Equality wrote:Pahoran wrote:a member tells the bishop whether or not she is a full tithe payer and the bishop takes her word for it. It's as simple as that.
Pahoran knows this is a lie. Such a slick and slimy one, he is. Silver-tongued and slippery.
The antecedent of that "this" appears to be somewhat ambiguous. Permit me to fix it for you:
Equality wrote:Pahoran knows [Equality's post] is a lie. Such a slick and slimy one, he is. Silver-tongued and slippery.
Done.
Actually, your self-praise is rather overdone. While your lies are certainly slippery and slimy, they're too clumsy to be slick, and too loud and boorish to be "silver-tongued."
Equality wrote:He knows it's nowhere close to "as simple as that."
Actually he knows it's
exactly "as simple as that."
Equality wrote:There would be no need for "tithing settlement" at all if it were as simple as that. Tithing settlement is used to guilt and shame members into paying more. It's as simple as that.
And there is the lie.
Tithing Settlement serves two purposes: (1) To provide a check upon the accuracy of the ward's financial records, and (2) to enable the tithepayer to declare his tithing status. Where I live, it also serves a third purpose: the tithepayer receives a written statement of donations that s/he can use for tax purposes.
Equality wrote:If it were as Pahoran falsely suggests, then the "are you a full tithe payer" yes-or-no question during the temple recommend interview would be the only time the Bishop would ever ask the question. If the member said "yes," that would suffice.
And, for the purposes of Temple Recommend interviews, it does indeed suffice.
Equality wrote:Instead, there is this big production of tithing settlement at the end of every year.
And such a "big production" it is that, in our ward, the Tithing Settlement interviews are scheduled at five minute intervals.
That's five (5) minutes. Per family.
Wow, what a "big production!"
Equality wrote:The church does not trust its members to be honest in answering the TR questions,
Another lie.
Equality wrote:so it has the Bishop examine the members' donation records and interrogate the members face to face in a power-imbalanced environment.
Another lie. I have never been "interrogated" in a Tithing Settlement, and neither have you.
In every Tithing Settlement I've ever attended, the bishop has asked just two questions. They are: (1) "Are these totals correct?" and (2) "Are you a full tithepayer?" The bishop has always accepted, without comment, the answers I have given.
Equality wrote:That's why the church wants to make it more difficult for members to send donations to Salt Lake City directly (unless they are big-money bigwigs like Mitt Romney)--so the Bishop knows exactly how much has been paid.
Call for references, please: do you have facts to back that up, or are you merely projecting your own boundless malice upon those who are quite beyond your comprehension?
Equality wrote:And, of course, Pahoran knows this but feels a higher duty to "lie for the Lord"
Another lie. But it raises the question: who are you lying for?
Equality wrote:in his efforts to make the church appear to be much more benign than we all know it to be.
While the Church is vastly more benign than this community of shared hatreds can understand, the fact remains that it's not possible for anything to appear more benign than the Church actually is.
Regards,
Pahoran