losing friends, family, and possibly my mental health. Being BIC especially, your only choice is to pay up or miss out. That is a far cry from being "the same" as all other human organizations.



Saying it's par for the course everywhere makes it sound like it's reasonable and understandable that the Mormon Church leaders do this to their people.



I think that as punitive as tithing can be to millions of Mormons, and as greedy, grasping and immoral as it is to demand money for favours (seeing children wed, for instance), it is even more loathsome to require people to pay "back tithing". And even more loathsome than that is the fact that these things are inconsistent across the church in that some bishops demand the back tithing and others don't, and the church leadership doesn't step in to make it a formal policy and therefore consistent and reasonable (i.e., nobody has to pay back tithing, they can just resume tithing if that is their choice but only from that day forward). It is totally ridiculous, scheming and merciless to perpetrate the myth that members owe God, like he's Loan Shark of the Eternities.



I **still** feel bad about my Mormon friend who paid his "back tithing" in order to go to the temple with me. He had a wife and four kids to support, with a big mortgage and huge business expenses, while trying to save for his oldest son to go on a mission (another expectation the Mormon Church imposes on its people). I had NO CLUE they had to pay this stupid ridiculous unholy back tithing and would surely have tried to discourage them from doing it if I'd known ahead of time. It cost him thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to get into the temple with me, his friend who converted. IT WASN'T WORTH IT! (Long story but end result is I'm not even a member any more, so what the heck was it all about for him? He needed that $$$ for his family and his business).



It is not justifiable to hold people to ransom if they want to witness their own family's rites of passage. Being born into a church that does that to its members is definitely NOT "the same as" other organizations that people can choose to join after they know the rules and the costs. Not joining the local photography club, or quitting after I do, doesn't cost me my family, friends, health or happiness.