Corrupt General Authorities and Their Huge Salaries

[mercyngrace]

This discussion is ridiculous.

The GAs probably followed their own counsel and didn't go into debt, lived within their means, paid cash or did without, and consequently could afford more home than the average instant-gratification, keep up with the Joneses, gotta have it all, American.

Just .02 worth of insight from a woman living in 4200sqft on an income of under $50K.

[Manny]

I don't want to beat a dead horse (and this requires that you exercise a lot of faith in my word), but I've spoken with family members of BKP on this very topic while I was a missionary (I actually asked them if they knew how much money the GAs made, b/c I knew that they were in BKP's family, and we were having a lot of antis hit us with this very argument). His niece's husband said, "A member of the church gave him such a deal on this house that he would have been crazy NOT to have purchased it."

So, it sounds like he bought low, and the value has appreciated. Wish we could all be so lucky.

[mfbukowski]

BIZ: (musing to herself) WHY Why is THE CHURCH a multinational corporation, with corporate boards and jobs, and management positions to offer? Why? Do mormons think that Jesus will the the CEO when he returns, complete with corporate suit and grooming? What an image!

edited to add: Why the cult of "leadership"?

I know. This cult of leadership with all these lavish homes, private jets, yachts, just has to go. This worshiping GA's is just not right.

The pope lives in that little shack, and here we are with all this money. Billy Graham can hardly make ends meet, and those televangelists are all going bankrupt. We are a terrible example of being Christlike. They are giving away all their money to the poor and we should do likewise.

We really should stop building all those temples and give up on our missionary efforts, knock down all the chapels, burn the universities and all the books, and stop operations. Then instead of giving humanitarian aid and helping people as much as we do, we could give it ALL away. Then we could persuade all the other churches to do likewise. And then there would be no churches to contribute to. And let's do away with religious universities and schools too! All they do is peddle their stinking conservative values. And this higher education is useless. It just teaches people to make corporations and worship the almighty dollar.

Great idea. Then a lot of good would get accomplished. If there were no churches, just think how great society would be! None of these stupid restrictions and commandments.

We should just all live in simple villages, be carpenters or fishermen, give up cars, electricity, and go back to the way it was 2000 years ago. But no churches. And no corporations either!

Good idea!

[ToGo]

We should just all live in simple villages, be carpenters or fishermen, give up cars, electricity, and go back to the way it was 2000 years ago.

Cross out one zero, and all the sudden it reads like the transcript of a Glenn Beck rant.

[mfbukowski]

add-on: roof shape being what it is, it appears to be two level.

Presuming a basement, that's 5200 square feet on three levels. Definitely lavish. Positively huge. Why that's 1700 feet per level! How could anyone afford a house that big? And for a General Authority? Positively shameful!

(Incidentally no one has ever taken me up on my challenge to show what is wrong with a church leader having such a huge house)

[mfbukowski]

"Main Sq. Ft.: 5239 . . . Total Sq. Ft.: 5239."

Endless. Enormous. Huge. Virtually infinite.

BIZ: Well, my 2 bedroom, one bath, modest $110,000 100+ year old home is only 900 sqf, so 5.8 times bigger IS is certainly Enormously Huge by my standards.

Not to mention the 2 acres. Well off, indeed, not what I would call "average".

edited for math error.

I agree. I live in a garage, so I think your place is huge. You should move out and give it to me.

[Calm]

Presuming a basement, that's 5200 square feet on three levels. Definitely lavish. Positively huge. Why that's 1700 feet per level! How could anyone afford a house that big? And for a General Authority? Positively shameful!

(Incidentally no one has ever taken me up on my challenge to show what is wrong with a church leader having such a huge house)

Too be realistic, a big house and a big yard for an older couple is more likely a hardship than a luxury.

[Droopy]

Peter was apparently not poor, but a rather successful Galilean entrepreneur.

I do hate to appear ignorant of this subject, but...really?

I've always understood him to have been a poor Galilean fisherman...the standard understanding. What evidence are you referring to that indicates him to have been a fairly successful businessman?

Is this scriptural evidence, or something extra biblical?

[Droopy]

We really should stop building all those temples and give up on our missionary efforts, knock down all the chapels, burn the universities and all the books, and stop operations. Then instead of giving humanitarian aid and helping people as much as we do, we could give it ALL away. Then we could persuade all the other churches to do likewise. And then there would be no churches to contribute to. And let's do away with religious universities and schools too! All they do is peddle their stinking conservative values. And this higher education is useless. It just teaches people to make corporations and worship the almighty dollar.

This is something fairly near the ideas espoused by a number of the devotees of class envy at the Trailer Park, for whom class envy, not only being gratifying in and of itself, is a useful club with which to beat the Church when its primary focus (the salvation and exaltation of God's children) is made to collide with temporal matters, such as the care of the hungry, the naked, the indigent, the poor, the nasty, the brutish, and the short.

No amount of charity, no amount of good works, and no amount of money spent on the above can possibly satisfy the critics when the quantity of money the Church has is compared to what it spends on charitable works, which is then compared to what it spends on its primary mission: building chapels, stake centers and Temples, funding its educational system and involvement in various missionary activities. That all has to go. Indeed, the very fact that the threefold mission of the Church is better funded than the soup kitchens such wasted funds would otherwise be providing, is seen as clear evidence of the corruption of the Church leadership.

[Droopy]

Cross out one zero, and all the sudden it reads like the transcript of a Glenn Beck rant.

Is anyone else here utterly lost with respect to this?

[Daniel Peterson]

I do hate to appear ignorant of this subject, but...really?

I've always understood him to have been a poor Galilean fisherman...the standard understanding. What evidence are you referring to that indicates him to have been a fairly successful businessman?

Is this scriptural evidence, or something extra biblical?

I discussed this in passing at the end of post #112 of this thread, which occurs on page 6.

The site in question is one of my favorites in Israel, and I really like to show it to people. (I'll be doing it again in May, if anybody would like to come along.)

[Zakuska]

I wonderr how many kids bizabra has in her piuny 900Sqft 2 bedroom, compared to packers 10?

[Zakuska]

Too be realistic, a big house and a big yard for an older couple is more likely a hardship than a luxury.

I agree. My parents are getting up in age 70+ with their 4 Bedroom 2500 sqft. And I spend quite a bit of time there helping my dad with yard work and such. 2 of the bedrooms are filled with boxes and junk of old pictures an such and arnt even used.

[handys003]

I agree. My parents are getting up in age 70+ with their 4 Bedroom 2500 sqft. And I spend quite a bit of time there helping my dad with yard work and such. 2 of the bedrooms are filled with boxes and junk of old pictures an such and arnt even used.

TBH Zak I think having a 2BDR 1200 sf on half acre is too much for this middle aged man let alone when I reach the golden years. I get tired of fighting the tropic bush also

[Zakuska]

TBH Zak I think having a 2BDR 1200 sf on half acre is too much for this middle aged man let alone when I reach the golden years. I get tired of fighting the tropic bush also

One of those down town Apartments over looking Temple Square is looking might tempting at the moment. Im getting to HATE yard work with a passion! I liked living in Appartments in Portugal.

[Somebodyz]

I discussed this in passing at the end of post #112 of this thread, which occurs on page 6.

The site in question is one of my favorites in Israel, and I really like to show it to people. (I'll be doing it again in May, if anybody would like to come along.)

I would sooooooooooooooooo love to come along. It's my dream to visit Israel and to see it with someone so knowledgeable would be icing on a very delicious cake. Maybe one day. (sigh) ;)

[Jeff K.]

I would sooooooooooooooooo love to come along. It's my dream to visit Israel and to see it with someone so knowledgeable would be icing on a very delicious cake. Maybe one day. (sigh) ;)

That might be a fun trip.

[Daniel Peterson]

I can't resist this gem, posted on another board in response to this thread:

Boyd K. Packer is a fat cat who has been fed meal after meal by adoring fans who drive him everywhere he goes to make his speeches. He is paid well for his preaching. He has lived deliciously and sponged off the people for decades.

You want my opinion? It is priesthcraft to the highest degree!

Packer lives in splender compared to the rest of the poor Latter-day Saints. He has lived deliciously in a nice big comfy secure home while poor Latter-days Saints live in dumpy houses. While on the road he never has to worry about where his next meal would come from because they are made for him and served to him as if he was a king.

Mormon priesthcraft is worse than TV evangelical priestcraft. You figure how much money is soaked by the GA's over their priestcraft careers and it's in the millions and millions. Go figure. They certainly are paid well for preaching!

The GA's have been milking the church for generations and have lived like kings and princes off the people. They live deliciously like King Noah and his priests but do so in a modern style enjoying the benefits of our day without women and wine. They eat well and are driven about without the worries of a normal life that regular people (including them) should shoulder. The GA's have control of the purse strings and they live on the church purse. Most all of them were into money before they joined the GA club. It is all about money and power. It's about holding on to that power and keeping the people subject to them.

There follows a brief discussion of this individual's signature sexual obsession. The main purpose of the Church, he believes, is to block his and other mens' enjoyment of a particular practice.

.

[Calm]

The main purpose of the Church, he believes, is to block his and other mens' enjoyment of a particular practice.

Which logic is strange if it's true the GAs are all about living well, but I suppose if they are willing to make do without women and wine, that particular practice can be dispensed with as well for the sake of POWER and CONTROL!!!!!!!

[Daniel Peterson]

Gee. I thought the lengthy quotation above was pretty funny. Am I the only one who laughed?

[Pahoran]

Gee. I thought the lengthy quotation above was pretty funny. Am I the only one who laughed?

Well, I thought it was rather funny. Was it a single rant, or quotations from more than one post?

And was the poster who I think he was? I'm thinking of someone who is known for having more pseudonyms than fingers and toes, deep personal animosity towards all living GA's and several dead ones, and grandiose claims to insider knowledge? Did he previously post under the same (apparently pseudonymous) name under which he had published a pro-LDS book, and did he subsequently leave the Church and join something around the fringes of Islam?

Regards,

Pahoran

[Daniel Peterson]

Well, I thought it was rather funny. Was it a single rant, or quotations from more than one post?

I spliced together several items that were posted in rather quick succession.

And was the poster who I think he was? I'm thinking of someone who is known for having more pseudonyms than fingers and toes, deep personal animosity towards all living GA's and several dead ones, and grandiose claims to insider knowledge? Did he previously post under the same (apparently pseudonymous) name under which he had published a pro-LDS book, and did he subsequently leave the Church and join something around the fringes of Islam?

No, actually this is somebody who occasionally still posts here, and who has demonstrated deep, almost obsessive, hostility toward "white collar workers" and academics, among others. (Different sexual fixation, too.)

Here, by the way, is a snippet from another poster there (one who purports to be active in the Church), responding to the same issue (i.e., the sumptuous lifestyles and enormous palaces of the princes of the LDS Church):

There is no excuse for such behavior. Pride and greed and easy living has plunged this church's leaders into apostacy. There is no honor in living off the tithes of the poor and widowed.

[Pahoran]

I spliced together several items that were posted in rather quick succession.

No, actually this is somebody who occasionally still posts here, and who has demonstrated deep, almost obsessive, hostility toward "white collar workers" and academics, among others. (Different sexual fixation, too.)

Oh, I see. Maybe it would help him if he lived in a tent for a while. And sobered up.

But then, if he sobered up, he wouldn't be able to find sufficient dutch courage to malign someone who, having died four years ago, is no longer able to defend himself. He'd probably have to wait for his target to be dead for at least ten years.

Here, by the way, is a snippet from another poster there (one who purports to be active in the Church), responding to the same issue (i.e., the sumptuous lifestyles and enormous palaces of the princes of the LDS Church):

I'm of the view that the posters there who purport to be active in the Church do so merely to give their spiteful ventings some authority. But I really wonder about their ability to compensate for their own outrageous bias. I recently saw one of the stars of that joint smugly congratulating the poster once known as WAZing for having made us(!) look bad by means of her silly deception.

Regards,

Pahoran

[alter idem]

Gee. I thought the lengthy quotation above was pretty funny. Am I the only one who laughed?

Sorry, I didn't see the humor in it. This rage-filled person goes around spouting this garbage about a man who has given most of his life in serving others. I don't know who you were quoting, but I seriously doubt he/she has done a fraction of what President Packer has done to serve others.

Sorry, not funny. It's truly disturbing that a person would so misrepresent a good man like Boyd K. Packer.

[Pahoran]

Sorry, I didn't see the humor in it. This rage-filled person goes around spouting this garbage about a man who has given most of his life in serving others. I don't know who you were quoting, but I seriously doubt he/she has done a fraction of what President Packer has done to serve others.

Sorry, not funny. It's truly disturbing that a person would so misrepresent a good man like Boyd K. Packer.

Actually I find it funny that someone would work himself into a lather of zealous rage over a bunch of idiotic and counterfatual assumptions. I doubt that President Packer would lose any sleep because someone who doesn't know him from a bar of soap imagines him living in palatial luxury instead of a regular suburban home.

Regards,

Pahoran