Free Republic

you sound like a cultish "thinker"...you've been programmed by your church to believe that ultimate piece of fiction (the bible) can not be questioned, even when your bible is proved wrong by science, whether it be through carbon dating, evolution or astronomy (as you recall the bible taught geocentricity, i.e. that the sun and planets revolve around the earth)...i'd bet your church still wishes they could burn the naysayers at the stake as they did the knights templar

...gimme a break, jesus walked on water, and you actually believe that?!

i'll answer your quesion, when you and others on this board answer mine:

what is more believable - that there was a man named jesus who happened to be married and had a child?...OR, that a man named jesus was immaculately conceived, and walked on water, and turned water into wine, etc........

to those religious folks who feel threatened by the da vinci code,

ask yourself one question:

what is more believable - that there was a man named jesus who happened to be married and had a child?...OR, that a man named jesus was immaculately conceived, and walked on water, and turned water into wine, etc........

...the bible is THE biggest piece of fiction of all time, and should have a disclaimer saying so

"The Bible is based on historical fact, whereas the DaVinci Code is hysterical fiction."

...lol, what facts?!...the fact that you were TOLD to believe it?

...the bible has constantly been proven wrong over the centuries on many scientific fronts

to those religious folks who feel threatened by the da vinci code,

ask yourself one question:

what is more believable - that there was a man named jesus who happened to be married and had a child?...OR, that a man named jesus was immaculately conceived, and walked on water, and turned water into wine, etc........

...the bible is THE biggest piece of fiction of all time, and should have a disclaimer saying so

"I would not give one cent to see it. I will not support such lies and blasphemy. If it were considered the fiction it is supposed to be it would be different. But the author seems to want us to believe his fiction book is the truth."

...why is that all you religious folks don't dismiss your bible itself for the very FICTION that IT is...it is a recruiting device for membership and money

clancy,

i never said i was a judge of all churches...read the bible, and practice what you believe all you want, but stop freeloading off of me and other non-religious people by not paying property taxes for your church...and if you read any of my posts you would see that i am referring to ALL churches, not just yours...but you obviously have no problem with the preferred property tax status that churches enjoy since you are on the receiving end


...do you suppose that the mormon church would have $1 billion to invest if they had paid property taxes, and hadn't been FREELOADING off of non-religious people?!...what the hell are they doing investing $1 billion in shopping malls for??

...some excerpts on this issue:

"The LDS Church will invest close to $1 billion when it remakes downtown Salt Lake City's two malls - which will be closed on Sundays - according to Salt Lake City Council members."

"Note: The Mormon Church is more interested in shopping malls and cattle ranches than in helping the poor. By its own admission, the Mormon Church gave $60,000,000 in humanitarian aid last year. It is spending 15 times that for shopping malls.

In Jan. 2006, from the Church PR department, (Deseret News Publishing Company): Edgley said, “that since 1984, the LDS Church has donated nearly $750 million in cash and goods to people in need in more than 150 countries.” That averages to 37.5 million per year or about $3-$4 per Mormon member went to the poor. The total of $750 million in 22 years spent in cash in goods to people in need is only HALF what the church is spending on these malls. Only Half!! The Mormon church is spending less than 1% of its income to help the poor. Is the Mormon church really a charitable organization?"

beckysue who wrote: "God does not have to pay taxes and the church is the Body of Christ. I don't know of any church that gets taxpayer money."

...what a scam...don't try to justify the fact that churches are freeloading off of non-religious people by not paying property taxes


and you also wrote: "I bet you are a big advocate of so called seperation of church and state, aren't you? But yet you think government ought to be involved enough in the church to collect taxes. You, Sir, are a hypocrite."

...for the government to collect property taxes from everyone including churches is far from hypocritical, the churches are receiving favored tax status at the expense of non-religious people, and again i say stop sponging off of me and pay your own way

""you wrote: "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. He that believes not shall be condemned.""

No, that would be Jesus who said that( Mark 16:16) so take your argument to Him.

Why do you insist in potraying your ignorance?"

...i realized she was quoting the bible!, i was merely pointing out the teachings of your cult within that scripture

txr, i never called him a pedophile in that post, i pasted a post from another site, in quotations...however, it is true that in one of my first posts on this board, i did figure (by process of elimination from police statements, etc), that there were likely only two motives for mary shooting matthew: either he was molesting his children (like many people wondered), OR his wife snapped for some unknown reason

...besides it's not like religious leaders have never been guilty of this:

http://reformation.com/

"And I'll bet the $3,000,000 home owner resents the fact that he pays more in property taxes than he should because you are indirectly being subsidized by him..."

...and i'll bet many of those non-religious $3m home owners resent subsiding the church too...at least the guy with the $1m home is paying what his home is assessed at, whereas the church and it's members get a free ride

"As a tax accountant for over forty years I have learmed to spot tax dogers like you. Those who protest the most are usually the ones that pay the less."

...i do pay property tax based on the assessed value of my property, the more valuable your property, the more you pay, people understand and accept that a commercial building or condo in manhattan is more than the same building or condo in a small town...the thing is your church pays nothing, zero, nadda

...and just because a church is none profit doesn't mean they should be exempt from property taxes...they pay utilities and maintainence don't they, and so they should pay taxes

tenn2005 who wrote: "As a tax accountant for over forty years I have learmed to spot tax dogers like you. Those who protest the most are usually the ones that pay the less."

...ah i see, because i resent/"protest" paying more in property taxes than i should (because the church is indirectly being subsidized by other PROPERTY taxpayers like me), therefore i must be a tax dodger??...great logic

...there is no way you are a tax accountant imo, because NO ONE should have to explain this to you

tenn2005, i never said a word about income taxes!, i said property taxes!...and if you really have been an accountant for 40 yrs then you would undertsand that the property tax pool is such that other property taxpayers pay more to compensate the fact that the church is being subsized by way of a PROPERTY tax exemption...i highly doubt you are an accountant, or else i wouldn't have to explain this to you

tenn2005, you should save your addages and colloquialisms for when you have a clue what you are talking about, because most certainly on this property tax issue you (and yukong) are CLEARLY, CLEARLY out of your realm...but you and yukong keep high-fiving yourselves like clueless fools

yukong, you really have zero idea how property taxes work(and clearly tenn2005 has no idea either, since he wishes he "had said that")...obviously someone in a $1m home pays more in property tax than someone in a $800,000 home, but the thing is your church is paying NOTHING, do you understand - NOTHING...therefore you ARE being subsidized by way of a tax credit...perhaps this simple example is too hard for you guys to understand, and you should ask an accountant about this

tenn2005, so you think it's reasonable that i should chip in for the mormon church so that they don't have to pay property taxes on their churches, while they are out spending $1 billion on shopping malls?

yukong,

who wrote: "Your statement is just absurd and shows your ignorance."

...lol, MY ignorance?!...man who's ignorant?!, you clearly don't even understand the basics of accounting when it comes to property taxes...but i bet you would understand it if someone said to you that your property tax bill will be double since your neighbor is exempt from paying...then you would care wouldn't you?

geez tenn2005,

you don't understand the property tax pool of money either, do you??...YOUR CHURCH IS BEING SUBSIDIZED by way of a property tax exemption!...this isn't complicated stuff you know

yukong,

i didn't think i would have to spell this out for anyone, but i guess i do...i most certainly i DO pay higher taxes by the mere fact that your church (and other churches) don't pay property taxes...if churches paid property taxes like individuals and companies do on their real estate, then obviously the property taxes for everyone else could be lowered...so stop freeloading on me, and pay your own way

...and as i previously posted, how is that the mormon church has $1 biilion to buy shopping malls...is that non-profit organization too??...and before you try and tell me that the shopping mall will pay property taxes, well of course it will, BUT don't tell me that they will not benefit unfairly with creative accounting back to the church somehow