(August 19, 2015 at 11:43 pm)jiffy Wrote: Great replies thus far! One thing that has surprised me is several are bothered by the tax-exempt status of churches. Would you suggest eliminating tax exemption completely, for all "religious" reasons? Perhaps it only remains for charity organizations only?
@Jenny A - what drove you away from Christianity?
@Redbeard - Are you referring to contemporary music? It seems like music coming out of several centuries ago was positively influenced (I'm thinking of Bach, Handel, Haydn, etc.)
Personally, I think if an organization is going to be tax-exempt, they should be a charity, they should have to apply, and they should have completely public and transparent books. If churches want tax exempt status, they should be required to do a certain amount of secular charity work that benefits the public each year (fundraisers for church needs/projects don't count, and missionary work does not count).
And yeah, I'm referring to contemporary Christian rock and contemporary Christian film, mostly. Modern Christian media should be insulting to Christians, honestly. Instead of making the best product they can, they tend to just throw together some half-assed shit knowing they'll make money on it because Jesus people will buy even a sub-par product as long as it has Jesus paint on it. They really just don't respect their audience enough to shoot for quality.
Verbatim from the mouth of Jesus (retranslated from a retranslation of a copy of a copy):
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. How can you see your brother's head up his ass when your own vision is darkened by your head being even further up your ass? How can you say to your brother, 'Get your head out of your ass,' when all the time your head is up your own ass? You hypocrite! First take your head out of your own ass, and then you will see clearly who has his head up his ass and who doesn't." Matthew 7:1-5 (also Luke 6: 41-42)
Also, I has a website: www.RedbeardThePink.com
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. How can you see your brother's head up his ass when your own vision is darkened by your head being even further up your ass? How can you say to your brother, 'Get your head out of your ass,' when all the time your head is up your own ass? You hypocrite! First take your head out of your own ass, and then you will see clearly who has his head up his ass and who doesn't." Matthew 7:1-5 (also Luke 6: 41-42)
Also, I has a website: www.RedbeardThePink.com