posted on Aug, 2 2008 @ 04:53 PM
I left church a LONG time ago, and haven't been back since.
My parents carted us kids to the First Baptist Church every single Sunday without fail. Most of the time we did not attend the regular services, but
instead attended Sunday School. They gave us all $1 to put in the offering envelopes every Sunday.
I actually had fun in Sunday School growing up though. We would do all sorts of crafts and then in later years it was all music, literally. We had
tons of fun singing all sorts of songs, not just religious-oriented ones. Plus they had all kinds of refreshments like pastries and hot drinks.
Sometimes they even brought in recording artists to play music for us. No one really famous though, but still... it cost them thousands per musician
at least.
Majority of the people that attended the church were middle to upper class, so there was a lot of money floating around. My family was middle
class.
The old preacher decided to retire. I can't remember exactly when, but I was either 12 or 13 years old. Guess what his retirement gift was?
A brand new Jaguar vehicle.
WTF?
The church itself was not far from the business district downtown but the surrounding neighborhoods were mostly poor.
Why did the church give such an expensive gift instead of helping the poor more?
Instead they built a HUGE building in a popular church campsite in New Mexico. The place was massive. Could house over 100 people in there. The
main gathering room was like a cathedral, but all in wood. Very high ceilings, lots of windows.
I ultimately stopped going once I opened my eyes and saw the materialism and how they flaunted it. And how little they helped the poor.
Then they built a huge "family center" on the church property. It has a gym, running track, work out area, pool tables, bowling alley, and
basketball court. You had to pay $7 a month to go there though.
So, while not a "horror story," it goes to show that they only seem concerned about money, and always want more. Ticks me off.