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The Almighty Buck

Journal atheists's Journal: How would you distribute the money from all the religions? 19

Journal by atheists

What religion is not after money? They may have a facade like they are not, but all religions are based on greed. If not, why organize? Why put a sign on the door? Why try to convert people to your particular way?

Sure they are greedy about things other than money. Like time and thought and invading your personal decisions. Or just through membership count. "Our religion has X number of people, look how good we are." "Our religion 'saved' X number of people." These are all signs of self-indulgence, but the most arrogant of all is the desire for money.

Religions daily blur the line between greed and pride with very little left over for being humble. Religions do well only when their followers do well and in turn donate back to them. There is no such thing as an inverse relationship between the wealth of the followers of a religion and the worldly goods of a religion. People amass wealth through greed; religion is the greatest scheme of all to collect upon this greed. In fact it feeds off of this greed in a continually compounding interest system through shaming followers that have greed and then using guilt to make them pay up.

There are literally trillions of dollars in religious bank accounts and real estate all over the world. The business of religion is larger than all other business combined. McDonald's is the world's second largest private landowner, second only to the Catholic Church, which is just one religious land owner and money holder.

In a recent wealth study done by a church group, the churches that responded to their survey economically grew, on a whole, at a rate of twice the rate of the US economy. "In fact, seven percent of churches surveyed now have budgets exceeding $1 million." If you add up the major budgeted areas listed (23.9 billion + 12 billion + 8.6 billion + 9.1 billion) you have over 50 billion dollars of annual expenses just from those who responded to the survey. And only 28% of those asked responded!

So, if you had all of the money from all of the religions in the world, what would you do with it? Make a grand palace? Feed the poor? Invade a country? Buy a green dress? Well, after taxes that is, you're a private citizen and you would owe your government if you have this money.

Hmm, I wonder how much of the US government's debt could be paid off just from the taxable income from turning all of this money over to one private citizen.

Does anyone have any articles that may shed some light on just how much money (annual income, or currently saved) religions have? This isn't just Christianity, although they are the Microsoft of the religious world.

On an internal issue, you guys need to give me some more topics here. I only have another 4 or 5 in the pipe ready to "go to press" as it were. I prefer to have a larger supply of discussion topics ready to write about so they may be edited from time to time and cleaned up prior to posting. Anyone who is willing to write a discussion, please post with contact information or email address listed for this account.

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How would you distribute the money from all the religions? More

How would you distribute the money from all the religions?

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  • Build some damn fine schools, and give everyone in the world at least a full education up through high school. Secular, of course. If there's one thing has more value than the money of the churches, it's the untapped potential of all the world's meat computers.

    Oh, and everyone would have a little more to eat and stuff.
    • I asked this below to someone with a similar idea, I will paste it here to get your responce. I see you wish to teach secular ways, but would that be your sole focus?

      What would you teach at your special schools? Balanced Everything? Emphasis on Science? History? Mannars? Farming? Is there one area that pehaps you may use your new found wealth (and power) to perhaps influence out of society? You weild quite a power with education alone, but even greater when you think how quickly you could evolve one aspe
  • What religion is not after money? They may have a facade like they are not, but all religions are based on greed. If not, why organize? Why put a sign on the door? Why try to convert people to your particular way?

    You might have a point if the profit was largely used as a business uses profits- 1) for the personal wealth of the shareholders/ owners, 2) for expansion into other territories to generate more profit, and 3) for internal expansion of products/ services to generate more profit. After all, an

    • 2) for expansion into other territories to generate more profit

      ...
      In most churches, none of those conditions are true:
      ...
      The individuals who "profit" the most personally are probably missionaries, whose trips may be supported in part or full by a church. Trips may cost $3000 or so, but most of that money is locked in plane tickets (which can be over $1000 to unpopular locations), housing, and supplies (for building houses, providing medical care, etc). So, little of this money is going towards persona

      • Correct. I won't deny that churches seek to expand their religion into other territories. My point was that they do not do it for monetary profit, which was the original post's contention.

        There is virtually no chance that a church will see any monetary return on a missions trip, particularly trips of the overseas variety. A huge part of the money goes for airline tickets (maybe they could earn back frequent flier miles?) and housing/ food. The rest is "invested" in a group of people who will likely ne
  • Just the ones most people hear about. You don't see the leaders of Buddhism or Tasoism on TV with the heavy BLING BLING like the pope and his golden...well - everything.

    Now - for what I would do with the money.... Well - I'd give myself all the bling. Oh wait - I s'pose I should be generous. Honestly, I like the ideas of creating schools for all the children in the world. Classify myself as a religion of one (so I don't have to pay those pesky taxes) and build one school for every 2,000 students of t
    • While I agree I don't hear some religions asking me for money this doesn't mean they don't ask some people sometimes.

      From what I've seen I think that the religions (or movements, seperate discussion, see before) you mentioned are less pushy, but I won't go so far as to say they don't ever ask.

      To me there is a difference between wishing you get something (meaning you hope you get it, it would be nice) and actually asking for it. Asking isn't so bad when done once, or just once in a while. PBS gets close
    • You don't see those religions asking for money ( or the money they have being reported on in the news ) because the total amount is insignificant in predominately judeo-christian-muslim nations. In countries where those religions are more popular, the pope and swaggart would fade from the scene and be replaced with Lala Sri Whateverheimer and his order of Monks-With-Insence-Scars-On-Their-Heads.
  • Yup, Religion is like ever other non-profit organization. Out for money, the greedy bastards! Why the hell does the Red Cross organize? For money, of course!

    Story rated -1, Troll.
    • When was the last time the Red Cross helped people to make them join the Red Cross?

      The Red Cross is a wonderful organization that helps people for the sake of helping people, not for helping themselves. Not to grow their own ranks, not to take people or effort or money away from other organizations. Or even, to destroy other organizations.

      Just because an organization is non-profit doesn't make it non-evil. I can make my own organization bent on graffiti and other destructive things, making it 501c3 and
      • The red cross BEGS people for volunteers. And, honestly, its not as great an organization as most people think (just look at how much their execs make compaired to other non-profit organizations like the Salvation Army and Goodwill).
    • Why the hell does the Red Cross organise? For money of course!

      Insightful.

      Blood and humanitarian crises attract money from people who want to help by throwing their money at it. Greedy bastards form an organization to catch the money, skim what they can off the top and direct the rest toward appearing to provide aid even if that means actually providing aid.

  • What religion is not after money?

    Frisbeetarianism.

    Frisbeetarians believe that when you die, if you've lived a bad life, that in the afterlife, your soul gets blown up on the roof and you can't get it down. The Frisbeetarian creed is: Flat Flip Fly Straight. The Frisbeetarian slogan is: Whammo. The Frisbeetarian sacred animal is the Dog whose seemingly harmful teethmarks actually increase the holiness of the divine disc.

  • As long as people give to whatever religion takes their fancy by their own volition, what's it to you? Why would you be in a better position to distribute their money than they themselves are?

    You might think it's bizarre to give money to a religious organization; I might think it's a waste of money to buy a burger at McDonald's. I don't see why that would give either one of us the moral right to re-distribute the money given to either. The person whose money it was made a choice and spent it accordingly.
  • I don't believe in God (or any other omnipotent beings), but I don't think all religions are inherently greedy.

    The existence of a few weirdos, scammers, etc., doesn't make all religion bad.

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