This last week I listened to a podcast where they interviewed Bill Gates. He talked about what it was like being the richest person in the world when he was just in his 30’s. When asked how he handled that, he said luckily his parents instilled in him that “To who much is given, much is expected”. (a paraphrase of Luke 12:48) (as somebody pointed out, it should be “whom”, but I re-listened to the podcast, and he said who. Being a billionaire does not make you an English expert!)
Gates then said that in his 40’s he started learning about philanthropy to see if there was a smart way to give back. He said he studied Rockefeller and Carnegie to see how they did it. He then set up the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. One of their first goals was childhood vaccines in poor countries. He said that in the year 2000, 10 million kids died, and with his foundation’s work with vaccine availability and working with partners, that number is down to 5 million. Gates said it they can can get more rich countries to care about poor countries, they could get that down to 2.5 million.
We can probably expect that number to go up with the current cut of off of foreign aid by the new Trump administration. Having an anti-vaccine guy as the head of all health in the US, we will probably see an uptick in childhood deaths in the US as well.
Too bad the Gates foundation couldn’t find a wealthy benefactor to replace the US government that followed the Bible and believed in Luke 12:48. Say a church that had $200 billion lying around that could be used to save children.
Mr Gates, if you are reading Wheat&Tares (which I have a feeling you are), let me give you a hint. The Mormon Church has $206 B that they don’t know what to do with. (see Widows Mite report for 2024) They might say they need that money to build all the new temples they have on the books, but they could cover that backlog with only $8 billion. In fact they could knock down and rebuild every temple they currently have, plus build the new ones for $40 billion.
Also Mr. Gates, if the Mormon Church continues spending and investing as they have been doing for the past 20 years, they will have over One Trillion Dollars ($1, 000,000,000,000) between 2045 and 2050. They need help. Please reach out to them and offer to lend them your expertise, as they are in over their heads now, and don’t know what to do with all their money. Maybe read Luke 12:48 with them to break the ice in your first meeting.
Wheat & Tares 
The Gates foundation is wonderful. And Mr Gates business practices at Microsoft were deplorable. Perhaps if he truly cares about humanity he should consider back payments to his hard working employees and to the companies he acquired by bankrupting them rather than paying a fair fee.
Two things can be true at the same time.
In 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, started The Giving Pledge. They contacted the super-rich and committed them to donate most of their fortune to good causes. These are the present signers: https://givingpledge.org/pledgers This arrived on my radar when the LDS web sites were promoting Jon Huntsman signing the pledge. I think this is wonderful! However, I would like to see that all these people/corporations also give back to their employees who helped them make their millions. Within many corporations, only upper management are rewarded for their hard work. The lower end worker is viewed as a commodity. We are all working for them by high commodity prices that they receive via passive income in the stock market.
Andrew Carnegie exploited his workers to long hours, a dangerous workplace, and low pay. They were cast aside when they were no longer physically able to meet the demands of the workplace. Carnegie’s mills were so dangerous that 20% of men’s deaths in Pittsburgh during the 1880s were at his factories. When a machine exploded, killing several of his workers, he expressed more concern for the loss of production than for the loss of life. His employees faced a 30 percent pay reduction in 1892. Today we think of Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Library, Carnegie/Carnegie……which was his real legacy?
Compare this is Warren Buffett. His belief that CEOs should be incentivized to deliver long-term success for their companies — and that huge salaries, big bonuses, and short-dated stock options encourage only near-term thinking. Even though his $134 billion ranks him among the richest people on the planet, Buffett still lives in house he bought for $31K in 1958, drives and older car and eats breakfast at McDonald’s. In 2022, his total compensation was $414,000, which was 5.4 times its median employee’s. For comparison, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski made 1,224 times more than the median pay of his workers in 2022.
There is a whole range of how corporations treat and reward their staff. I believe that the CEO salary/benefits should only be 20X greater compared to its’ lowest paid worker, not the current 200X their median worker. If they are going to be generous with their charity work, go back and share it with all your prior employees who helped you create it, not only to some charity to have your name passed down through the generations.
Likewise the LDS church obligates its members to give tithing dollars, while they can not cover their own household expenses. When the institution (rarely) donates the $$$ to a charity, its’ name is plastered all over the goods for the photo-op. Give the members a break on their tithing and be charitable back to those who gave you those funds in the $250B account. You are breaking the backs of those who created your wealth and fortune. What will be your long term legacy?
Same with Warren Buffet!
This about sums it up for me.
Bill Gates is worth over 100 billion–so is the church. Bill Gates is one person–the church is many.
There is an extremely common thread that runs through ALL of scripture, including the Book of Mormon. That thread is
expressed by Isaiah in the very first chapter.
“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the LORD.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
12When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
13Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows.
This critique is seen “Every” time civilizations begin to crumble. Scripture refers to “unrighteousness” NOT as skipping church
and failing to read your bible, or perform the proper temple rituals, but as a “Social” problem, where we begin to hoard money
for our own selves, and neglect the poor, the oppressed, widows and orphans. Jesus’ own words repeatedly point out the danger
of righteousness being defined by religious piety and ritual.
When the LDS church uses Tithing dollars, (I know they say they did not come form tithing) to build a Billion-dollar shopping center,
which houses some of the most opulent stores, where a pair of shoes costs $2,000, and then have all the suits (Apostles) gather
to cut the ribbon on opening day and say, “Lets go shopping”, Yeah, I think you deserve all the criticism you are getting.
The fact is, our LDS tradition has largely become another instance of the Zoramites and the Pharisees. We suggest we are “saved”
by ritual ordinances which require certain loyalties to get, but don’t consider humanitarian efforts, in all their forms, necessary
for salvation. Me thinks, if Jesus were here, that LDS leadership would be getting a similar critique as what was given to his own
Jewish people 2000 years ago.
If only the corporation followed the Bible, they would not be the wealthiest “church” on the planet, and much good would have already been done for the living here today in accordance with its precepts.
Josh, Bednar’s “Faith to NOT be healed” works insofar he is willing to give up claiming the reason someone was not healed was because they lacked faith.
Bednar’s assertion now suggests that NOT being healed may be the greater sign of supreme faith. Interesting philosophical conundrums that I believe he,
and all the general authorities never consider. He is literally undermining the assertion that the Bible supports the assertion that people are healing according
to their faith.