Money and God.

I was board at work today and decided to look at some religious stuff, when I stumbled upon a wikipedia page for the finances for the Church of Jesus Christ of later day saints, you know the Mormons. I read the page and was stunned with how much money the LDS church has! Now exact numbers cant be found because the church isn't required by law to report their finances because they are a "non profit" church despite the fact how much money they have.
In 1996 Time magazine reported on the finances of the church, this is back when membership was 4.9 million (now 12 million) and they only had 50 temples (now there are more than 135).

"TIME has been able to quantify the church's extraordinary financial vibrancy. Its current assets total a minimum of $30 billion. If it were a corporation, its estimated $5.9 billion in annual gross income would place it midway through the FORTUNE 500, a little below Union Carbide and the Paine Webber Group but bigger than Nike and the Gap."

now this was 13 YEARS AGO! the church has more than doubled it's membership and gained BILLIONS of dollars since this estimate. This article did not take into account the many of the company's the LDS church owns including television stations, radio stations, news papers, restaurants and business parks and movie production companies, although they did include the biggest.

"The top beef ranch in the world is not the King Ranch in Texas. It is the Deseret Cattle & Citrus Ranch outside Orlando, Fla. It covers 312,000 acres; its value as real estate alone is estimated at $858 million. It is owned entirely by the Mormons. The largest producer of nuts in America, AgReserves, Inc., in Salt Lake City, is Mormon-owned. So are the Bonneville International Corp."



So where does the money come from that is "non profit" related? Tithing! To be in good standing with the church you MUST give them 10% of your income. So where did this number come from? well of course Joseph Smith, but like many things he taught it wasn't in forced in the church until it after he died, (like drinking alcohol, LIKE JOSEPH SMITH DRANK).

"After the U.S. government confiscated church property under the Edmunds-Tucker Act in 1887, the church fell into severe debt. The government had seized most church assets, including tithing money donated by members. As a result, by the time Lorenzo Snow became church president in 1898, the church was $2.3 million in debt.[8]
Snow reiterated the principal of tithing (giving 10% of one's income to the church) and by 1907 the church was completely out of debt." - www.wikipedia.com




In 1996 the church had 30 billion in assets and 5.9 billion in cash. since then the church has doubled in size and in property. No church is required to pay taxes and are not required to disclose their finances for public record. The church has more money that 95% of businesses in America. To quote the bible,

Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."



I'm not a religious man, in fact I despise the things that have been done to people in the name of "God", I loath the fact that because something is "sacred" it is considered untouchable and above the law and above dispute. I have never made an attempt to hide my feelings about this. On the other hand I deeply believe in individual spirituality and finding "the meaning of life" for yourself. Jesus never had grand temples when he was on this earth, he loved the poor and detested the hardened hearts of the rich. He dressed in humble garments and preached a life of meagerness. So how does a multi billion dollar empire reflect the principals of the man who's name is on the front of your buildings.