tampacl
40283
985
21
Churches should be taxed
Dec 16, 2024 5:57 PM
tampacl
40283
985
21
Churches should be taxed
SithElephant
Thinking of Phil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35K6vQRt67g
mostinspired
No windows in that church, would not want God to see.
jdore8
Poppypoppoppop
Giving your brainwashed base a good show to make sure they stay brainwashed
therealalansmithee
JFC!
509tigerfish
TheSuicider
SquirtVonnegut
Some More News did a great episode about these mega churches and how they not only exploit their members and gain access to power, but also gobble up smaller neighborhood churches. They're essentially the Wal-Mart of churches, preaching capitalism over actual Christianity.
BobAllen2004
There is a church with a bunch of locations near here that became super popular. They hand out earplugs at the door, because it's literally more of a concert than a church. This is literally their home page. https://www.flatironschurch.com/
JC3Gamer
"We put the dollar back into Idolatry"
SalmySwims
When I was visiting family in Tempe, AZ, we went to a Christmas pageant at a Mega Church and it was very much the same- lots of glitz, including giraffes on loan from a zoo. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in a church.
JiffyGee
Imagine if allllll that money they spent on this shit, they helped the homeless.
ThankYouForYourTime
“Thank you so much for attending tonight! The cost of this show could’ve fed 800 impoverished children! Merry Christmas!”
WebDragonG3
how the bloody hell is this a CHURCH
nachosyndicate
My church never had pyrotechnics. wtf.
thedarkcanuck
I can't help but take a step back out of the context and appreciate the quality of the theatrics.
skipweasel
MAGA church, Shirley?
nobodyspecial995
Yes, and stop calling me surely.
TresusIbor
What the FUCK does this have to do with the Bible?
ballsoutflyer
Probably about the same thing as 99.9999% of all the other shit they do.
300Hectares1TankofKerosene
This is “Idiocracy” level madness. If it was in a movie I would laugh as if it was a scathing satire modern Christianity. But its real, in TX of course.
LeekofLegend
https://youtu.be/jnPE8u5ONls?si=VkvNvDO8kEogkaGg
While I dont think he was completely right, it's wild how much he did get right 80 Years Ago. The only thing he didn't factor in is just how much capitalism and greed skewed it. We want families, we can't afford them. We want things like marriage, but we condemn those who are gay and want it too, and again a matter of money. Instead we are taught to worship money and worship with it. What he missed was just how corrupt the churches themselves wou
LeekofLegend
Would become.
henryvk
Doesn’t this kind of saint worship fly in the face of Baptist/Evangelical theology? Like, shouldn’t that count as idolatry?
Snooj
If I know one thing about southern Baptists it's that they like to feel like they are part of something wealthy.
ridureyu
Texas: where everybody is a Christian, but nobody is Christian.
ridureyu
By that, I mean that they don’t follow Jesus’s teachings or even really believe.
swedeonamoose
Holding a christmas show/concert in a church isnt really that unusual even in europe, altough this is on the wilder side
Wolfshead009
That was my question. Is this part of a "normal" service or is this a special event taking place in an auditorium?
Wolfshead009
That said, this is an impressive event that takes a LOT of money to put on.
Feralkyn
I think a lot of the ones in Europe would be by outside groups invited in, and I'm -guessing- this church just hired everybody and set it up themselves, b/c they themselves have money and are charging loads for tickets to make more. The auditorium there? That's the church. BUT I may be wrong on who set it up.
imgonnaralph
If you're interested in making cash fast, become a religious leader. If religion and trump has taught us anything, it's that fools and their money can be easily parted.
RaftingRyan
This is kinda the plot of The Book of Eli.
Noahbalboa82
Honestly, I'd watch that. Kids seats still just 5 bucks?
RARusk
That's what L Ron Hubbard did (Scientology).
thedarkcanuck
Don't tell me that's not a cult
barbarian818
The "Murica, fuck ya!" Level is over 9000!
swedeonamoose
Gotta wonder why they went with the most british goddam tank ever built, like it is not like american M48's or M60s are hard to find
UhSadHJ84
Murica :(
MadamPuddifoot
I wish I didn't have morals.
taez555
CardboardEmpress
Zappa was a star. Tax the churches, educate our children.
BeReasonableOrAtLeastBeFunny
Tax the churches! Tax the businesses owned by the churches!
taez555
The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing.
DontNeedAWeatherManToKnowWhichWayTheWindBlows
This ain't a church - it's Cirque du Soleil with a collection plate.
Colopty
Frankly if they just straight up did this as an honest circus or theatre kind of thing instead of being a cult, it actually looks like it could be a really cool show.
taez555
To be fair, Cirque du Soleil pays taxes.
Snooj
Well, that isn't very fair.
DontNeedAWeatherManToKnowWhichWayTheWindBlows
Good point! OK, it's Cirque du Soleil with a collection plate and no tax bill.
taez555
Probably more child molestation too.
TheMoonBnuuy
I was skeptical that this was a mega church in Texas so I did some digging, and it is... It's Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas.
OtterlyMagnificent
I suspected it was the church my family always went to for the Christmas show every winter (and also the church my college graduation was at, because it was the biggest auditorium they could afford...4000 seats...) But then I saw the front of the stage which was different.
Snooj
And it doesn't pay taxes.
Ktigre
It's an absolute nightmare driving around it when this stuff is going on.
JustSayingYouHaventSeenMeAndBatmanInTheSameRoomBefore
There's a church near me in Houston that paid to have helicopters fly by and drop candy from the sky on Easter and rented gigantic snow making machines to make a "snow day" during the current holiday.
litelbrown
Prestonwood is a mega church of mega churches
TripleDane
I can confirm this as well as living in texas. One year Santa sled got stuck....
ZanderRahl
Yup, 6 flags over Jesus
andthentheresmaude
That’s Lakewood with scam master pastor Joel.
Evi1Gav
I forget which one, but either the basketball or hockey team sold their old stadium in Houston to a church. 40,000 every service and they were turning people away. It's insane.
TodOberhaus
The summit. It did a bit of everything, Basketball, indoor soccer, and hockey
andthentheresmaude
I saw Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones and a monster truck jam there.
comacomacomacomachameleon
Everything's bigger in Texas. Including blasphemy.
TheVampireDante
Of course it is...
XXXSpork
Gotta give the folks a show to prove their tithe is going to good use!
OneMoreLime
Thats what the private jet is for...
OutlawGerman
That's what the mansion(s) are for....
Rkfinecake
Well known for their circus gimmicks every Sunday.
Mehlbox
Is that the one which had a tank crush several cars during service, with the driver dual wielding machine pistols?
Mehlbox
Sorry, my bad. That was the James River church which employed a tank… https://youtu.be/--FLPQmdasc?feature=shared
thepriceisrightbitchez
$59 for a standard ticket. They also have a $25 buffet you can add. Plus $1.95 processing fee for each ticket. Probably all volunteer run and nothing is taxed. It's all a scam.
amk1031
fwiw that's cheaper than Broadway by a lot.
mmmerf1
Wait .... They're charging people to come to church? *Gasps in Fransiscan*
Hrafna55
/gallery/3F8YwPN
RecurringNightmare
once you sell "tickets" its not a church anymore but a theme park...
Trashpandafan
Freak show
NightOwlRally
I call the Megachurch near me "Six Flags Over Jesus"
jayman0123
The most depressing things about churches I figured out a while back is this; I googled the approximate number of homeless people in my area and got a number from a census a few years ago. Then I DOUBLED the number just to make sure my estimates weren't too low. Then I googled the number of churches covering that same area and came to a realization. There were approximately 20 churches in my area, and that if each church helped exactly 20 people, it would more than cover the number of 1/
jayman0123
homeless people in my area, meaning that the churches around here, including 1 mega church that has it's own campus with daycare, multiple wings with offices, walking trails and it's own frisbee golf course, could END homelessness when ever they wanted, but they don't. It's just about converting people to get more donations...
mmmerf1
Frisbee golf? Okay, that's so nuts I kind of understand how Trump got elected.
lovehandlesmessiah
The only variant of Judge Dredd that makes sense is the Christofascists retreat to live behind walled cities in Babel Towers where they can go do their goofy shit away from the rest of the world. We'll let them raze a 50 mile radius to make it look like an irradiated wasteland and they can just live their lives away from everything they should be doing as true Christians.
LeekofLegend
The thing that cracks me up about this is that it is directly a slap in the face of what their Bibles say. If I was the devil, I wouldn't be overtly evil, I would do exactly this. I would bastardize the church and the faith so every single person who is misaligned misses the mark entirely. And that's exactly what looks like is happening. Fuck you Osteen and friends!
TheVampireDante
Made the devil evil so people would flock to them to be saved. Can't have an opposing figure whose crime was "I don't agree" now can we?
CodingMoose
"If I were the devil" (1965) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9NoQHgjM_0
thedudeman519
"I'd take from those who have and give to those who want, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious" Is just the same bullshit Republicans spout out in defense of cutting social programs.
KillingTlme
Property values are skyrocketing in hell as more and more religious people keep showing up.
randomtemp1
ME: "You do realize that the Pharisees are the bad guys right...
right? All show, no real faith."
Mega Church Pastors & parishioners: "That is just a 'liberal talking point,' the teachings of Christ don't work anymore. They're weak."
https://www.newsweek.com/evangelicals-rejecting-jesus-teachings-liberal-talking-points-pastor-1818706
lovehandlesmessiah
Like Crowley did in Good Omens, not an assault to corrupt one innocent's downfall, just a buildup of soul tarnish, day after day, for thousands of people living in the fantasy that they're actually good people bound for Heaven.
darkninja2992
Funfact: megachurches are the kind of place jesus would go in and start flipping tables while calling it a "den of theives"
VagrantKoba
Yeah, that's been my theory for decades. If you have to believe their is a God and devil, then the easiest way is make people never able to know the truth just their interpretations.
RickO3611
Osteen is the anti chist Christian. Fuck the poor, the needy, the infirm. If you got, give him some. Nasty piece of work preying on those seeking .. smelly rotten scum
Hayashima
"Nothing helps to turn souls away from a faith better than fanatics of the faith"
RockHucker
Organized religion is the devils greatest trick
ridureyu
Texas: Where everybody’s a Christian, and nobody is really a Christian.
SomebodyGet2020APuppers
Doesn't the Bible explicitly say that's exactly what's going to happen? Is happening?
freakshow314
Yeah and as an atheist it's fucking with me. Is it just a testimony to what we as a people have seen repeat through history 1000s of times, or is there truth to some of that book?
SomebodyGet2020APuppers
I'm also an atheist, but maybe it's a little of both?