Criticism of Mormonism/Online documents/For my Wife and Children (Letter to my Wife)/Chapter 24

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Response to "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife"): Chapter 24 - Church Spending

A FAIR Analysis of: For my Wife and Children (Letter to my Wife), a work by author: Anonymous

Chapter 25 - Scientific Evidence

Response to claims made in "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife"): Chapter 24 - Church Spending

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• Response to claim: "while we know that a portion is used for the operational expenses of the Church, much of the donations make their way into business investments"
• Response to claim: "The lack of financial transparency by the LDS Church has put revenue estimates between $10-20 billion annually"
• Response to claim: "Even though City Creek clearly generates substantial income, the Church has reclassified it as a 501(C)3:Charitable Organization...to avoid paying taxes on property income it collects"
• Response to claim: "Every year billions of tithing dollars are funneled into these businesses for non-religious and non-humanitarian aid purposes"

Response to claim: "while we know that a portion is used for the operational expenses of the Church, much of the donations make their way into business investments"

The author(s) of "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife") make(s) the following claim:

while we know that a portion is used for the operational expenses of the Church, much of the donations make their way into business investments. According to a 2012 investigative report by the Reuters news agency, the Church receives about $7 billion in tithing revenue each year and several billion from its for-profit business ventures.

Author's sources: Peter Henderson, "Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations," Reuters (12 Aug. 2012).

FAIR's Response

Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader

There is absolutely no data to support the claim made by the author that "much of the donations make their way into business investments." The author cites a news article by Reuters, "Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations," (12 Aug. 2012). According to the article:

Relying heavily on church records in countries that require far more disclosure than the United States, Cragun and Reuters estimate that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings in some $7 billion annually in tithes and other donations. ... Church spokesman Michael Purdy declined to comment specifically on the estimates but said that the church was different from a corporation. “Other projections are speculative and do not reflect an understanding of how the church uses its income to bless the lives of people,” he added, saying the church was financed primarily from member tithing and offerings.

The article makes no comment and draws no conclusions regarding donations from members being routed to business investments, and only quotes the speculative comment of one ex-Mormon regarding donation slips: "Hey, where’s the slot of ’shopping malls’?”.

Response to claim: "The lack of financial transparency by the LDS Church has put revenue estimates between $10-20 billion annually"

The author(s) of "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife") make(s) the following claim:

The lack of financial transparency by the LDS Church has put revenue estimates between $10-20 billion annually.

FAIR's Response

Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader

This information is not from the article that the author uses as his source, nor does the sentence even make any sense. How does "lack of financial transparency" allow one to make a revenue estimate of "$10-20 billion annually?"

Response to claim: "Even though City Creek clearly generates substantial income, the Church has reclassified it as a 501(C)3:Charitable Organization...to avoid paying taxes on property income it collects"

The author(s) of "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife") make(s) the following claim:

While meeting houses and temples occupy the religious, non-profit, tax exempt division of the Church, the City Creek Reserve Inc (CCRI) is a for-profit business. Even though City Creek clearly generates substantial income, the Church has reclassified it as a 501(C)3:Charitable Organization. Is it fair to classify the City Creek as a charity organization to avoid paying taxes on property income it collects from residential, office space, and retail store leases (such as Nordstrom, Apple, Macy’s & Tiffany’s&Co)? See the City Creek Reserve Inc (CCRI) 2009 tax return here. (http://irs990.charityblossom .org/990T/ 200912/208152281.pdf )

FAIR's Response

Fact checking results: This claim is false

The author mixes up "City Creek Center" (the mall, which is a for-profit entity which generates income and pays taxes) with "City Creek Reserve, Inc.", the 501(c)(3) property development company owned by the Church which provided the Church's monetary contribution to the construction of the mall. The IRS Form 990-T which the author provides as evidence that the Church "reclassified it as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization" is actually the form than an existing charitable organization uses to report taxes to be paid on its "unrelated business income." In other words, the form is filed to make sure that a 501(c)(3) organization pays proper taxes on any business income that it generates that is unrelated to its tax exempt charitable purpose.

• City Creek Reserve, Inc. is a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation.
• City Creek Reserve, Inc. receives income from a non-tax-exempt source, and therefore pays taxes on it, which is reported on IRS Form 990-T.
• City Creek Reserve, Inc. may also receive income from tax exempt sources, but IRS Form 990-T doesn't tell us anything about that.

IRS Form 990-T has nothing whatsoever to do with converting an organization to 501(c)(3) status. The IRS Forms 990-T for City Creek Reserve, Inc. for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 may be viewed here: City Creek Reserve, Inc 990s.

Response to claim: "Every year billions of tithing dollars are funneled into these businesses for non-religious and non-humanitarian aid purposes"

The author(s) of "For my Wife and Children" ("Letter to my Wife") make(s) the following claim:

The Church also owns a small media empire, an investment fund, the City Creek Center, investment properties, and more. ...Downtown Philadelphia, 1601 Vine St....111 Main Street Tower ... Florida Land ...Mormon Church Moves to Build a City in Florida...West Virginia Getting Legacy Complex...Riverton sees Mormon Church Daybreak-like project as ‘crown jewel... a private hunting preserve...Mormon church real estate firm plans to bring thousands of new homes to Riverton...Every year billions of tithing dollars are funneled into these businesses for non-religious and non-humanitarian aid purposes

FAIR's Response

Fact checking results: This claim contains propaganda - The author, or the author's source, is providing information or ideas in a slanted way in order to instill a particular attitude or response in the reader

The author provides a list of for-profit business ventures that the Church owns or controls, and jumps to the conclusion that "Every year billions of tithing dollars are funneled into these businesses for non-religious and non-humanitarian aid purposes." The Church, however, states that all of its business ventures are funded using profits from businesses that it owns, and that none of this comes from tithing funds. The author even includes the following quote from the Orlando Sentinal regarding the "Florida Land" transaction, which clearly identifies the Church entity, "AgReserves Inc." as a "taxpaying company":

AgReserves Inc., a taxpaying company of the church, said when the deal was first made public that it will continue to use the North Florida land for timber and agriculture.

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