My dad was going to a small little church for years. At some point in a conversation about their church, I asked him what the church does in terms of community service or giving to the less fortunate. His response was "nothing".
To me, that should be a pretty high priority for organized religion, otherwise it's just Sunday social hour and free entertainment ... at best.
Social hour is actually very necessary, not happening, our third spaces are dying and churches are one of them. Not that I'm not glad to a degree, but we need replacements because people come to the church for human connection, and then pick up the bullshit over time.
Hell I'm in the South and I have queer friends that still go to southern baptist churches "because there's food once a week" and "I get to be around people."
Back in the 70s/80s/90s, we had The Mall. If you didn't have anything else to do, you'd just go to The Mall, and see who was around. If nothing else, you could hang around in the book and record stores, or the food court. Or play games in the arcade. Or just sit on a bench and watch girls.
Everything is business, everything is entertainment, everything is about money.
There is still real Christianity in the US, but this isn't it. I recently read about someone asking for help from various churches, mosques and temples, and everybody offered help, except the churches. The churches that did help were predominantly black.
Then what would you call the people who actually follow the teachings of Christ? What would you call the Christians in other countries? Why would appropriators of a word get to own it?
There's definitely a difference between faith, and organised religion. I think the worst thing that can happen to any religion is to become an official state religion. At that point it becomes a tool for politics and social control. It unavoidably gets corrupted in some way. People aren't part of it because they believe, but because they have to.
If you learn about what went on during the Great Awakening, you can see that there was a lot of competition between different churches and no government regulation. For the entrepreneuial pastor, they could slightly change the gospel and church services to target a congregation of their choosing.
Oh but you have to pay to attend this kind of show and it's super expensive, like easily 200$. It is a matter of preference for them, not affordability.
Where I live, there are tiny churches EVERYWHERE. There's a street next to Walmart that has 13 churches in residential houses along that single street.
Churches take money in, and provide literally nothing of substance in return. They are nothing more than tax evasion/ money-laundering operations, and at least 90% of them should be closed down. ALL of them should be taxed heavily.
There's celebrating and then there's spending millions on pageantry as the huddled masses starve and are brutalized by the fascist demagogues you've helped seize power.
29 Comments
zd9@lemmy.world · 42 pts · 261d
I always thought The Righteous Gemstones was a great show but purposefully overly ridiculous. I guess they were right on the nose.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 26 pts · 261d
For-profit hospitals.
For-profit schools.
For-profit prisons.
For-profit churches.
When will Americans realise there's something wrong?
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 261d
When it stops being profitable to pretend that there isn't.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip · 21 pts · 261d
It's not just mega churches.
My dad was going to a small little church for years. At some point in a conversation about their church, I asked him what the church does in terms of community service or giving to the less fortunate. His response was "nothing".
To me, that should be a pretty high priority for organized religion, otherwise it's just Sunday social hour and free entertainment ... at best.
BanMe@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 261d
Social hour is actually very necessary, not happening, our third spaces are dying and churches are one of them. Not that I'm not glad to a degree, but we need replacements because people come to the church for human connection, and then pick up the bullshit over time.
Hell I'm in the South and I have queer friends that still go to southern baptist churches "because there's food once a week" and "I get to be around people."
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 260d
Back in the 70s/80s/90s, we had The Mall. If you didn't have anything else to do, you'd just go to The Mall, and see who was around. If nothing else, you could hang around in the book and record stores, or the food court. Or play games in the arcade. Or just sit on a bench and watch girls.
Now kids just sit home and play video games.
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · -5 pts · 260d
OccamsRazer@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 260d
Who said anything about a cult? Sounds like you got a few assumptions that you should reevaluate.
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 259d
VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 261d
Watching Knives Out 3 triggered me. As a former Catholic, I was hit pretty hard by how the big bad was treating the church.
And thinking about it, yeah, that's exactly what they are. There are those who run a church like a little kingdom and create cults of personality.
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 20 pts · 261d
mcv@lemmy.zip · 25 pts · 261d
Everything is business, everything is entertainment, everything is about money.
There is still real Christianity in the US, but this isn't it. I recently read about someone asking for help from various churches, mosques and temples, and everybody offered help, except the churches. The churches that did help were predominantly black.
explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 261d
If this is how most Christians behave, then I'm sorry to inform you this is real Christianity.
mcv@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 261d
Then what would you call the people who actually follow the teachings of Christ? What would you call the Christians in other countries? Why would appropriators of a word get to own it?
explodicle@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 261d
Also Christian. Even calling this appropriation is distancing them from the guy with the golden throne.
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 260d
mcv@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 260d
There's definitely a difference between faith, and organised religion. I think the worst thing that can happen to any religion is to become an official state religion. At that point it becomes a tool for politics and social control. It unavoidably gets corrupted in some way. People aren't part of it because they believe, but because they have to.
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 260d
mcv@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 260d
How does that work? How can you be made to pay? That does not sound legal to me. Can't you just leave and ignore it?
Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 259d
mcv@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 259d
I'm afraid I still don't quite get it. Do you pay less taxes now? Do members of this church pay more taxes?
It all sounds completely at odds with the concept of freedom of religion.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 18 pts · 261d
Also "we don't like traditional Church buildings with beautiful architecture, we want to save money"
Apepollo11@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 261d
"before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it"
athairmor@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 261d
I feel like half of American churches could be wiped out if people just had some other live entertainment they could afford on the weekends.
HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club · 7 pts · 261d
If you learn about what went on during the Great Awakening, you can see that there was a lot of competition between different churches and no government regulation. For the entrepreneuial pastor, they could slightly change the gospel and church services to target a congregation of their choosing.
CyanideShotInjection@lemmynsfw.com · 5 pts · 261d
Oh but you have to pay to attend this kind of show and it's super expensive, like easily 200$. It is a matter of preference for them, not affordability.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 260d
Where I live, there are tiny churches EVERYWHERE. There's a street next to Walmart that has 13 churches in residential houses along that single street.
Churches take money in, and provide literally nothing of substance in return. They are nothing more than tax evasion/ money-laundering operations, and at least 90% of them should be closed down. ALL of them should be taxed heavily.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org · 7 pts · 261d
self-proclaimed Christians
BigDiction@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 261d
As someone raised Catholic my first visit to a Christian church looked wild.
Padded pews I can hang with. Drums? Electric guitars? Blasphemy I tell ya
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 261d
Individual Christians are okay, but I don't approve of their immoral lifestyles.
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world · -41 pts · 261d
Oh no someone is celebrating, get em!
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 37 pts · 261d
There's celebrating and then there's spending millions on pageantry as the huddled masses starve and are brutalized by the fascist demagogues you've helped seize power.
This is the latter.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world · -22 pts · 261d
Lol wut.
roofuskit@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 261d
Someone is living under a rock.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world · -6 pts · 261d
I know right?