This church doesn’t give a damn about me. That’s how I feel this morning. I am very upset about my finances and tithing at the moment. I have faithfully paid my tithing all my life but I really resent it now. Shouldn’t I have a testimony of tithing by now? John 7:17 says “ if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” How much longer do I have to live the principle of tithing before I get a testimony of it?
I have lived on poverty wages for the last ten years as I have tried to get through graduate school and post-graduate training. I still don’t have an independent position and am likely still 2-4 years away from that goal. A lot of my financial support has come from government grant stipends designed to support a single individual. Yet I have chosen to have a family (being a good little mormon, and not delaying as directed) and encouraged my wife to stay at home to raise our children. Should a stipend intended for my living expenses and training be used to pay tithing? I bought a computer 3+ years ago and I am still paying it off. I needed it to complete my thesis. I had to buy it on a credit card. Does the church ever have to pay for a computer using credit. The church's leaders like to brag how it is not in debt so I guess not. How is the church not in debt? - by keeping suckers like me enslaved to tithing. I can’t afford to hire a tutor for my daughter and I totally resent it. What about all the pressure we have received to go on dates every week with our spouses? How many general authorities go on weekly dates with their wives? How much on average do they spend per date? I can’t afford to go on dates.
My father-in-law is visiting this week and we feel obligated to do some things with him while he is here. All of the expenses are going on a credit card because all the money is gone for bills already.
My wife has donated plasma in the past to try to keep us afloat. I would like to donate plasma but it takes a lot of time (3+ hours a donation at our local blood bank) and I can’t justify being away from the lab that much twice a week.
If for the last couple years I had used my tithing to pay off debt I have accrued while getting my education and take my family on some inexpensive vacations I would not have debt. I have tried to save 100$ a month in a retirement fund. I pay over twice that a month on tithing. It isn’t fair. It is taking me so long to get to where I will make a decent salary that I can’t save along the way. I am debating on taking all my savings to pay off my credit card debt but I don’t want to. I’d rather stop paying tithing, pay debt off (a commandment of the church) and save for my future retirement and the education of my kids. My oldest daughter is nine. I don’t have a cent saved for her college education. When are the windows of heaven going to be opened on my behalf.
Do the apostles of our church pay tithing? Our church has a lay ministry you know. At least it does at the local level. However, our apostles get money but won’t reveal what the living wage they receive from the church is. That is private information. I wonder if they all receive the same amount of money. They apparently can make money. Many of the apostles sell compilations of their general conference talks. Is that just? Selling the word of God for profit through Deseret book. What about Luke 9:3 where the apostles are commanded to “take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money. . . . ” There are so many double standards in this church.
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