Monday sometime, news reports made it clear that (at least for the opponents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Christmas had come a little early. In a post from the, um, Post, we read that, “In a declaration signed under penalty of perjury, Nielsen [a former employee and current whistleblower] urges the IRS to strip the nonprofit of its tax-exempt status and alleges that Ensign could owe billions in taxes. He is seeking a reward from the IRS, which offers whistleblowers a cut of unpaid taxes that it recovers.”
Though at first glance this might seem like a story about someone speaking truth to power, closer examination suggests it is an attempt by someone who doesn’t like the Church of Jesus Christ to tar its reputation. Accusations have been filed with the IRS, but that says nothing of the merit of those accusations. Due process is one of the wonderful ideas embodied in the American system. In news reporting, however, no such standard prevails, and there is often an advantage to be gained by making an accusation and tarring your opponent with it. A substantial first mover advantage exists when attacking an opponent through the news, because reporting accusations and scandal is much more exciting and consequently reaches a larger audience than reporting the resolution of those charges or their refutation.
So why do I think that this story reflects an attempt to attack the Church’s reputation rather than a more narrow desire to right wrongs with regard to the provisions of tax law and the Church’s compliance? One goes to the media when one wants the effect that the media will predictably produce, in this case frenzy leading to reputational damage. Now it’s plausible that the whistleblower is motivated by the prospect of money. As a whistleblower, he has essentially written himself a lottery ticket. In the (frankly improbable) event that the IRS finds that someone managing an investment erred in complying with tax regulations, he stands to receive a percentage of any taxes recovered. Nice work if you can get it. On the motivational end of things, however, there appears to be more to unpack. First of all, I don’t think this is going to pan out very well for him. I’m always open to being corrected by reality, but most of what he has actually claimed amounts to the Church operating frugally, living within their means and saving for a rainy day, consistent with their published statement. Though I can’t rule it out, I would actually be inclined to largely dismiss his financial motivation for doing this, and won’t cover it more in this post. Others have dealt with the claims about the actual financial transactions very capably, notably KSL, and made the case that this is, in essence, a nothing-burger. Beyond the improbable financial outcome, however, several aspects of what was actually published cause me to call into question whether this stunt had any real intent to do anything more than tar the Church for the duration of a news cycle.
The first reason to think this is fundamentally a stunt designed to enlist negative press is the title chosen for the exposé document that has apparently been dumped on Scribd. “Letter to an IRS Director.” Let’s just say that when your title differs by only two characters (three if you count the grammatically required shift from “a” to “an”) from the year’s most popular anti-Church tract, it can only reasonably be interpreted as signaling to the Church’s opponents that you are engaged in something they should take an interest in and help to promote. E.g., it’s this year’s stunt.
In support of the stunt hypothesis, let’s look at several claims from the document. The first was brought to my attention by Jana Riess’s recent Salt Lake Tribune article. The money quote is “One would think that Jesus (in the sky!) wouldn’t need to work very hard to convince investors of his creditworthiness should he return and need money. How much does “Scientology’s EPA” get to stow away for when Xenu, dictator of the Galactic Confederacy, might return?” As Riess points out, this reflects the sort of anti-religious (and I would add specifically anti-Christian) animus that really does have the effect of undermining ones credibility in a document laying out what should be some fairly mundane arguments about taxes and the finer points of the law.
The document’s tone also lapses into vindictiveness, “That’s right. The COP built a wall around its money bin—a big, beautiful wall made of the finest fine print, and they made you pay for it.” One can almost see Scrooge McDuck, a metallic gleam in his eye, diving off the board in the Duck Tales opener just reading this stuff, but this isn’t usually the tone one adopts (I assume, maybe I haven’t written enough exposés to know) when addressing the IRS about serious tax infractions. It’s the tone one adopts when addressing a crowd that already agrees with you in their ideological biases against the Church of Jesus Christ.
The author further appears to recognize that some of his claims are patently ridiculous (“The straightforward model is a little ridiculous, but are we not already there?” pg. 19). My personal favorite is on page 20, where the author uses this “straightforward model” to show that, at their present rate of growth, the Church’s assets will, in 100 years or so, include some 2.67 quadrillion dollars. The current GDP of earth is estimated (thank you Google) at 80.68 trillion dollars, but never mind that. As much as some of our opponents have mocked us with manufactured tales of planets to be handed out to the faithful, it seems the Washington Post should have exercised more caution toward a document that claimed the Church while still a mortal entity should soon own the equivalent of the annual produce of some 33 such blessed blue orbs. Saints inheriting the earth indeed!
Frankly, in a universe in which such curious claims can gain purchase at a major news outlet, it is no wonder that the Church of Jesus Christ sets aside considerable reserves. At the very least, it has to prepare for the possibility that in an environment increasingly hostile in some quarters toward religion, it will incur substantial expenses that are difficult to predict far in advance of the emergency. These could range from loss of tax exempt status (which, honestly, should be a concern for all people of faith who see this news report for what it is), to frivolous law suits, to attacks on property, to attacks on the civil liberties of believers, to other costs incurred as a result of ideologically motivated attacks. With a past (19th century) history of being driven in various forms from three U.S. states, being denied due process, the right to vote, the right to serve on juries, and being dispossessed of Church property by an act of Congress, one can hopefully appreciate that if there is one article of faith that can be learned from the Latter-day Saints as a people, it is faith in rainy days and the wisdom of appropriately preparing for them.
About the Author
Mr Swift,
It looks like this is you first expose article . Good one .
Well said…….thanks
The entire title of this isn’t very helpful. “A post mortem on alleged whistleblower’s claims” says “Here is a serious look” your title of “A post moretem on this year’s expose stunt” says “COME AT ME BRO, NA NA NA BOO BOO!”
I find it interesting that within two days of the Post’s article the discussion about the issue has gone from “What!” to [shugs] “Well that was interesting… I wonder if there are some new cute cat videos.”
Kind of hard to generate shock the same week the president is impeached.
Olá ,sou um membro da igreja e já vi, muitos comentários sobre as finanças da igreja de JESUS CRISTO, e todos são muito parecidos, nada novo.
Fui um missionário por dois anos e posteriormente um bispo, jamais terá na terra uma igreja como essa em sua administração financeira e preparada para os tempos difíceis, sou grato por uma igreja verdadeira na terra.
Onde temos líderes gerais e locais que abdicam de 10% dos seus ganhos financeiros e ainda doam seu tempo e talento para o reino de DEUS.
Vejo pessoas serem ajudadas, missionários sem recursos partindo para missão, capelas lindas sendo dedicadas para os membros adorar ao SENHOR em local confortável.
This piece says it well, with a perfect headline; exactly right.
Well said. I find it tragic that anyone with faith could question the Church after reading the original report, yet on my social media feed it created a lot of anxiety among some believers.
I apologize if the title was irritating in some way. My intent was to make sure to include a pun in the title in keeping with the general tone of the piece.
Amen.
Not that the church has an obligation to help outside communities because we do a great job of taking care of our own but if the mentioned amount donated to other groups was the most eye opening. We do a ver poor job as LDS members as well as the church on looking for opportunities to serve once we pay tithing. 40mm over 22 yrs is laughable.
I am thinking I have let this issue consume too much of my thinking. However I think there are good points to consider. One is the Boy Scouts going from $33 annual national dues to $60 in late October. This was after 2017 when they went from $24 to $33.
I am tempted to say the change 2 months ago was driven by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exiting Boy Scouts. The problem with that theory is the Church announced plans to leave in May 2018.
The biggest complaint about 2017 and 2019 increases was not their size, but th their timing. Cub scout recruiting especially is largely done on a school year schedule. This leads to making budgets and and presenting costs in September at the latest. To then come in Octo bgg e are do an 80% cost increase, even if that iui s not the total cost, is disruptive.
The cost may be more driven by law suits than the Church of Jesus Christ leaving. If that is the case, it is hard to know how much law suits may affect the Church of Jesus Christ.
Law suits are an unforeseeable cost. I doubt there is a big threat, but who knows how many people will claim inappropriate actions by a missionary to a teenaged girl 50 years ago, with no collaboration but no one living with counter insight either. Being ready for the future is key.
All the more so because investments can loose large amounts of value.
All you have to do is watch Lars Nielsen’s 1 hour and 17 minute YouTube video about the IRS letter for it to be perfectly clear that he is simply trying to get 15 minutes of fame as the anti Mormon of the week.
He has contradicted himself multiple times, saying both “My brother/the whistleblower asked me to share this” and at other times “I didn’t ask my brother before I shared this. He states that the fund has given $0 to charitable projects in 22 years, then mentions specific times that fund has dispersed money to Brazil and another country.
He makes up bizarre claims about the Church planning on changing its name in the last days, and other things that do not resemble Church doctrine to anyone except maybe some kind of ex-Mormon bubble.
Those who are anti religion or just anti-Mormon are reading the headlines and taking it as proof of their preconceived prejudices. Others, including Forbes, point out that there is nothing credible for the IRS to “go after”
All most of us want is transparency and honesty,=. Unfortunately we have neither. What ever happened to the practice of disclosing to the Saints how their money was being spent that Joseph F Smith demanded when he was President? Oh yes it died in 1959 when the church wanted to hid its malfeasance. It has been hiding its use of its members monies ever since. Why are we along with the Catholic Church the only religious group that isn’t transparent in its financial dealings/ We need to read and apply Mormon 8 ;37.
What I think is disingenuous of this tempest in a teacup expose is the media knows it cannot prove any wrongdoing even if the Church possesses allegedly 100 billion in savings. Are GA’s driving around in Maserati’s, living in multiple mansions, and their wives wearing jewels from Tiffany’s? No. Nor does it take in account the Church never demands members to pay tithing. I from my personal experience I believe probably no more than 25% of the membership pay tithe or give contributions, and that may be a generous estimate. It seems a to be symptom of a debtor society who spends more than it makes being jealous of an organization that practices thrift and saves for a rainy day.
We ought to all be seeking opportunities to do good in the world. I think on average we do well relatively speaking, but we ought to be thinking more about the gap between what the Lord would like from us and what we are doing rather than between the Church and the world.
Transparency had plusses and minuses. On the one hand you have some additional peace of mind for those who are concerned with how other people are executing their stewardships. On the other hand, you attract attempts to extort money via kidnapping and so forth and also excite jealousy and reprisal of various sorts. You also invite constant criticism by disclosing your finances from those who stewardship it isn’t and who largely don’t understand the Lord’s purposes in various projects and programs, and may want to remake the Church of Jesus Christ in their own image.
This isn’t the members’ money. It is the Lord’s money. I’m not one bit concerned about how much the Church has or how it is managed. I know it will be handled correctly. I don’t need to have “transparency”. This guy will fall by the wayside and be forgotten. The Church will continue and fulfill its mission. He will eventually regret this whole thing. Sad! Really sad!
I would add everything is The Lords we are stewards of it. He asks us to return 10 percent. There are blessings that come from obeying that commandment. Stories of folks who have little to nothing taught the law of tithing, a detail left out. I will refer to the woman who threw in her mite, it was a decision she made. Any Priesthood holder or member who demands or pressures new members to pay tithing are completely wrong. It is our responsibility to look after the poor because they will always be with us. That’s not the Churches responsibility. What we donate in welfare offering is used for that purpose as well as fast offerings. To help more we should donate more. In addition The Church doesn’t operate like the Government, it simply can’t.
Don L. Sorenson