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citycreek

The money behind the Mormon message

In late March, the LDS Church completed an ambitious project: a megamall. Built for about $2 billion, the City Creek Center stands across the street from the faith’s iconic Salt Lake Temple.

The mall includes almost 100 stores and restaurants, ranging from Tiffany’s to Forever 21. Walkways link the open-air emporium with the church’s manicured campus. Macy’s is a stone’s throw from the offices of church President Thomas S. Monson, whom Mormons see as a prophet.

On the morning of its grand opening, thousands of shoppers thronged downtown, eager to elbow their way into the stores.

When it came time to cut the mall’s pink ribbon, Monson, flanked by Utah dignitaries, cheered, "One, two, three, let’s go shopping!"

While watching a religious leader celebrate a mall may seem surreal, City Creek reflects the spirit of enterprise that animates modern-day Mormonism. The mall is part of a vast church-owned corporate empire that LDS leadership says will help spread its message, increase economic self-reliance and build God’s kingdom on Earth.

Continue reading at www.sltrib.com
 
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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004047180339 John Adams

    This is NOT the mission of Christ's church. Just another example of why mormons are NOT truly Christian.

    • Esther

      The mission of Jesus Christ's church is to convey the message that everyone is a child of God and deserves to participate in the plan of salvation. Therefore, is the reason we have lots of pseudo-Christians around.

      • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004047180339 John Adams

        There are several theological errors in your post:
        1. All humans are NOT children of God. The only children God has are those individuals who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour and have repented of their sin.
        2. Financial prosperity is NOT part of God's plan of salvation. While it is true that He often blesses those who follow Him and obey His commands, that is certainly not always true. MANY of God's saints have not had much of this world's goods.
        3. The salvation of souls and the decipleship and spiritual growth of the saints is the prime focus of Christ's true church.
        4. "Welfare" in general, and in particular to those who are truly Christians, is the responsibility of the church. I agree that the government has made a mess of it and can never do it well. The ONLY way a government can help the poor is to make others more poor – take from some and give to others; IOW, legalized theft.
        5. In God's plan, the motivation for missions is love for Christ and love for the lost.

        • Esther

          With all due respect, sir:
          1. Wrong.(What do you think motivates 19 year olds, like the young Mitt Romney, to serve a mission? Please view Elder Holland's visuals and talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoWRbNwClMs)
          2. Jesus had a very nice coat. He does not expect the people for whom he atoned to do with any less, i.e., to prosper (LOL, do you really think otherwise?)
          3. That would be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with all due respects to your efforts, sir.
          4. Already answered in my original statement.
          5. Also, already addressed.

          • Steve03

            What motivated young Mitt Romney to "serve a mission"? His choices were to spread his faith in France, or to fight for his country in Vietnam.

          • Esther

            What happened to my comment?

        • Esther

          What happened to my comment? There was nothing abusive about it.

        • Esther

          Of course Mitt gets a tax write-off for his
          charitable contributions! Don't you? And with regard to what the church does
          with Mitt's tithing money? I know, DaveS, tithing is NEVER used for things like
          building a mall. I know that when I tithe, it goes to very specific things:.
          Here is a rather good description of the specifics of what the church uses
          tithing funds for: http://www.mormonwiki.com/Tith… Also look up
          the welfare efforts of the church, Bishops' Storehouse http://www.mormonwiki.com/Chur… … That is a
          different category of charitable giving that goes for other things: On our "tithing
          slip" different things are listed: we can contribute to the mission of the
          church, to the building fund for our local meeting houses, for fasting and
          giving money to some family in need, etc., and various other choices one can
          make to where one would like the money spent. So the church has to put the
          money in the bank. What else? From there whatever happens to money, happens.
          (LOL, they probably have bankers who invest and grow the church's money. Are
          there laws against this?) As far as the shopping mall goes, I can tell you for
          sure, it is not a profit making enterprise for any persons, except for the
          people with jobs in the region where it is located, like the Bishops'
          Storehouse has secular jobs and hires many to run it. I don't have the details,
          but the details are public, rest assured, they are. So I encourage you to ask
          such questions at mormon.org. If secular
          profits are made, they are probably taxed, (want a good CPA, get a Saint, I
          have one) and the rest of it goes right back into the Bishop's Storehouse or
          the other things you see detailed that church members such as the "helping
          hands" during hurricane disasters, for gas money and food for the
          volunteers, to get to the sites, for example. Consider: for the last three
          weekends including Sundays (4am Sat to 8pm Sun) for example, the entire quorum
          of priesthood holders — all ages from teens to the eldest, able adults,
          including the bishop and his counselors — were clearing away debris in New
          Orleans after Isaac, and also, probably stocking pantries out of the Bishops'
          Storehouse (no strings attached, btw). No person is EVER paid to give service
          of ANY kind in the church from the president of the church to the newest
          member. One has to make their living, as Mitt did, in the "secular"
          world. There are some secular jobs in the church, but not as priesthood holders
          or women's auxiliary.

        • Esther

          Try it this way, with all due respect sir.
          1. I disagree; that is the reason for missionary efforts.
          2. I disagree; Christ had a nice coat, and He would expect all for whom he atoned to also be as prosperous.
          3. And that church is, as well, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
          4. http://www.mormonwiki.com/Church_Welfare_Program chat there; I am so glad we agree on that one.
          5. Already addressed.

          How's that?

      • daves

        Is this how Mr. Romney's charitable contributions are spent? And he gets a tax writeoff for this?

        • Esther

          @daves… see response above … for some reason my answer wouldn't post here.

        • Esther

          Sorry, daves, my comments are not being posted

        • Esther

          Of course Mitt gets a tax write-off for his charitable
          contributions! Don't you? And with regard to what the church does with Mitt's
          tithing money? I know, DaveS, tithing is NEVER used for things like building a
          mall. I know that when I tithe, it goes to very specific things:. Here is a
          rather good description of the specifics of what the church uses tithing funds
          for: http://www.mormonwiki.com/Tith… Also
          look up the welfare efforts of the church, Bishops' Storehouse http://www.mormonwiki.com/Chur… …
          That is a different category of charitable giving that goes for other things:
          On our "tithing slip" different things are listed: we can contribute
          to the mission of the church, to the building fund for our local meeting
          houses, for fasting and giving money to some family in need, etc., and various
          other choices one can make to where one would like the money spent. So the
          church has to put the money in the bank. What else? From there whatever happens
          to money, happens. (LOL, they probably have bankers who invest and grow the
          church's money. Are there laws against this?) As far as the shopping mall goes,
          I can tell you for sure, it is not a profit making enterprise for any persons,
          except for the people with jobs in the region where it is located, like the
          Bishops' Storehouse has secular jobs and hires many to run it. I don't have the
          details, but the details are public, rest assured, they are. So I encourage you
          to ask such questions at mormon.org.
          If secular profits are made, they are probably taxed, (want a good CPA, get a
          Saint, I have one) and the rest of it goes right back into the Bishop's
          Storehouse or the other things you see detailed that church members such as the
          "helping hands" during hurricane disasters, for gas money and food
          for the volunteers, to get to the sites, for example. Consider: for the last
          three weekends including Sundays (4am Sat to 8pm Sun) for example, the entire
          quorum of priesthood holders — all ages from teens to the eldest, able adults,
          including the bishop and his counselors — were clearing away debris in New
          Orleans after Isaac, and also, probably stocking pantries out of the Bishops'
          Storehouse (no strings attached, btw). No person is EVER paid to give service
          of ANY kind in the church from the president of the church to the newest
          member. One has to make their living, as Mitt did, in the "secular"
          world. There are some secular jobs in the church, but not as priesthood holders
          or women's auxiliary.

  • aceituna

    Many 'Christian' churches have through the ages done merchandising etc., but it is true that that should not be the reason for the church's existence. Twice, Jesus cleansed the temple. But consider that even though a church has its bazaars, and other fund raisers, that does not make it less Christian unless that is all it exists for and it loses its message of Salvation.

  • Esther

    The Saints do believe in economic prosperity for everyone: example: Ann & Mitt Romney

    Here is how it's done (& I have a testimony of it):

    Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

  • Evermyrtle

    There seems to be a terrible lack of "GLORY TO GOD" here. It appears that the Mormons have done such a wonderful thing in making all of this merchandising possible. Billions of dollars worth. What exactly did GOD have to d with it? Nothing? What did thee Mormons have to do with the writing of this story? It may not be their fault that GOD is not given any credit for all of this , what do you call it? Material progress. I can see not one thing GODLY about the entire thing.
    When it comes to worldly progress, this seems to fit exactly but remember GOD comes first and without HIM it is worthless.

  • Steve03

    Esther,
    I was in Vietnam (and a lot of other places in my Marine Corps career), and many Mormons served along side me as enlisted folks. So Mitt could have gone if he'd had the patriotism, or the guts.
    I ran into chaplains in all sorts of places. They do go up front with the troops, and they don't bring security details with them. Fifteen of them have their names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in DC, and two have been killed in Iraq.
    Maybe you should meet some veterans sometime. You'd learn a lot.

    • Esther

      I have stood at that memorial and touched the names. It is our wailing wall. Bush 41 dedicated a smaller one to our state's fallen at the university I attended. My father was the sole survivor of six sons in WWII so I know the pain of war, I have experienced a lot of death and trauma from the returned veterans even as a very young child, many times over since as a public servant myself.

      I do not agree that Mitt Romney does not have patriotism or guts. But I am a woman not a priesthood holder or a potential priesthood holder, as you are. I do not pretend to really understand the difficult decisions that a man must make in his life to become or do what it is he must. I don't see why making the choice to follow one's vocation is a weakness on his part, and I believe you are judging him through the lens of what you believe your choices were at the time.

      I very much appreciate your service sir and I would ask you, is it time for you to serve in the other war, that Mitt Romney continues to fight now as we speak with the help of his family? He is a public servant and really when you think about it he doesn't have to be.

      All chaplains I know now train with, and are constantly in the company of three or four armed guards that surround each. I was told this as recently as 6 months ago. The job they do is very difficult. That comes from a seasoned one also. Life is no bed of roses is it, Steve?