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JERRY - James Huntsman, who resigned from the church last year, is trying to get his tithng donations back. The suit alleges the church defrauded church members by using tithing funds for purposes other than charity and hoarding large amounts of money that has no purpose, which could otherwise be used for charitable purposes.
Maybe if the church was more transparent with what is does with the donations there would be less members getting upset about it. It's hard to make an informed decision to give to an organization that keeps its financial details secret from you.Full transparency protects us from the temptation to acquire assets as our lasting goal. Do you think he has a chance of getting his money back?
JOEL - Here is what it says on the Tithing Donation slip:
"Though reasonable efforts will be made to use donations as designated, all donations become the Church's property and will be used at the Church's sole discretion to further the Church's overall mission."
By making a donation it is assumed that members agree with this statement.
There is also this on the year end statement:
"This statement contains a record of voluntary contributions to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made by the named donor(s) during the year 2020.The Church provided no goods or services in consideration, in whole or in part, for the contributions detailed below but only intangible religious benefits."
When he was a member, if Huntsman had made his voluntary donations in the correct spirit of doing it, because He loves God and wants to advance His Gospel on the earth, and not just because he wanted the blessings of doing so, he would not care how it is spent and can not expect to get any of it back at any time. And even if he did do it out of love for God also, it is too late to ask for it back.
Huntsman is no longer a believer so of course he is going to think of the church as any other organization that requires full disclosure of what they do so people can decide whether they would want to donate to it or not. But the church is not like any other earthly organization, it is a religion directed by God and prophets who are led by God. Either you trust their prophetic abilities to know what will be needed for the Church in the future or you do not. If, like most members, you do then there is no reason to question how the donations you give will be spent or saved for future use. I am quite certain the church leaders are very careful with how the donations are handled, because they do not want to offend God in any way.
The church donates to many charities. In the past year it was involved in 3600 projects in 160 countries (* Latter-day Saint Charities Boosts Global Efforts in 2020)
So far the church has been very good at making sure the acuisition of assets is not the lasting goal. The lasting goal is and always has been the building up of the kingdom of God on earth and to bring to pass the eternal life of man. If that should ever stop being the goal I think it will be evident enough for all to recognize.
Once you donate to a religion or charity it is out of your hands and they can do whatever they want with it. Huntsman will not get his money back and I thnk he knows that. He appears to just want his fifteen minutes of fame by attempting to defame the Church.
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