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A local Texas guy told me once that he donates quite a bit to the local church, explaining that he would prefer his money do good locally instead of being diver
by hippich 3y ago
A local Texas guy told me once that he donates quite a bit to the local church, explaining that he would prefer his money do good locally instead of being diverted to the war machine that sucked in his son.
- duxup 3y agoIt’s not like a church builds roads in his home town… What does that statement really mean?
- mulmen 3y agoIt means charitable donations are tax deductible. Local governments don’t always provide the community services of churches either.
- huimang 3y agoIt means exactly what he said: he wants it to do good locally. There are other ways money can be used locally for good than building roads.
- catgary 3y ago[flagged]
- barelysapient 3y agoNot all churches engage in this behavior. You appear to hold some pretty strong and uncharitable assumptions.
- callalex 3y ago[flagged]
- barelysapient 3y agoThere's undoubtedly bad churches out there. Maybe even a lot. But I think blanket demagoguery of any group, include churches, shows a lack of curiosity, and maybe too, tolerance of others who think differently than you.
- aaomidi 3y agoChurches do usually do mutual aid though. And sometimes much more humanely than the government. (Fwiw I’m not a Christian nor do I care for religion)
- skipkey 3y agoIt means that the donations to the church are generally tax deductible, and thus divert some money from the federal government to the church. And the church likely has many charitable activities.
- downrightmike 3y agoChurches are a complete scam.
- bigstrat2003 3y agoSome churches are, sure. Churches as an overall category are absolutely not a scam.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jessepasley 3y agoAre they more of a scam than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
- shortrounddev2 3y agoThere is no longer any war in Iraq or Afghanistan
- pauldenton 3y agoI'm sure the 7 billion dollars worth of equipment won't come back to bite us in the ass, like training Mujahideen between 1979-1989 to fight the Soviets and supplying them with Stingers did
- shortrounddev2 3y agoIn what way did arming the Mujahideen with Stingers bite us in the ass
- tomatotomato37 3y agoIt means the US government spends 10 times as much on killing others (military spending - 13%) than it does on essential infrastructure (transportation - ~2%)
- callalex 3y agoI’m not sure why that’s relevant as I have never heard of a church building trains and sewers…
- pauldenton 3y agoI never heard of a local government building trains either.
- kelnos 3y agoI don't want to disagree with your general point (because I agree that our infrastructure is not great, and that the US glorifies the military in ways I find uncomfortable), but let's also remember that doing a good job at two wildly different things may not cost the same amount of money. While I do think the US should be spending more on essential infrastructure, it is entirely likely that the US could end up doing an exemplary job at that, but still spend less money on it than on the military.
- ImJamal 3y agoChurches will often times have food pantries, soup kitchens, hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, etc. They provide resources to the poorest in their community.
- mbg721 3y agoMy parish actually divides its money up pretty cleanly; the first collection each week is for the upkeep of the church building, its school, etc., and there's a second collection that rotates, but once a month it's for the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which does rent assistance, furniture and coat drives, and the like, regardless of the recipient's religious affiliation.
- pauldenton 3y ago2% of most city budgets is spent on roads. It's not like the local government is primarily spending tax money on road maintenance
- xeromal 3y agoDepends on the area, but I live in the Southeast where churches are plentiful and my local church (which I don't attend since I'm agnostic) has a drive up food pantry staffed by the neighborhood. I contribute to it as well. They also provide housing for people on hard times and like to come together whenever anyone is widowed and made an orphan. They've even raised money for cars for people who are struggling to make a living. They frequently raise money whenever someone needs healthcare and often times the needs of the community are met just by local experts donating their time. Many folks are blue collar and may come together to repair a house/driveway/roof. etc Churches can be pillars of a community if done correctly.
- warkdarrior 3y ago> whenever anyone is widowed and made an orphan Man, only in the South can that be the same event.
- xeromal 3y agohahahah, I walked into that one. ;)