I think we can all agree that if an atheist organization was found to have covered up thousands of child rapes over the last few decades, then that organization would be torn to the ground within a day. No matter how much good it might be doing in the world.
Yet the Catholic Church gets special exemptions left and right.
The Catholic Church's books are closed. We don't know how much money they're making. But I can come up with a lower bound that we should all agree upon. After that, we can take a look at their "good works."
Number of Catholics in world: 1.2 billion. Source: Google.
Assume 1/3 of Catholics do not attend church; assume 1/3 of Catholics attend church only on special occasions, such as Easter; assume 1/3 of Catholics attend church regularly. Therefore, 400 million Catholics regularly attend church.
Assume that for every 5 Catholics, there is 1 father, 1 mother, and 3 children. Therefore there are (400 million)/5=80 million regular attendees who have the capacity to donate. Assume that of the regular attendees who are able to donate, 1/3 donate nothing, 1/3 donate 1% regularly, and 1/3 donate 10% regularly. Assume that the average Catholic household earns $9K after taxes annually (Google "average income worldwide" to see average income is $10K, so I put it at $9K after taxes).
This puts a low estimate of the Catholic Church's tax-free annual income at (80 million)(1/3)(0.01)($9K)+ (80 million)(1/3)(0.1)($9K)=$26.4 billion. Is the Catholic Church providing $26.4 billion worth of services per year?
Yet the Catholic Church gets special exemptions left and right.
The Catholic Church's books are closed. We don't know how much money they're making. But I can come up with a lower bound that we should all agree upon. After that, we can take a look at their "good works."
Number of Catholics in world: 1.2 billion. Source: Google.
Assume 1/3 of Catholics do not attend church; assume 1/3 of Catholics attend church only on special occasions, such as Easter; assume 1/3 of Catholics attend church regularly. Therefore, 400 million Catholics regularly attend church.
Assume that for every 5 Catholics, there is 1 father, 1 mother, and 3 children. Therefore there are (400 million)/5=80 million regular attendees who have the capacity to donate. Assume that of the regular attendees who are able to donate, 1/3 donate nothing, 1/3 donate 1% regularly, and 1/3 donate 10% regularly. Assume that the average Catholic household earns $9K after taxes annually (Google "average income worldwide" to see average income is $10K, so I put it at $9K after taxes).
This puts a low estimate of the Catholic Church's tax-free annual income at (80 million)(1/3)(0.01)($9K)+ (80 million)(1/3)(0.1)($9K)=$26.4 billion. Is the Catholic Church providing $26.4 billion worth of services per year?
Jesus is like Pinocchio. He's the bastard son of a carpenter. And a liar. And he wishes he was real.
