"Just kidding, they are building another $41 million dollar cathedral" - reddit http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Raleigh-Diocese-to-break-ground-on-new-cathedral-5991816.php "The $41 million cathedral will take about two years to complete. The diocese had thought about building a church that cost twice as much, but backed away from the idea, Burbidge said. "I promise we will build only what the people of God will allow us to do," Burbidge said. "No loan, nothing beyond our means. Faithful stewardship."" As Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." Not only does it keep them from murdering the rich, it convinces them to give away their hard earned money to the rich. Politically, religion is obviously just an attempt for the rich to control the poor masses which is why religion must constantly be undermined if we want any hope of becoming independent critical thinkers.
The Catholic Church donates far more money than that.....you have to remember that they are more than likely the richest entity on the planet, maybe outside of the US or China's government.
My guess is that in the time you took to write this Catholics through the church did more for the poor than you will do in your life time.
the the states, the churches now ask the tax payers to pay for all their good works and the donations go to bonus's and retirements for the preachers it seems "Bush's Faith-Based Initiative Gave Obama's Former Church $1.5 Million" http://cnsnews.com/node/34655 "Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill. – where Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama worshipped for two decades – has received more than $1.5 million in federal tax money since 2003 through the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives" "Obama Pastor Gets $1 Million Retirement Home From Church' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/01/obama-pastor-gets-1-milli_n_94395.html .
Are you Catholic? Is it your money? If the answer to either or both questions is "no", it's none of your business. And for possibly the first time ever, and probably last, I agree with Karma.
Giving people food than telling them they will burn in hell for eternity for using condoms does more harm than good, especially in places like Africa where AIDS is rampant. The only times Christians do help is so they can proselytize and spread ignorance and tell people to stay poor because thats what Jesus wants, than they go home to their huge mansions and nice cars. Slaves were fed and housed, was it because the masters cared about them? No, they did it to make money off of them, same for Christians, well just about all religion for that matter. Dont get me wrong, Christians like Pope Francis I absolutely love and im an anti-theist, but all the Christians who call him a dirty socialist are the ones I cant stand, yes the Pope is a Socialist, but so was Jesus! Do you really think Jesus would be ok with spending 41 million dollars on a cathedral while people starve and die from lack of basic healthcare? Im an atheist and even I know thats not what he would have wanted. You must also take into account the money they are receiving is from other poor people, so every dollar they give to a poor person simply came from another poor person, defeating the purpose of charity for the poor on top of the fact they pocket the majority of the money, not to mention what they do to little boys.
As a front for the mafia, is that the kind of money we want helping the poor? Or doesn't it matter who give the money to the church.
That is funny. The Vatican has more money just in classic paintings hanging on their walls then all the money ever made by all the mafias around the world since the beginning of time. The Church is not a front for anyone but themselves.
So if Obama was funding left wing paramilitary groups in South America, could I ask you the same questions and tell you not to care if you answer no? Lets see just how much of a hypocrite you are, Are you Latin American? Is it your money? If the answer to both of those questions is "no", its none of your business. See what a moronic argument that is? But of course, its ok for you to make that same argument, but not me blatant propaganda.
You thread title is also accurate. On the whole today's Catholic Church is a force for good in the world. There are many areas where it is worthy of criticism, helping the poor is not one of them. Thread fail.
They are a front for Fascism, luckily Pope Francis is destroying this Fascist tie with the Church and is replacing it with a Communist tie
"Helping the poor to proselytize and tell people to stay in poverty like Jesus" is different from simply "Helping the poor" Also, Christians are a much larger piece of the population so to claim "well they do the most" is a half truth, yes they do the most, but only because they have the most people and the most money.
Mafia's don't make money. They extort it don't they? And how do you know how much money the mafia has filtered through the RCC? It's not like it's going to be recorded.
I'm a taxpayer. That makes it my money. That makes whatever the incredible idiot 0bama does my business. Congratulations. I have an extreme low tolerance for some things. You just earned a special place on my list. [ManifestDestiny has now been successfully added to your ignore list. ]
Catholic charities does as much to help the poor as any organization on the planet. Just because you are ignorant of their work doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Your bubble isnt all there is.
Just drive around and check out ALL the multii-million dollar churches that every religious sect builds, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Mormon etc.... Seem like man cannot worship his/her God in a barn anymore..
If the Catholic church was to take poverty seriously, they'd have to change their stance of contraception. - - - Updated - - - Which would be wonderful (for Christians) if you think about it.
What do you DO for the poor besides your empty rhetoric? The Catholic Church feeds the poor, shelters the homeless, builds schools and sends teachers to give them a way out of poverty. Maybe you should put your money where your mouth is.
Why not? They can afford to......a multi -billion dollar entity giving away some pocket change is hardly anything to crow about. What do the church bigwigs give up ? Nothing. Maybe after condoning child rape they feel the need to buy their way into their god's good graces.....
Why not? They can afford to......a multi -billion dollar entity giving away some pocket change is hardly anything to crow about. What do the church bigwigs give up ? Nothing. Maybe after condoning child rape they feel the need to buy their way into their god's good graces..... What has this got to do with me? I can hardly compete with a multi-billion dollar enterprise.........now answer my questions....
There was a time when the Roman Catholic Church owned 1/3 to 1/2 of all the land in Western Europe. During that period, we had a lot of poor people being poor and a lot of expensive cathedrals being built. In other words, nothing has changed. Pope Francis is trying to change the image of the Church, but the harsh reality is that a transnational religious institution that relies on the idea of dogmatic interpretations of the same Bible that everyone can now read in the vernacular is... well past its expiration date. There's a reason why the Catholic Church is strongest in the countries with the highest poverty and illiteracy rates (AKA, the highest "ignorance rate").
