Religous Giving

I really don't give a rat's ass what religion, if any, you follow. I have respect for people's choice of religion. I don't, however, have any respect whatsoever for the LDS religon, among a few others. Fundamental anything, that one cult that believes something about demons in the bathtub, and Scientology also make my "seriously whacked" list. (For those who don't follow, I find a difference between an organization and a member in the organization. Maybe there are people out there who don't.)

I was told recently that the reason why the LDS Church is renovating the ZCMI Center and Crossroads Mall in Salt Lake City (both of which it owns) for $1.5 billion is because the renovation is an investment and the money will be used to help people (so THAT'S why they changed their minds about selling alcohol in restaurants there).

OK. Help People. That sounds like an honorable enough cause.

Church Sends Medical Goods Back To LDS Church
Nation To Tighten Regulation of Donations

You'd think a religion that can afford to spend $1.5 billion on a mall can afford to buy $29,000 worth of new medical equipment and bedding to donate to people who need it.

A revelation occured to me, and I went to the Give.Org website. Give.Org is the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance website. On it are a list of the BBB Charity Standards, Tips on giving money to charities, and a list of charities that's BBB approved. Among the religiously biased organizations, I find Catholic Relief Services, United Methodist Committee On Relief, and Lutheran World Relief, among others, on the website that happen to also meet the BBB Wise Giving Standards. (None of the B'Nai Brith organizations meet the standards)

I can find no LDS affliliated charity listed AT ALL on Give.Org. Huh. So I requested an inquiry to "LDS Philanthropies". FYI, the LDS Foundation "recently" (September 2005) changed its name to "LDS Philanthropies". It's website, located on the LDS official website, also says that 100% of donations go to its programs. So, no money goes to admin or fundraising at all. That seems fishy to me. Maybe all the admin and fundraising are pulled from the church's admin and fundraising, which are funded by the 10% gross income (tithing) it gets from its members.

In a form e-mail that the BBB Wise Giving Alliance e-mailed me, this is what they said regarding charities whose reports were not listed on their website: "If the organization does not appear on this list it may be that due to lack of inquiries the BBB Wise Giving Alliance has not developed information on this organization. Please note that your inquiry will be logged and if we develop a report in the future, a copy will be e-mailed to you."

The e-mail later continues, "If your request needs an additional reply, or if action is required, we will respond to you directly as soon as possible."

So we'll see if I hear anything more on this. I HIGHLY doubt it.