I’ve always been both repulsed and annoyed at the way religious organizations exploit the poor. How many times have I seen or read of preachers pressuring their flock to give when their own cupboards are empty? Too many to count I imagine.  Elder Lynn G. Robbins is a businessman and high ranking member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. He wrote an article a while back calling on the destitute to obey the “law of  tithing”. If you’re not aware what tithing means, it’s basically 10% of your income that goes automatically to the church.

Lynn ironically enough begins with Charles Dickens’ immortal A Christmas Carol, citing how men like Scrooge find it inconvenient to be charitable. It should be noted that Lynn is the founder and owner of a company called FranklinCovey, which specializes in time management training. In 2005, their revenue was over 280 million dollars. No word on how much he sacrifices to the church in terms of his own income, but I’m willing to bet it isn’t anywhere near what he recommends others give:

When serving a meal, it is much easier to set one more plate at the beginning of the meal than it is to find food for a latecomer once the meal is over and the food has been served. Likewise, isn’t it actually easier to give the Lord the firstlings or the first fruits than it is to hope that there are sufficient “leftovers” for Him? As the founder of our feast, shouldn’t He be the guest of honor, the first to be served?

Since when does a supposedly All Powerful Entity need fucking money? Is he broke or something? Does he need to refinance his debt? Maybe they want to build yet another gigantic castle. They already have 3 (mega castles), and over 100 regular sized ones, but I guess that’s not really enough, is it? The end paragraph really sums it up nicely:

I am so grateful for the Savior, who was the perfect example of obedience through sacrifice

That’s what any successful religion needs these days: complete obedience and submission from its members, especially the poor (who always seem to give more of their share than the rest, usually out of  desperation). Am I the only one who sees this as completely unappealing? When has submission ever been an admirable trait?