Tuesday 4 March 2008

Feed The Hungry or Build A $7 Million Church?

Religion was an big part of my early life. Not because I was a believer but because my parents were. I always went to a catholic school and church was every Sunday without fail. Then I discovered that religion was not about god at all.

A nasty side effect of religion, extremism is prevalent today as the various sides do battle. All extremists are the hypocrites with the the likes of the right wing anti muslim league, the religious right and the fundamentalists. From memory, religion was about humility and helping those who are worse off than you. Hoarding money is the simple litmus test. No one claiming a religious conviction can rightfully be rich. That money needs to be donated to the less well off to be truly religious. So when I stumble across an article called A happy day for Brisbane on the blog, Australian Politics (the one with a picture of Ronald Reagan), I now see what makes socialised religion so appalling. Brisbane's St. John's Cathedral is an anglican church and a well known landmark. That's all fine and dandy but how much are they spending on this thing? 

More than $3.95 million had been raised for the facelift since 1989, with another $3million still needed. "There are some people who have given us more than a $1million of their own money and some who have given $10 because it's all they can afford,"

That's not for religion at all, that's for a corporate headquarters. The article is proudly displayed on Australian Politics by right wing pundit, Dr. Tingtong. He adds a little piece of himself:

I have often attended a Christmas service at St. John's. It is a truly magical place. The sermons are just fluff, though

Most interesting but less entertaining than Dr. Tingtong's profound commentary is is the opening line:

Brisbane's St. John's Cathedral is now 17m closer to heaven after two copper spires were lifted on to its roof.

Jesus H. Christ! ... 17m closer to heaven? Ha, I knew it ... these people still think you can but your way into heaven. Good luck.

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