Jason Bourne wrote:Do you disagree? Why? All assets the Church owns are ultimately tied back to contributions from its members, whether tithing, fast offering, missionary funding etc. At some point some of these funds, most likely from tithing, was used to acquire business assets. Since money is fungible it really does not matter that the mall project is being funded from income from for profit businesses. It all ties back to member contributions. The Church produces nothing. It sells nothing to make a profit on. And further who cares? Does the fact that a massive real estate project that will primarily benefit downtown SLC to the tune of more than double the initial projects 1.5 billion or so is not being funded from tithing supposed to give us warm and fuzzies? If the Church has that kind of money to invest, or even if they are leveraging it and paying it over time, this still begs the question of whether those massive funds could be better used for other purposes.
The Nehor wrote:I hear this argument endlessly
That is because it is a good argument and has merit.
and just don't buy it anymore.
Did you ever?
You can always hunt down a 'better' cause if you want to.
Sure but that is really not the main point.
I for one do not want the church's money to be held hostage so that no temples or meetinghouses can be built, no communications company built, no ward activity funded, and no beautification projects undertaken until everyone in the world is fed, clothed, and content.
This is a straw man. I never said the Church should not use resources to function. Temples, meetinghouses, ward activities, caring for the grounds of such property are all fine and part of the mission. Personally I think the Conference Center falls into that category as well. BUT 4.5 BILLION on MALL and CONDOS well that seems a far cry from the preacher from Galilee who had no home or anywhere to rest his head.
You can look at almost any charity in the world and argue that there is something 'better' they could be doing.
And that is a good argument for spending 4.5 Billion in downtown SLC when a large percent of members of the Church in the world wonder where their next meal might come from?