[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

Contributions to any ministry are by choice.

Ummmmmm--Faith Based Initiative?

Do you know what kind of people give to televangelism? I do, I volunteered to work the phones for a TCT Praise-A-Thon back in the spring, as an outreach project with my Church. It's not the blue haired spinster who is giving away her fortune to God while she holds a pomeranian on her lap. It's the unemployed, it's the retiree struggling to live, it's the person on their last dime and can barely afford food. I swear that as the people gave me their credit card information, that I wanted to transpose a digit just so that they wouldn't end up doing it. I prayed with these people, and the experience was very moving, one that I will never forget.

And I will say, the last thing that I will say about these people is that they were fools. That night, I saw pure faith in Christ.....which glaringly pointed out severe gaps in my own. I left after my shift, much different than when I started.

One can ruminate over whether that poor man's money went to golden cufflinks or a bottle of Dom Perrignon for a slick haired preacher, but the people that called were the true believers. If the preacher goes on a bender, I think he'll get it worse from the man upstairs than any of us ever could.

I agree, completely. Once my parents reached their eighies, they began being hounded by evangelist organizations seeking donations.Some of them making the most outrageous claims.

I agree that the people donating truly believe they are doing good. But, I also believe they are largely being exploited by wolves. This is one reason why I say I have faith in God and hope for an afterlife, but place little to no faith in organized religion. One is a spiritual hunger, the other is a business contrived by men.

Perhaps you don't agree. But can you at least see my point?

Dave