J. Ojanpera

The American church, all of its faithful members, gathering each week, maybe a few times, is magnificent. By that, I mean the profit to societal benefit ratio is horribly skewed. Millions of poor and some wealthy members contribute to their pastors, week in, week out. Praising  a singular deity is the focus of these gatherings, right? What about the power bill, fringe clergymen, groundskeepers and politics? Every corporation has overhead. In the case of the church, there is always a hierarchy of administrators -or boards- who make the tough decisions concerning both the financial and philosophical matters of each church; something like a corporate board, only different because it is a non-profit organization -501c (3). The finances and philosophy are intrinsically bound. The philosophy and general message of the top dogs has to be delivered in a way that keeps people coming as well as bringing in new members. If they get it right, they can bask in wealth beyond what one might expe...

Sunday morning is especially good for me and my family. We are all together, and we work together. We go on missions, do mass cleanings, pull weeds and burn stuff. Little girls like to play with fire as much as boys do. It is a real-life way to preserve the family. Isn't that the evangelicals' biggest complaint, other than a woman's body, or keeping their laws in place? Today, if you are wasting half your day at the temple, your family is most likely divided by age. This same phenomenon divides on a much larger scale than a two million dollar building full of people doing their duty every week. First off, this group cannot keep their hands out of my government. I don't want your voices heard in Washington any more, because you are irrational zealots. It's bad enough that they segregate our military based on one religion, and are called "heathens" if they don't swallow. Doesn't this violate the part of the constitution that speaks of separation of ...