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Mammon

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Texasmoneyman300
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19 Dec 2022, 3:36 am

cyberdad wrote:
Texasmoneyman300 wrote:
Interesting.I know in some countries like Germany the citizens pay taxes to the Catholic Church.Also in Germany the Roman Catholic Church owns lots that houses are on and rents the land to the homeowners.I thought that was interesting.Also in Utah there was a huge scandal because the Mormon Church had 100 Billion dollar hedge fund.


In Australia large tracts of land were donated to the catholic church. They have investment in mining and other ventures.

Oh thats interesting.I know some churches in the US are starting to focus on being more sustainable by renting out their buildings when not in use and owning for-profit subsidiaries.I read on another forum I frequent that a church in Europe owned a gas station.Also in America many churches have their own coffee shops and book shops and thrift stores.There was this one church that was making 1 million a year from their thrift store in America.



cyberdad
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19 Dec 2022, 5:35 am

Interestingly The Mormon church is ranked the richest in the world with a net worth of $71 billion (and growing)
The catholics are number 2 with $33 billion
https://kenyanmagazine.co.ke/richest-ch ... the-world/
I think the latter is definitely an underestimate. I am not even sure if the Vatican needs to disclose its income as it represents an autonomous region within Italy.



DeathFlowerKing
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20 Dec 2022, 8:00 pm

cyberdad wrote:
Interestingly The Mormon church is ranked the richest in the world with a net worth of $71 billion (and growing)
The catholics are number 2 with $33 billion
https://kenyanmagazine.co.ke/richest-ch ... the-world/
I think the latter is definitely an underestimate. I am not even sure if the Vatican needs to disclose its income as it represents an autonomous region within Italy.


The 'Mammon' Church? :lol:


And I'm dreading the day the US gradually becomes a crazy combination Christian Theocracy/Oligarchy.



cyberdad
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20 Dec 2022, 8:11 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
And I'm dreading the day the US gradually becomes a crazy combination Christian Theocracy/Oligarchy.


It's quite strange, on the one hand they losing followers all the time as young people become athiests. Yet the church is growing in power?



DeathFlowerKing
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20 Dec 2022, 8:26 pm

cyberdad wrote:
DeathFlowerKing wrote:
And I'm dreading the day the US gradually becomes a crazy combination Christian Theocracy/Oligarchy.


It's quite strange, on the one hand they losing followers all the time as young people become athiests. Yet the church is growing in power?


I think it's more like the old fuddy duddies running these churches are clinging to power by any means including selling their souls to the antichrist known as Donald Trump and declaring him as the "chosen one". And once they grow tired of Trump they'll use DeSatan as their next unholy messiah.

And not every young person in America is strictly turning atheist, some like myself are looking for other alternatives like new age spirituality and neopaganism. Sometimes I wonder if that's where these Russian propagandist got idea that Americans are a bunch of evil witches flying on broomsticks? :lol:



Texasmoneyman300
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20 Dec 2022, 8:33 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
Interestingly The Mormon church is ranked the richest in the world with a net worth of $71 billion (and growing)
The catholics are number 2 with $33 billion
https://kenyanmagazine.co.ke/richest-ch ... the-world/
I think the latter is definitely an underestimate. I am not even sure if the Vatican needs to disclose its income as it represents an autonomous region within Italy.


The 'Mammon' Church? :lol:


And I'm dreading the day the US gradually becomes a crazy combination Christian Theocracy/Oligarchy.

Ya I dread the day that America becomes a theocracy too.



DeathFlowerKing
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20 Dec 2022, 10:24 pm

Though growing up and living in the Bible Belt I already practically live in a Christian Theocracy...



cyberdad
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20 Dec 2022, 11:33 pm

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
Though growing up and living in the Bible Belt I already practically live in a Christian Theocracy...


That seems to be the difference between the US and other Anglo-colonies. The rest of us are godless :lol:



Texasmoneyman300
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22 Dec 2022, 12:41 am

DeathFlowerKing wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
Interestingly The Mormon church is ranked the richest in the world with a net worth of $71 billion (and growing)
The catholics are number 2 with $33 billion
https://kenyanmagazine.co.ke/richest-ch ... the-world/
I think the latter is definitely an underestimate. I am not even sure if the Vatican needs to disclose its income as it represents an autonomous region within Italy.


The 'Mammon' Church? :lol:


And I'm dreading the day the US gradually becomes a crazy combination Christian Theocracy/Oligarchy.

Its been said that the Mormon church is a business that dabbles in religion and not the other way around.



cyberdad
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22 Dec 2022, 2:18 am

Oh the mormons are very serious...about both



Texasmoneyman300
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22 Dec 2022, 2:34 am

cyberdad wrote:
Oh the mormons are very serious...about both

Its a joke or quote among former mormons I heard in a documentary about how into business they are.But obviously they are serious about the religious side of things too.



DeathFlowerKing
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22 Dec 2022, 9:03 am

I think of Mormons as being pretty much like a cult...

But then again I think the same of Wiccans after learning that their founder Gerald Gardner most likely made up everything he claimed about witchcraft.

Joseph Smith and Gerald Gardner were both sketchy people if you actually read about their history.



cyberdad
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23 Dec 2022, 4:59 am

I secretly admire their (Mormon) tenacity



Texasmoneyman300
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25 Dec 2022, 6:39 am

cyberdad wrote:
Sunday Bible class
Matthew 6:24
No man can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other,
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

So...what's mammon you ask?
money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain.

In both Gospels the term is associated with unrighteousness and represents something that is at odds with service to God. Given that both passages are contextualized within a discussion of one's treasures in heaven, the word is usually understood as the acquisition of material wealth or the idolatry of material riches.

So how does this sit with the ultra capitalist pro-republican christian fundamentalists??
How does one claim to be christian but serve mammon??

Why do wealthy christians judge those who are poor as less/beneath than them?
Didn't jesus say "Whatever you do, to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me"?

Well as a Christian I view my communism as being informal and not political Marxism.I dont think Jesus intended our economy to be owned by the state because that line of thinking just was not formulated until much later by Marx.I would rather the means of production be owned by like small business owners and families and corporations and trusts and tycoons but my ideal way of doing it would be if all the businesses and assets of Christians be owned by the churches and not the state or the private individuals.I believe in a community of goods as a Christian not because of the Marxist critique of Capitalism and private property but rather because I am a restorationist who wants the current church to have a community of goods because of Acts 2 and Acts 4.My Christian communism is voluntary and not being forced with the barrel of a gun like in the Soviet Union.



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25 Dec 2022, 9:35 am

On the Simpsons, Mr. Burns lives on the intersection of Croesus and Mammon.


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Texasmoneyman300
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25 Dec 2022, 9:49 am

I am a Christian.I dont look down on the poor who are poor through no fault of their own but I think unhighly of the poor who are poor because they are drunks or are addicted to drugs or spend too much money and have no financial literacy.I think every neurotypical American can retire a millionaire or even a multi-millionaire.