[net.religion] lkk's response to anti-religious

hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (03/22/84)

<Please move this all to net.religion, folks?>

Quoting Dave Holt, who makes a popular point about Christians being
harrassed (slight editing)

| The real reason that Christians get harassed, is because they come
| across as complete hypocrites.  TV channels (who) ...  also, uh, take
| in a little money, do little to dispose of this perception.  If these
| same TV channels would then spend some modest fraction of their
| receipts helping the poor, educating people, or healing the sick ...
| But ...  the vast majority of the money brought in by the TV Christians
| is used for their fancy technological studios, satellites ..  etc, it
| all seems like it must be just another giant corporation.

It is true that ripoff artists have been known to operate in the guise
of Christian evangelists.  It is also true that there have been some
questions raised even about some of the more sincere TV evangelists.
I would like to see some PROOF that there is no positive use made of the
monies contributed.  I just won't take it on faith in the sleaziness
of evangelists, that they are all crooks and fakes.  Anyone out there
got figures?  An acquaintance I met at a New Years party a couple years
back worked for CBN and 700 club as a comera technician, among other things.
Besides the devastating gossip about the personality problems of some of
these people, he mentioned that they (700 club) were spending about 20%
of the donations towards hunger relief in drought-stricken countries in
Africa.  I don't know if this is still true.

| What ever happened to the Christianity that I was taught as a child? In
| that religion, Christ preached that humans should forgo an interest in
| worldly things.  Most "Christians" today, ignore this teaching of their
| God with the same piousness that they ignore many of his other
| teachings.
| 
| 				Dave Holt

Sorry, Dave, but I think you are thinking of a different religion entirely.
Try rereading it (the Bible, where many of Christ's teachings are recorded)
from an adult perspective, where you can see more subtle ramifications.
For instance, the most blatant place where I can see an adjuration away from
the worldly goods is the instance where Jesus is talking to a rich young
man who wants to be saved, and FOR HIM the cost would be high: giving away
all his wealth.  There are counterexamples, though.

Hutch