4 ms·

I have a question, and I am not trying to be cynical. What differentiate a profitable church from a company, other than a different legal structure?

• ck2 16y ago
  The "Church" is a government/country, not a corporation. They've executed (lots of) people with their power via sovereignty. If you mean the church on the corner, well there is no difference, they are simply a profitable business that pays no taxes (the clergy are often owning nicer homes and driving nicer cars than their patrons).
  • dotcoma 16y ago
    some corporations probably exerted country-like powers, too. Think, for example, the banana companies in Central America.
    • varjag 16y ago
      Look no further than U.S. based United Fruit Company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company The company responsible for much of the misery throughout Americas. Today they go by as Chiquita.
  • pbiggar 16y ago
    Im not sure this (executions and sovereignty) is accurate. Can you go into more detail? If you're talking about the Inquisition, then the church did not have sovereignty.
  • gjm11 16y ago
    > If you mean the church on the corner ... the clergy are often owning nicer homes and driving nicer cars than their patrons I expect this is common in US megachurches. It certainly isn't the case everywhere. For instance, in the Church of England here in the UK the person who runs the church on the corner is probably poorer than most of the congregation. (Their salaries are very, very low. There's one big thing that makes up for that, which is that the church provides them with a house, usually quite a nice one.) (Note: I am not any sort of apologist for the clergy; I am an outspoken atheist. But I have friends and family who work for churches, and I have a decent idea of how little they are paid.)
• dotcoma 16y ago
  churches don't pay taxes.
• troels 16y ago
  Well, defining what makes religion special, is kind of tricky as well. And I think the answer to your question is closely related to that.
• ecaradec 16y ago
  there is only marketing but no product
  • megablast 16y ago
    For most of its life there was. People used to pay to absolve themselves of sin, and reduce the years they were going to stay in purgatory.
• cromulent 16y ago
  Their leader gets no salary, lives for ever, and is omnipotent. Rupert Murdoch currently only ticks one, maybe two of those boxes.