In which I nobly attempt to reassure certain critics of the Church

Here is an item that was posted earlier today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation:

“Hearing the Voice of the Lord in the Mind: When Ministering and Serving” (Part Two of a Series Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

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I like this opinion piece, which appeared (of all places) on an NBC News website, regarding the recent Netflix series Murder Among the Mormons:

“Netflix’s ‘Murder Among the Mormons’ uses the same stereotypes about our faith as the villain: The filmmakers rely on clichés (and worse) in portraying the church and its members, who were victimized by a criminal who tried to undermine their faith.”

Not to be outdone, Mr. Jonathan Neville, Esq., has also had something to say about Mark Hofmann and Murder Among the Mormons, and it’s both charitable and deeply inspiring:

“Those who live in glass houses, pt. 12”

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Sic et Non again demonstrates that it’s your one-stop shop for all the investment news that you’ll ever need:

“Bitcoin Crashes As Millions Cash Out To Invest In Dr. Seuss Books”

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There is, I’ve noticed online, a whole new source of heartburn, Angst, and indignation among some critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

“Stimulus payments will start going out this weekend”

They fear — and I’m not making this up — that at least some of those who received federal stimulus checks will pay tithes to the Church on the checks or, anyway, will find the payment of tithes facilitated by receiving them.

In my charitable desire to grant at least a measure of serenity to the minds of those worried critics, I want to point out that recipients of the stimulus checks will be entirely free to spend the money as they wish.  Which means, given the scores and scores of millions of Americans who will receive federal payments, that relatively few will be tithing that money to the Church.  In fact, it’s a virtual certainty that some will take their money to the racetracks and to the casinos.  Some will fork at least a portion of it over for cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine.  Heck, some will even spend it on prostitutes.  And it’s not inconceivable that one or two will put it toward a hitman to take out an unwanted spouse or a business rival.

So the situation isn’t nearly as bleak as some of the critics fear.