Since the very beginning. Martin Luther (not King) famously criticized the selling of indulgences to get deceased loved ones out of purgatory and into heaven. "Another coin in the coffer rings, another soul into heaven springs."
this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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That's because if you practice from the Scriptures, you don't become popular. The Scriptures, when you read them and understand what they tell you to do (83 commandments still in effect today, feasts and festivals [not necessarily Jewish ones], the Sabbath [for me, lunar Sabbath], etc.) make you realize that you've been fooled big time, and that you need to change yourself.
It's not mandatory to give donations, and it's only something well off people should do according to the bible.
Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)
"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
But the entire idea of literate people needing a pastor to read them the Bible is already going against their beleifs.
Timothy 2:5 (ESV)
"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Churches are scams that Christians have internalized. They were needed back when nobody could read.
Orginized religion is a control mechanism from old times that we have left lying around for any old con man to take advantage of. Modern Protestant movements have been coopted by grifters.
Wish I had known this when dealing pot in college to pay for college. I would have dropped out and become a preacher.
There are several passages that suggest money & Christianity aren’t aligned. Several passages in Acts talk about the disciples selling everything after Jesus passes and living as a commune with no private property. It says they sold & shared everything together.
There’s the camel & needle proverb. There’s Matthew 25:32. There’s multiple passages that speak of selling what you own and giving it to the poor. There’s Jesus throwing the merchants out in the temple.
When did Christianity become like this? Probably when power saw it could abuse faith, so hundreds/thousands of years ago. Your instinct is great, and you should challenge Christians. I mentioned Matthew 25:32 because it seems so diametrically opposed to what many Christians in power say. We’re supposed to care for the homeless, the immigrant, the prisoner—that’s what this book says.
James 2:15 states that belief is not enough. Belief without works of faith is empty, the same as no faith at all. People telling you they are a Christian while behaving otherwise should be made aware of this passage.
I say this as a Unitarian Universalist. I study the Bible to inform my beliefs, but they are not defined by them. I do think Jesus has been commodified and warped, and the people in power who tell us we’re a Christian nation in the US have lost sight of scripture. They quote the Old Testament and ignore John 13:34.
I also studied all this so when ICE / this government comes for me, I’ll have my receipts. Maybe it won’t matter, but speaking truth to power is important. If so many people believe this book, why do we act like we do? It’s power’s fault, not religion.
Note, I was an atheist for 20 years. I know all about the ills of religion. UU is not like my Catholic Church growing up. If you haven’t been to UU or a Quaker org, it’s worth your time.
I appreciate seeing the Quaker love on Lemmy! (UUs are awesome too, in my experience!)
It’s a great community and shares a lot with us. More people should know about faith communities doing the good work in the world, rather than swindling their congregations for mega churches with elaborate shows, while telling people “empathy is not Christian.” It’s absurd what’s happening in those congregations right now.
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They pick and choose what they want to follow. Treating everyone kindly, and with humanity? Nah, no way. Slavery? Sure, have at it.
Plus, most of them didn't even read the bible anyway.
Because religion, particularly Catholicism/Christianity, are giant grifting operations who promise you better positions in heaven by giving money.
Religions a grift, this fits that ethos.
One of the proposed reasons the Romans adopted Christianity was because the church would help collect taxes. For all of the middle ages the church would be one of 3 instances that "run" a state (estates). Taxes were a big part of that job.
That means the answer to your question was just roughly 1700 years ago.
It has been this way for decades? It blew up when televangelism became a thing.
Sew your seed!
Pretty sure the Catholic Church was collecting money from across Europe to build oppulent fortresses and cathedrals way earlier than the 50 years ago
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For me the explanation is simple: there is no logic within religion. Note that the bible says to love one another but also says that slavery is OK and that gay men should be stoned. These things conflict with one-another; you cannot be kind if you have slaves and stone other people, and you cannot have slaves and stone people if you are kind. It is physically impossible to follow all the rules in the bible. Many of its followers do not realize this, so their critical thinking skills are either lacking or damaged from all the BibLe gOoD thumping that they received from a young age. And because their critical thinking skills are damaged, many do not realize the obvious problem with giving money when jesus was, according to the book, not condoning this.
it became a thing because the catholic church was (still is) actually the leftovers of the roman empire, and acted like an empire as a result (the only reason they dont today is because they no longer have the power to crush nations). this lends false legitimacy to others trying to use Christianity as a platform for personal gain.
The 1100s is when an Italian merchant made up a story about the "eye of the needle" being a gate in Jerusalem that a camel could juuuuuuust about squeeze through if the owner bowed their head or something.
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How else are we hey going to pay to shuffle the pedo priests from church to church to evade getting locked up.
Religion is the oldest scam in history.
when televengicals/megachurchs became a thing. think Joel osteen, kennith copeland. Joel is probably the richest one, because hes been televised for decades.
Literal centuries before that, there were indulgences.
Note Jesus didn't disdain giving alms, but said the poor widow gave more than rich men, who also flaunted giving. Women and orphans were the beneficiaries of these funds as well, I am guessing, as temple upkeep and scribes, priests maybe, etc.
He was enraged at the selling of animals for sacrifice. I can't imagine it was for usurious rates.
You'd have to further research it on sites that specifically address Jewish law, preferably from Aramaic and Jewish translations. I have fur babies hindering me rn
It's not like the church wants to point those parts out and the followers sure aren't reading the thing.
Ask Martin Luther
"1-877-Kunts-4-Kriste, K-U-N-T Kunts for Kriste, 1-877-Kunts-4-Kriste, Donate your kash today!"
This reminds me of a very old joke I heard from a zizek lecture I think.
How can we be sure that Judas didn’t really betray Jesus Christ? Whatever one thinks about the Jews, they know the value of the things they sell, so no Jew would have sold a god for mere 30 silver talents!
(I hope this isnt offensive to anyone, although i don't think theres many religious people on Lemmy)
Also.
Two Jewish men pass a Catholic church on which a large poster addresses non-Catholics: “Come to us, accept Catholicism, and you instantly get $30,000 in cash!” While walking away, the two friends become engaged in a debate about whether the offer is meant seriously. A week later, the two friends meet again in front of the same church, and one of them confides to the other: “I still wonder if that offer is serious.” The other replies condescendingly: “Ah you Jews, all you think about is money!”
Let me know if people want this deleted and I'll do it. Don't wanna be a provocateur today.
Two beggars are sitting side by side on a street in Rome.
One has a cross in front of him; the other one the Star of David. Many people go by and look at both beggars, but only put money into the hat of the beggar sitting behind the cross.
A priest comes by, stops and watches throngs of people giving money to the beggar behind the cross, but none give to the beggar behind the Star of David.
Finally, the priest goes over to the beggar behind the Star of David and says, "My poor fellow, don't you understand? This is a Catholic country; this city is the seat of Catholicism. People aren't going to give you money if you sit there with a Star of David in front of you, especially when you're sitting beside a beggar who has a cross. In fact, they would probably give to him just out of spite."
The beggar behind the Star of David listened to the priest, turned to the other beggar with the cross and said: "Moishe, look who's trying to teach the Goldstein brothers about marketing."
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Because there are three forms of power in this world: politics, violence, and money. Every monolithic entity worth its salt tries to get their serving of all three, and money is often the easiest to obtain.
I'd add sex in there. Seriously.
Most Christians don't really care what the Bible says, regardless of how much they like to pretend they do.
they dont care, because dont read it at all, or they read and choose a specific passage and forget everything else. i notice thier preaching almost never uses bible verses, its almost always guilt tripping people.
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