DONATING TO A CHURCH IS NOT CHARITY!

Churches and religious organizations are the only businesses in America that can get get away without paying proper taxes.

It is also well known that donations to a religious organization can be written off as a charity.

Donating money to a church is not charity, it is not close to charity and the fact we let people get away with this is ridiculous. These churches pay nothing or next to nothing and expect to be given complete freedom in what they say and how they act (which is fine, if they paid their part). ALL religious institutions are businesses and market themselves to the public, therefore they should be forced to pay their part in taxes.

Whenever folks talk about how Mitt Romney is just a rich greedy asshole someone will defend him by stating his charitable constitutions. These charitable constitutions were to the Mormon Church, which isn't exactly into helping the poor and less fortunate with that money....instead they use it to fund "missions" to spread their idea of made up nonsense to others, in essence an Advertising Plan.

This also goes to the Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and any other religion that feels it's okay to accept money to promote your businesses but not pay their part. It's about time we stop giving these greedy con-men a pass for taking advantage of people who are more likely to believe in nonsense.

Why I don't believe

Those who know me well know that irrational thought is something I hate, this post is hopefully an explanation why I feel this way. This will give a bit of a background on myself and how I feel about this.

 I was raised by Christian parents who didn't take the church thing too seriously, but did have a firm belief in Christianity. My dad was an extremely lapsed Catholic and my mom was a Church of Christ member but did not attend a service in years. Due to my parents beliefs they felt it would not be fair to baptize me as a baby and if I chose to become baptized, I could when I would be old enough to make the decision on my own. I do remember being 6 and being certain there wasn’t a god, only to be chastised by friends so much that it seemed easier just to say there was.

Due to the less than desirable neighborhood I lived in as a child, I attended Catholic school for my entire life. This led to being baptized 2^nd grade, under what was tremendous pressure from the school and my classmates. I went along with the Catholic thing, fully thinking that it was all bullshit, until about 9^th grade. Around 9^th grade the world changed drastically for me, not only did I start high school (yes another Catholic one) but I also became a die-hard music fan and received my first computer!

Throughout high school my stance as a non-believer grew, while most of my friends would make similar claims, it now appears that these claims were nothing more than high school rebellion. I was extremely lucky that my teachers at this school were understanding with my lack of belief.

The real test of my atheism was the passing of my father, after this happened and my lack of belief remained the same, I knew that it would never change. I was confident there is no afterlife and that every day should be lived fully because there is no more after you die.

Until this part, everything I stated was just my religious history and not solid reasoning. I guess when it comes down to it, the reason I don’t believe is that I just can’t. My brain works in a logical way, where proof and scientific reasoning yield what I believe, and not superstition or non-first-hand knowledge.

Hearing the condescending phrases such as “it’s just a phase” or “I’m praying for you” does nothing but make me feel that you will never get it, regardless of how hard I try to explain.