Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Religious Greed. America's Acceptable Loss
They don't even have to pretend any more. Churches are businesses. They bring billions of dollars every year, no tax. Personally, I feel as if an all-powerful guy, who knows everything and has an indisputably perfect plan for the past, present and future doesn't really need money! People often say "Oh money is the root of all evil." Christians and their Bible will go as far as saying that all worldly possessions are worthless in comparison to their god and heaven (Matthew 6:19-21) So wouldn't this super smart god see far beyond the material object of money? The fact of the matter is, Churches require money to operate, they use funding allocated to pay for basic necessities and events. This is obviously a small percentage of the non-taxed net income, so churches use the remainder of the existing balance to do evil things like lobby against Gay Rights and financially aid other hate groups. The Terrorist organization known as the LDS Church has delivered a great example of this with the Utah Proposition 8. People should be free to do with their own hard earned money what they want without being pressured and scared into giving it to the churches to please a god. In short, there are no gods, only men and their businesses.
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ReplyDeleteThough it may seem that it still has a iron grip on the world I feel more and more like religion is dying off. Mainstream religions are losing their numbers. Even those who follow a religion seem to be blissfully contradicting there own rules. It seems to me that many believers only cling to these beliefs because it is how they were raised or for the comfort which it gives them. Not to mention so many people just inherently fear change. God is dead, Fredrich Nietzsche wrote more than a hundred years ago,
“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
This is not so much as a proclamation of atheism, as it may seem, but more of an ever-looming woeful question of where will we go now that religion has become obsolete? Do we sink into bitter nihilism and value nothing or can we rise above the pitfalls of man and triumph?
It may be apparent that the more powerful and larger churches are in pursuit of wealth, however, there are religious organizations that truly "non-profit". I don't think you understand that a church is not a profitable business. The money is dispersed to members who are in need, and the pastor/priest, who's sermon keeps people in attendance. Churches are considered a charitable organization due to its dispersal of funds to other non-profit organizations (i.e. soup kitchens, safe houses, etc.). Church tithes are often categorized as charity. I'm not saying that there aren't religious organizations who flaunt their wealth, but you cannot consider church as a business. It is more like a club with its members who pay a fee to join. The only church that I can think of which is truly a means of raising revenue, is the Church of Scientology.
ReplyDeleteOne of the foundations of this country is the freedom to worship as we wish. The Puritans left England for exactly that right. My complaint is that some of the larger churches are using the government to promote their agendas. All we have to do is look at Iran, Saudi Arabia or even Elizabethan England to see what happens when the government is controlled by religion.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right and I agree, but the main message I am conveying is the perception of money among those running the religious institutions and those attending and practicing. How important is it? What's the religion worth to the individual? A theocracy in America would be a total catastrophe. The foundation of freedom of religion is a key component to the freedom of this country however Guys like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin would tell you in quote that the foundations of this country lie not with religion remotely. As long as the separating wall between church and state remains impregnable and religion is kept out of schools and the minds of the youth.
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