Religion and Money.

S

snowbd122006

New member
Yeah, I guess when you say it like that it makes more sense, the paintings can only be sold once and yes, the church would probably only last a year on the proceeds from said paintings.

And with the building thing I guess that the you can have just as much faith in one as the other, but still, it shouldn't matter to you whether your faith is in a hovel or a mansion.

And again yes, it is all about money and power.
 
But, even if they sold all the paintings and artifacts, wouldn't that be the same as selling rosaries? Also, if you can not afford to purchase a rosary or bible or other items, the Catholic church will give them to you. You just have to ask.

I went to Catholic church the majority of my youth, and I have never, ever, never heard them say that if you donated more money you would go to heaven. That is something televangelists say. The Catholic church is very open about where their money goes. The clergy often lives in near poverty and in complexes or apartments, very rarely do they have their own houses. In my area, fathers and nuns live in housing provided by the church in return for their services. On the other side of my family, the rural Christian church my great grandparents helped build contains the church and the pastor's housing on one piece of property. The pastor now (I can't speak for previous pastors) is a nice guy with a wife who sews clothes and stuffed animals and stuff and ships them to Russia and Afghanistan, ect, ect. The house they live in is passed down from pastor to pastor when the pastor retires. They drive an old truck and do not have any real income other than donations from the congregation. The pastor spends a lot of his time actually going to help others, such as building fences, taking the elderly grocery shopping, gathering donated food items, ect, ect...without the congregations help and donations, he would not be able to do so.

People do not buy or donate to a church because they think it will get them to heaven. They donate and buy because they want to help the people who give their lives to human services.

Now, this is all on a small local scale. The politics of religion, any religion whether it be Catholic or Christian or Muslim, often treat religion as commerce and use it to gain wealth and start wars. These are the bad people, and guess what---they would exist without religion with equal greed just a different format.

Yes, there are greedy people in the world and there are sheep who follow them. This does not mean that they represent all of the people or that they accurately represent their faith.

For example, the Qu'ran and the bible state that men should live modestly and without greed---but we all know that they don't really do that.

So, what I am really saying is that faith should be based on internal forces. It is not something that should be judged based on the actions of others, but on the spirit of the self.

There is greed and evil in everything human kind touches, but there is also good and charity.
 
there was a report on npr not too long ago where a group of nuns for some church in los angeles were being evicted from their slum housing because it was being sold to a developer. They were living like illegal aliens; 6 to a room in a crappy building. The monks weren't much better off; only 5 to a room.
 
But then there is the fact that some people do give to the church because they think that they will go to heaven because of it. I have to add here, that in my previous church in england, they didn't give you a rosary if you asked for one, you would have to buy it from the chrch itself, or the little shop that opened briefly after mass ended.

Also, I'm not attacking the preachers, pastors or nuns that a in the church, I believe that they have givent heir life for the church because they truely believe in the church and its spirit. I'm more attacking the people who are taking advantage of the church and its spirituality, and the church itself for not saying that it dissapproves of these things.

I agree with the thing about faith being based on internal forces, in fact I completely agree, I'm just saying that it shouldn't be spurred on by commercialism and souvenir shops at holy sites.
 
You know, I just realized that that is a biblical point. In the Bible, I think it was shortly before Jesus was killed, he walked into the temple to find tons of people selling stuff. Now, if I remember correctly, the stuff they were selling was birds and animals which would be used for sacrifices; sacrificing was a main thing that went on in the temple.

But Jesus wouldn't stand for it, and drove them all out. According to the Bible, he said (something like) this: "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves!"

Just seemed to fit the topic.
 
Churches are tax-free businesses. Everything they do makes a lot more sense in the context of a profit-driven capitalist business model.

We have churches in my hometown that advertise on billboards. They encourage people to bring their friends. There's always fundraisers. The pastors are paid for their services, it is a job. If the pastor doesnt do a good job filling the seats, he gets fired for a new one. Pastors go to new churches all the time, likely for a payraise because someone recognized their talent at putting people in the pews, or fired them for lack of it.

It is a business. Why do you think they are always trying to build fancy churches with pretty steeples? They make sure to put a nice, big, impressive sign out front too.

Even if they have good intentions, someone is controlling the money that goes in the offering plates, and even if people dont pocket the profits themselves (which happens often, despite being scandalous) they pour it back into their business to encourage more people to go sit in the pews. The better your experience, the more money you're likely to give them.

It may not even be intentional, but they work very, very much like any other capitalist business venture, only they dont charge admission, they accept donations at your discretion.
 
Then they should read their bible and not listen to stupid bullshit. People are fucking idiots in general, they will believe whatever a nicely dressed guy with good teeth says.

And that's in England, they are all fucked up over there. Especially their church.

So let me ask you guys....would you pick up the slack? If the church no longer took donations or sold goods, would you guys go out and take meals to the elderly, help clothe and feed children, and take badly needed medicine to different countries? Would you open a foster home for abused children? Help a burn victim pay their hospital bills, even if you don't know the guy?

Lets be serious here. You might not like the capitalism, and yes religion is a social ideal and should be socialist in its approach (which it is, since nobody is forced to pay to go to church) but think of how much worse we would be without it.

oh, and you might think private non religious non profits would pick up the slack, but where would their money come from? Without church support, they would also fail...think of how many times the Red Cross or the American Cancer Society and your local churches have put fund raisers on together....both private non profits have also received church funds. In my area there is a charity called UCAN I used to box food for impoverished people for, they were nearly totally supported by the largest churches. Most small, local, private non profits are.
 
Ah but then you see, I am a slight capitalist. I am also conservative un my politcal views, I just think that there are better and slightly more moral(?) ways to make money.
 
No no no, I mean moral as in...wait, did you just say entertainment?! Since when was Father John funny? I mean, I know he wears a man dress, but come on.
 
If you dont like the chuch dont go. You have that choice. I have been to many churches of the same religeon, and favor some over others. Ofcourse i dont really follow "a" religeon too much anymore, but just beleive what makes sense to me. I know it sounds bad, but even harder to explain without typing untill my finger bleed.
 
Yes I know I do, and believing in what makes sense is a good idea to. It was also a good idea for you not to type until your fingers bleed. Blood is a hell of a stain tog et out of the cracks in the keyboard.
 
Religion is a way to control people and take their money. If you see it now, never go back. You won't be able to. If you think religion is bad, you should take a look at the public education system. We are being brainwashed by everything around us. The time is now to fight.
 
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