traveller2 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 ...is to nations and individuals each year of following Christ. Not just $/£ spent tithing and on Christian trash like books and retreats but the time wasted "seeking his face" and "waiting" on him and all that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sybaris Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 L. Ron Hubbard — 'You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.' There are conflicting reports as to it's authenticity but whoever said it was right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directionless Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I've wondered about this question too. It's hard to calculate, because some of the waste isn't waste. Like a pastor makes some contributions to society by visiting sick people, inspiring the congregation to be better citizens, etc. Atheists seem to feel a need for atheist churches. I know I've wasted a lot of time and money on Christianity. I still spend a lot of time thinking about God and trying to learn how to be an atheist. EDIT: Another part of the economic cost is the mental anguish. If we were suing Christianity for damages that would need to be included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven77 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 My response, as it usually is when the economics of the church are involved...churches should pay taxes. That way we can avoid these trite topics involving the economic and financial feasibility of the church. As for the waste, I do agree that there is some value in the services provided by the church. However, perhaps if the churches were not in the social and political spheres here in the US to the degree that they are, we could have some sort of real progress. I'm not going to spitball on what all that would entail here. Atheists seem to feel a need for atheist churches. Non-believers don't feel the need for church; we desire community with like-minded folks. Those among us with children desire a place to take their children to show them that you don't have to believe in an invisible sky daddy and his lich son to find acceptance and make friends. We want a place to go and seek our paths in life with people who aren't going to push us to believe in a delusion or to give up our hobbies or interests to fit some bullshit mold. It would be nice to have a place to go that offered the same services as many larger churches do, but from a secular, humanist, and/or atheist POV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerk Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 One of my biggest regrets about having been a Christian is the financial cost. I was self-employed and making a pretty good income, and in late 1999 we bought a different (more expensive) house. Nothing extravagant, but still an added expense. About this time my younger son started driving, and the car insurance bill went way up. The result was that most of the income was taken up. Over the next years we would have the second son driving, and college expenses... just an expensive time of life. However, being devout, I began to feel guilty about how much (or "little") I was contributing. Because I helped count the contribution sometimes, I could see how large some of the checks were, and there were people I'm sure that were making less than I was, contributing more. So I upped my contribution to $150/week. That's $600 or $750 a month, and looking back over the years I realized that I had been spending about $800/month more than I was making on average. I would save to pay my quarterly taxes, then get the money out of savings to pay the bills, meaning that in April I had to borrow large amounts of money to pay my taxes. Just plain STUPID of me! Regarding the "need" for atheist churches, I'm still in the closet and still going to church. My dad passed away two weeks ago, and I have to say that the sense of family from the church members was really welcome. (The religious sympathy cards were a bit hard to take.) And the church where my parents are really did a lot to help out. It's always that way. But the stupid part? I never told a single one of my neighbors that my father had died. I know them casually, but never spend quality time with them. (The lady across the street actually tried to get some of us involved a bit, but her efforts didn't really "take".) Why not? The neighborhood is a literal community, not a virtual one like a church congregation! But I guess it's the regular attendance at church that causes us to feel connected with the church members, whereas seeing people coming and going in the neighborhood doesn't present us with the same motivation to have conversations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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