On a regular basis I read message boards where ex-Mormons and wavering Mormons express concerns about the LDS Church. Many want to discuss doctrinal changes. Others report on practices of local LDS leaders that they consider to be unfair or even predatory.
But one very active trending topic I am seeing — from exMos, neverMos and even some practicing Mormons — is great concern over the LDS Church's multi-BILLION-dollar shopping mall in downtown Salt Lake City.
Why would a mall become a spiritual issue? In an economy where foreclosures and bankruptcies are commonplace, in a church where members are given a “calling” to become church janitors working without pay, the investment of this kind of money causes alarm.
LDS Inc. would say that the money did not come from tithing, but from investments. But where did the money to make the investments come from? Tithing, of course, ultimately.
What if the decision to build the mall results in a big profit? It is my understanding that the LDS Church is still a “non-profit” and thus nontaxable entity. More billions for them.
What if it is a financial debacle, which is unlikely?
The sacrifices of millions of people went down the drain.
Maybe you can see the concern here.
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today(Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
