Abolish Tax Exemption,
Aid To Religious Charities
John
From: "John"
To: "Positive Atheism Magazine"
Date: August 11, 2001 2:01 AM
Dear Cliff,
Your website is excellent, but may I point out two more important aspect of organised religion your organization should oppose?
One:
The United Nations and secular governments should not finance international aid programs provided by religious bodies, every year the UN and US government give hundreds of millions of dollars to a host of religious operated organisations to provide aid to the Third World or disaster areas. This should be stopped as they're merely a front for missionary actives which degrade local cultures and religious practices to shove their own down their throats, I have lost count of all the cases I've read about where vulnerable people were forced to wait while resources were wasted building temples which recipients had to pray in to get aid or shelter.
In India, Christian religious sects openly demand Hindu people convert to Christianity before they get any help at all, many convert for the food and clothing, then return to being Hindu when they've received all they can. It's a disgusting display of western cultural imperialism, financed by secular states.
Look at the misery which "missionaries" leave in their wake, in Africa -- South America and the South Pacific Islands where centuries of belittling ancient indigenous cultures to adopt alien western ways has resulted in societal breakdowns, drugs, alcoholism, etc. However this "missionary" mentality continues on a grander scale today because it is bank rolled by secular society, they also target children through a host of Christian "sponsorship" programs where they are taught English and indoctrinated into Christianity as part of their "education" it should be opposed! There are ample secular aid providers and they should be given contracts NOT religious sects.
Two:
The tax exempt status of organized religion should be abolished world wide, they are the worlds richest institutions with trillions of dollars in wealth and assets, this fact makes it increasingly difficult if not impossible to fight their negative influence as they have the means to buy and sell politicians and influence public opinion.
The abolition of the tax exempt system which enables them to amass fantastic amounts of money playing the stock market, owning banks -- multi-national corporations -- radio & TV stations, etc, should be the Number One Priority to abolish. Take the money out of religion and you break the spine of ignorance, then and only then will logic make inroads, as contributions from the faithful alone won't sustain most churches in the way they're accustomed to.
It's money which fuels religious growth and fundamentalism, I live in Australia and we are all alarmed at the spread of Islam in South East Asia. The cashed up Islamic denominations in the Middle East spend billions "spreading their word" in Asia. Building mosques and providing aid to peasants to convert them to Islam, it is the fastest growing religion in Asia. Malaysia and Indonesia are both Muslim now and Islamic fundamentalists are trying to introduce Islamic legal codes, the Philippines are now being targeted and Muslim separatists financed.
Like Christian sects Islamic ones are big investors, they play the market and make a tax free fortune too, the only way to stop the infectious spread of religion is to deprive it off its power-base -- money! Anything else we do is whistling in the wind, preaching to the converted, you must take it to the street. Highlight the tax payer funded swindle more publicly, without showing your anti religious base lobby tax payer and business associations to lobby governments to abolish the tax exemption of organized religion. It's the only way, "money talks and bullshit walks" as we say in Australia.
John
Material by Cliff Walker (including unsigned editorial commentary) is copyright ©1995–2010 by Cliff Walker. Each submission is copyrighted by its writer, who retains control of the work except that by submitting it to Positive Atheism, permission has been granted to Positive Atheism to use the material or an edited version: (1) on the Positive Atheism web site; (2) in Positive Atheism Magazine; (3) in subsequent works controlled by Cliff Walker or Positive Atheism Magazine (including published or posted compilations). Excerpts not exceeding 500 words are allowed provided the proper copyright notice is affixed. Other use requires permission; Positive Atheism will work to protect the rights of all who submit their writings to us.