the one and only true church...

 

tackle a bit of this one today. above is one of my rocks left in Homer at the end of the spit. i do need to do some more with a kayak from this angle.  this is what you see as you paddle. 

once something proclaims itself to be above all the others it just seems to me that it should actually be above all the others. i heard someone a few years ago justify this by stating the church doesn't emphasize this as much anymore.  quite frankly, i felt that was worse as it didn't change the belief, just how that belief is put out there.  saying it like that means they are willing to lie because the true church thing makes potential members uncomfortable. 

i heard over and over again that the church was true, but that members are human and therefore prone to failure and imperfection. at some point i believed there must be a tipping point between it being true and the membership being so far from the truth that the whole thing falls apart...at some point i just realized it just wasn't the one and only true church. 

i see things oftentimes in shades of grey. i'm not good with black and white.  when one states outright that they are the truth and the only truth, i will hold that statement to a higher level.  i believe a church that makes such an outrageous statement must back it up.  if this is Gods one and only true church than god should intervene if things are out of whack.  people who are perverts should not sit on the stand Sunday after Sunday even after it's been made clear that they are a pervert. sadly, in many cases of sexual abuse/molestation the victims are left holding the burden.  the perpetrator is protected. that is action not in step with a one and only true church.  

at what point do the actions of the humans tip the church from true to not true? 

as stated in the last blog post.  it seems that a true church should have a more universal appeal. more and more i believe that churches were just meant to control and/or support. 

saw a quote today..it was something about if you need to have the promise of eternal life/protection to keep you from being a bad person...well perhaps you aren't that great of a person.  it shouldn't require fear to be a decent person.  the message of Jesus was pretty simple really, one that anyone at any level of education or wealth should be able to follow.  be kind, love one another, do not judge.  those were repeated over and over again.  the idea was forget all those detailed and crazy rules of the old testament, just be kind, love one another and do not judge. 

and yet, now, all these high demand religions are just that.  high demand.  tons of rules to follow. lots of judging of each other. 

so many want to be theologians. prove how brilliant they are and how much they have read the bible and other so called scriptures. i do not  believe at this point that God wanted or required any of us to be that well versed in scripture. it just gets back to the basic messaging. whatever came before us or will come ahead, if anything, was shielded from us for a purpose. we aren't meant to live this life under the thumb of any possible previous or post life.  

none of the churches are true.  i suspect they all have some truth in them, but there are so many religions/churches because there are so many humans out there. humans that come from very different backgrounds.  religions evolved in different cultures for different reasons. it's silly really to believe that any one of the world religions could possibly work for all the humans on this planet. 

in this nation, and i suspect in other places.. religion has devolved into corporations. here we have protections and tax exceptions.  this has been taken advantage of. so many religions have become corporations that are protected.  people keep giving their money and in truth these churches are not required to disclose the breakdown of their money.  charities are required to do this.  

i'm sure there are some churches that are better at reporting on the percentages of what they give than others.  the Mormon church is the one i grew up with.  as it turns out they are a multibillion dollar corporation. the members rarely even bother to ask where the money goes and instead blindly trust that the church is donating in kind. the Mormons actually appear to donate a relatively small percentage of their total value to actually help others.  even if they give millions, they have billions. when i think of all these huge corporations that claim to be religions, could actually do...it sickens me. 

100 billion. i think that is just funds and doesn't include cash holdings and properties. that i'm not clear on...not sure anyone really is. they began donating more after a whistle blower reported some truths. saving for the second coming? i've been told that.  although i kind of doubt that US dollars can be guaranteed when Jesus returns to earth.  the head of the EPA (ensign peak advisors) called it a "rainy day account to be used in difficult economic times".  though it seems covid wasn't difficult economic times enough to make a blanket statement that the church is doing fine so any members who are struggling may stop paying tithing.  tithing is not seen as a means to help the church but more as a commitment that benefits the member. 

the church still isn't required at all to disclose bonds, properties or investments directly into private companies. it's a scam is the bottom line. 

the IRS is hesitant to say the least to take on large religious entities for their fraud. that would open a huge can of worms that it seems nobody wants to dig into. 

bottom line is the members will continue to support the church, and continue to pay their tithings....they will also continue to not make any demands to know where that money ends up as they have complete faith in the church when it comes to their money.  they are not as trusting of government of course when it comes to their taxes. though government helps far more people in this nation than their religion ever has. 

the annual operating costs of the church is around $6 billion globally....the 100 billion just in investments seems a bit excessive for a rainy day fund. true, the church leadership are not buying yachts and luxury homes with that money.  they are fairly frugal with spending.  they don't even like to shell out money to members who have fallen on hard times.  there are limits and restrictions.  it's just another tool to increase loyalty and devotion.  members pay for their own missions, they do not take any payment for their jobs in the church.  they also now apparently volunteer to clean the churches they attend rather than pay some member who is struggling to make ends meet as they once did. 

it's not illegal, a church hoarding money.  it is gross though in my mind.  there are so many needs out there. i'm told often by members that our tax dollars should not be used for charity. there are charities and churches out there for that.  yet, for generations those churches and charities do not carry that load.  even if they have the cash to. 

my Tusker hat. 

would the one and only true church of God sit on money while humans suffered? while children starved?  would hoarding money instead of using it to help those in need be the actions of the one and only true church of God. i doubt it. the church does eat some cost for missionaries and for schools like BYU...but these are also huge indoctrination camps really.  once indoctrinated and educated they will be getting a lifetime of 10% tithing from these members. i'm sure the investment pays they well. 

i'm not saying the church doesn't do any good.  just that they good they do is far below the good they could be doing. religions in general, are not required to give specific accountings of their finances. 

i did not give that much in tithing as my life time as a member was over in my early to mid 20's. in this nation, i think the tax exemptions should be looked at any time these religious corporations use their pulpit for politics. this seems to happen a great deal with the evangelican/tv preachers. 

bored of that topic.  nothing gonna change there.  not really.  bottom line for me.  there is no one and only true church and churches in this nation have become very powerful corporations that are tax exempt and  political in nature. 

it's cloudy out today. moving slow.  love cloudy days.  yesterday we braved the risk of that mama black bear with 3 cubs and did Campbell Airstrip. no bear sightings.  it was the weekend though so i figured there would be a lot of traffic. a fellow rocker was followed by a coyote in Ruth Arcand Park.  the animals are all over. 

taking it pretty easy this stretch off. i do have the cars scheduled for tire change over.  a work friends husband may stop by to try his luck getting those silly metal caps off my Elements tires. 

the dogs are napping here in the room. i'm sure they would rather be out playing though. 

i've slowly been watching that Grace and Frankie show.  i'm caught up.  i actually found most of the characters pretty annoying.  especially Frankie and Saul.  just way to overly dramatic.  Frankie screws up everything she touches and yet gets away with it all. 

slowly do some yard stuff and cleaning.  lazy overall though. it's my happy place.

the russians continue to take what they can from Ukraine.  recently they stole multiple large farm vehicles from a dealership...sadly for them once they got them back to russia it was found the dealership had remotely disabled them.  the russians are clearly not the brightest, even if they are up their in cruelness.  they tied a baby to it's dead mom and when the rescuers went to get the baby it was tied to a bomb that went off and killed the baby. who does such a terrible thing.  

i did hear a russian who taped himself raping a toddler has gotten in trouble possibly. many russian soldiers are seen in belarus mailing off the many items they continue to steal from houses of the Ukrainians they have killed or who have been driven out.  of course, i do hear that much doesn't make it all the way home to russia as the postal workers in russia take their fair share .

some US  Senators have just visited Zelenskyy. 

a little good news in Mariupol.  the UN was able to drive in and rescue at least some of the civilians at the steel plant.  i think some of those rescued may have then been taken to russia? they have moved, by reports, some 500,000 civilians to russia.  this is a historical thing that has happened.  they integrate them and force them to be russian.  make them denounce all things Ukrainian and speak only russian 

these civilians rescued had been under ground for 2 months with little food or water.  of course, the russians began shelling as soon as this first rescue operation was over. there are still hundreds left there, women, children, elderly, injured. not sure how it was decided who would be allowed to leave. 

there have been a lot of fires in russia, across russia.  not sure who is starting these fires.  there is one burning near the Ukrainian border so some like that may be started by the Ukrainians.  good to see them send some damage directly to russia in their territory if that is true. 4 settlements have been taken back by the Ukrainians from what i read.

russia even pissed off Israel today. lavrov stated that hitler was part Jewish...part of their whole scam of they must save Ukraine from the Nazi's...as Zelenskyy is of Jewish decent he said so was hitler. 

apparently Afghanistan is transitioning from poppy and opium to meth. 

the gop mess continues.  they are a disaster. not sure how it ever gets repaired. gotta get the nuts out of there.

Jan 6 committee continues it's investigation. will they come to the bottom of this mess before they are forced to be disbanded?  that could happen if the GOP gets control of the house again.  not sure at all what will happen.  

we plod along here. the puppies and the kitties are always entertaining.  thankfully i have two collars for Covid Cat as Sunny Boy seems to enjoy removing the collars.  i find one and am able to replace the lost one.  so far i've also been able to locate the other one in time to have it in case the current collar is removed.  trying to work on him doing less corn cobbing of the cats and of Ivy on the trails. 

he just figured out giving a high five. he is often a bit slow catching on to a new trick, but with time and patience he does usually get it.  

all pee pads have been taken up of course.  he's fully potty trained. haven't gotten him consistently jumping into the back of the car. i think i need to just take better treats. of course, better treats can just mean that Ivy Rose is interested in the treats.

did settle in for some rock painting for a bit last night. it is relaxing. 

modeling my new hat.  won't be wearing it for some time.  for now it's in the drawer with my Blossom hat. well, enough yammering.  i better get outside with these dogs again.  

thankful for A.  the rescue of at least some civilians over the weekend from Mariupol. B. the lack of organization from the russians C. my beautiful Tusker hat...though i'd much prefer to have my beautiful Tusker back.