$addleback Church Raises $2,400,000

This is where the chart showing who gives more to charity falls apart. Since theists waste a lot of their donations keeping people like Rick Warren living the extremely good life.

Ah, my dirty mind strikes again. I can’t read anything about Rick Warren and his lackeys without thinking of Dan Savage and his readers redefining ‘saddleback’. It makes me laugh every time.

Now, it is a sex column. Those of you with delicate sensibilities have been warned.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/savage-love-january-28-2009,23114/

There is something wrong with this. A Megachurch and extracting this much from it’s members. And none of it going to help anyone but the church and Pastor Warren.

At least some of this dough should be going to a charity. And if it is, that’s good. But I have my suspicions.

With this result, and their lack of open financial books, I’m somewhat suspicious if this shortfall was planned. After all, nothing gets money flowing faster than a sense of urgency – which is why sales are always ‘running out,’ even when they have just started.

I want all mention of Rick Warren in the media for years to come to refer back to the debacle of trying to get him to denounce the Kill The Gays Bill in Uganda—which he finally did, after insisting he shouldn’t get involved in fixing his own African mess for a month.

So here’s my submission:

Hickory Dickory Dock,
Where can I put my cock?
Rick Warren says, “Wife,
”Now go change your life
”Or we’ll stick you in the dock!”

Alternatively, for those of you who prefer Brothers Grimm to Mother Goose:

Hickory Dickory Dock,
Where can I put my cock?
Rick Warren says, “Wife,
”Now go change your life
”Or we’ll put your head on the block!”

Odds are that a certain percentage of their operating budget goes to missions, but you’re probably lucky if it’s the equivalent of a tithe at 10%. And even then, you have to wonder what constitutes a mission for this church, what the missions do, etc.

Frankly, I’ve worked at a church, and the entire institution – simply because it IS an institution – rubs me the wrong way. These days, churches have to be run like nonprofit businesses, but just the idea of a church being a business … it seems antithetical to what the church was originally supposed to be. My salary, poor as it was, had to be paid, sure. But it was still weird to me.

I know Rick Warren is something of a controversial character. But from my perspective, he was only asking for under a million. $900,000, to be exact. And he got 2.4 million.

Meanwhile, there’s a Catholic church in Moncton that’s asking for $7 million.

As a former Catholic, and someone of Acadian heritage, and living within driving distance of the church, I can at least appreciate the historic importance of the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral. And it is an architecturally impressive building.

But still, they’re asking $7 million from cash strapped maritimers. I’m sorry if I can’t drum up enough disbelief that Rick Warren was able to wring $2.4 million out of middle America.

Business is better when busines is bad???

Roll on May 21st 2012 when all this is over.

I was about to suggest a *new* new definition for saddlebacking, but I think the traditional one provided by Robert Madewell will suffice.