Salt Lake Tribune: Why Romney SHOULDN'T run...

[_moksha]

by the way, if the LDS Church was seeking tolerance for themselves, they sure have backed the wrong party all these years.

Moksha, I feel you did not stress this point enough. You should have said, if the LDS Church was seeking tolerance for themselves, they sure have backed the wrong party all these years.

[_OUT OF MY MISERY]

How would you prefer I talk Vegas???

[_beastie]

I think moksha's remark should be emphasized even more:

by the way, if the LDS Church was seeking tolerance for themselves, they sure have backed the wrong party all these years.

[_harmony]

I think moksha's remark should be emphasized even more:

If the church was indeed seeking tolerance (which they aren't)... What the church wants is to maintain the maximum tax relief possible. Hence, backing the Republican party, which has morphed into the party of the rich. And there are few churches richer than the LDS church.

[_Notoriuswun]

I think moksha's remark should be emphasized even more:

If the church was indeed seeking tolerance (which they aren't)... What the church wants is to maintain the maximum tax relief possible. Hence, backing the Republican party, which has morphed into the party of the rich. And there are few churches richer than the LDS church.

As I recall, religions (as a general rule) typically aren't taxed by the federal govt.

It is only when they invest in the private sector that they can be taxed, and taxes generally have a detrimental effect on the economy (over time).

I disagree with the "party of the rich" statement. The American Dream is alive and well...you just have to work for it.

For the MORG its a win-win...Republicans represent pro-business, and conservative values - which they have a vested interested in both.

[_Yoda]

And there are few churches richer than the LDS church.

The LDS Church is small potatoes in terms of wealth when you compare it to the Catholic Church. ;)

If you're classifying it as strictly an American church, rather than a world-wide Church, though, you're right.

:)

[_guy sajer]

And there are few churches richer than the LDS church.

The LDS Church is small potatoes in terms of wealth when you compare it to the Catholic Church. ;)

If you're classifying it as strictly an American church, rather than a world-wide Church, though, you're right.

:)

The key word in the above is "few," which implies that there are larger, including the Catholic Church. Whether the TSCC is among the richest, I'm not sure, but I think we can all agree that it is, by absolute and relative standards, a "rich" church.

In terms of "outreach," however, it is thoroughly insiginificant, no more than a barely perceptible blip on the radar screen of humanity.

[_Yoda]

The key word in the above is "few," which implies that there are larger, including the Catholic Church. Whether the TSCC is among the richest, I'm not sure, but I think we can all agree that it is, by absolute and relative standards, a "rich" church.

Agreed! :)

In terms of "outreach," however, it is thoroughly insiginificant, no more than a barely perceptible blip on the radar screen of humanity.

Interesting. Do you have any statistical examples? Just curious...it would be intriguing to see how far down the rung we fall. LOL

[_guy sajer]

The key word in the above is "few," which implies that there are larger, including the Catholic Church. Whether the TSCC is among the richest, I'm not sure, but I think we can all agree that it is, by absolute and relative standards, a "rich" church.

Agreed! :)

In terms of "outreach," however, it is thoroughly insiginificant, no more than a barely perceptible blip on the radar screen of humanity.

Interesting. Do you have any statistical examples? Just curious...it would be intriguing to see how far down the rung we fall. LOL

World Population: 6,525,170,264 (July 2006 est.)
Member of Record in LDS Church: Approx 12,000,000

Share in world population of Mormon Church: 0.001839032

This includes "member of record." We know from census data and religious identification surveys that a significant share of members of record do not consider themselves Mormon (I can get some numbers for you when I have time), plus then there are those who consider themselve Mormon, but who do not attend. So Mormonism is significant in, generously estimated, 6,000,000 lives worldwide, or 0.000919516 of the world.

An estimate of the total number of people born on earth is 110 billion (http://members.bellatlantic.net/~bjmcg/ ... lived.html)

I am not sure how many Mormons there have been over time, but let's estimate conservatively 50,000,000, which equals 0.000454545 of humanity in world history.

Now figure that Mormons are heavily concentrated in the Western US and some Latin American countries; have no or very little presence in the two countries comprising nearly 1/3 of the current population (India and China), you begin to get the sense just how trivial the Mormon Church is and just how absurd the Lord's Great Plan of Salvation is.

[_Yoda]

Now figure that Mormons are heavily concentrated in the Western US and some Latin American countries; have no or very little presence in the two countries comprising nearly 1/3 of the current population (India and China), you begin to get the sense just how trivial the Mormon Church is and just how absurd the Lord's Great Plan of Salvation is.

Thanks, Guy! Interesting stuff! :)