This is a bit of a rant, you don't have to read it.
Organized religion is BIG BUSINESS. It's all about money. They rake it in hand over fist and don't pay a single dime in taxes.
Mormon businesses automatically deduct 10% of their workers wages right out of their paychecks. That's just an example, the Mormons aren't the only ones.
Every time you go into a church, they are hoping, maybe expecting you to drop some cash in the collection. It sure seems like GOD is always broke, always in need of a little more.
I will say that there is a lot of good work done worldwide by religious organizations and charities. I've worked with some of them from time to time. A lot of the money they collect is put to good use.
When I say a church building that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to construct however, I do wonder, "why?"
I lived in Clearwater, FL for almost 13 years. For those who don't know, Clearwater is the world headquarters for the Church of Scientology. They've bought up so much prime downtown real estate that they pay no property tax on at all and it's a source of extreme controversy. I don't believe religious organizations should be free from paying property taxes (just MY opinion).
Every day in downtown Clearwater you can see all the worker drones running around in their uniforms. They amount to indentured servants. They work for the "Church." They get less than $100 week for food and incidentals. They're housed in hotels, motels, apartment buildings and such all owned by the "Church." They have no social lives to speak of, no real quality of life (the way most of us would define "quality") yet they come from all over the world and are happy to do so.
Given the beliefs held by the "Church" I think they're all either brainwashed, f*cked in the head or both. That's my opinion, I realize others differ.
I apologize if I offended any Scientologists or anyone else for that matter.
I could link to article after article about their beliefs that would baffle most of you but I won't, you all have Google.
I am agnostic myself, I don't attend church so you where I stand and can take my statements and opinions here with a grain of salt.
You can neg me if it makes you feel better.
If someone is religious, even fanatical or a nutjob when it comes to their beliefs, that's their business even though many of them want to make it your business... Many more want to make it BIG BUSINESS.
As long as they don't expect me to drink the Kool Aid...