According to some extreme critics, the San Jos\u00e9 Costa Rica Temple is intended to extract revenue from the people of that country so as to line the pockets of the Church\u2019s plutocratic leadership in Utah.
(Photograph from LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve had several people write to me lately, insisting that Islam isn\u2019t actually a religion at all. \u00a0It\u2019s really, they say, a totalitarian political ideology masquerading<\/em> as a religion.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I\u2019m told such things, I immediately think of those who deny that my church \u2014 my \u201cso-called<\/em> church,\u201d they would say \u2014 is really a religion. \u00a0Rather, they say, it\u2019s a business \u2014 \u201cLD$ Inc.\u201d \u2014 run for the financial benefit of its greedy and power-hungry leaders. \u00a0We who loyally \u201cpay, pray, and obey\u201d are merely \u201csheeple,\u201d \u201cMor(m)ons,\u201d and, in many cases, \u201cUtards.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s all about malls and farms and land-holdings, not about anything spiritual. \u00a0Even our temples, they allege, are merely \u201cprofit centers,\u201d intended as tools to induce us\u00a0dupes to fork over our tithes.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, when I\u2019m told such things, I\u2019m also reminded of Parson Thwackum in Henry Fielding\u2019s classic 1749 novel\u00a0The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling<\/i>:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I mention religion,\u201d declares Parson Thwackum, \u201cI mean the Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion, but the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve had several people write to me lately, insisting that Islam isn\u2019t actually a religion at all. \u00a0It\u2019s really, they say, a totalitarian political ideology masquerading as a religion. \u00a0 When I\u2019m told such things, I immediately think of those who deny that my church \u2014 my \u201cso-called church,\u201d they would say \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>