I don’t attend church, big shock. I pay my share to them to send my son to CCD, because every kid needs something to believe in, some morals to learn. I’m not entirely ok with the idea, but it couldn’t hurt him, and he thinks well enough on his own to make his own call on this. I’m opposed to the idea of the organized religion part. As I’m sure you understood when I pretty much mocked organized religion in an earlier post.

As a result of this, every year I get flyers for the “Annual Catholic Appeal”. Pretty much, they want your money to do charity work. I approve of charity work, I think everyone should donate at least some time or money into a cause you believe in or to help others out that need it. Let’s be honest though, people pay a ridiculous amount of money for Catholic schooling for their kid, and teachers don’t make that much money. What happens to that overflow, shouldn’t that go to the charities those yearly donations beg us for? Of course it doesn’t.

When I do attend church and toss money into the collection, I really wonder if that money ever makes it to people in need. When I see a nun pull out a Blackberry, I’m assured that I’m right in wondering what happens to our donations to the church. They preach to us about charity and kindness, but I don’t understand where they actually do this help. I’ve known churches to turn their back on people who couldn’t afford to put money in for donations or to unwed mothers who just want to baptize their child. But hell, let’s donate money for them.

Then, I see on the news that the Catholic Church just bought the Crystal Cathedral for 57.5 million dollars. They need money from us, because they are too poor to help the needy. But they can afford a 57.5 million dollar cathedral? I dislike this idea, and it strengthens my belief that organized religion is a sham to get money from people. It’s good to see they haven’t evolved too far from the times where they would sell off forgiveness for sins if you paid enough for it.

This isn’t a discussion of whether I’m a sad, Godless soul. I’m a ginger; I’m told I don’t have a soul to begin with. It’s a discussion that the church is just like those companies that demand us to bail them out while paying for their CEO’s to go on a yacht tour with our money. The Occupy Wall Street people are blind if their only cause is student loans, though I can’t say I’m even sure what they want except attention or being sprayed in the face with tear gas. The problem isn’t just student loans robbing people; the problem is everyone is robbing us, especially those in the business of “helping” others.