I don't see many people saying Disband United Way and Feed the world, however the CEO makes obscene amounts of money, and the group funds political parties and social change lobbyists that use all the funding they are granted from the united way (which was collected in good faith under the guise of charitable work) to further their unpopular political views by means of deception and propaganda, rarely helping and sometimes causing damage to our society.
Yes the Catholic Church is not very visible here in North America but it does billions a year in charitable work.
As for "Sell the Vatican, Feed the world" lets see who's feeding more people? Never mind that the world produces more food than can be eaten right now... it's a distribution and corrupt bureaucracies problem, not a quantity/money problem.
Religion or lack of it is personal private business and if you don't want any part of it BUTT OUT. That goes for everyone on both sides of the issue. I thing people shouldn’t talk about it unless asked and should respect the right for others to hold a different opinion.
Dataperson
Tax exemption doesn’t mean you have to pay for the tax exempt groups, it means that those who are tax exempt don’t have to pay the government anything just to exist. If the church doesn’t consume any government resources, what right does the Government have to tax them?
Bingo fundraisers aren’t to fund keggers, it’s usually to provide building upkeep which keeps your property value up. If it’s not for building up keep it’s a charitable works project.
The reason churches get charity tax exemption is because they are charities, just because you don't want to be a part of a particular charity doesn't mean it shouldn't be given tax exempt status.
I go to a church (very infrequently) that even though it needs almost a million in capital repairs (old stone building from the 1800s or earlier) is still providing a safe haven and hot lunch program for a school in the worst part of Saint John.
This school is where some misfit children get their last chance before the system gives up on them. Some of these children are too much burden for other schools, either behaviourally or because they have disabilities that make them difficult to accommodate.
Providing a safe place free from persecution and a free hot meal (the only one some of these kids get each day), is reasonable cause to grant tax exemption.
The minute churches loose tax exemption status is the minute they all close, the property tax alone on the churches which are a part of our country's heritage would be too much for people to maintain as well as provide funds for charitable works abroad.
You’d have church members meeting in basements while the structures(that were put up board by board and paid for by previous generations of members of that church) sitting empty, demolished or sold off as commercial space. I feel that is pretty unfair and grounds to claim persecution.
Jungle,
All organizations are invented to manipulate other humans, hence the root word organize.
Manipulate in this context does not necessarily contain negative connotations, influence, advise and guide would also fit in there with very little change in meaning.
As far as I know, all the people involved in this were Christians
and as far as I know you don't have a mouth and speak through your butt... doesn't mean I'm right
The unfortunate people in the article sound more like scientologists to me, but I don't have any certainty.
Were all these people that stupid ?
the phenomenon where people will follow the orders of a confident leader with no fear is well documented as affecting people of all intelligence levels, which is why we need to make sure we teach individual thought rather than bandwagonism. this is a problem in all levels of our society starting at the lowest levels.
