Hey guys. Hope y'all doing great!
It's being a while since I post/reply, but I just wanted to share some thoughts on something that a Christian fella said recently which raises some moral concerns and is heartbreaking.
The conversation was more or less like this:
- He: I don't put money on non-Christian humanitarian organizations, because all they do is to help the person and that stops there. They don't share the gospel. They only help the physical body, but do nothing to that person's soul. I only support Christian NGOs.
- Me: I don't mind whether the organization is Christian or not. As long as they are a organization that we can trust and are really helping people, I am okay with that. (Then I mentioned Doctors without borders as an example and he said he doesn't support them because they don't share the gospel).
First, I think he is free to use his money however he wishes. I totally support his freedom. But what shocks me, and he is not the first person that I hear saying something like this, is the justification he uses and how immoral and cruel is such behavior.
When I was a Christian, the pastor of the church would discourage members to donate to humanitarian organizations that were not Christians as well - and even if was Christian, they should subscribe to the same Bible interpretation meaning Catholic organizations were not to be helped. The LGW organization, for example, is very strong in Brazil, and the pastor would discourage us to donate because they are run by people that are spiritists (Alan Kardec) and therefore of the devil.
Let me know if you guys had a similar experience and what are your thoughts.
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Churches and religious organizations can not be taxed, and thus they will NEVER be audited. There is zero accountability and it is possible the Bishop gets a huge cut, as well as the priest. No one has any way to determine where the money goes.
Non-religious charities are subject to audit, and therefore open to public scrutiny. Yes, the organizers may take a disproportionate piece of the pie, but they can not hide that from anyone subjecting them to scrutiny.
Additionally, a religious charity may withhold relief to a distressed party if they do not follow or convert to their faith.
I will never trust any religious charity because they may be corrupt and no one will ever know.
I just want to share my thoughts.
I saw a video on YouTube about a week ago, and it says Richest Pastors in the World. The Top 1 was the Pastor in my home country Philippines. What troubles me was the video showed how lavish the lifestyle of all the pastors and that they have so many blind followers. Almost all of them owned a Jet Plane.
If they really want to do good or follow what their Bible said or their God's will or plan, how come there's still world hunger? War? Poverty? Or they're only good to those people who donate to their Church?
I think religion is scam. People use it as a front to brainwash followers who will be willing to donate money. And just like David Killens said, religious organization will never be taxed and audited.
I might think that God gave those pastors their Jet Planes but God is not real. Hence, I'm an Atheist now. LOL
Hi Stardust, a few comments on your thoughts.
- "If they really want to do good or follow what their Bible said or their God's will or plan, how come there's still world hunger? War? Poverty"
A believer will argue that God has a plan on human suffering. Therefore, it is somehow acceptable that people die in wars, famine, poverty so they can see God's glory or whatever reason religious people find to justify human suffering. Others might argue that church is not doing enough and therefore God will charge his own people for this. Or religious people play the victim-blame argument where they will say that those people ultimately are the ones to blame for the situation they find themselves. Think of a child in Ethiopia that suffers from malnutrition. Some religious people will say that it's those people sin that brought them into that situation so they are ultimately responsible for that. Had they believed in the right god and in the right interpretation of the book of the god of that religion, they would be in a better shape.
Welcome to atheist republic forums and this hub!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with all of them.
The ultra-rich greedy "religious leaders" is a powerful hint of what religion really is, and is one of many reasons why we should all reject just about every major organized religion and their many "variations of interpretation" sub groups.
And you stated yet another powerful hint, if there is an omnibenevolent god why is there hunger war poverty etc? And if god is NOT omnibenevolent (which a quick gander at world history easily explains,) why would we worship it? Let alone the fact that such a god idea is completely unevidenced!
We atheist love company, so please don't hesitate contributing, the more the merrier, we can all learn from each other as well.
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I’ll throw in my two cents.
I’ll admit i’m not very knowledgeable on the subject but I do agree that it is better to donate to non-Christian charity groups. The best example I’ve seen in my home town growing up was the Salvation Army. Especially in the winter time their volunteers with bells and the red buckets are everywhere, it’s pretty much become a staple part of the holiday season. But with all the good they can and do do with their donations, they also refuse any and all aid or help to anyone in the LGBTQ community. Many religious people who are honestly trying to help their fellow humans allow their beliefs to cause them to be fickle or even cruel with their kind gestures, helping some while purposefully avoiding or even putting down people their holy book deems unworthy. A secular group would not have such short coming and thus I believe they are a better group to donate to because they will help regardless of who you are.
I can't bring myself to donate to any Humanitarian organization. The problem is "organization." Most of the money goes to the "Organization" and if I am lucky, ten cents on every dollar might make it to some lucky family. Organizations exist to make money, not to help people, that is just a fact of life.
In my travels, I run across enough poor people. For 7 years now, I have been paying for two young girl's education. The oldest in now 14 and she has a full scholarship to high school. I only pay for her books and uniform. The younger, just turned 12. She is intelligent and gets excellent grades.
I send money to them directly and chat with them on Skype so they can show me their grades and the things they buy.
Unless it is a cause I know and is local I always ask of canvassers" Do you have a copy of their accounts" and "what is YOUR commission rate". Some organisations charge a charity up to 70% of all monies collected. "Christian" charities are no exception.
I also , before making a commitment to donate long term, look up their annual returns: If "Administration" and "Marketing" are over 4% of revenue then they are not a charity in my book, they are a business.
I sat in on a Charity meeting with Church officials for a group of small town ministers. Several denominations, about 8. This is what they did. They were going to build a school building. Each pastor was to go to their Church and begin the program. Each church would then give 10% of its proceeds / congregation donations to the building of the school room and keep 90% for their operating costs.
They then passes out these little thermometer boards that they could use in the church to tell the people how much money had been donated. The Churches would add together all of their 10% donations and use that on the thermometer boards for each of their congregations as the total money donated. Congregation members did not know that this was the undertaking of several churches or how many churches.
So each of the congregations thought that they and their church was building a school building. The pastors told the congregations this and the pastors were not lying. 10% of the money collected, did go to the school building. The practice is common and extremely deceptive as the pastor pockets 90% of the money raised while the congregation actually believes their church is paying 100% of the cost of building the school.
It gets worse. Even with 100% of the money raised to build the school. Most of the materials and labor are donated by businesses and other church members near the proposed building site. Even with the money being raised, most of it will not be spent. It comes back to the Churches.
If there is a way to scam people out of money, the Church is using it. Yes, the school room is built but it literally costs the churches involved next to nothing. Churches do not give charity to anyone without making a profit off of it. That is the system.
@Cognostic
Don't forget they almost always buy prime real estate to build their church on. That in itself is a huge asset that yields millions in the future.
@David Killens
For the larger churches, I would say billions with a "B"