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baeb66 t1_jcbxf7z wrote

Why is the LDS church running farms in the first place? That whole organization is just one giant corporation masquerading as a religious institution.

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habb t1_jcc6d68 wrote

they even have a stock portfolio that they use to gamble on the stock market with the tithing money

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DIWhy-not t1_jcc8ag7 wrote

They have a $44 BILLION stock portfolio. That’s as much money in play as major hedge funds like Citadel.

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clarkn0va t1_jccoowv wrote

If that's gambling, they must be the house.

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habb t1_jce6xld wrote

why would ol' joseph smith trust his money with anyone else?

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Elsecaller_17-5 t1_jccw6z8 wrote

The farms are nonprofits and provide food for those in need.

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TerryCratchett t1_jcfkwmn wrote

Not all of them. They run an enormous for-profit farming and ranching operation. Check out AgReserves. Owned 100% by LDS church.

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ninja_stelf t1_jccptad wrote

As 20,000 acre feet of water rights will no longer be diverted for agriculture, the Lake will benefit greatly.

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JordanT4 t1_jccbpjf wrote

The Church uses farmland, ranches, and other facilities to produce the aid we send out. It makes its own donations rather than rely on the good will of corporations giving when they feel like it.

I know many distrust the business activities of the Church, but it all stems from necessity. When we first became a church pretty much no one liked us so we had to make a life by ourselves. Especially when we exiled ourselves out to Utah and people would refuse to even sell to us prior to that. The Church has had to be self-reliant and the businesses it operates come from that tradition of self-reliance.

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johnsnowforpresident t1_jccigzo wrote

There's a difference between self-sufficiency and becoming a megacorp. It may have started as a necessity, but now its just a tax dodge. Given that the LDS church basically runs Utah politics these days, it's pretty disingenuous to claim necessity at all at this point.

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ClonedUser t1_jccj33e wrote

I wonder why people have this distrust. To be clear, I have no problem with them using the money for aid or sending people on mission trips, but there’s a lot of shady stuff that goes on financially.

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GMorristwn t1_jcf0nzh wrote

Doesn't help the church was founded by a grifter...

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