Posts: 833
Threads: 155
Joined: October 27, 2011
Reputation:
11
Robbing god
January 16, 2012 at 11:34 am
Don't you ever wonder why an almighty god needs so much money?... You got it: His self appointed "representatives" collect the money for "him"...
And these self appointed representatives preach that if you don't donate you are robbing god. These self appointed representatives don't mention that they take a substantial cut of the donation money and keep it for themselves.
http://www.victorious.org/tithe.htm
The above is a portion of a conversation that was posted on Facebook. It differs from the original because I have corrected for grammar.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise
Posts: 833
Threads: 155
Joined: October 27, 2011
Reputation:
11
RE: Robbing god
January 16, 2012 at 12:05 pm
A lot of these preachers preach that god will curse you if you don't donate. It's sort of like a protection racket. If this is true I wanna cut of da action.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise
Posts: 833
Threads: 155
Joined: October 27, 2011
Reputation:
11
RE: Robbing god
January 16, 2012 at 6:42 pm
I found this article while I was looking for something else. Ugh! Looks like the importation of the prosperity gospel into Africa is worse than I thought.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14573660
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise
Posts: 69247
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
258
RE: Robbing god
January 16, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Best summed up by noted atheist Robert Green Ingersoll:
Ministers say that they teach charity. This is natural. They live on alms. All beggars teach that others should give.
-- Robert Green Ingersoll (1897)
Posts: 274
Threads: 8
Joined: January 13, 2012
Reputation:
10
RE: Robbing god
January 20, 2012 at 3:50 am
(This post was last modified: January 20, 2012 at 3:52 am by Cosmic Ape.)
Not only that but a god that needs our money to build its brainwashing facilities...errr I mean religious institutions, instead of pooling that money to the poor or sick for example.. is no god worth worshiping. A great song lyric comes to minds from one of KMFDM's songs called Stray Bullet, something along the lines of.. "Even if god really exists, it would be necessary to abolish him!!!" and I think the god-tales of the bronze age fit that notion to a tee.
Posts: 3158
Threads: 132
Joined: September 1, 2011
Reputation:
44
RE: Robbing god
January 20, 2012 at 4:15 am
Wait, did Pat Robertson write that bullshit? Anyone stupid enough to believe that they're robbing god if they're not tithing, deserves to be robbed by god.
Posts: 833
Threads: 155
Joined: October 27, 2011
Reputation:
11
RE: Robbing god
January 20, 2012 at 11:46 am
(January 20, 2012 at 4:15 am)aleialoura Wrote: Wait, did Pat Robertson write that bullshit? Anyone stupid enough to believe that they're robbing god if they're not tithing, deserves to be robbed by god.
There are many thieves out there who can lay claim to writing that bullshit.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise
Posts: 13051
Threads: 66
Joined: February 7, 2011
Reputation:
92
RE: Robbing god
January 20, 2012 at 12:22 pm
From the article.
Quote:Someone once suggested, “Well, if the tenth already belongs to God, why doesn’t He just automatically withhold the tithe and then give us the rest, like the IRS withholds taxes from our wages? That way God won’t have to depend on us to pay our tithes.”
The response was...
Quote:God has chosen for us to personally return the tithe so that we can demonstrate our stewardship of his property. Stewardship is the faithful and responsible management of something that belongs to someone else. Obviously, if God observes that we are irresponsible to return the small percentage that belongs to Him as He has directed, He knows that we can neither be trusted with any greater responsibilities or blessings in the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:10-11).
Translation: If God took it all himself then my greedy ass wouldn't get my cut and the rest that I skim off the top.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
Posts: 833
Threads: 155
Joined: October 27, 2011
Reputation:
11
RE: Robbing god
January 20, 2012 at 6:06 pm
(January 20, 2012 at 12:22 pm)Faith No More Wrote: From the article.
Quote:Someone once suggested, “Well, if the tenth already belongs to God, why doesn’t He just automatically withhold the tithe and then give us the rest, like the IRS withholds taxes from our wages? That way God won’t have to depend on us to pay our tithes.”
The response was...
Quote:God has chosen for us to personally return the tithe so that we can demonstrate our stewardship of his property. Stewardship is the faithful and responsible management of something that belongs to someone else. Obviously, if God observes that we are irresponsible to return the small percentage that belongs to Him as He has directed, He knows that we can neither be trusted with any greater responsibilities or blessings in the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:10-11).
Translation: If God took it all himself then my greedy ass wouldn't get my cut and the rest that I skim off the top.
There's a lot of ways to theologically dance around these questions. BTW the quote from Luke was incorrect unless you are using a seriously weird translation of the Bible.
I have studied the Bible and the theology behind Christianity for many years. I have been to many churches. I have walked the depth and the breadth of the religion and, as a result of this, I have a lot of bullshit to scrape off the bottom of my shoes. ~Ziploc Surprise