Is the scam of the church obvious to you?

Question

it all adds up to a religion founded on making money and control, not of believing in god.

a) you cannot question your faith. (typically).its dis-encouraged.

b) give money to the church / "give cesear what is cesear's"

c) the threat of hell and the reward of heaven in exchange for mindless obedience.

d) atheists go to hell. automatically. (atheists dont give money to churches, do they?)

e) the inconsistancies and contradictions with modern science in the bible spell out "the words of men, not god"

f) rich televangilists

g) a loving caring god would not show such discrimination against homosexuals like the biblical one does, only bronze age homophobic men would.

you guys agree or disagree and why? feel free to expand.

Serena: all you did was point out the exeptions, the 'ifs and buts' and outliers. thats it. being ms.exeption does not make me wrong. semantics and splitting hairs. i would refute everything you just said by repeating what i initially said for the most part. you basing your argument on fallical assumptions. "homosexuality is immoral". says who? the church. exactly. and why exactly? why give priests and the church any money at all when you could just give the money to the charity directly? the church wouldnt like that would they? thank you for disagreeing and putting up an effort, but i still stand strong to what i said.

"God is the Creator and so has authority over us to tell us how to live our lives."

exactly my point stephen!

Answer 1

Well said. I completely agree. Seems more an effort to make money and control people than anything else.

Answer 2

What church well it seems like you are talking about Christianity, and if you are what branch. It's so hard to keep track now with so many variations of it. Whether you should keep the sabath on saturday/sunday (seventh day adventist), if Jesus resurected in Mexico (mormon), if emphasis on the VIrgin Mary and saints is important (catholics), etc. If you speak of Christianity, all of these religions fall back on the Bible. And what is the Bible. I don't believe the Bible is 100% correct. After all it was written by men "inspired" by God. Only a product of men would have a book so sexist. There is not one female author. But wasn't all the other holy books also inspired by God.
I think the Bible, Christianity, and all the other religions have one thing in common, LOVE.
Instead of asking what would Jesus do, ask yourself What would Love do. I believe that is God. Everything else like Church and religion is man made. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it isn't. So to answer your question i think Church can definetly be a scam.

Answer 3

I don't believe that the majority of churchs are out to intentionally scam people.

Yes there are some corrupt people, but there are corrupt people in every organization on earth.

When I was Christian, I was always encouraged to ask questions by a lot of other believers. Yes I did met some who were uncomfortable with being asked. And I was told on occasion that one shouldn't question. But in the bible it does say one should question - to test everything and hold fast to what is true.

Faith and science are not exclusionary terms. They shouldn't be. You can have faith and still believe in science also. Many people tend to cling to what man-made religions teach them, not what God teaches them. That's where the problems come from.

I am no longer Christian - but I do not believe that people are just born homosexual. I believe it is much more complex then that - and more to do with society then anything in our genes. I also believe that just being a more femine man, or a tom-boy for a girl does not make one homosexual either. I do not believe that homosexuality fits into the natural order of things - and in all honesty it is not prevelant in animals. Although many try to say it is.

This does not mean I discriminate against people. Or that I am in fear of homosexuals because I secretly am one. I just do not approve of their choices. The same with most Christians. They do not discriminate against homosexuals, they just do not approve of them, believing what it says in the bible - that homosexuality is a sin. This does not make them, or God homophobic. Althout a lot of people like to use this argument - to discredit both them and God.

And obedience to God should never be mindless. That's not what Christanity is about. It shouldn't be about reward and punishment - though many make this the core issue. It should be about loving God - having a relationship with God. To be in love with God is where everything else flows from. Nothing mindless about that. I do admit there are those out there that chose to follow whatever their pastor tells them - but do not take them to be what true Christians really are.

Answer 4

I believe that like myself a lot of people wouldn't have such a problem with religion (whatever religion some have things against) if they respected other's decision not to believe. Ppl should have the right to believe whatever they want so long as they don't try to infringe on other's rights as human beings and as Citizens of whatever country they belong in, because "their" religion doesn't agree with what someone "outside their religion" does.

Answer 5

a)Disagree strongly.My church encourages study,asking questions.
b) Not sure what you mean here.What does taxes to the government have to do with church ? And,it's a common misconcpetion that the money goes to the priest/pastor.It's used for a number of things,like supporting missionaries,outreach programs (like crisis pregnancy centres) and other things.
c)*rolls eyes* This mindless thing again? Boy,it's getting old.I can asuure you,no one thinks that 'mindless obedience' to the church gets you anything.
d)Anyone who has not accpeted Christ will go.The money thing again? Rubbish.Going to hell/heaven is not dependent on how much money you give,and it's simply deception on your part to paint all churches in this manner.
e)Have you looked at Christian interpretations of these controversies and apparent problems? There are qquite a few who do so.
f)Yes,so? Why should Christianity be blamed for what gullible TV watchers give their money to? I would also like to say that the average Christian is certainly not this way,considering that many of the world's Christians are living in extremely difficult circumstances.
g)Yes,God is loving,but he is also just and holy.Homosexuality is sinful,just like adultery,fornication,and bestiality.Do not take your ideas (that homosexuality is perfectly normal) and make God conform to you idea.By the way-those who believe homosexuality is immoral,are not homophobic.It is not a phobia to disapprove of something.

So really,you've just made a lsit of things that *you* think are ture (which in many cases aren't) and projected the entirety of Christianity in that way.

Answer 6

Well from the churches I have belonged to, we can question ANYTHING and the preacher will gladly talk about it. I've done it many times. You give money to the church to keep it going, not to make it rich. No one threatens us with rewards or punishments. They only teach that God forgives. Athiests do not automatically go to hell. Money doesn't have to be given to go to Heaven. You heart has to be given to God. There is a time after the Rapture to change your minds...God gives EVERYONE another chance. There are no contradictions...there is the old testament and the new testament. Old is prior to Jesus dying on the cross to forgive our sins. New is NOW. Most Televangilists are out for themselves, NOT for God. God does not discriminate against anyone.....Again, there is a time after the Rapture, when EVERYONE gets another chance.
So, I do not agree with one thing mentioned.

Answer 7

Actually, you can ask questions about Christianity. In fact, God wants you to bc He wants you to understand Him as fully as you can. Questioning His authority is different, however, God is the Creator and so has authority over us to tell us how to live our lives.

Giving money to the church is how the church pays for its buildings, ministries, and employees. In addition, God wants us to give money so that we don't become too attached to it. By actively giving money away we release ourselves of being attached to it.

You say mindless obedience as though there is no good reason to obey God. In fact, there are many. Many of the things God wants us to do, or not do, are good (or bad) for us. So obeying God is actually very beneficial to you. For example, keeping sex within marriage will avoid unwed pregnancy, STDs, and a variety of emotional problems that can hinder your ability to bond with your spouse. Sex is a very bonding thing, and so misusing it damages its ability to bond you to your spouse.

Atheists don't go to hell simply bc they don't give money to church. They go to hell for their sin. Sin is going against God's will, and unless you follow Christ you aren't forgiven of it and will be punished in hell.

The contradictions with science and the Bible may in fact be the result of error on the part of science. After all, God is perfect and knows everything, whereas man isn't perfect and can make mistakes. Also, many scientists disregard the possibility of God's existence and the Bible being right before they ever look at the evidence, so they don't consider it as a possibility.

Televangelists may very well be rich, that in itself doesn't mean anything except that they've made a lot of money. While there may be some televangelists who have become corrupted by wealth, that doesn't mean that money is the motivation for all of them. It could very well be that God has simply decided to bless them with wealth. Why do Christians have to be poor? Why is it ok for Donald Trump to be wealthy?

God is loving and caring, which is why He discriminates against harmful behavior, like homosexual sex. There is a higher risk of STDs among homosexuals, mainly bc of unsafe sex practices and the fact that they are often promiscuous, having dozens or hundreds of partners in a lifetime.

Answer 8

If some don't think it's obvious that Scientology is a scam then alot will never question other churchs.

Answer 9

It's been obvious to me

Also a loving caring god wouldn't condemn those who "denie" him/her just to allow rapists and murders into an eternal paradise just for being sorry for what they did.

Answer 10

The real problem is that people do not realize this. That's why society is so screwed up.