Within the church organization one of the evidences of one's priorities and devotion to the Lord and His Church is making a sacrifice of time and talents and whatever else God might bless us with.
I agree with the bolded part, as ‘time and talents’ have value, and many members give freely of either or both, to their ward and the Church.
Do you believe that there will ever come a time when the Church recognizes this, and decides to not demand solely money for tithing ?
It hasn't always been about money. So yes, that wouldn't be out of the question in my opinion. But for now, that is the expectation/requirement for sacrifice. It does take a contrite spirit to give of one's means time after time over the long haul.
Obviously, however, there are other ways that people show their allegiance to their God. It's not a one size fits all.
MG, you're really suggesting I listen to a right-wing podcaster talking about Tucker Carlson and Candice Owens in order to learn about what tithing is for the LDS church? This is how far you've strayed? You can't find anything in the scriptures or on LDS.org that can explain tithing?
I agree with IHQ that you're not on topic. I can't imagine your podcast is going to say anything about tithing that resolves the problems of leaders taking advantage of the poor or people in hard circumstances. Please explain your "link and run".
The law of tithing is a sham and if there is a God, I suspect the leaders of your church will be taken to the woodshed over it. In the Old Testament, while I'm not big on slitting the throats of animals, it's at least worth pointing out that when the poor animal is killed and burned, that it only benefited the Lord -- a man of war, the son of the big guy as you know him, as it offered a sweet savor. Killing the best of the flock rather than the worst makes it even more self-destructive from a husbandry perspective.
As much as I don't like the rule of the Old Testament, I will at least agree that it makes sense in terms of "sacrifice". Because nobody benefits from it but God, it's at least believable that it could be done with right intentions. When sacrifice moves from giving to God directly to "giving to God" via giving to a human intermediary, and especially when the intermediary is wealthy and the giver is poor, it's now a horrifically problematic doctrine. The alternative hypothesis will always be far more believable, that the sacrifice is to help the intermediary get rich and affluent.
Dean,
Fibber’s video doesn’t actually say... well, anything Fibber thinks it says.
I would highly recommend this 20-second clip from Fibber's video of Tucker Carlson. He’s looking visibly bewildered trying to figure out why any church on God’s green earth feels the need to sit on a $350 billion nest egg:
I note the MG, despite being given plenty of chances to do so. Has refused to disagree with the principle taught in the Conference talk I quote in the OP - that members who are struggling to pay tithing, who get behind in their tithing payments, should sell their assets and go into debt in order to make sure the Church gets its money.
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
Here’s an interesting (to me) piece of information. Jorge Becerra (the bloke who gave the talk which is the subject of this thread) set up JTB Advisors LLC (his own business) in 2019, and immediately left that business to go into full time employment with the Church. I’m guessing he did so to avoid things like tax, to protect assets, to ensure a continued income from his investments etc.
I find it interesting because this guy who is advising members to sell assets and go into debt in order to pay tithing, is hiding his assets and wealth in an LLC which will facilitate him avoiding treating it as income and therefore avoid some tax and also dodge some tithing obligations as a result of leaving it as assets. Whilst all the while drawing his church “stipend”.
I’m not familiar with how American “companies of convenience” (my term) are operated, but Jorge formalised JTB Advisors, LLC as a transition/holding vehicle right as he exited active financial advising and started drawing his stipend and expenses from the Church.
But sell your car and take on debt to pay tithing like he counsels you to do…
Premise 1. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable.
Premise 2. The best evidence for the Book of Mormon is eyewitness testimony.
Conclusion. Therefore, the best evidence for the Book of Mormon is notoriously unreliable.
