Washington Post: Mormon Church has misled members on finance

[_Water Dog]

Which parts of that article led you to conclude that he is an insufferable fool? 'Cause he came across to me as the exact opposite.

Bro, that's because you're jaded, and isolated. To anybody outside the quirky exmo bubble, that piece is awful. I feel like you've been in Narnia too long if that isn't apparent. So bad it really couldn't be worse. He might as well have called Joseph Smith a pedophile while he was at it. Imagine how it reads to the most innocent of TBMs. Someone who's never even heard the term "faith crisis." His message isn't even minimally coherent for the intended audience. But then makes matters worse by making things downright offensive. It's unprofessional, and betrays intense emotionality through haughty assertions of hyper-rationality. It comes across as angry, confusing, cranky, pretentious. Basically, your typical exmo rant post. Obviously I understand why, I understand his feelings, and my comment was meant to be rhetorical. It's just frustrating. People need to discipline themselves and learn to STFU!

Every. Single. Time.

Without fail.

Name an exmo who's enjoyed some media attention that hasn't done this to themselves.

Delusions of grandeur and then can't even compose themselves for a freaking day before sh****ng all over the bed!

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Which parts of that article led you to conclude that he is an insufferable fool? 'Cause he came across to me as the exact opposite.

Bro, that's because you're jaded, and isolated. To anybody outside the quirky exmo bubble, that piece is awful. I feel like you've been in Narnia too long if that isn't apparent. So bad it really couldn't be worse. He might as well have called Joseph Smith a pedophile while he was at it. Imagine how it reads to the most innocent of TBMs. Someone who's never even heard the term "faith crisis." His message isn't even minimally coherent for the intended audience. But then makes matters worse by making things downright offensive. It's unprofessional, and betrays intense emotionality through haughty assertions of hyper-rationality. It comes across as angry, confusing, cranky, pretentious. Basically, your typical exmo rant post. Obviously I understand why, I understand his feelings, and my comment was meant to be rhetorical. It's just frustrating. People need to discipline themselves and learn to STFU!

Every. Single. Time.

Without fail.

Name an exmo who's enjoyed some media attention that hasn't done this to themselves.

Delusions of grandeur and then can't even compose themselves for a freaking day before sh****ng all over the bed!

I can’t tell if this is observant or oblivious, but I’m sure WD will provide an example as requested by Dr. Shades... at some point.

- Doc

[_Icarus]

Some highlights:

1) Annual tithing is $7 billion, of which $6 billion goes to expenses and $1 billion to the investment fund.
2) The $100 billion investment fund is arguably the largest philanthropic fund in the United States, over 100% larger than its nearest competitor. It's also one of the larger hedge funds.
3) It was created in 1997 with an initial $12 billion. Factoring in the $1 billion per year tithing contribution, that means just $34 billion came from contributions, and the other $66 billion from investment returns. In effect, the Church *tripled* members' contributions. (Implied rate of return is 7%.)
4) The fund has never made a disbursement for charitable work, but has made two disbursements to fund the Church's for-profit businesses.
5) The fund's express purpose is to store up resources for the last days.
6) The fund is aggressively secretive, and most fund employees can't access its full financial statements.
7) The fund misleads the IRS in its financial statements, which state the fund's holdings as "$1 million" or "over $1 million."
8) The Church's total charitable expenditures total just $40 million per year, a tiny fraction of its annual contribution to the investment fund.

Among the questions raised by this reporting:

1) If a non-profit uses its funds to bail out its wholly-owned for-profit subsidiary, is that a violation of tax law?
2) Does stockpiling for the last days constitute a charitable purpose warranting tax-exemption status under US tax law? (Might depend on how "last days" are defined and how the funds are intended to be used.)
3) Who decided the Church needed to stockpile for the last days in the first place? Was the fund created in accordance with a revelation that's been kept secret from the membership?
4) Even granting the need for a stockpile, why doesn't the LDS Church seem to care about charity or compliance with US tax law?
5) Isn't it kind of cool, though, that members essentially get 2x matching funds on their tithing contributions?