Thursday, March 5, 2015

The Real Cost of Mormon Temple Work

The Real Cost of Mormon Temple Work
The Mormon Church believes that we can perform ordinances such as baptisms, marriages (sealings) and Endowments for those people that are dead.  These rites are performed in Mormon Temples

There are about 150 temples worldwide.  They are beautiful, massive buildings that are constructed with the finest materials and engineering.  Their cost has to be enormous.  (The church does not release the cost of anything.

The San Diego Temple
Greater than the cost of building the temples is the cost to the members of attending the temple.  Many people attend the temple weekly and most LDS families have a goal to attend once a month where possible.  The cost in gasoline, babysitting, clothing, and lost work time is huge.  In addition since small children can't go to the temple, parents are often away from the children for hours at a time.
Baptismal Font inside a temple
Annual estimates to the church in building and maintaining the temples as well as the cost to members ranges from about 1 to 3 $Billion / year.

Even though the  LDS Church has at times performed temple ceremonies in rivers, tents and cabins, they insist on building $50 million ornate buildings while knowing of the suffering, hunger and poverty around the world.

It is a common story taught in LDS churches of a poor family from an island in the Pacific or somewhere deep in the Amazon saves money for years to attend the temple at a distant location rather than use the money for education or housing.   The story refers to the great sacrifice and faith of those people, essentially promising them eternity in Heaven.

The real cost of all this might be in the shaming and social loss of those who leave the faith or part member families who cannot attend the temples weddings of their loved ones.

Sources
List of LDS Temples - Wikipedia
Social Cost of Temples Attendance
LDS.org - Why Temples?




16 comments:

  1. So its more worth to build a 50 million dollar temple than to help people in need?

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    1. I believe that's what the author said...

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    2. Ignorance!!! KNOW what you’re talking about before spouting speculation & utter garbage. These temples are maintained by the MEMBERS as OUR money for tithing & temple budgets pays for the buildings. We spend MILLIONS more taking care of the poor, the uneducated (seemingly you!).. and our tithing also pays the utilities for chapels as well…Do your homework before others do it FOR YOU!

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  4. This is where /r/atheism loses the plot, which is common. If atheists believe it's all just a sham anyways, these people are just living out a fantasy and employing thousands of people to build a 50 million dollar fantasy castle. Why isn't /r/atheism also going after Disney for building Disney World?

    Again, they've lost the plot and aren't as rational as they try and self-identify.

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    1. If you don't see the difference between Disney and a Church your 2 inches from realising that your religion nothing special.
      "selling" made up stories just like Disney, but yours are written down by shepherds, ignorant by todays standards.
      Your religion one of the 30000 different forms of Christianity, its not special.

      Building a church might employ people, your church can afford this because they didn't pay taxes. Disney does.

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    2. I'm not religious at all, but because I'm calling out you fedora tippers on your pointless complaining, you assume with no evidence (faith) that I must be. topkek

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    4. Lmao, Arbor is right.

      What you guys are doing is like saying "Why did NYC approve the new WTC instead of helping poor people with that money"

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  5. i have never known any LDS person who wasn't retired who went to the temple weekly. Who does that? I have known a couple TBMs who went about 3 or 4 times a year, but that's it. Maybe So Cal LDS are not as into temple stuff?

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    1. We used to go before we had kids. Now...not as often LOL. But yeah saying people "go weekly" would...be awesome if we did! :)

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    2. Seriously??? To even HAVE a temple in your city requires an amount of ACTIVE members of the Church as well as active tithing payers. So please understand that bc of Covid, the temples ARE being used less these days. but they still use them!! I am from SoCal and as often as I can go .. I do.. it costs my wife NOTHING in gas.. maybe miles ( EV car) and our kids are grown.. we lose NO work time bc ugh yeah Saturdays and/or evenings AFTER WORK?!

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  6. The LSD Church invests more in higher education for it's members than any other religious institution in the world, and BYU University is just one of their example in excellence in higher education. There's also a higher percentage Mormon mothers with college education than in any other religion. The argument that Mormon families in the Amazon,or in any other part of the world,save their money to attend their sacred temples,instead of saving for education is made by someone who obviously do not know the Mormon's commitment to education. The entire Family start saving money for their children and grandchildren from their birth,for education as well as to serving religious missions. Attending temples is simply a very import part of an active Mormon lifestyle. They're quite beautiful and awe inspiring aren't they? They serve their purpose well, both in function as in architectural form.

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