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What kind of screwed up religion did this author grow up in? Someplace where people were judged just on the number of times they prayed? In the religions I see

by mcherm 9y ago

What kind of screwed up religion did this author grow up in? Someplace where people were judged just on the number of times they prayed? In the religions I see, activities like prayer are largely for the benefit of the participant (strengthening their connection with God and helping bring them reassurance and guidance) not to "keep score". And all the religions I know of have some obligation to their members to invest time, money, and care into aiding the poor and the needy, which had a direct positive effect on the world. And I say these things despite the fact that I am an atheist.

seren 9y ago
> Yuval Noah Harari lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Given where it is written from, I guess the author got more than his fair share of "religion" in his life.
- irickt 9y ago
  Though if I remember correctly he is a Buddhist.
mannigfaltig 9y ago
> invest time, money, and care into aiding the poor and the needy Actually most organized religions are criminally inefficient at this. As an example the Catholic Church in Germany earns about 6 billion euros per year, completely tax-exempt. 50% of that actually comes from tax money. Now, if you look at social institutions which claim to be funded by the church, it is usually only 5-40% (rather the lower end) that the Catholic church contributes and the rest comes from insurance companies, contributions by the patients/care receivers and, again, from taxes. The church does not contribute to religious education at all and there also is no freedom of strike in the German Catholic church and many similarly miserable exception clauses.
- klipt 9y ago
  Is the German Catholic church required to spend German donations in Germany, or can they e.g. reroute them to impoverished churches in South America? That could explain some of the inflow/outflow discrepancy if you only look at Germany (one of the wealthiest countries in the world)
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

by mcherm 9y ago

seren 9y ago

> Yuval Noah Harari lectures at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Given where it is written from, I guess the author got more than his fair share of "religion" in his life.

irickt 9y ago
Though if I remember correctly he is a Buddhist.

mannigfaltig 9y ago

> invest time, money, and care into aiding the poor and the needy Actually most organized religions are criminally inefficient at this. As an example the Catholic Church in Germany earns about 6 billion euros per year, completely tax-exempt. 50% of that actually comes from tax money. Now, if you look at social institutions which claim to be funded by the church, it is usually only 5-40% (rather the lower end) that the Catholic church contributes and the rest comes from insurance companies, contributions by the patients/care receivers and, again, from taxes. The church does not contribute to religious education at all and there also is no freedom of strike in the German Catholic church and many similarly miserable exception clauses.

klipt 9y ago
Is the German Catholic church required to spend German donations in Germany, or can they e.g. reroute them to impoverished churches in South America? That could explain some of the inflow/outflow discrepancy if you only look at Germany (one of the wealthiest countries in the world)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]