Beware False Prophets (originally posted 11/23/08)

My point-of-view regarding the passing of Prop 8 in California banning same-sex marriages is not so much concerned about the morality of the issue, nor is it so much concerned with the semantics of making a distinction between civil unions and "the institution of Marriage." (My opinion, for what it's worth, is that same-sex couples should have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples, except they should not be allowed to marry in a church that forbids same-sex marriages.) My focus will not even address the mindset of the various soulless, misinformed, sheep-like, or mean-spirited people who voted 'yes.' Instead, I wish to focus on the mindset of the religious organizations who contributed to the $35 million kitty (at last count) spent to help defeat efforts to treat gays like actual human beings.

My father has many good qualities, and one of the few I actually assimilated from him was a healthy dose of skepticism, which I had in abundance early on when it came to politics, academia, sports, culture, and Madison Ave, but not in matters of organized religion. My father, while dutifully taking me to our local Catholic church on Easter Sunday and on Christmas morning, always questioned the hearts of the priests, disgusted by the constant requests for money. From my teen years through adulthood, I passed this off as Archie Bunker-esque rantings and attended Mass almost every Sunday, each week dropping a relatively generous donation into the basket(s). My father liked that I attended Mass, but never withheld his feelings about the collection basket and charities in general. I ignored this, as well as an observation by a female friend who attended church with me that the charismatic head priest of my Catholic parish drove a very nice Cadillac.

My feelings started to change when my parish, led by this same priest, pushed for a multi-million dollar church to be constructed where a functional rustic church in existence for almost 100 years was standing. This initiative and the accompanying money drive took a life of its own and, the nanosecond after the virulent, yet doomed legal opposition to the new church from long-time parishoners was defeated, the charming old church was razed and replaced by a larger, charmless building.

These changing feelings came to a head during the molestation scandals that recently rocked the Catholic Church, when, literally, hundreds of millions were paid by Catholic dioceses to settle lawsuits stemming from the quiet shuffling from parish-to-parish of priests accused of molesting minors. I was baffled that the dioceses had such a resevoir of loot! Wasn't this money supposed to be actively used for missionary and charitable work?

Fast forward to 2008, where the side of bigotry rejoices that, for the $35 million spent, at least they were on the winning team. However, wouldn't this money have been better spent actually following Christ's example of compassionate works of healing the sick and feeding the poor? For example, $35 million could pay for 140,000 cleft surgeries, if the www.smiletrain.org website is to be believed, or pay to build in the country, ahem, on the continent of Africa 500 hospitals dedicated to helping to reconstruct the clitorises of African women circumsized against their will. Or, judging by my Acme supermarket receipt, $35 million could give 3.5 million people one 1/2 gallon of Tropicana Orange Juice, a Healthy Choice French Bread Pizza, and a 2-lb box of Uncle Ben's Rice. Or, agricultural education and equipment that would allow people all over-the-world to become self-sufficient. Or, to support the downtrodden at home. You get the idea.

Although I don't purport to have any higher understanding of Jesus Christ than what the Gospels say, I would imagine He would be appalled at the hundreds of millions spent by churches to address lawsuits, and the tens of millions more spent by churches and parishioners to encourage people to vote to deny gays even a secular marriage. The majority of churches and a good number of churchgoers have badly lost their way, veering far, far away from the church's original mission of worship, spreading the Word, and charitable works. One can speculate for days the cause of this loss-of-perspective. I, personally, no longer give money to any religious entity not given the highest rating by charity watchdogs and, as a person who agonizes over how many dollars he can afford to donate to the various charities he likes or is touched by, am disgusted by Organized Religion. I don't see the rationale behind continuing to allow these groups to enjoy a tax-exempt status.