The Church: REAL WORLD purposes

The church as an institution is often maligned though not without justification. Let us consider the church but without focusing on religion at all.

Consider a soup kitchen. Often a sermon or prayer is required before a meal though in Chicago all those soup kitchens run by Al Capone never once allowed any formal benediction to be held. Such a prayer can become a sore point and frustrate any assumed charitable purposes so lets just ignore all the trappings and focus on the functions. For this reason we shall have to use the term 'church' without maintain any constant focus on a particular country or exact time period.

The church was a taxing authority. In England the Tithe was levied often via a Tithe House which the church administered. It was also a sort of District Attorney since a Beedle would force attendance at Wednesday evening and Sunday services. The fine for non attendance was astronomical in terms of what a remote wood cutter might earn for a day's labor. However, with beer served after services there was reason to attend, particularly since beer was a healthful dose of tetracycline hundreds of years before that antibiotic was identified in 1948.

The church operated various institutions that fed unemployed males. Copious quantities of bread and beer were available since the church were brewers and bakers since they controlled the knowledge of brewing.

The church served as registrars of birth, death, weather phenomenon, census taker, etc.

Listening to the priests and pretending to believe in what was being said may have been the only way to live or work in society.

Quote: Fleastiff

Listening to the priests and pretending to believe in what was being said may have been the only way to live or work in society.

You still have to pretend, I can't figure
out what they're saying. Get a priest
to explain sin, or the trinity. You'll go
away more confused than ever.

If its the only way to get a beer, praying to a dead saint and prosecuting a living saint doesn't sound so bad.

I don't dispute churches do good things. As usual, the bad news carries better.

All things considered, it makes for a good debate whether religion is good or bad for mankind.

Quote: Wizard

All things considered, it makes for a good debate whether religion is good or bad for mankind.

Where's the debate. The Church does a
bunch of reprehensible things and then
opens a few schools and orphanages and
thinks it gets them off the hook. Mafia
families do the same thing, I see no
difference between them. Only instead
of orphanages, they donate a wing to
a hospital.

There is a real difference between the charitable actions of a few families for nefarious reasons and the largest charitable organization on Earth whose founder said, "what you do to the least of my brethren you do unto me".

Quote: FrGamble

There is a real difference between the charitable actions of a few families for nefarious reasons and the largest charitable organization on Earth.

Not really, one is bigger than the
other, that's all. They both think
they can cover up their bad deeds
with charity.

Quote: Evenbob

Not really, one is bigger than the
other, that's all. They both think
they can cover up their bad deeds
with charity.

Actually the main tenent of the Gospel is precisely the opposite. You can never earn or merit salvation. It is something we must accept from a God who loves us.

Quote: FrGamble

Actually the main tenent of the Gospel is precisely the opposite.

I'm talking about the real world, not
a fairy tale called the 'gospel'. In the
real world the Church and the Mafia
think they can hide their bad deeds
from the public by being do gooders
with charity. It even works a lot of the
time.