Religion, finances and violence: Latter-day Saint leaders provide answers to key questions
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Latter-day Saint leaders recently released new resources providing additional transparency through answers to important questions.
The information can be found in three new Gospel Topics and Questions pages on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The pages on church finances, religion vs. violence and temples provide a broad look at important issues ranging from the use of tithing funds and other donations, doctrines and policies about violence and what happens inside temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Here's what is new and how the information can help church members and others.
A new Gospel Topics page called Church Financial Administration will be of keen interest to many people, as much for the graphics included as for the information provided.
Nearly all of the financial information has been reported in the past by the Deseret News, from the fact that the church annually spends $1 billion on education to its different reserve funds where it sets aside money for future needs.
The page answers 10 questions like:
Do church leaders receive financial support? Answer: Yes, members of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the General Authority Seventies and the Presiding Bishopric receive a modest living allowance and insurance benefits so they can devote all their time to serving the Lord.
Does the church pay taxes? Answer: Yes, the church and its affiliated entities pay various income, property, sales and value-added taxes.
Why does the church spend so much on temples? Answer: Because they are houses of the Lord and the only places where people can make and receive covenants and ordinances that bind them and their families to God.
So what is new in the finance Gospel Topics page?
What is most visible are the new and easy to share graphics.
Also, a news release that accompanied the release of the pages shared a graphic about the 19,000 locations where the church's 31,000 congregations worship each Sunday.
'The church spends hundreds of millions of dollars for meetinghouses each year,' the graphic says, representing the first time the church has provided a ballpark figure for meetinghouse costs.
The news release also shared eight other graphics about church finances.
A new page titled Religion vs. Violence openly discusses the Mountain Meadows Massacre ('the most tragic event in Latter-day Saint history') and blood atonement ('not a doctrine of the church').
The page poses and answers 11 questions, including:
Are religious people more likely to be violent? Answer: No, 'most often, religious beliefs lead people to behave unselfishly and promote peaceful solutions to the world's problems.'
How do we make sense of instances of violence in the scriptures? Answer: 'They should never be used to justify violence in the present.'
The overall message of the page mirrors the peacemaking teachings of Jesus Christ, President Russell M. Nelson and others, including President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, who called violence 'a terrible and inexcusable departure from Christian teaching and conduct.'
The new Gospel Topics page about temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also answers 11 questions.
The page could be helpful both to church members trying to answer questions about temples, temple worship and temple ordinances and to those unfamiliar with them.
It provides a good, one-stop location for information on the covenants made in temples and much more.
Other questions include:
Why have there been some adjustments to temple procedures and ceremonies over time? Answer: Joseph Smith made adjustments to temple ceremonies from the church's beginnings and that has continued over the 195-year history 'as prophets have sought the Lord's guidance about the best way to explain and take the blessings of the temple to the Lord's children.'
How does the temple endowment ceremony compare to Masonic rituals? Answer: 'There are some similarities between the teaching style and outward forms of Masonic ritual and the endowment, the substance and purpose of the two ceremonies are completely different.'
That answer includes a link to the Church History Topics page on Masonry, and such links are provided in several places in all three of the new Gospel Topics pages.
'We're a partner to the cause': Church of Jesus Christ donates to center for child abuse survivors (May 23)
Elder Ronald A. Rasband dedicated the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple on Sunday. It is the first temple in the country and the church's 205th temple overall. Read the dedicatory prayer here.
Elder Quentin L. Cook is on an eight-day ministry in the church's Europe North Area. In England, he said 'The Savior accomplished everything we need.'
Elder Patrick Kearon joined a Catholic cardinal in ministering to parolees in the Philippines.
Church leaders broke ground for the Benin City Nigeria Temple.
The First Presidency announced the groundbreaking for the Vancouver Washington Temple, which isn't far from where I graduated from high school.
Latter-day Saints now can choose between a mobile or printed temple recommend.
The church used solar-powered desalination plants to provide clean drinking water to villages on five islands in Kiribati, with help to additional islands planned.
A new sign honors the people of Quincy, Illinois, for sheltering Latter-day Saint pioneers expelled from Missouri in the winter of 1838-39.
We're in the middle of a historic upheaval in sports. A new article shows how Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals are changing both the NFL and NBA, as well as college sports. Last month, only 69 underclassmen took part in the NFL Draft, down from 128 in 2021. Next month, only 106 players will be part of the NBA draft, down from 363 in 2021. More are staying in college because NIL money is more stable than draft position.
While Provo, Rexburg, Laie and Salt Lake City — homes to BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYU-Hawaii and Ensign College — are all booming along with the enrollments at those schools, falling student enrollment at many public schools is busting many American towns. Demographics are part of the problem, as U.S. births peaked at 4.3 million in 2007 and have been falling almost every year since. The doors have closed at 242 institutions that issue college degrees in the past decade, according to the Hechinger Report. Also, more students are calculating that tuition prices and the opportunity cost of lost work years aren't it. The phenomenon is mostly striking regional state colleges and universities, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywall).
It's pretty stats-heavy, but I enjoyed this look at whether Mike Trout or Mookie Betts is the best player of their generation.
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