re: #151 Petero1818

I believe it does. There is surprisingly little info written about how the Mormon Church spends that money. But, some analysis suggests that it has spent less than 10% of that money on what one might consider “charitable causes”. That however is not unique to the Mormon church. People of all religions write off contributions to religious institutions in their charitable giving. These institutions are a mixed bag in terms of where that money goes.

It depends on what you consider charitable causes.

I met a woman, now LDS, from Nigeria. She told us her story—after her father’s death, her brother had inherited the house, and she had hated going there because her brother was an alcoholic, and she hated to see her father’s house made a house of drunkenness. (Her words.)

One Sunday morning they asked her to come over, and so she did, intending just to drop in briefly. She expected to find the usual. Her brother was clean and sober and the house was orderly and calm.

Her brother and his family had joined the LDS church, which necessitated getting rid of the alcohol.

Religious benefits are intangible, but they can be good. Frequently, I admit, religion gets misapplied, but when religion is used in an introspective way meant to improve who you are, it is good.