I still wonder why any mormon,especially if they have read or know anything about church history and Joseph Smith, would still continue to be unaware of using common sense and logic about TSCC's founder. In his youth and young adulthood, he would convince his neighbors to pay him for giving them "directions" to find lost gold and treasure,none of which ever materialized. He claimed to have found a cave that was loaded with tons of gold plates, treasures,coins,etc and his story was backed up by BY. Now reason would tell me: "hmmmm...if this was all true, wouldn't JS have made his whole family fabulously wealthy (aka the fictional Count of Monte Cristo) rather than remaining poverty stricken?"

oops! That's "ala", not "aka"

Because they were making enough money doing "god's work" by charging people $0.25 to view the Egyptian mummies and papyri from whence came the "Book of Abraham?"

Just a thought.

Do you have a link for that?

I guess it's no more obscene than building a $5B shopping mall.

"While the Prophet was in Liberty Jail, most of the Saints moved to Quincy Illinois. We do not know exactly how the mummies and papyri got there, but we do know that Joseph Smith Sr.and Lucy Mack Smith started charging a small fee for people to come and see the mummies in the home they were using in Quincy. These two had gotten to the point where their age made it difficult for them to provide for themselves, yet showing the mummies for a small fee was within their abilities. Lucy would support herself this way for the rest of her life."

( http://ldsmag.com/article-1-14683/ )

For a more objective take on the whole affair, see:

http://signaturebooks.com/excerpt-the-joseph-smith-egyptian-papyri-a-complete-edition/

Tithing is the new version of this scam.

Give the church 10 percent and god will pour out so many blessings there will not be room enough for them.

When it doesn't work then:

You lacked faith
You failed to pay a full tithe
You sinned
You are being tested

"According to historian D. Michael Quinn, patriarchs were paid in the early years of the LDS Church. The practice of paying patriarchs diminished in the 20th century and was officially ended in 1943. "'Both the Presiding Patriarch and local stake patriarchs charged a fee. In the 1840s the fee was $1 per patriarchal blessing at Nauvoo; by the end of the nineteenth century it had increased to $2 per blessing. Joseph Smith, Sr., gave patriarchal blessings without payment of a fee, but would not record them. 'Uncle' John Smith commented that he "lived very poor ever since we left Kirtland Ohio" (from January 1838 until January 1844). Then his nephew, Joseph Smith, ordained him a patriarch 'through which office I obtained a comfortable living.' "....Patriarchal blessing fees ended in 1902, although patriarchs were allowed to accept unsolicited donations. Not until 1943 did church authorities prohibit patriarchs from accepting gratuities for giving blessings."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchal_blessing

I'm not surprised that it was originally a money making thing. Mormonism was always about making money, though they conned us into believing otherwise. I"m one of those who learned the hard way not to take patriarchal blessings seriously. I'm not stupid, but I was quite the vulnerable one in my youth, and Mormon craziness brought me a lot of comfort. Disillusionment in the older years is not much fun, but it does teach you to be wary of scams.

One of the biggest reasons that so many people have turned away from religion is because of the many scams fleecing people in the name of God, Jesus, and the Bible. Instead of making an affordable contribution to a local humble church, people bedazzled by a wealthy TV preacher put themselves at risk (I'm thinking elderly and disabled, stuck at home with TV) to support a "chosen by God" Jackass who doesn't give a hoot about their well-being. At least a local humble preacher will visit you live and try to help you access needed resources. It's no wonder that today's young adults are wrinkling their noses at religion.

Hey, when you run a religion you get to have revelations that say: "Build me a house where I can stay for free--and put a tavern in it."

Joseph discovered an easy way to make a living, and ran with it.

It yielded more rewards than his treasure seeking did. That only landed him in jail or court. He shied away from physical labor. It's too bad he didn't use his creative genius to have done something more useful with his talents than to run a religious cult in order to "fleece the flock."