In the spirit of openness and transparency--

[Guest]

Probably active LDS adults donate more than many other church members donate because of tithing. Except that in the Catholic, Anglican, and other major denominations the wealthier people pay fairly substantial amounts, but don't call it tithing.

Lots of other churches use the term "tithing," and believe in the principle of a "tithe," even if they don't execute it exactly the same way as is done inside the LDS world.

If you Google "tithing," you'll find lots of non-LDS examples, including this one, which seems to echo a lot of your own sentiments about "giving to God":

Here an essential point of tithing must be noted: God does not ask us to tithe because there are bills to pay; He asks us to tithe because we need to be reminded that nothing we have belongs to us absolutely. So dependent are we on His grace, that without Him we would simply not exist. Giving ten percent of our goods in a thanksgiving sacrifice to God is a powerful way of living always in the humbling truth that we are creatures in need of redemption.

While tithing should be the norm for all followers of Christ, in the Catholic tradition Christians have never been asked to give the entire ten percent of their income directly to the Church. Rather, we are encouraged to give part of our tithe to the Church and the rest to other charities of our own choice. Our father in God, our Bishop Robert, asks us all to tithe in this way: 5% of our income to our parish; 1% directly to the diocese in the Bishop's Stewardship Appeal (BSA), and the remaining 4% to a worthy charity. Following this formula, any household can quickly determine the level of support which should be given to the Church.

Letter on Stewardship from Father Newman


I found this book while poking around online, which looks like it would be helpful if you're really ever interested in finding out how LDS patterns of giving compare to other churches:

Money Matters: Personal Giving in American Churches

[_Who Knows]

Not true. Typically, churches must file a Form 990 each year. And they could be subject to audit w.r.t their tax exempt status - from the IRS "Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations":

All tax-exempt organizations, including churches and
religious organizations (regardless of whether tax-exempt
status has been officially recognized by the IRS), are
required to maintain books of accounting and other
records necessary to justify their claim for exemption in
the event of an audit.

Really, is that a new regulation? Last I checked, churches were exempt from filing form 990 disclosing financial information (that all other charities must provide). I don't believe you're correct.

edit - ah, I see where you're getting hung up. The difference is between 'churches' vs. 'religious organizations'. The LDS church is a 'church', not a 'religious organization'. Therefore, they are not subject to filing form 990.

The second part, I'm sure is correct, but that says nothing about disclosing financial information that is found on form 990 and is made public.

It's true that a church doesn't have to pay property taxes on the properties used for worship and worship-related activities (for instance, their great mall would not be exempt from property taxes), but that has been implemented from the beginnings of the nation as part of the "the power to tax is the power to destroy" line of thought and since then to ensure that the government cannot use that power to interfere with the free establishment clause. The US Supreme Court has determined that this is not a subsidy (I'd have to dig for the reference, and I'm admittedly too lazy to do so now).

I'm not arguing with you on the facts here. I'm simply saying that I disagree with it, as I see it as a subsidy (financial assistance) to the religion.

Again, under your line of reasoning, we'd all have ample right to dig into every mom-and-pop business, our neighbor's finances, and even check the pockets of the homeless guy at the on-ramp to see how much he's making. It's illogical.

Not even comparable. Religions have certain rights that no one else has. They are tax exempt, and they don't have to disclose their finances. Even regular charities, that are tax exempt, must publicly disclose their finances. Whereas you and I, and other businesses, don't have to disclose finances, but we have to file income tax returns, pay income tax, and are {realistically} subject to IRS audits.

Look, I don't care to get into a debate regarding the semantics of 'exemptions' vs. 'subsidy'. You say tomayto, i say tomahto. Bottom line - the church gets tax benefits that no other individual or organization gets - and no oversight to top it all off. Call that whatever you want.

[_Who Knows]

RTH or mods - can you please use the 'url' code?

[_JAK]

Nice research, the road to hana!

Thanks for doing it. The books listed in the four pages are reflective of hundreds if not thousands of publications by religious individuals and groups.

The mega churches in the southern and south eastern USA are also drawing millions of dollars from those who watch televangelists on all religion all the time channels. It is not possible to know just how much money religious groups take. (Transfer of wealth)

JAK

[_antishock8]

I'm not really sure why we get hung up on churches being exempt when the savings and loan scandals of the 80's and 90's pretty much dwarf anything we're talking about moneywise. Oh. And we have a 9 trillion dollar debt and rapid devaluation of our currency due to, erm, certain people's, um, decision making... You know... In DC.

So. Anyway. Mormon Inc., really, is the least of our worries, pecuniarily, right now. Frankly, I'd be more interested in seeing the Scientologists open their books.

[_charity]

Hana, I really don't want to buy the book. Since you sound like you have, would you give us a fair use few paragraphs to tell us what it says about LDS and giving compared to other churches?

[_the road to hana]

Hana, I really don't want to buy the book. Since you sound like you have, would you give us a fair use few paragraphs to tell us what it says about LDS and giving compared to other churches?

I don't own the book and haven't read it, as should be clear from my post.

You can search inside it by clicking on the amazon link I provided. There are some interesting charts in there that you can find within five minutes of research you might find helpful.

The chart on the second page indicates that mean giving for Latter-day Saint members in the U.S. is top of the charts, about 8%.

[_skippy the dead]

Look, I don't care to get into a debate regarding the semantics of 'exemptions' vs. 'subsidy'. You say tomayto, I say tomahto. Bottom line - the church gets tax benefits that no other individual or organization gets - and no oversight to top it all off. Call that whatever you want.

Fair enough. Cheers!

[_Some Schmo]

"Publicly funded" means on its face that money is provided by the government, not individual members of the general public. Charity is correct - the church is not a "publicly funded" organization. There is no corresponding right for tithe payers to see the books.

Well, in a sense, it is funded by the government, and by default - the general public.

I guess if we're allowed to make up any definition we want, then we (and you and Schmoe) can pretty much declare that anything means anything. Silly me - I was actually going by real definitions from the real world. [/sarcasm off]

*sigh*

I wasn't making up a new definition for the term. I was simply trying to describe how the church gets its money, happened to string two English words together that I thought captured the thought, and wrote them down. The fact that those two words used together generally means something else makes them suddenly off limits?

Give me a break.

What are you, a lawyer or something?

[_Yoda]

What are you, a lawyer or something?

Actually, she is.

;)