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the mormons made it possilbe for my ppl (gays) to be LESS than a human being in california, ariz, ark and florida this past election month. that is why i personally hate the mormons. Your assumption is that churches use all of their collected money to spend on worthwhile projects like aiding the poor, scholarships for parishioners, etc. From what we have seen however, quite the opposite is true. Organized religions are de facto corporations with highly paid CEOs (bishops, archbishops, Pope, cardinals, etc). If thwy should start whining about being taxed like everyone else, then they should tighten their belts as other companies must do. Maybe the archbishop could without his new BMW?, maybe they could build a church or temple in a more middle class area, not where the super-wealthy live. the churches act much like gov't in that they see no reason to be thrifty with the money that they collect, but instead spend it all on gaudy things.
Okay. So you hate Mormons. And it is perfectly apparent that you don't have a clue about "bishops, archbishops, Pope, cardinals, etc." or their compensation or their lifestyles. It always amazes me to see how much ignorance can be packed into one hate-filled, intolerant post.
Just where are you getting your information, Wehotex? It sounds like your main sources of information about religions and churches are pop-culture movies and scandal magazines.
the mormons made it possilbe for my ppl (gays) to be LESS than a human being in california, ariz, ark and florida this past election month. that is why i personally hate the mormons. Your assumption is that churches use all of their collected money to spend on worthwhile projects like aiding the poor, scholarships for parishioners, etc. From what we have seen however, quite the opposite is true. Organized religions are de facto corporations with highly paid CEOs (bishops, archbishops, Pope, cardinals, etc). If thwy should start whining about being taxed like everyone else, then they should tighten their belts as other companies must do. Maybe the archbishop could without his new BMW?, maybe they could build a church or temple in a more middle class area, not where the super-wealthy live. the churches act much like gov't in that they see no reason to be thrifty with the money that they collect, but instead spend it all on gaudy things.
Ok, so you hate people who choose to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And it seems that you think people who choose to have sexual relations with people of the same gender are "less than a human being" because of something you think the "Mormons" did in four states. You may want to explain that...
I don't know about other churches or if the Catholic clergy you mention are highly paid or not, but my guess is that the Catholics only receive a living allowance. And that would be more than leaders in the LDS Church receive, there is no paid priesthood in the LDS Church, everyone is a volunteer.
Try to do something about that hatred, it can destroy you, life is too short for that, God loves you too.
I've got a question, do they really need such large temples in order to worship their god, it sort of reminds me of the ancient Greeks when they had these huge opulent Temple's to their gods, what is the reasoning behind all of that? I get the impression that any religion that has such opulent Temple's to their gods is just showing off, why? Do you really think your God really cares about that.
I've got a question, do they really need such large temples in order to worship their god, it sort of reminds me of the ancient Greeks when they had these huge opulent Temple's to their gods, what is the reasoning behind all of that? I get the impression that any religion that has such opulent Temple's to their gods is just showing off, why? Do you really think your God really cares about that.
LDS temples are functional, they are built not only to worship God but to fulfill the commission He has given the Latter-day Saints to take care of sacred sealing ordinances such as baptism by proxy for those who never had an opportunity in their lifetime to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ or to be baptized by proper priesthood authority.
I'm sure you would agree that if baptism is an essential ordinance and must be performed on earth in person or by proxy that God would not be loving or fair if only a few people during their lifetime had that opportunity to progress eternally if they chose to accept the Gospel. LDS believe that deceased people who have been baptized by proxy will have the opportunity to accept or reject that ordinance sometime in the postmortal world of spirits.
So, LDS temples are not just monuments to be stared upon, they are functional buildings, houses of the Lord in which the restored apostolic sealing power is excercised. Many temples are close to being filled by faithful Saints during their opening hours, sufficient size is necessary. But in smaller less populated areas, LDS temples are often much smaller than the ones you may be referring to.
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I've got a question, do they really need such large temples in order to worship their god, it sort of reminds me of the ancient Greeks when they had these huge opulent Temple's to their gods, what is the reasoning behind all of that? I get the impression that any religion that has such opulent Temple's to their gods is just showing off, why? Do you really think your God really cares about that.
It is an interesting point. You and I would view the Earth as having sacred places that have nothing to do with man made buildings or money, but the mormon church makes their own sacred places (temples). I guess if that is what they want to spend their money on, then it's fine.
CTR1dotOrg, I want to thank you for your response, however it is still very hard for me to comprehend that you need to have such a place to worship your God and your saints, understand, I am a Native American, I have the greatest and largest of all temples and it is around me, above me, and below me,and it is anywhere I go and it is not man-made, it is made by my Creator. I can stand on the highest plateaus or in the lowest valleys and still be in my Creator's temple and there is nothing more beautiful. That is why I find it hard to understand why you would build a place in order to worship your God, why does your God need a building? I would think that the money that you spend on building and maintaining such a place could be put to a better use.
wouldn't God like it better if you donated more funds to help people in need rather than build such opulence in very pricey areas of the cities? that is a christian value, not sure if it is a mormon one.
I am guessing they feel their mission help others.
I find it somewhat obnoxious. I like big churches if you have a large congregation, but i hate to see money spent on wasteful material things when it could be feeding the homeless or helping foster children or something else needy. They don't need all that ornate crap.
Have any of you checked out the cathedrals in Europe that were built centuries before the Mormons even existed? Now that was opulence. Have any of you visited the Vatican and walked through St. Peter's Basilica? There is nothing in America that even comes close to the splendor of that building. I can see that this is another thread intended to take a jab at the Mormons but in America the megachurches, none of which are Mormon, are the largest and most expensive. Here's a link to an article regarding megachurches, most of them are Protestant.
Alot of this appears to just be a successful business model because attendence at smaller churches has fallen off in recent years and these new multimillion dollars buildings are constantly gaining new members. I don't care for the concept personally and I agree that spending the money helping people would be more worthy but they've become a part of American culture.
Again how obnoxious to do have some large and ornate churches. No need other than to show off.
I believe the people back then really were misguided in where they could do good in the name of God.
CTR1dotOrg, I want to thank you for your response, however it is still very hard for me to comprehend that you need to have such a place to worship your God and your saints, understand, I am a Native American, I have the greatest and largest of all temples and it is around me, above me, and below me,and it is anywhere I go and it is not man-made, it is made by my Creator. I can stand on the highest plateaus or in the lowest valleys and still be in my Creator's temple and there is nothing more beautiful. That is why I find it hard to understand why you would build a place in order to worship your God, why does your God need a building? I would think that the money that you spend on building and maintaining such a place could be put to a better use.
I understand, but Latter-day Saints have those same natural "temples" too. There is a place on the Navajo Reservation, close to the Hopi, that brings tears to my eyes each time I look upon the natural formations that resemble temple spires reaching upward to God.
Perhaps you are mixing up our "meetinghouses" where we meet at least weekly to worship and learn more about God, Jesus Christ, and their ways and commandments with our temples. Meetinghouses are good looking functional buildings, places where ordinary people can gather safe from the elements and learn in separate classrooms, worship in the chapel, prepare meals and socialize in the kitchen and cultural hall, etc.
Then there are temples, sacred houses of the Lord which he has always commanded his people to build and dedicate so that holy ordinances necessary for eternal progression and the apostolic sealing power can be excercised for both the living and the dead. Only within those dedicated walls does the Lord allow those functions. Even the Jews had a temple.
For each of us who are presently living mortal lives, our physical bodies too are temples, the temple of our immortal spirit, that come from God to have an earthly experience, to make choices, some of which have eternal consequences.
Did you know that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient American prophets specifically for Native Americans living now upon the earth?
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LDS temples are functional.
