D. Michael Quinn working on new book about LDS Inc business!

[_son of Ishmael]

Just think of the hospitals, clinics, schools, etc that could have been built with the billions that were spent on that mall. I am sure Jesus is just pleased as punch right now.

I think he is as are the people who now have a job.

That is utter BS. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of members of the church outside of Utah who are living well below the poverty line. The Church could have spent the BILLIONS of dollars it did on the mall on programs that would have been a direct benefit to those members and could have lifted them out of poverty. Instead some kid gets to make part time money selling crap that people don't really even need.

What is the Church's message to its poor members outside of Utah? "We don't really care about you"

[_Yoda]

Just think of the hospitals, clinics, schools, etc that could have been built with the billions that were spent on that mall. I am sure Jesus is just pleased as punch right now.

I think he is as are the people who now have a job.

That is utter BS. There are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of members of the church outside of Utah who are living well below the poverty line. The Church could have spent the BILLIONS of dollars it did on the mall on programs that would have been a direct benefit to those members and could have lifted them out of poverty. Instead some kid gets to make part time money selling crap that people don't really even need.

What is the Church's message to its poor members outside of Utah? "We don't really care about you"

+100

[_why me]

What is the Church's message to its poor members outside of Utah? "We don't really care about you"

The problem is not the church but it is capitalism. As long as we have a made for profit economic system, we will need to do what the church is doing, working within the system. Billions of dollars have gone into africa and to what end? Not much. There is still a lot of poor and and a lot of corruption. And what about afghanistan? Not much has happened with all the billions that have been sunk there.

If your son or daughter is now working in the mall and it is helping to pay off their college loan or to give them spending money for next year's college costs, you would be singing a different tune.

[_why me]

+100

And if your son or daughter were now working in the mall for the summer and this was helping them to earn some needed income before they start college would you feel the same way? Could you tell that child that the mall should never have been built?

[_why me]

People like to talk about how they need to “find” themselves. This usually means they’re unhappy, lack direction and are primarily focused on themselves. Interestingly, Christ said the way to find ourselves was by losing ourselves: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it” (Mark 8:35). Losing ourselves in service is a great way to find ourselves. It allows us to practice doing what Jesus did. He taught that loving God was the first commandment and loving our neighbor was the second. We show our love for God by serving each other. And we love those we serve. Service gives us a happiness that self-interest never will. It happens in big ways and small, in public and in private, for friends and for strangers.

Even the little things we do, like helping someone in their garden or holding open a door, can make life a little easier for them—and a little happier for us. You don’t have to look far to find opportunities to donate your time and energy. The beauty of following Christ's example is that we don't need to evaluate who, when or how we serve, we just get to act. It can be planned or spontaneous, for someone we know or a stranger. Christian service shies away from recognition, accepts no reward and is motivated by love.

http://Mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

What are you guys doing for the poor?

[_why me]

In addition to small, personal acts of service, Mormons give large, organized assistance to areas in need. [b]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated more than $1 billion in cash and material assistance to 167 different countries in need of humanitarian aid since it started keeping track in 1985. It sent an airlift of tents, tarps, diapers and other supplies to the areas of Chile hit by the February 2010 earthquake, and two planes with over 80,000 pounds each of food and emergency resources to Haiti in January 2010 due to their catastrophic earthquake. The local, national and international organization of the church allows it to coordinate relief efforts quickly so that food, supplies and workers can arrive when they are needed most.

The Church does not discriminate based on religious affiliation, ethnicity or nationality. We offer hope and the potential for a life that transcends disease, poverty and despair. It’s all part of God’s plan that we bear each other’s burdens and act as His hands on earth. The Church’s welfare program also helps people in need locally by offering temporary assistance in the form of food, clothing and in the search for employment. Recipients are given the opportunity to work, if possible, in exchange for this assistance.[/b]

http://Mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

Wow, 1 billion is quite a lot.

[Guest]

1 billion over 27 years is peanuts a year.

Extrapolating with a 30% activity rate for 14 million members roughly works out to $10.00 us dollars per active member per year.

Now that is charity!

Where does the other 9.5 billion a year go?

[Guest]

We are “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…”
Joseph Smith, “Times and Seasons,” March 15, 1842

http://Mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

This is so punishingly stupid.

A multi-billion dollar mall where you can buy Gucci loafers and Hugo Boss suits does none of those things.

The "but it creates jobs" excuse is stupid, too. There's an opportunity cost in creating jobs. As in, how much money got shelled out for how many jobs at a mall that most middle-class families can't afford to shop at, and could that money have been spent more efficiently.

But the thing is, the LDS Church has a religion that it runs in addition to its malls, cattle ranches, resorts, media companies, publishing company, and so on. "City Creek created jobs." A bar would also create jobs. So would a strip club. But those things are inconsistent with what the LDS Church purports to believe in. The LDS Church has always advised thrift and living within one's means. The Book of Mormon also decries being obsessed with the vain things of this world, and specifies costly apparel and wearing a bunch of jewelry as examples of that kind of pride. It is an issue of proportionality and the message being sent. A church that hides its finances and touts itself as being so devoted to institutional humanitarian efforts has spent orders of magnitude more on a mall dedicated to high-end retail than on decades' of humanitarian aid. Observers with an I.Q. higher than their shoe size (a group that evidently excludes Why Me) don't need a whole lot more prompting to wonder what their offerings to the Church are really being used for.

"What are you guys doing for the poor?"

Us guys are not claiming to be the One True Church of Jesus Christ, and us guys do not get t-shirts made up and press releases sent out whenever there's a one-time-only community service project so everyone gets a distorted view of where the LDS Church actually puts its priorities.

[_Darth J]

In addition to small, personal acts of service, Mormons give large, organized assistance to areas in need. [b]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated more than $1 billion in cash and material assistance to 167 different countries in need of humanitarian aid since it started keeping track in 1985. It sent an airlift of tents, tarps, diapers and other supplies to the areas of Chile hit by the February 2010 earthquake, and two planes with over 80,000 pounds each of food and emergency resources to Haiti in January 2010 due to their catastrophic earthquake. The local, national and international organization of the church allows it to coordinate relief efforts quickly so that food, supplies and workers can arrive when they are needed most.

The Church does not discriminate based on religious affiliation, ethnicity or nationality. We offer hope and the potential for a life that transcends disease, poverty and despair. It’s all part of God’s plan that we bear each other’s burdens and act as His hands on earth. The Church’s welfare program also helps people in need locally by offering temporary assistance in the form of food, clothing and in the search for employment. Recipients are given the opportunity to work, if possible, in exchange for this assistance.[/b]

http://Mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

Wow, 1 billion is quite a lot.

Wow, $1 billion over a quarter of a century on humanitarian aid compared to what the Church has spent on City Creek is pretty pathetic.

From KSL, a church-owned media outlet, on March 1, 2012:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1942818 ... featured-1

The Salt Lake Chamber says $5 billion have gone into the revitalization of downtown Salt Lake City, and a major part of that is soon to open in the new City Creek Center.

From KSL, a church-owned media outlet, on March 17, 2011:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=14763302

In his role as presiding bishop, Bishop Burton handles "mostly the business affairs of the church," including humanitarian aid and the development of the $1.5 billion City Creek Center, which is about a year from completion.

From KSL, a church-owned media outlet, on March 16, 2011:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=14760340

When the City Creek Center opens next year, it will have been one of the most heavily touted and anticipated retail developments in Utah history.

For that reason and more, the estimated $1 billion mixed-use project is also one of the most unique projects as well, according to the chief operating officer of the company who will be accountable for running it.

From the Deseret News, a Church-owned media outlet, on December 15, 2010:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... nager.html

"There are a lot of people who are watching what's going on at City Creek," Wardell said. "Part of what drew me to Salt Lake City is knowing that there is so much interest in this project."

The project, estimated to cost $1 billion, will cover three downtown blocks with 6 acres of landscaped open space, including man-made streams representing the historic south fork of City Creek that ran through downtown when pioneers first arrived in 1847.

From the Deseret News, a Church-owned media outlet, on September 13, 2010:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7000 ... -2011.html

We are standing in one of the four penthouse units that make up the top, or 20th, floor of The Regent at City Creek, the centerpiece condominium building of the massive City Creek Center project that is, believe it or not, closer to being finished than getting started.

After two years of steady progress, in less than a year from now, knock on steel, The Regent should be home to downtown dwellers in 150 condo units, providing they sell them all, which is looking more and more probable.

For years, as the condos have risen at the edges of the $2 billion, two-block downtown face-lift, the debate has been whether Salt Lake City could possibly turn into Manhattan West, with people residing in high rises next to the train lines.

From the Deseret News, a church-owned media outlet, on November 4, 2009:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... -Main.html

City Creek Reserve is spending more than $1 million a day on construction, and the project ultimately will cost around $3 billion, said Chris Redgrave, a KSL executive who also chairs the Salt Lake Chamber's Can-Do Coalition, which is looking for ways to jump-start the downtown economy.

From the Deseret News, a Church-owned media outlet, on April 12, 2009:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7052 ... onomy.html

It is an otherwise unremarkable scene except for one thing: In a down economy, the $1.5 billion City Creek Center is the last of the large, mixed-use projects still going up around the valley.

So depending on when you ask how much this wonderful and marvelous upscale mall cost, it might be $1 billion, or $1.5 billion, or $3 billion, or $5 billion. The details of the story keep changing over time. You know, like the various accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision.

Okay, but what about the Church's spending on humanitarian aid? Well, according to the Deseret News, which is owned by the LDS Church, "since 1984, the LDS Church has donated nearly $750 million in cash and goods to people in need in more than 150 countries."

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/6351 ... .html?pg=2

This was in December 2005. Let's just roughly calculate that.

We'll say 365 days a year for 22 years from 1984 through 2006 (I know there are leap years, but this is a rough estimate).

365 x 22 = 8030 days

750,000,000 / 8030 = 93,399.75

Let's round up to $93,400. That's roughly what the Church averaged to spending per day on humanitarian aid over the course of 22 years, according to Richard C. Edgley of the Presiding Bishopric. The Church also said, in one of its statements about its favorite mall, that the construction of City Creek Center is over $1,000,000 per day:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... -Main.html

$1,000,000/day > $93,400/day

[_hobo1512]

We are “to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…”
Joseph Smith, “Times and Seasons,” March 15, 1842

http://Mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/

How many Mormon hospitals are there? orphanages?

Lets see....LDSInc. got rid of their hospitals in 1974/75. How humanitarian of them.

Orphanages......0.

Soup kitchens.....0

Homeless shelters...0 Although in 2010 they made a donation to a homeless shelter in Provo. Keep in mind, this is now 2012. Doesn't appear to be any more.