Survey: Folks are leaving church because of mean people

Here’s your

“Well… Duh! No shit, Jack!”

moment.

You know things are pretty bad when “sinners” (atheists, agnostics, humanists, et al) know when religious folks are not practicing what they preach, and call out their blatant hypocrisy… and even Jesus agrees with them.

“I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.”
— Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 21:31 (NIV)

Instead of establishing and promoting tax-free corrupt religious empires in order to facilitate, perpetuate, and obfuscate sex crimes by shuffling perpetrators and prime suspects across state lines and international borders, isn’t it time we started talking about taxing churches?

Formerly, religion was thought of as a “moral good,” an imperative of immense societal importance, imagining (falsely) that people cannot be moral, ethical, virtuous, righteous, pious, or even devout, without religion. Granted, piety and devoutness have often been used to characterize behaviors in religious terms, but those 2 words have neither exclusively ecclesiastical, nor uniquely religious application or use — as their etymology (history of a word’s origin, derivation, and usage) indicates — even though they have been co-opted for that purpose.

But, people can be, and are, good, without religion, without practicing religion — belief in an ethereal, often-supernatural being(s), which often are superlative to humans, frequently possessing omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, among other super-powers.

It’s as if We The People want someone like us, but simultaneously not like us, to whom we can give obeisance… and alms. Can’t have religion without money, you know. At least in America, you can’t.

And so, we have created our very own god — a veritable golden calf, only this one is green, his name is Benjamin, has no intrinsic value, but is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the government of the United States.

Naturally, my god is better than, and superior to, your god, and so, we must fight to the death to determine whose god will win, whose theology will prevail, whose rules we will obey, and upon whom we will force the arcane doctrines, under penalty of law… even imposing death if it so warrants. And there are many, for the arrest of thousands, upon thousands for infractions of the most picayune type.

Hair too long? Too short? Pants too tight? Bulges in the wrong places? Body parts poking through sweaters and snug-fitting tee-shirts? Shorts too short? Makeup? Work on Sunday? Saturday? Wednesday night?

After all, it’s what god wants.

Right?

But taxing churches…

The ostensible primary idea behind the elimination of tax responsibility and liability, is that churches and religious institutions provide an intangible public benefit such as the inculcation of ethics, morals, and values, in addition to providing corporeal, tangible relief and assistance to societies’ members in time of need, which exemplifies the practice of the ethic, the ideal, the standard to which the faithful hold themselves accountable… or not. At one time, churches, and religions in general terms, held up an ideal, one of education, of discovery, of contributing to society, of helping others, etc., though they are not often nowadays seen practicing what they once preached… even though they are given the same level (if not more) of legal deference and respect that they once were given, including substantially preferential legal treatment, which had the elimination of tax liability as its bedrock, private donations to which also enjoyed similar treatment, as well as the clerics who enjoyed such public largesse in the form of personal tax elimination.

Their abuses — aside from sexual crimes — are renown.

Houses fit for kings — literally, modern versions of British castles and princely estates, with tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of square feet, multiple stories (often, at least 3), and acres upon acres — even miles upon miles — of prime farm and forest land, often lain fallow, only rarely hunted, and farmed even less — are commonplace.

To compare, Frogmore Cottage, a more “humble” part of the Royal Windsor Estate in England, formerly known as Double Garden Cottage when it belonged to Queen Charlotte in 1801, had been divided into 5 separate housing units in the early 21^st century and occupied by Windsor Estate workers, and later briefly became the former residence of the former Prince Harry and his bride Rachel Meghan Markle, former Duchess of Sussex, which they extensively renovated in 2019, previously had 5,089 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, with nursery, again became a single-family residence house in 2020, and now has 10 bedrooms, with 2 floors, on 33 acres.

Joel Osteen, whose net worth is estimated to be at least $100 million, and who owns Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, resides with his spouse and 2 adult children in a 17,000 square foot palatial property in Houston’s ultra-elite River Oaks neighborhood, a renown enclave of billionaires, which physical “footprint” encompasses 1.86 acres, cost $10.5 million, has 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 5 open wood fireplaces, 3 elevators, a 2-story, 2,800 square foot guest house with 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a full kitchen and laundry room, a 2-story, 1 bedroom guest house, a pool, and pool house… for 4 people (1,000 square feet with living area, kitchen, bathroom, complete with covered patio overlooking a large heated pool) — in addition to owning a somewhat “smaller,” though equally palatial, $2.9 million mansion in Houston’s elite Tanglewood neighborhood where the wealthy, well-connected, and well-to-do reside.

Fleets of luxuriously exotic hand-crafted boutique automobiles… equine barns replete with the trappings of immense wealth… herds of cattle fed an exquisitely bizarre diet comprised exclusively of macadamia nuts… custom-crafted air-conditioned dog houses with marble floors… private airports and hangars to house a fleet of private jets… those are but a few of the trappings of wealth enjoyed by billionaire Americans and teevee preachers, most all of whom pay NO INCOME TAX.

An infamous event in Houston, TX — Hurricane Harvey in 2017 — exposed their hypocrisy by denying refuge from the ravages of the storm to area residents rendered homeless by it. For that, they, and others like them, are rewarded with preferential tax treatment by the United States Government, most often as massive reduction, or outright elimination of any tax liability or responsibility, and certainly, no public accountability for their actions… or, more often, the lack thereof.

If religious do-gooders are not going to do good with their worldly material goods, they should be taxed, and the monies collected put to public relief.

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People say they’re leaving religion due to anti-LGBTQ teachings and sexual abuse

March 27, 2024 5:00 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
by Jason DeRose at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. (photo by Allison Shelley)

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/27/1240811895/leaving-religion-anti-lgbtq-sexual-abuse

People in the U.S. are leaving and switching faith traditions in large numbers. The idea of “religious churning” is very common in America, according to a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

It finds that around one-quarter (26%) of Americans now identify as religiously unaffiliated, a number that has risen over the last decade and is now the largest single religious group in the U.S. That’s similar to what other surveys and polls have also found, including Pew Research.

PRRI found that the number of those who describe themselves as “nothing in particular” has held steady since 2013, but those who identify as atheists have doubled (from 2% to 4%) and those who say they’re agnostic has more than doubled (from 2% to 5%).

This study looked at which faith traditions those unaffiliated people are coming from.

Dr. Melissa Deckman, PhD, PRRI’s Chief Executive Officer, said that

Excerpt from “So Help Me, God” by Former Vice President Mike Pence

Thirteen days after the 2020 election, I had lunch with President Trump. I told him that if his legal challenges came up short, he could simply accept the results, move forward with the transition, and start a political comeback, winning the Senate runoffs in Georgia, the 2021 Virginia governor’s race, and the House and Senate in 2022. Then he could run for president in 2024 and win. He seemed unmoved, even weary: “I don’t know, 2024 is so far off.”

A common housefly alit and remained for several minutes upon Vice President Mike Pence’s head, Wednesday, October 7, during the 2020 Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, with Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee.

In a Dec. 5 call, the president for the first time mentioned challenging the election results in Congress. By mid-December, the internet was filled with speculation about my role. An irresponsible TV ad by a group calling itself the Lincoln Project suggested that when I presided over the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress to count the electoral votes, it would prove that I knew “it’s over,” and that by doing my constitutional duty, I would be “putting the final nail in the coffin” of the president’s re-election. To my knowledge, it was the first time anyone implied I might be able to change the outcome. It was designed to annoy the president. It worked. During a December cabinet meeting, President Trump told me the ad “looked bad for you.” I replied that it wasn’t true: I had fully supported the legal challenges to the election and would continue to do so.

On Dec. 19, the president mentioned plans for a rally in Washington on Jan. 6. I thought that would be useful to call attention to the proceedings. I had just spoken with a senator about the importance of vetting concerns about the election before Congress and the American people. At the White House on Dec. 21, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan led lawmakers in a discussion about plans to bring objections. I promised that all properly submitted objections would be recognized and fully debated.

On Dec. 23, my family boarded Air Force Two to spend Christmas with friends. As we flew across America, President Trump retweeted an obscure article titled “Operation Pence Card.” It alluded to the theory that if all else failed, I could alter the outcome of the election on Jan. 6. I showed it to Karen, my wife, and rolled my eyes.

Plainclothes United States Capitol Police behind a barricaded door on the Floor of the House of Representatives, aim at an insurrectionist — one of thousands on January 6, 2021 who ransacked and destroyed government property and offices at the U.S. Capitol Building at the oblique request of then-POTUS Donald Trump in his failed conspiracy attempt to remain in power by providing several slates of falsified Electoral College Electors, then inciting violence during the certification process — following his re-election defeat in the November 2020 General Election to the Democratic Party’s nominee, former long-time U.S. Senator, then Vice President, Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

On Dec. 30, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley announced that he would

Celebrating Freedom On Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, U.S. Army Major General Gordon Granger, along with his command, arrived in Galveston, in the then-District of Texas, he issued General Orders No. 3, and that day read aloud the following:

“The people of Texas are informed that,
in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States,
all slaves are free.
This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves,
and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.
They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

This past Friday, 19 June 2020, marked the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated in 46 states, and the District of Columbia, commemorating the abolition of slavery which occurs annually on June 19.

The date actually refers not to the end of legal slavery in the United States, but to the gap in time after the Emancipation Proclamation, and refers to the date the U.S. Army’s Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, in the then-District of Texas and made an official proclamation of the news that Lincoln had freed slaves in the 10 secessionist rebel Confederate states through the Emancipation Proclamation (EP).

The EP was not applicable to the four border slave states that were not in rebellion – Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri.

To be certain, as a societal evil, slavery was and remains despicably abhorrent, and had long been practiced by humanity throughout history. Efforts to eradicate slavery in the United States were fraught with legal difficulties, most which seriously complicated matters, and placed the status of the newly emerging and growing nation known as the United States in perilous jeopardy.

A statue depicts a man holding the state law that made Juneteenth a state holiday is shown Wednesday, June 17, 2020, in Galveston, Texas. The inscription on the statue reads “On June 19, 1865, at the close of the Civil War, U.S. Army General Gordon Granger issued an order in Galveston stating that the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was in effect. That event, later known as “Juneteenth,” marked the end of slavery in Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

An interesting feature, is the date and timing of General Orders No. 3, which reinforced, and supported the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Emancipation Proclamation – also known as “Proclamation 95” – was initially issued by

Right Wing Nuts in Amurka: Cliven Bundy speaks… GOP retreats.

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro…”

Hey, hey, hey!

The GOP’s “Big Tent” has let in all sorts of krazees and they like it, they love it, and want more of it.

Not sure why they run away from the nutzos they attract.

After all, shit draws flies.

That’s just great!

Here’s to the GOP’s Radical Right Wing pseudo-Libtardtarians modern-day Wild, Wild West American hero… Cliven Bundy.

Yeah.

It’s not difficult to imagine a bunch of rabble-rousing, gun-toting freaks on horseback out in the Desert Southwest of Nevada saying stupid things like that. Dehydration will do strange things like that to a man.

Just in the case you’re not aware of the news, Cliven Bundy is a “rancher” in Nevada who has, to this point, defied several federal judge’s orders as far back as 1990, called together his misfit band of brothers in civilian arms to support his efforts to continue defrauding “we the people” of the United States government.

To wit, he has admitted owing over $300,000 in arrears of grazing fees – established by then-President Ronald Reagan – to the Bureau of Land Management, and against court order continues to allow his cattle free range forage on federal land, without paying for the privilege. In other words, he had admitted he is a thief.

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A Defiant Rancher Savors the Audience That Rallied to His Side

By ADAM NAGOURNEY
APRIL 23, 2014

BUNKERVILLE, Nev. — Cliven Bundy stood by the Virgin River up the road from the armed checkpoint at the driveway of his ranch, signing autographs and posing for pictures. For 55 minutes, Mr. Bundy held forth to a clutch of supporters about his views on the troubled state of America — the overreaching federal government, the harassment of Western ranchers, the societal upheaval caused by abortion, even musing about whether slavery was so bad.

Bundy speaks as Sympathizers & armed White Supremacists surround him – (Cliven Bundy, flanked by supporters, has become a celebrity, drawing hundreds of sympathizers. Credit John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal, via Associated Press)

Most of all, Mr. Bundy, 67, who was

Please describe what you were doing when the problem happened:

I was seated at the kitchen table, listening to satellite radio  – “Give A Little Bit” by Supertramp was playing – having taken a large sip of Fighting Cock 103 proof Kentucky whiskey, followed with a swig of Yuengling Original Black & Tan beer, while reading the Sunday funny papers from the Huntsville (Alabama) Times. Outside the window, a couple was looking around the property next door. Here comes the woman now, from around the corner. Oh… the table at which I’m seated is adjacent a window. I was breathing, and my blood was circulating, and I was thinking that

Screw You and Your Family Too! -OR- The Battle of Wall Street: BIG BUSINESS v everybody else

When you sell a thing, you no longer own it.

Right?

Not so in the make-believe world of Wall Street!

In the make-believe world of Wall Street, when you sell a thing, you STILL own it!

Huh?

Well, Lehman Brothers “sold” $50 BILLION of their assets, but kept possession of them, and made it appear as if they no longer owned them. Normal folks would consider that fraud, or theft. So does a U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Examiner.

Financial regulators in the United Kingdom are investigating bankrupt American Lehman Brothers for hiding more than $50,000,000,000 ($50 BILLION) in their accounts, through criminal transactions nick-named “repo transactions.”

What could you do with an extra $200 or so?