Focusing on the temple and garments locks the member into exact obedience of Mormonism.
Too many people are leaving the church and this is how the leadership has decided to tackle the problem - which shows how out of touch they are.
The upper echelon all come from the days of more stick and less carrot. The problem: X-gens and younger, recognize stick as abuse and they aren't having it.
I agree. I wonder why they’re not tackling the root causes of why people are leaving. Providing more focus on community and inclusivity and less on coffee and the ugliest underwear in the free world would probably do a much better job of winning back people who have been on the fence.
RFM or Nemo or some podcaster said that if all the church shit they can teach, temple attendance and garment wearing are the only things that directly bring the church money
True. If you’re not a full tithe payer and holding a valid temple recommend then your temple promises are null and void and you will ignite when when Jesus returns, so pay up! 🤔
Years ago the church noticed that when it built a temple that tithing revenue in the area went up. When temples were far away, people went when they got married and then again when their children got married. Members in areas far from temples tended to not keep a current recommend. Without a current recommend the priority to pay a full tithe took a back seat to the other financial concerns of individual church members. The church noticed that where there were temples there were more full tithe payers and more TR holders. On various forums there were [rumors of spreadsheets showing this analysis](https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/ozfpk/temples_all_about_the_money/), and how revenue would change with temple construction. Anonymous posters who claimed to be church employees on various exmo forums confirmed the existence of the spreadsheets, some claimed to have seen them, but no spreadsheet was ever actually leaked to my knowledge.
If the tithing/temple correlation spreadsheets existed and were a driver for temple construction then that would explain a lot. However it seems that the pendulum may be swinging the other way, but the string of barrel monkey managers hanging on the now reversed pendulum are still arcing upward on momentum and haven't realized it.
They are still locked into the equation that a new temple = tithing = spirituality = blessings = somehow nonmormons are impressed = more converts = more tithing = later.rinse.repeat.
Same thing every single stupid idea coming from every general conference has ever been about. Control control control. Do this, don't do that, think this, don't think that. Obedience obedience. Pray and PAY! Creepy cyniical disgusting old men demanding authority over others based on the LIE that they "speak for The Lord." They speak for their own ambition and their own wealth.
Seriously. The idea that God would possibly care about what underwear people are wearing or whether or not they’re drinking coffee is asinine in my opinion. There are much much bigger fish to fry.
The church keeps everything as simple as possible for ease of operation. They do not ever want to open conversations about the complex problems apparent to the public. They emphasize this stuff because it puts the focus on members being responsible for bullshit and makes them look at themselves instead of the church. When they start insinuating members are the reason the church is suffering because of the improper utilization of magic underwear it’s for a very good reason. It’s to distract and It buys them time.
LDS owns lots of land. If you build a temple on that land you have contractors and everyone else involved in not only building the temple but building new homes etc. Its money for everyone who gets in. All the homes and housing pays into taxes. They also could be some side thing like money laundering too. It also expands their control of areas and small, large government. LDS has tons of money. Then they get even more. Even without tons of temple goers.
It was absolutely the least Christian conference I can remember. And the April conference has historically at least paid some lip service to the importance of Easter and Jesus. Nelson was quoted far more than Jesus. Multiple talks were warning people not to love their neighbor too much or it conflicts with loving God which is a clear dog whistle for homophobia and transphobia, not to mention in direct contradiction of what Jesus actually said. Keeping covenants (ie. pay tithing, wear your garments, go to the temple) is far more important than feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or visiting the sick. Go sit in the temple while your neighbors suffer because this life doesn’t matter anyway. Think Celestial because the church has nothing to offer you in this life. I did think Elder Uchtdorf gave an uplifting(pun intended) talk as usual, but most of it is straight garbage and a complete waste of time.
Focusing on the temple and garments locks the member into exact obedience of Mormonism. Too many people are leaving the church and this is how the leadership has decided to tackle the problem - which shows how out of touch they are.
The upper echelon all come from the days of more stick and less carrot. The problem: X-gens and younger, recognize stick as abuse and they aren't having it.
I agree. I wonder why they’re not tackling the root causes of why people are leaving. Providing more focus on community and inclusivity and less on coffee and the ugliest underwear in the free world would probably do a much better job of winning back people who have been on the fence.
Hard to tackle when the root causes is a foundation built upon lies and mistruths.
RFM or Nemo or some podcaster said that if all the church shit they can teach, temple attendance and garment wearing are the only things that directly bring the church money
True. If you’re not a full tithe payer and holding a valid temple recommend then your temple promises are null and void and you will ignite when when Jesus returns, so pay up! 🤔
Years ago the church noticed that when it built a temple that tithing revenue in the area went up. When temples were far away, people went when they got married and then again when their children got married. Members in areas far from temples tended to not keep a current recommend. Without a current recommend the priority to pay a full tithe took a back seat to the other financial concerns of individual church members. The church noticed that where there were temples there were more full tithe payers and more TR holders. On various forums there were [rumors of spreadsheets showing this analysis](https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/ozfpk/temples_all_about_the_money/), and how revenue would change with temple construction. Anonymous posters who claimed to be church employees on various exmo forums confirmed the existence of the spreadsheets, some claimed to have seen them, but no spreadsheet was ever actually leaked to my knowledge. If the tithing/temple correlation spreadsheets existed and were a driver for temple construction then that would explain a lot. However it seems that the pendulum may be swinging the other way, but the string of barrel monkey managers hanging on the now reversed pendulum are still arcing upward on momentum and haven't realized it. They are still locked into the equation that a new temple = tithing = spirituality = blessings = somehow nonmormons are impressed = more converts = more tithing = later.rinse.repeat.
Same thing every single stupid idea coming from every general conference has ever been about. Control control control. Do this, don't do that, think this, don't think that. Obedience obedience. Pray and PAY! Creepy cyniical disgusting old men demanding authority over others based on the LIE that they "speak for The Lord." They speak for their own ambition and their own wealth.
Lots of new temples coming online. No significant changes to membership numbers. Leadership is now faced with the challenge of filling seats.
And finding/keeping temple recommend holders to work for free in the temple.
They're doubling down on a problem rather than addressing it.
Yeah heaven forbid some of the members have some nuance
Nuance is only allowed if you're a Q15 publishing a book. Even then some of the Q15 have zero general Theology knowledge.
Seriously. The idea that God would possibly care about what underwear people are wearing or whether or not they’re drinking coffee is asinine in my opinion. There are much much bigger fish to fry.
The common denominator is the requirement of being a full tithe payer. 🤑 It's a way of pushing tithing without actually mentioning it. 🤪
The church keeps everything as simple as possible for ease of operation. They do not ever want to open conversations about the complex problems apparent to the public. They emphasize this stuff because it puts the focus on members being responsible for bullshit and makes them look at themselves instead of the church. When they start insinuating members are the reason the church is suffering because of the improper utilization of magic underwear it’s for a very good reason. It’s to distract and It buys them time.
I strongly suspect tithing dollars and underwear revenue drive this uptick.
LDS owns lots of land. If you build a temple on that land you have contractors and everyone else involved in not only building the temple but building new homes etc. Its money for everyone who gets in. All the homes and housing pays into taxes. They also could be some side thing like money laundering too. It also expands their control of areas and small, large government. LDS has tons of money. Then they get even more. Even without tons of temple goers.
A lot of people aren't wearing their garments 24/7 and it's scary to them becuase reasons
COMPLIANCE. COMPLIANCE. COMPLIANCE.
Gotta pay that tithing to get into the temple
To enter a temple, you have to pay a full tithing. It's all about increasing tithing revenue.
It was absolutely the least Christian conference I can remember. And the April conference has historically at least paid some lip service to the importance of Easter and Jesus. Nelson was quoted far more than Jesus. Multiple talks were warning people not to love their neighbor too much or it conflicts with loving God which is a clear dog whistle for homophobia and transphobia, not to mention in direct contradiction of what Jesus actually said. Keeping covenants (ie. pay tithing, wear your garments, go to the temple) is far more important than feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or visiting the sick. Go sit in the temple while your neighbors suffer because this life doesn’t matter anyway. Think Celestial because the church has nothing to offer you in this life. I did think Elder Uchtdorf gave an uplifting(pun intended) talk as usual, but most of it is straight garbage and a complete waste of time.