Religious Notes From All Over, Or: WHAT?

Since when is a church a business?

And aren't businesses supposed to pay taxes?

Apparently, billions of dollars earmarked to go to "small businesses" have ended up going to churches, with the Catholic church taking in the biggest haul. Including a cool million for St. Patrick's cathedral.

(As a side note, if you want to light a candle at St. Patty's you have to pay for it. And every time I've been there I've marveled at the amazing architecture and wondered just how many poor people could have been fed and housed with the money spent on all that marble, stained glass, gold, and granite.)

And let's not overlook all of the Mega Churches, aka CoVid Palaces, that are also at the Republican grift trough. Apparently God wants to make sure that his "Holy" Men can afford their Gulfstream jets, custom made suits, and well lacquered pompadours.

So, by all means give them money while mom and pop businesses fall by the wayside.

If that isn't insanely corrupt, I don't know what is.

Of course it's just par for the course with the Most Corrupt Administration In America's History.*

Republicans like to rail against Big Government--but not nearly as much as they like to loot the Treasury of Big Government for their friends.

*Trademark pending

Religious Notes From All Over

According to a story in the August 19th edition of The Arizona Republic, the Diocese of Phoenix missed its self-imposed deadline of June 14th to publish a list of how many of its priests were involved in sexual misconduct and how much this "misconduct" cost the Diocese. You know, in legal fees, hush money, etc.

We will set aside for the moment the fact that it apparently took the keen journalistic minds of the Republic two months to realize that the deadline had passed. The Republic exists to sell advertising and keeping too close a watch on actual news interferes with that.

No, let us instead ask if the Diocese's delay was caused by the breathtaking number of molesting priests and/or the astronomical amount of money spent on damage control. Perhaps they are simply ashamed? Or perhaps they are simply still counting....

The latest figure I could find for the amount of money spent nationally by The One True Church to make amends for the, let us say, sins committed by "the Shepherds of the Flock" is $3.3 Billion.

That's $3,300,000,000.

And that's a lot of dough.

You might say "gee, if the Bishops had just kept a closer watch on their priests most of that money could have been spent to help the poor and hungry, the ill and homeless."

Obviously you don't understand how the wealthy international holding company that calls itself The Catholic Church works.

Oh God Bless you naive and trusting souls! Have I got a religion for you!