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< Mormonismo e a Integridade da Igreja
Uma série de críticas se estendem em relação ao City Creek Center Shopping, em Salt Lake City.
A Igreja anunciou pela primeira vez, há três anos, que estava planejando reestruturar a zona central da cidade para dinamizar a economia da cidade que abriga a sua sede e para reforçar a área perto da Praça do Templo. Nenhum dinheiro do dízimo será usado na reconstrução.(Clique aqui para obter o artigo completo (Inglês))
Cerca de 1,5 bilhão foi gasto no desenvolvimento do shopping. Nenhum dinheiro do dízimo foi investido no projeto City Creek. No entanto, os fundos que são investidos podem muito bem pagar dividendos no futuro, bem como proporcionar muitos benefícios para a comunidade e as pessoas que vivem nela.
A motivação para o envolvimento da Igreja no projeto City Creek Center está descrito em uma extensa entrevista com o Bispo Presidente, H. David Burton: "Líderes mórmons e Salt Lake City trabalham juntos para transformar a região", Deseret News (7 de Março de 2010). Deseret News tem mais informações sobre a construção e o financiamento (ver aqui.(veja aqui, em inglês).
No século 19, os fundos para a Igreja e Estado, Igreja e negócios, etc., foram todos misturados durante uma boa parte do período da "Grande Bacia" até vir a se tornar um Estado. Isso aconteceu porque, quando os Santos chegaram em Utah não havia uma comunidade pré-existente. Não havia infraestrutura nem pessoas jurídicas que provessem nem mesmo os recursos mais básicos de sobrevivência. Tudo tinha que vir da igreja e seus membros. E pelas primeiras décadas, nenhum dos membros da igreja estava realmente em condições de investir grande capital em projetos como estradas, pontes, canais, moinhos, e outras necessidades. Portanto, a Igreja entrou em cena e não era apenas uma fonte de ajuda espiritual, mas de ajuda temporal também. A maior parte do "investimento" feito por membros veio sob a forma de bens e de trabalho, e não o dinheiro depositado em uma conta bancária ou de corretagem.
É simplesmente um pretexto, para os críticos de A Igreja, voltarem no tempo até que possam equacionar tudo o que a Igreja tem a uma doação de dízimo ou ofertas. Isso não torna o Presidente Hinckley um mentiroso.
O custo do City Creek Center foi de aproximadamente US$ 1,5 bilhōes, e não US$ 5 bilhões. (A cifra "US$ 5 bilhões de dólares" é popularmente usada em fóruns de ex-mórmons).
A partir do artigo da Wikipédia "City Creek Center": "O Creek City Center é parte do projeto de design sustentável estimado em US$5 bilhões, para revitalizar o centro de Salt Lake City . O projeto City Creek Center em si foi orçado em cerca de US $ 1,5 bilhão." off-site
A cifra de "US$5 bilhões "de dólares refere-se ao custo de todo o projeto de reconstrução do centro de Salt Lake City, referido como "Downtown Rising"( Ascenção do Centro). O Creek City Center custou US$ 1,5 bilhōes. Os detalhes sobre estes projetos poderão ser vistos em Downtown Rising. Outros projetos incluem o seguinte:
Alguns têm insistido que os fundos seriam melhor usados se direcionado para obras de caridade, tais como alimentar os pobres. A Igreja de fato tem um extenso esforço humanitário. Os críticos que tem esse ponto de vista muitas vezes ignoram o fato de que os fundos da Igreja não são melhor gerenciados deixados em uma conta bancária, mas sim, através de um investimento prudente. Investimento em propriedades e desenvolvimento imobiliário é muitas vezes uma abordagem de investimento sábio e, por fim, lucrativo.
É inteiramente possível que o City Creek Center Shopping acabará por se tornar um empreendimento lucrativo(rentável), já que a Igreja recolhe aluguel dos comerciantes do shopping. Esta estratégia de investimento permitira que a Igreja, ao longo do tempo, recupere o seu investimento inicial ou até mesmo ganhe dinheiro que poderia futuramente ser dedicado aos objetivos religiosos e humanitários da Igreja.
Os críticos também ignoram o fato de que, se o dinheiro é gasto para alimentar os necessitados, o dinheiro vai embora. Por outro lado, se a Igreja reinveste no núcleo do centro de Salt Lake City, isso proporciona empregos e estímulo econômico (por exemplo, através da construção e, em seguida, os trabalhos de serviço-indústria que irá preencher o shopping após a sua conclusão). Embora fornecendo menos ganhos de curto prazo, esta estratégia de longo prazo de "ensinar um homem a pescar" poderia vir a beneficiar muito mais pessoas, permitindo-lhes a "ajudarem a si mesmos." Bispo Presidente H. David Burton observou:
E quando você recebe o impacto secundário desses 1.700 postos de trabalho primário e o efeito multiplicado, é uma contribuição substancial para este estado e esta comunidade e sua base fiscal, disse Bishop Burton." Qualquer parcela de propriedade que aigreja possui que não é usada diretamente para o serviço eclesiástico é totalmente tributado no seu valor no mercado ". [1]
Além disso, o investimento em propriedade não impossibilita a Igreja de continuar os seus esforços de serviço' com outras verbas. Esta não é uma questão de "ou isso/ou aquilo".
If Salt Lake can avoid the fate of so many other inner cities--a lapse into disrepair, poverty, and crime--this will likewise benefit all the city's inhabitants. The Church seems to be taking a longer view to preserve the city core for the future. One observer has noted economic and social benefits already:
Some have wondered if the mall will be required to adhere to LDS standards (e.g., no sale of alcohol, no Sunday openings). The City Creek development (which includes other establishments and housing in addition to the mall) is a joint venture between a real estate developer owned by the LDS church and another developer that is not affiliated with the church. It appears that alcohol will be served at some venues, and some venues will be open on Sundays, but that this will only be permitted at venues which are owned by the partner developer, NOT at the venues which are owned by the LDS church's development company. [3]
As for July 2013, the redevelopment seems to be improving matters as hoped. The New York Times reported:
The mall also has, as of July 2013, a 98% occupancy rate, and data suggest that there was a demand for retail space that the mall helped to fill, shifting spending from on-line realtors to the local economy:
Some have wondered whether tithing funds (even from long ago) aren't the "ultimate" source of the funds used in the redevelopment. A review of the history of such funds and Church involvement in business suggests that this is not the case.
In the first place, it should be remembered that to mix tithing (tax-deductible) funds with taxable funds from other sources would cause major issues with the IRS, something which the Church would be unlikely to risk--both because to do so would be dishonest, and because the legal and public-relations consequences would be severe, even if they were inclined to do so.
The church has a number of for-profit businesses including real estate, ranching and agriculture, media, mercantile, etc. They have carefully invested for over a century in order to have a good financial cushion in order not to be severely in debt as they were in the late 1890s-early 1900s, nor to be on the verge of financial distress as they were in the late 1950s-early 1960s from over-spending building church meeting houses and other church-related ventures and expenditures.
As for where the money came from, obviously some of it would be considered sacred funds like tithing but we need to keep in mind that church and state, church and business, etc., were all intermingled during a good portion of the Great Basin period leading up to statehood. This was because when the Saints arrived in Utah there was no pre-existing community. There was no infrastructure nor corporate entities providing for even the bare essentials of life. Everything had to come from the church and its members. And for the first few decades, none of the church's members were really in a position to invest large capital on projects like roads, bridges, canals, mills, and other necessities. Therefore, the church stepped in and was not only a source of spiritual aid but physical aid as well.
The church used what precious funds it could to build infrastructure and provide for the needs of the people. In the process, the church and its leading members created companies like Deseret Bank and Zion's Bank, Deseret Produce Company, Deseret Salt Company, Deseret Telegraph, Deseret Manufacturing Society, Deseret Iron Company, Jordan River Canal Company, Davis Canal and Irrigation Company, Utah Central Railroad, Utah Southern Railroad, Utah Northern Railroad and a host of other companies. Some companies were successful and others were complete failures.
Members donated time to build buildings, help build railroads, canals and other projects. Those with money "invested" knowing they would probably see only a partial return. Often, the stocks held by these investors earned pennies to the dollars invested and quite often were eventually turned over to the church as a gift. They were all doing what they could to build up the kingdom. Heber J. Grant, for example, had an insurance company that was sold for a very low price to the church and then combined with another insurance company to create Beneficial Life. Deseret Telegraph was later sold to Western Union. Even the hospitals and universities were originally church-owned and run ventures because they had to be.
So, that is where the original money came from that was then used to invest in more profitable business ventures and later used for projects like City Creek Mall. Some of these ventures became profitable and were sold as the church divested itself of businesses they felt other companies could run. The banks were sold, the hospitals were sold. The Church had originally been given an enormous amount of Union Pacific stock shares as well as rails and rolling stock to pay Brigham Young and other investors, including the Church, for labor building the road beds, etc., in Utah. Eventually the church sold its railroads, built from materials and money that came from Union Pacific, back to Union Pacific and made a good amount of money. That money was, in turn, reinvested in other ventures for later use.
Ultimately, the church goes to great length not to mix sacred money with church investments but is constantly trying to use its investments to further the goals of the Church. City Creek Mall was made not to make money (although that has turned out to be a wonderful side-benefit thus far) but to create a place that would draw people back to downtown Salt Lake City. Church leaders were very concerned that downtown Salt Lake City was slowly dying. Stores were closing and the downtown was becoming blighted and unattractive. Church leaders did not want Temple Square and other church buildings to be surrounded by rundown blocks that few people were going to. Therefore, they felt it was worth the investment to build something beautiful and productive that would draw other businesses, restaurants, etc. and keep the blocks surrounding Temple Square vibrant. They seem to have succeeded, and also have provided an economic boon to the region.
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