I give kudos to your observation, but there is no button to click that expresses my shared disgust for the truth of what you're pointing out. It really makes me sick.

I wouldn't have so much disgust if not for the fact that they claim to be "doing the Lord's work" when they're begging for more and more donations. You know the Lord, right? The one whose son very specifically said not to amass wealth and how the rich won't enter heaven.

The link I posted in another thread ought to get a lot of people's blood boiling, atheist and Christian alike:

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/tele-eva...tyles.html

Old news, actually.

Quote:Of learned men, the clergy show the lowest development of professional ethics. Any pastor is free to cadge customers from the divines of rival sects, and to denounce the divines themselves as theological quacks.
— H L Mencken, Minority Report (1956

(November 20, 2013 at 4:41 pm)freedomfromfallacy Wrote: $87,000

Silly...

My former pastor makes 3 times that much,

It's really sick actually. It's times like these
when I wish that hell were real, and that I
would know these guys would burn there forever.

pastors doing that will, scamming people out of their money

The Reality Salesman, the link to the advertisement tips page doesn't work, it says 404 for me. Mind fixing it?

Other than that ... I always knew they make a lot, but seeing the actual number and knowing they don't have to pay taxes for it really pisses me off. These people work 1 day per week and do SHIT. They do not do half the good work volunteers do for free in an hour. I am a dirt poor uni student and I've been working part-time and summer jobs throughout my entire uni career, even when I had research projects to do and heavy workload at school. And I can't even buy stuff I like, I barely go out if I know others will expect me to spend money, for a whole year when I was still earning 10 dollars per hour (min wage here), I had to work so much I would be out for 10 hour stretches and I don't eat even though I was hungry, I'd wait till I go home to have food. I don't mind that I'm poor, I know the price for the type of service I provide and I don't expect more, but it just pisses me off thinking that there's someone else like me who would seriously give up 10% of their earnings to a pastor like this to get nothing in return. I can get a new pair of shoes each month with that type of money, and trust me, those are WAY better at making you feel great (and, yes, I measure my wealth by estimating the number of shoes I'm able to buy). What the hell is wrong with this world?

---

(November 20, 2013 at 8:54 pm)super spidey man Wrote:

(November 20, 2013 at 4:41 pm)freedomfromfallacy Wrote: $87,000

Silly...

My former pastor makes 3 times that much,

It's really sick actually. It's times like these
when I wish that hell were real, and that I
would know these guys would burn there forever.

pastors doing that will, scamming people out of their money

All pastors who collect are scamming. They're collecting based on false pretences and almost none of them show the parish how the money is spent.

Not that much different from the Nigerian scamming thing that was quite popular for a while, where they tell you you'll get a lot of money (false pretences), and you believe them, and you do not see your money or them ever again (only with pastors you keep seeing them and keep feeding them).

I wonder if there are any atheist fakers among the pastors you seem to have a problem with?

Dont forget, parishioners have already paid tax on the money they freely give to their church - only part of which pays for the pastor to have a house and 3 meals a day and a car to get around in.

... so they can go to funerals and help comfort the bereaved, visit palliative care wards at hospitals to pray with the dying, do chaplaincy work at nursing homes, help organize soup kitchens,
meet and help with the rehabilitation of prison inmates, visit disabled/invalids in their homes to hand out Holy Communion,

(November 20, 2013 at 4:33 pm)The Reality Salesman Wrote: While watching the local news, I saw a commercial for a church in my area inviting people to attend their services. I could not believe this. I had never seen a commercial for a church before, but it does make sense.

It never even occurred to me to consider whether or not churches were allowed to do this. The pastor of the church was featured in the commercial. He was wearing a black suit and tie, and resembled Mitt Romney. He had a very creepy vibe chiseled into his face and was urging me to join his congregation this Sunday.

It made me curious. How much does this guy make to be the pastor of a church?

His advertisement has got to be reaching hundreds, if not thousands of impressionable and desperate people that are viewing this as a beacon for hope. This advertisement could greatly increase the number of people in attendance each week, and with that, greatly increase the amount of tax free contributions they bring in each week as well.

It’s brilliant, and it made me sick. I hopped on Google and searched for “Church Advertisement”…411 MILLION RESULTS. I clicked on one near the top titled “10 Advertising Secrets Every Church Needs”.
Here's the link

It’s disgusting. They are not candid about targeting people that want to get saved for selfish reasons, and then polishing it up by assuring the reader that the “Altruism” will come later.

This line stood out to me in one of these “secrets” regarding which people to target, who better than the ignorant?

“If someone is not attending church, chances are they don’t think church can do much for them. Maybe they’re skeptical. It’s more than likely they just have no idea.”

The stuff written on this page would make the stomach of any critical thinker turn over. It bothers me that:

A) There are people who are so vulnerable to being preyed upon by these fucking idiots, and don’t see anything coming.
(Look no further than our site for a few examples)

B) These churches are able to do this to people under the freedom that the very military I am enlisted in provides them.

My mind began to wander away from this ad, and I was curious. How much do these pastors make? Clearly they’re not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts (so much for the altruism). How much do they have to gain by spending their tax-free dollars on advertisement that would increase their weekly attendance?

I was shocked. The average pastor in America makes $86,797 a year!

www.salary.com


Honestly, if the people of these churches only cared about “saving” people, why would they advertise for a specific church of Christ? What if there was a chance that the person viewing their commercial was closer to a different church, but immediately dismissed the church being advertised because they knew it was too far? They would have lost a “soul” that could have been “saved” by alternate means.

Clearly that’s not what they’re concerned about. They want to make sure that people attend their church. They want people to get saved, but only if they’re putting money in the right collection plate.

No doubt, there are plenty of Christians that wouldn’t approve of this, but nonetheless, it’s happening, and it shouldn’t be ignored.
Why does a pastor make money at all? If God is the reason they do what they do, why are they accepting money for it? Is it not a service they are supposedly providing for man?

I don’t seek compensation when I volunteer at a homeless shelter to cook free meals. I don’t expect to be paid when I collect toys for less fortunate children. Why do pastors accept an average of almost $87,000 a year to spread what they advertise as the “way to eternal salvation”? Why not hold a regular job that pays the bills? If the job at a fast food restaurant doesn’t pay the bills of a pastor, then they are living outside of their means, and after all, is it the comfort you receive in this life that’s important to Christians, or is it the eternal life in heaven what they solicit as being truly valuable?

I wait on baited breath for somebody to come to the defense of these monsters. I just don’t understand why otherwise rational people can openly subject themselves to a religion that is so blatantly dishonest, and then defend it as if it is the ones that don’t agree that truly have evil in their hearts. These people need to wake up, and see their religion for what it is. A scam.

This has been a free reality-check. No donations will be accepted.

Attendance continues to drop and therefore their income base is slowly falling.

They'll do whatever they can to stop that happening. A prime example is of the desperation is:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyath...hemselves/

(November 21, 2013 at 1:59 am)Lion IRC Wrote: I wonder if there are any atheist fakers among the pastors you seem to have a problem with?

Oh, would you fuck off, with that?

Honestly, you can't confirm this baseless accusation, you don't even know which pastors we're talking about, so all this is is dishonest fucking mudslinging in a desperate attempt to deflect from an issue you have no answer for.

"Nuh uh, because... uh... atheists!"

Excuse me?

(November 21, 2013 at 1:59 am)Lion IRC Wrote: ... so they can go to funerals and help comfort the bereaved, visit palliative care wards at hospitals to pray with the dying, do chaplaincy work at nursing homes, help organize soup kitchens,
meet and help with the rehabilitation of prison inmates, visit disabled/invalids in their homes to hand out Holy Communion,

Funny how all that can be done without being a pastor