Pseudonym wrote: ↑December 31st, 2022, 11:02 amI am a little concerned with what appears to me to be misunderstanding of wealth. A great deal is explained in the Book of Mormon. Wealth is the natural byproduct of industry. It is also the blessing of an industrial society. In Church history the term for industry is deseret. Part of understanding wealth is understanding that the cycle of wealth requires giving back. Sustainable wealth requires giving back. Tithing, contrary to what many seem to argue, is a source of individual wealth more than wealth for the institution to which tithing is donated. Wealth can seemingly be achieved without giving back but that attitude of wealth is not sustainable.InfoWarrior82 wrote: ↑December 29th, 2022, 2:31 pm
But where did the church get the investment money to begin with? All from donated properties? Source? The only methods that are adverstised by the church are 1: Tithing 2: Fast offerings 3: Donating to the "Humanitarian Fund". Do you have a link where one would be able to donate another way?
Now I would give a little history lesson. When the Latter-day Saints arrived in the west they had to initiate their own economy. This was done over decades of cooperation. Since the LDS society could not count on any government for their economy, they were forced to establish their own economic structure. The saints established organizations within the Church to hold legal water and mineral rights for the benefit of society which is the ever-false claim of governments (at least my opinion).
What few understand is that the Saints endured a limited economy for decades and when the great depression hit the rest of the country – it was business as usual among the western Saints. By the end of WWII the west (including the Saints) held critical elements of a new economy in the USA. There is now a new term called critical earth elements (sometimes called rare earth elements). I am not sure how to proceed at this point without becoming political. Water and mineral rights are critical to modern economic development – especially in the wester US. When the Saints were driven from the USA into the west it was with great sacrifice. The initial journey west cost the lives of 1 in ever 5 Saints. But it also put them in the middle of the critical earth elements which the Church has some holdings.
There are in our modern society a generation (similar to cycles in the Book of Mormon) that have lost the understanding of deseret. They simply do not understand the virtue of the attitude of industry. They want to enjoy the fruits of the sacrifice of others. They want to take without giving anything back or giving back as little as possible. So, they think not to pay tithing – thinking the Church is too rich and that they can be selfish and not contribute. That attitude has never sustained any economy – ever. Economic ruin begins with that attitude of taking what one can and refusing to give back in return. The economic truth is that one of the great joys of life is in industry (deseret) and being productive – which is the foundation of LDS doctrine of economics.
The greatest help for everyone – especially the poor is to help them understanding the economy of deseret – that there is both personal wealth and joy in being productive. It is my personal belief that we are teaching a generation to be slothful and unproductive - which includs the attitude of debt.
According to D&C 101:43-69, is the Lord happy or upset with the church leaders using money to invest in the exchangers?