Thithing
In an LDS group, I saw a woman saying her bishop took away her temple recommend because she stopped paying tithing. She explained that she had medical bills and needed to buy specific things for her children, so she simply could not afford it.
What surprised me most was the lack of compassion in the comments. Instead of empathy, many people immediately told her she lacked faith or didn’t truly believe in the blessings of tithing. Several said tithing should always come before anything else.
The most common responses were things like: “My “ I'm dead poor but things would be much worse if I didn’t pay tithing, trust me.”
This reminded me of my first time visiting a Mormon church. A man gave a testimony about not having enough money to pay his bills and having to choose between working or going to the temple. The happy ending was that he managed to make extra money doing uber for a day or two, which allowed him to go to the temple. He saw that as the blessing of thithing.
I have also heard stories like a family being grateful their house was spared during a flood while their neighbors’ homes were damaged, and someone commenting that this was a blessing from paying tithing.
This mindset feels very strange to me: the idea that if you do X, God will bless you, and if you don’t, you may suffer or lose blessings. It also makes me wonder whether wealth and status are subtly seen as signs of righteousness, especially since higher church leadership often seems to be filled by financially successful people.
All I learned is:
If you pay tithing and things go well proof tithing brought blessings.
If you pay and things go badly → you're being tested, keep paying.
If you stop paying and things go badly → consequence of disobedience.
If you stop paying and things go well maybe hidden spiritual damage, or blessings withheld later.
It is strange to me to imagine a view of God where financial contributions are tied so directly to spiritual worthiness. Also some LDS communities are very harsh toward members who stop following every expectation exactly as prescribed.