Drifting wrote:Pahoran wrote:The printout in question doesn't "expose" anything at all about my "personal finances" except how much I have donated to the Church. Exactly how big a secret is that supposed to be from the Church leader who has a specific responsibility for receiving the tithes?
And I don't have to "disclose" anything else at all except whether or not I regard the tithing amount as representing a full tithe.
Incidentally, I have paid tithing exclusively online for the last two years, and everything I've paid shows up on the printout. So much for the "theory" (a dignified name for a spiteful and baseless accusation) that has been advanced in this thread.
Regards,
Pahoran
Okay, so now you're saying
If you want the discussion to remain irenic, it might help if you avoided making sly insinuations to the effect that I'm "now" saying anything different than what I said before.
There is no "financial disclosure." The Bishop shows the printout to me; I don't show it to him. He already has it.
Drifting wrote:there IS disclosure about personal finances but that it is limited to payments made to the Church.
That's not a "disclosure." The Church already knows how much money it has received from me. The Church furnishes the printouts to the bishop as its servant or agent. He doesn't need to meet with me to look at them.
Drifting wrote:The print out (which you now acknowledge does exist)
Again with that sly, counterfactual and provocative little "now." I never said it didn't.
Drifting wrote:shows how much you have paid under each category (Tithing, Fast Offering etc) and the Bishop can then deduce from your answer "yes I pay a full tithe" how much you earn. Hence, your personal finances are disclosed. Unless you lie to your Bishop, you don't lie to your Bishop do you?
I don't lie to my bishop (or anyone else, for that matter.) But given that it's up to each individual to decide how they calculate their tenth, the bishop can only guess.
And keep in mind that he has over a hundred such interviews over a few days. He writes nothing down from any of them except to certify that someone has declared him/herself a full tithepayer. My bishop is a great guy, but he doesn't have a photographic memory.
The only thing that I "disclose" is whether or not
I regard the tithing amount shown as a full tithe. The bishop has no better idea of my financial position after Tithing Settlement than he did before. And now another family is walking into his office, and there's a dozen more after them. And that's just that one afternoon.
Regards,
Pahoran