This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
Keith McMullin heads the church holding company. Deseret Management Corporation (DMC) is an umbrella organization for many non-profit church businesses.
"We look to not only the spiritual," he says, "but also the temporal, and we believe that a person who is impoverished temporally cannot blossom spiritually."
Mormonism combines religious fervor with money-making. Non-profit status enhances bottom line priorities. Church holdings are vast. Little is known about them. Financial transparency is absent. Even members required to contribute generously aren't privy to what goes on.
According to historian D. Michael Quinn:
"The Mormon Church is very different than any other church".Traditional Christianity and Judaism make a clear distinction between what is spiritual and what is temporal, while Mormon theology specifically denies that there is such a distinction."Megamalls and multi-billion dollar enterprise profiteering is doing God's work. Quinn adds:
"In the Mormon's (leadership) worldview, it's as spiritual to give alms to the poor".as it is to make" millions of dollars.
Around six million Americans practice Mormonism. Globally it's around 14 million. Their influence outnumbers their numbers.
The church's business empire and wealth are vast. DMC alone has six subsidiaries. Its estimated annual revenue is around $1.2 billion. It runs a newspaper, 11 radio stations, a TV station, a publishing and distribution company, a digital media operation, a hospitality business, and insurance with assets worth $4.4 billion.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).