(April 14, 2016 at 12:30 pm)abaris Wrote:(April 14, 2016 at 12:27 pm)Nymphadora Wrote: Ya but.... the difference is the clearings our ancestors used didn't cost money to build. The church "elders" have to guilt trip people into believing their stupid god wants money so he can have a house built that he will never come and visit, pay taxes on or thank all those who contributed their money to build.
You think? Should look at what was offered there. All the sacrifices were at least as expensive as a church is today. Compared to what the people owned and their general standard of living.
I think you're reading more into what I was saying than what I actually said. Here's the thing - you can compare an apple to an orange all day long, but in the end, you're still doing to have an apple and an orange and neither is the same. Having a clearing where a community went to gather didn't require a building, of sorts. It was a clearing. It was an area cleared out of possibly brush, weeds, thatch, woods etc. Unless you put a building there, then it's just a clearing. That is the image I gathered from your post. The image I gathered was one of a huge bonfire where the "community" gathered around at night and did whatever they did back then. As far as I know, gathering wood for the bonfire didn't cost anyone money. They walked around and gathered up the wood on the ground or they cut down nearby trees.
A church, OTOH, requires builders AND money for the cost of materials and labor. Where do you think that money has to come from? And honestly, a church has a specific use. To gather specific religious folk of a specific religion, to worship their god. Can it be used for more than that? Sure, and it does. The members hold various church functions there all the time such as potlucks, yard sales etc.
A clearing (to use your word), on the other hand, served the community - which, in modern times, is logically made up of a diverse group of people, including those from different religions. This is why we have community buildings now. However, all that said, there is still a difference between a clearing and a church building.
tl;dr version: Think of your "clearing" as the community building, where various things happen, for the good of the "community". Think of the "church" as a building where people go to worship a god, for the good of their religion.
Disclaimer: I am only responsible for what I say, not what you choose to understand.
