I decided to share this sad story because of this one sentence, which I at first thought was an accidental play on words.
The church, whose services are held in Gagana Sāmoa, preyed almost exclusively on Auckland’s sizeable Samoan population.
Then I realized that churches and religions are indeed more about preying than praying.
The clues were always there… why else do they always refer to followers as “the flock”.
and remember what Eli Wallachs’ character (Calveras …) said in the Magnificent Seven …
“If God didn’t want them sheared, He would not have made them sheep.”
And they are all doing the same shit. hopefully if enough of them get caught all of the Churches will have to open their books and prove they are doing community work to keep their non-profit status.
Just before I retired I considered moving to another country. Tonga was on my list. Did some investigating. House and land cheap? Cost of living cheap? Yes. First rate medical facilities? NO.
Then I discovered that the country was chronically religious, with some of the more extreme protestant sects well as Mormons, who makeup nearly 20% of the population. I decided that perhaps I didn’t want to live in Tonga after all. Prejudiced? ME? Against religious troglodytes with power? You bet your bippy.
Seventh Day Adventists Arrived in the mid nineteenth century. They had around 4000 members in 2018. And they stole from those people? What a bunch of cunts.
Oh, I decided not to leave Oz when I couldn’t answer a simple question; “Exactly how will I pass the time?”
Charles Taze Russell, the Founder of what would eventually become the Jehovah’s Witnesses actually got some of his ideas from the Seventh Day Adventist movement. It’s interesting that the Witnesses don’t believe in Hell(because that would mean that Jehovah is a really cruel MF and is in fact really loving) and yet they believe in things like the flood, which is a cruelty in the extreme. Perhaps not as cruel as hell, but still disgusting to murder every man, woman, child and living creature(except those on that supposed Ark) by fucking drowning them. How loving.
It’s sad how religeous BS not only causes you not to question your beliefs but outright defend them when deep down you know it’s BS.
Is your picture meaning that you’re a metalhead too?
Meh, not as much as I used to be in High school. I just do the devil horns thing just to seem cool. It’s kind of like people who are Satanists. They don’t necessarily believe in Satan.
I’ve always been a metalhead, and my tastes have gotten more extreme/heavier over time.
Lol. They can be pretty cool, and you look cool while doing it in your picture.
Yeah, true, lol.
I know that. Don’t most NOT believe in Satan?
Honestly? I’m not sure. I don’t like making blanket statements mostly because I am of the firm belief that there are always exceptions.
True. I just remember hearing about how most Satanists are technically atheists, and certainly don’t actually believe in Satan, just use him as a symbol.
I know a couple of Satanists and have read most of the Satanic bible. Yes, there are always exceptions, but in general, an actual Satanist does not believe in (much less worship) Satan. To put it simply, they use the term “Satanist” mainly because it annoys and disturbs the fuck out of Christians and most other religious sects. Sure, there are definitely small groups here and there who fully practice the worshiping/rituals/ceremonies in praise of their Dark Lord Lucifer. So be it. But the Satanists I know just shake their heads and roll their eyes at such nonsense.
The Satanic Temple just started an after school “Satan club” at my daughter’s grade school. Their presence was in direct response to a newly formed Child Evangelism Fellowship’s Good News Club at the school, which, according to their flier, is “designed to bring the Gospel of Christ to children on their level in their environment.”
The inevitable community protests were held on the sidewalk outside school during the first Satan club meeting. I visited the protesters and asked a few what, specifically, was their issue with the club.
The presence of such a malicious influence to the children on school grounds was the most common gist of replies. The irony of that was head spinning.
So it goes.
Religion is about preying on the followers, and bilking them for all the money they can.
Yep. 
To the best of my understanding, the “mission” of the Satanic Temple is basically to directly challenge/counter other religions on the basis they determine religion as a whole (particularly Christianity) to be malicious and counterproductive. (That’s probably a terribly over-simplified explanation, but you get the idea.) And the fact most Christians fail to see the hypocrisy of their own god is indeed hilariously ironic.
Although I don’t quite agree with involving very young, unwitting children in making the point, I do agree with the point they’re apparently trying to make.
Even my eleven year old daughter was subsequently asking “if churches can be where school is.”
No dear, they most certainly cannot, and it’s an indictment of your society that fully grown adults are blinded to such considerations by their ideology.
First time I ever saw this it gave me a good chuckle.
Once that there church and state separation line is stepped right over, the door is opened to all kinds of ritualizin’, human race-destruction obsessed mind tyrannies like Satanism and all the rest of 'em!
Maybe best fer them Fler-da city councils to send up a motion to make sure there’s nary and one of them prayers and God talk and such from anybody, just to be sure. Cure the headache by cuttin’ off the head.
Shawre 'nuff be true dat. Allthowins it bees a good bet ain’t nary a one of them-thare Crissteeuns evvah gonna bees cohn-vensed-tuh nunnovvit.
Exactly, most satanists are just atheists/non theistic followers. We use christian imagery and symbols to mock and ridicule them. Nothing bothers most believers as much a pentagram or an inverted crucifix. The vast majority of “satanic” metal bands do it just for the imagery. There is a handful of bands that take it very seriously, that’s why they’re successful and have been doing it for 25+ years.
Kerry King from Slayer said it better than most, “Satan sells”. He was the only actual Satanist/atheist in the band. Their bassist/vocalist Tom Arraya is a fucking catholic, the very definition of a hypocrite.
I think my eardrums blew out at the end, but now I want a Satanist giving an invocation