Government can restore religion's respectability..Here's how.

If government goes back to doing what's expected of it, churches would not have that excuse to pick pockets on such a massive level.

It should not be up to churches to clean up after a massive hurricane, nor should it be up to churches to feed all the poor, or to house them or to educate them

THOSE things should be tended to by the GOVERNMENT, into which we ALL pay.

By having the government abdicate its responsibility, it only encourages these "faiths" to ask for more and more money from their flocks.

In my day, churches collected money to pay the modest salary of the pastor, and maintain his modest home (usually provided). It was also used to pay the upkeep of the church and to pay a church secretary and janitor..

Anything left over was used for their "good works".

I omitted the Catholic church, since that's a WHOLE other thing, entirely.

It's no surprise that the MEGA/TV churches and the radical fundamentalism all seemed to coalesce during the reagan years.

Deregulated television and simultaneous cutbacks in services were a marriage truly made in heaven.

A government who intends to USE the religious industry, in place of providing services itself, can hardly be expected to use eagle-eye oversight of those said religions, now can it?

It's a perfect storm, scam-wise.

The blurring of church-state is also useful to both participants, since there is an all-encompassing need for more and more funds as both entities in this little dance get greedier and greedier.

The government casts a blind-eye to the churches, and the churches deliver up voters and advocates..

Republicans do this very well, so even as democrats move in to fill the gaps of the departing republicans, there will still be the steady drumbeat and marching feet of those christian soldiers as they beg for money with one outstretched hand, while they holler "Look..over THERE".and slide that money into their other pocket.

Those deemed "worthy" may receive a few crumbs and some nice pictures from the photo-op, but the lion's share of the money floats right to the top...just like cream..

Gore Vidal put it best.
It's been 20 years since I heard the interview.
He pointed out that even a modest tax on religions and the scam artists - identified as turtleman - vanish.
If we can't get that done, relentless revocation of individual mega churches tax free status when used as republicon recruiting centers would be a nice start.

:toast:

You seem to be unaware of what televangelists do. They never claim to take care of the needy. Their entire raison d'etre is to 'spread the gospel'. That's why they ask for money - to keep their show on the air, in fact to put it into even more markets. Even the ones I like do not talk about caring for the needy, not that I have seen. They are way more concerned about Darwin and global warming than they are about the poor. Maybe they think the poor are only poor because they don't tithe.