September 1, 2017

 

"Of Gods and Mammon"

By Jim Culp

 

The headlines of the past few weeks are both exhilarating and horrifying all at once. The world is flooding in over four major areas; massive fires are enveloping the western USA, and nations stand in fear of a communist regime that proclaims that if its leader does not get his way, he'll do the unthinkable and launch medium and long range intercontinental ballistic missiles to other nations, and inevitably start World War III.

In the last week, I have heard cries for help from God, and cries for money from anyone that can send it.

Let's talk about God first:

In Christianity, as described in the Christian bible in the last book of the version ordained by James I of England;

"And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Revelation 19:6.

Bear in mind, omnipotent means "unlimited power," or "power above any other."

In Genesis Chapter One, we're told that God created the Earth.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." That sets a pretty irrefutable standard that God is the most powerful being in the Universe.

In the Muslim world, where the religion of Islam is the ticket to God, the Quran tells us that God (Allah) is "omniscient," which means that he is "the host of all knowledge," and that "his knowledge is without boundaries."

He is also omnipotent (that means "all powerful," Chapter 2, Verse 20 of the Quran says.... 20. "The lightning almost snatches their sight away. Whenever it illuminates for them, they walk in it; but when it grows dark over them, they stand still. Had God willed, He could have taken away their hearing and their sight. God is capable of everything."

He created Earth, Man, and everything else.

16. Say, “Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth? 'Say, “God.”...“God is the Creator of all things, and He is The One, the Irresistible.”

So we're pretty set from two major sources that God is the all powerful, all being, all knowing, and pretty much makes Superman look like kitty litter.

People from all walks of life make a decision at some point in their life to "serve God" in some way. Some do it by working in soup kitchens that feed the poor, while some believe that serving God means making sure that they (as well as their children) are seated in a church auditorium every Saturday or Sunday morning, and when that plate comes around, a donation (or obligatory tithe) is placed in that plate, and the person and his family have "done their duty" like Jesus commanded.

Money...

Oh, that dirty word. Money is the standard we live by, the stuff that we want our pockets and checking accounts to be full of, and when we have a bunch of it, we're much less prone to give it away to people that we just don't think deserve it very much. This isn't anything new, it's anywhere from 4,000 to 6,500 years old. There was some form of money way back in the early days, and it wasn't much different than it is today, except that today everything is electronic, and we can manipulate monies that are both tangible and intangible.

But the reason for this article is this. Charities and churches are given a special status in the tax code called 501c3. That gives them freedom to take in donations, and fill their bank full of monies that will aid their organizations in carrying out their missions, whether that be funding breast cancer research, or building new facilities for studying autistic behavioral patterns, or providing food and shelter for children in Syria, Iraq, and Niger that no longer have a home to live in. When an organization applies for this status, they agree with the government that they will abide by the following:

"The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.  The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency."

All good? No, it's not. Too many of these organizations take in millions of dollars a year in donations, and do very little or nothing to help anyone. I see it everyday. I talk to Christians, Catholic Christians, Muslims, and Hindis on a regular basis, and a staggering majority of them admit in a heartbeat that their organizations do not operate any programs outside the walls of their church building.

The exempt code was poorly written where in that second sentence, it states "advancement of religion." Why? Well, Uncle Jim is going to show you.

I have no issue with the "advancement of religion," as long as that group, church, or club is actually doing something to help people.

This takes me right back to the religious verses I quoted at the start of this article.

God is reckoned in these religions as the most powerful being in the universe.

So when you place your faith in God, and obey his rules, laws, and commandments....he's going to return the favor and take care of you, right?

Great. But hundreds, even thousands....every single day in this nation, form churches with 501c3 status, and start taking in two things: 1) donations (gifts from the person to help the church reach its goals; whatever they are; and 2) tithes and offerings. In Christianity, people tithe because of scriptures in the Old Testament that arguably stated that people give money to God. In the New Testament (Matthew 22:20) Jesus' disciples and a small crowd were asking him questions....

²⁰ And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

²¹ They say unto him, "Caesar's". Then saith he unto them, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."

²² When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left him, and went their way.

When the disciples answered "Caesar's," they were talking about the Emperor of Rome, a man that led an empire that controlled the region of Judea ( a Roman Province) during that time. Jesus was suggesting that his followers pay their taxes, because if a man didn't, he was arrested and jailed.

He also suggested giving service to God, and by that he meant help the poor, feed the hungry, and provide for those that have no home. I guarantee you that he wasn't telling anyone to give money to the synagogue; it was corrupt and he knew it. He had been there himself and drove the tax collectors and money changers out like a shepherd would drive jackals away from his sheep. Historically, this and many others have long been interpreted to mean that Jesus commanded people to give the church or synagogue 10...(or in many cases, 20%) of their income to the church. You know, that's all fine and dandy if that church is actually helping  the poor, clothing and feeding the homeless, and donating their money to research that so badly needs it. Sadly, in most cases, they just aren't.

In Islam, Muslims observe the Zakat, a tithe tax kind of donation that was commanded to them in Sura 30:39:

39. "The usury you practice, seeking thereby to multiply people’s wealth, will not multiply with God. But what you give in charity, desiring God ’s approval—  these are the multipliers."

And again in Sura 31:4:

4. "Those who observe the prayer, and pay the obligatory charity, and are certain of the Hereafter."

I worked with several Muslims in Iraq. They were God fearing men, but also had common sense. On a "good month" they'd give 10% to the church, but on a month where the kids were barely fed, and the car needed tires, they gave 2.5%, or nothing. They said that Allah, in all his wisdom, understood all of that.

My question has always been this....did God (or Allah) know way back then, that we would be modern nations with trillions of dollars at our command? Did he ever intend his followers to pay taxes to a corrupt government, much less a corrupt church? I don't think so. I believe that if that God exists, he'd want a person to perform charitable acts, money or not.

Seemingly though, the answer in a believer's mind is undoubtedly yes. If God is all knowing, and lives for all time, he surely knew the future back in 600 BC.

So here we are in 2017. We see massive floods in Houston, Nepal, India, and Bangladesh; and thousands of charitable persons are rushing to aid the troubled.

When this is all over, I want to see the statistics of charitable organizations that contributed to these nightmares. I bet I'll see the smallest of these doing the most giving. You'd think that multi-billionaires would be giving donations in the billions. I know damn well that if I had a million dollars, I'd have no problem sending 10% of my money to relief efforts in Houston or Mumbai. Yes, I'd have to pay taxes on it, but so be it. I'm a good person, and people need help.

I think I have said all of that to say this.

I have no idea if Jesus or Muhammad ever existed, or God for that matter.

But I know two old sayings that have rung true in my ears for all of my life.

1) "The love of money is the root of all evil."

A massive accumulation of wealth will corrupt the wisest and truest man. We see it every day.

2) "You can't serve God and mammon."

That was literally meant to say that money will corrupt the truest heart.

I believe that good people can have a ton of money and do good things, but those people are simply few and far between.