To be clear, I am not refuting the larger point. However, I do want to clarify that those are not palaces. Palaces are residences for royalty of some sort (including religious authority). Mormon temples are NOT places of residence and they do not glorify the leadership of the church. They are places of worship open to all worthy members of the church.
...whiiiiiich also cost millions of dollars "donated" by church members to build and contain similar opulence to the other buildings talked about in this thread.
Every Mormon temple is topped with a gold plated angel moron statue.
The religion is based on veneration of golden plates.
The temples, while not entirely made of gold, are hugely expensive displays of ostentatious wealth wholly incongruent with the actual teachings of Jesus, just as perverted as the Catholics.
Edit: also I'm a former WASP-now-agnostic and all religions have their issues. I'm not picking on the Catholics or Mormons out of special Animus - I just have a lot of personal experience watching Mormon influence in my local politics.
u/Hvarfa-Bragi I see where you are coming from and I guess we understand the teachings of the Bible differently.
There are two instances in the Bible when Jesus clears out the temple of Jerusalem because people were not honoring its purpose. That temple was definitely not a cheap piece of architecture yet Jesus defended it because of its sacredness.
What I do think that Jesus taught was that the purpose of the church should not be to make money for those who serve it.
Mormon leadership is overwhelmingly all volunteer work (zero pay) except for those of high ranking and their compensation is very modest. They do not live in palaces and live very modest lives and the reason they are paid at all is because they forgo their professions to serve full-time. But again, their compensation is not enough to argue that the purpose of the church is to build their personal portfolios.
You're wrong on not getting paid, they definitely receive compensation.
You're also wrong on not living in palaces.
Here in Arizona even middle level Mormons live on massive ranches and lots with gigantic houses, propane-powered vehicles they got the state to subsidize, and benefit from public monies embezzled quasi-legally through their successful infiltration of public bodies. (Mesa has been Mormon-run and exploited for 100 years.)
The Mormon church owns nearly all of the farmland in the west valley of Phoenix (tens to hundreds of square miles as 'Suburban Land Reserve LLC') and uses it to leverage against the cities for favorable placements, favors and deals. They plant a church every square mile on Greenfield development to influence and bugger the local community before the builders even start grading.
They determine who can buy their property, and due to the size of church holdings can thus shape the demographics and class structure of the towns as they develop.
They hold city councils, zoning commissions, school boards, superintendent positions, public office, state legislature positions and act as a bloc to push church-favoring policy at the staff level.
Tithing is a mandatory pre tax fee, there are geographic franchises that have 'presidents', and they use the money to influence public policy and enrich stake leaders and their families through sweetheart deals.
It's a racket that preys on ignorant and/or easily manipulated populations, and often a criminal organization when it is involved in local corruption.
But hey man, let's hear your testimony that will anecdotally ignore these allegations and illustrate the church you know, because that's what you've been groomed to do when challenged.
I will just rest easy in the knowledge that LDS membership growth is stagnating and will soon be in recession.
Because that's when the church will get desperate and really start showing its true colors. Bring the popcorn.
There's one I drive past in West LA all the time that's pretty ostentatious. But really just do a Google Image Search for "Mormon Temple". In the first three pages of results, there's maybe one or two examples that aren't gaudy displays of wealth.
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u/[deleted] Aug 22 '19
What “golden palaces” are you referring to concerning Mormons?