The Fools Strike Again

[Doc]

Doc, I grant you your experience.  No argument on that possible outcome growing to a shunning.  Could happen.

However, depending on the density of churches in a given locale, and how they compete with one another for who is in their congregation, the reasons behind an excommunication will be as well known as the fact of communication . . . and will be taken into consideration.  How small is small?

Occhi
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Ah... The questions of outsiders...

Think of many of the churches around here as... Franchises. Bob Jones for example. They have gone around, filled the pulpits with Bob Jones Approved Pastors™. They go around and buy up financially challenged churches, strip them of their old leadership, and fill them up with Bob Jones Approved Leadership™. But they might let the church keep it's old name. They go through and spread like a cancer. In a small town with say, a few hundred people, you might have three churches. They might, on the outside, appear to be rival churches, with different names or variations on a theme, but, in truth, they are probably all owned by the same people, and run very carefully from the background. Religious rivalries are all the rage down here, so it's very important to make sure to keep up appearances. A good Methodist will never go swimming in a pool on the odd chance they might be confused as a Baptist, and a good Baptist will never go out in the rain on the odd chance they might be confused as a Methodist. So you must keep up the illusion of rivalry to keep the population happy... That means nothing however, as it's probably the same old men in nice suits running both of the churches. I have dealt personally with this treacherous web of deceit, become entangled in it, and I know it all to well. Small independant churches outside of the influence of the major power players never seem to last long... Or do very well. If they are doing well for themselves, there is a good chance that they have been infiltrated and are under the control of a larger entity, and are merely kept going to give the illusion of choice to the populace.

The church has become a business that does not get taxed, but, heavily taxes it's followers. Mega churches... Monstrosities exist now that offer 5 star dining, health clubs, spas, coffeeshops, music stores, even sell clothing and goods in the church. It's your one stop shop for all your needs. These churches make billions of dollars, and no, that is not a typo. NONE of this money is taxed. Some of these churches are more like malls with everything under the sun that you could imagine for sale... And people that run these businesses under the protective umbrella of the church rake in the money hand over fist... And never get taxed. This money is all funneled upward to the folks in control, and none of it is taxed. Some of that money is used to keep control, pay off the right people, buy some people out, and maintain complete and total control. You can not begin to imagine how much power these entities hold.

I attacked this network once, a long long time ago. Not alone mind you... I had a lot of help. We sliced into the church and visciously attacked it, trying to hold them accountable. So much money was being funneled into the KKK, and the churches and schools were being used as recruiting grounds for the KKK and other white supremacy groups. There was much fallout. Many pastors, many leaders, many of those old men in nice suits went to prison. Many churches lost their tax exept status. Many schools, like Bob Jones University, lost their charters and accreditation. While all of this was a nasty wound, and exposed some of the inner workings of the churches to the public, looking back, and hindsight being what it is, I can see now it was mostly just a papercut. Churches bought back their status, Bob Jones bought back it's credibility, and new masters moved in the fill the vacancies. I believe they are even stronger now, and better defended against attacks... I would even venture to say they are nearly impervious to assault. I would stake my own credibility on that statement.

I stand by my faith and my love of God. I despise the corruption that I see and pray that people will realize there are still true followers... I can't stand the black eye that my faith has been given by these false prophets and false teachers... I am probably wasting my words and wasting my time though. The damage has been done and for many, their minds will never change.