Catholic BS

m16 elitest

My niece was recently baptised and the priest said to get the certificate of the baptism you need to make a donation. So my sister puts in $50 as a donation, and the priest says "oh to get the certificate you need to donate a minimum of $100." Like what the fuck? Do they know what a donation is? If I put in $1, it's still a fucking donation! Let me hear your thoughts.

MrRoboto

I find it contradictory in a religion that professes that all rich and poor are to be forgiven for their sins, to put a price on pardon

m16 elitest

I'd hate to go to a Catholic person's birthday party. "Oh you gave me the red megaman and not the blue megaman, well then you're just gonna have to leave."

Jain7th

A religion which kicks the base, which it's built on, in the balls is shitty and that's exactly what the Catholic is.

By the way, the pope looks like the Imperator.

ZakoSoldier

I think you could make a stink to the Diocese. It may count as an indulgence and those have been illegal, ecclesiastically, for centuries. It just depends on how much you care about this.

It would be different if they had a fee like they do with weddings and funerals but that is because they need extra stuff for those things but for Baptism it should be free or whatever it costs the church for the supplies.

Apreche

So what if you were homeless and poor?

Zeehat

So what if you were homeless and poor?

You mean the Catholic Priest? ^_~

MrRoboto

So what if you were homeless and poor?

Then you die poor and go straight to hell because you weren't baptized. Even though God loves us all, and doesn't discriminate, same thing, even though God said "Let the one without sin cast the first stone", priests may indiscriminately point the finger.

TheWhaleShark

My niece was recently baptised and the priest said to get the certificate of the baptism you need to make a donation. So my sister puts in $50 as a donation, and the priest says "oh to get the certificate you need to donate a minimum of $100." Like what the fuck? Do they know what a donation is? If I put in $1, it's still a fucking donation! Let me hear your thoughts.

What the shit?

I mean, wow. You could at least try.

Go through the motions, at least.

rhinocero

There's two possibilities here.  It's possible that the priest was just being a greedy dick - entirely possible. 
Much more likely, however is the possibility that the $100 dollars represents a fee for the use of the church and for the priest's time.  The reason the priest is probably doing this isn't because he's a dirty scum-sucker (again, probably).  It's because he needs money.  Running a church costs a lot of money, especially since most churches now do things besides mass, confession, baptism, AND have to give money back to the diocese/archdiocese, which is why a lot of priests are going to be very concerned about money. And if it IS a fee, someone who's unable to pay that probably wouldn't be forced to.  I'm sure that if you went to a priest and said to him "Father, my wife and I barely make ends meet, but we really want to baptise little Johnny,"  he'd be fine with that and do it for free.
Frankly, I'm a little amazed that you think baptism should be free for everyone.  Churches still have to pay for things, why shouldn't you have to pay them? Assuming your sister was well-off enough to give the $100 dollars (and if she wasn't she should have said something) there's nothing wrong with that.
 

Zeehat

Then you die poor and go straight to hell because you weren't baptized. Even though God loves us all, and doesn't discriminate, same thing, even though God said "Let the one without sin cast the first stone", priests may indiscriminately point the finger.

That is one of the reasons I hate Catholic types of rules/ beliefs. It's like any sub-Christian category. They all have their own rules of how to get to "heaven." I have another question for any Catholics on the boards. Why should a woman be banished from the Catholic church, if she gets a divorce? Theres a lot of rules that I disagree within the Catholic beliefs.

MrRoboto

Frankly, I'm a little amazed that you think baptism should be free for everyone. Churches still have to pay for things, why shouldn't you have to pay them? Assuming your sister was well-off enough to give the $100 dollars (and if she wasn't she should have said something) there's nothing wrong with that.

Well... dunno in the US, but there is, donations, courses, drives + most priests here have other jobs, some are lawyers, others are teachers, etc. There are catholic schools, one of the churches here has a furniture shop where they teach kids from the street how to make furniture, some of the money goes to the kids, the other goes to the church. Plus they don't have to pay taxes and such, included all products produced by them, so they can sell them cheaper.

Christians, Catholics, Jeovas Witnesses, etc. are all the same hypocritical thing, all of them are corrupt, all use fear and power to move their people, I do believe in a God, but not in a institution.

Zeehat

I do believe in a God, but not in a institution.

I gained a lot of respect for you with that quote.

Andrew

Churches still have to pay for things, why shouldn't you have to pay them? Assuming your sister was well-off enough to give the $100 dollars (and if she wasn't she should have said something) there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah, because you know that whole tax free thing is really hard on the wallet.

Erwin

Wow, I have never heard about a mandatory donation to be baptized, that sucks and I am sad to hear that. I guess that is how religion is in USA.
Something simiral happened to me when I first came to the US, I wanted to go to a church but I didn't know where, I went to a church and then they told me to go to another one because I was not in their parish :S , so I went to another 2 more and then I finally found the church I was supposed to go, once they confirmed my address they gave me about 52 envelopes and they told me ( I was 16) to give money either on sunday or by mail :S .
That really sucked since I had barely money for myself, I must say that back in my country that was unhear of since people are too poor to give money away, but people still give some but it was never mandatory (they give 10 cents to 70 cents).
That really put me off from going to church for a while then I realized that I would just go to church in the same way I used to do it back in my country with no money and no parish. Also if I am to ever baptisse my kids I would do it in my country because I have realized that any catholics in america mourn their religion instead of just enjoy it.
But I must also say that the catholic church's schools are rather expensive in my country and the tuition of the university in my country have to be paid in dollars, which sucks because people do not earn dollars but soles (and it is 3 times less than a dollar), also those schools kind of suck.

m16 elitest

I don't care if they priest is charging for his time and for using the church or anything like that. DON'T present a price tag as a fucking kind donation. I just heard from my sister that she said she couldn't afford to give more than $50 and the priest said $100 is firm.

WallyBman

Actually, I think if everyone went back and re-read the original post, you might notice that the baptism was free; it was the all fanci-fied certificate that required a donation.

The basic service was free, and I'm fairly certain that the baptism went into church records. It was just the extra frills that weren't free. It's just like a Korean MMO, I guess.

m16 elitest

The priest did say, and I should've said this earlier, that the baptism did not count if my sister doesn't donate enough to get the certificate.

WallyBman

Now THAT sound fishy.

m16 elitest

I know, I even asked my sister "what is this some get into heaven for the low, low, price of $100?"

ZakoSoldier

Actually, I think if everyone went back and re-read the original post, you might notice that the baptism was free; it was the all fanci-fied certificate that required a donation.

The basic service was free, and I'm fairly certain that the baptism went into church records. It was just the extra frills that weren't free. It's just like a Korean MMO, I guess.

From what I know if you do not have a baptismal certificate you cannot prove you were baptized. The church keeps records of the certificates not the baptisms.

Rym

Yeah, because you know that whole tax free thing is really hard on the wallet.
I'm of the mind that churches should be free to do whatever they want (within the confines of the law), but that they should have no extra or special privilages.  They should be treated like any other non-profit or for-profit (depending on the church ^_~) entity.  The tax-exempt status is BS.

Rym

From what I know if you do not have a baptismal certificate you cannot prove you were baptized.Whoop-de-do.  Baptism has no legal ramifications, and it's not like the priest administering your last rites will check the database real quick to make sure you're officially a Catholic. ^_~
If you believe that the baptism was valid, then that's all that matters.

HungryJoe

All the religions are bad about the donations. When I was a kid, we went to a Southern Baptist church. They wanted lots of money for lots of things. I started to view it as a kind of country club. If you wanted to stay, you had to pay.

Then, in college, I was invited to a little get-together at the campus Newman Center. They had a few boxes of wine and a keg. The parish priest was tapping the keg. I said to myself, "I have found my people."

You can say what you want about Catholicism, but for the most part you get to do what you want, drink what you want, you get a lot of cool saints to pray to . . . it's shiny.

Jason

I love how the mainstream US churches all insist that god's supposed new covenant, established through Jebus, replaced and nullified the old testament sacrificial system, including the Mosaic law. Then it comes to tithing, and they insist THAT one is still on the books.

Kilarney

I've had two kids baptized in the past 4 years by the Catholic Church, and I have NEVER been asked to make a donation of any sort.

I actually find the Catholic Church to be one of the better churches as far as trying to get your money. We've never had any pressure to donate whatsoever. Of course we do give money, but it's always been entirely at our discretion.

Diagoras

I love how the mainstream US churches all insist that god's supposed new covenant, established through Jebus, replaced and nullified the old testament sacrificial system, including the Mosaic law. Then it comes to tithing, and they insist THAT one is still on the books.

At the university I go to, we are required to take a course on Philosophy of Knowledge(Essentially, we are taught pragmatism). This issue was brought up by our professor in class. According to him, the problem is that religious institutions have been "hijacked." He wasn't saying there was a conspiracy or anything, but his thought was that whenever people have power, they will often abuse it to further their own agenda. Taking his thoughts into consideration, while Catholicism is not as crazy as Evangelism, it is still part of the "Religious" right. Conservatives, at least ones I know, tend to be intolerant. Note that I am making a generalization, so I may be wrong about some people.

These are also usually the kind of people who pick and choose their rules, so they will often literally interpret "cast the first stone" and completely ignore "love thy neighbor."

Of course, the Bible should be looked at suspiciously, even by believers like myself. You can't say God wrote the Bible. He has no hands!

rhinocero

The priest did say, and I should've said this earlier, that the baptism did not count if my sister doesn't donate enough to get the certificate.

Alright, that's just bullshit, then.

Bromley

I didn't want to really add a comment, as usually they're frivolous, but I have to respond to this:
Conservatives, at least ones I know, tend to be intolerant. Note that I am making a generalization, so I may be wrong about some people. These are also usually the kind of people who pick and choose their rules, so they will often literally interpret "cast the first stone" and completely ignore "love thy neighbor."
Do not generalize that it's conservatives who are intolerant. It does a disservice to everyone to blindly assume that religious fanatics are automatically conservative. Many people in the New South have become what they like to call "progressive insert cause here." Self-proclaimed democrats who attend Baptist youth group Wednesday, fight for Save Darfur Thursday, and listen to Bono on their car ride to a party Friday--even they can ignore the cherry-picked guidelines of their faith.



Intolerant contradictions can plague anyone who attends church and youth group. Its not a rule, but it is noticeably a catalyst. Despite being so well read and educated, teenagers can easily fool themselves into the game of church community; irreversibly republican or save-the-rainforest liberal alike. Their place on the political spectrum does not matter. Anyone can pick and choose to embrace love and acceptance but practice intolerance to others.

Viga

My niece was recently baptised and the priest said to get the certificate of the baptism you need to make a donation. So my sister puts in $50 as a donation, and the priest says "oh to get the certificate you need to donate a minimum of $100." Like what the fuck? Do they know what a donation is? If I put in $1, it's still a fucking donation! Let me hear your thoughts.

It's not a donation if you they ask for an amount. Besides as long as you know that that child was baptised why do you need an effin certificate! F*** that noise!

Diagoras

I didn't want to really add a comment, as usually they're frivolous, but I have to respond to this:

Conservatives, at least ones I know, tend to be intolerant. Note that I am making a generalization, so I may be wrong about some people.

These are also usually the kind of people who pick and choose their rules, so they will often literally interpret "cast the first stone" and completely ignore "love thy neighbor."

Donotgeneralize that its conservatives who are intolerant. It does a disservice to everyone to blindly assume that religious fanatics are automatically conservative. Many people in the New South have become what they like to call "progressiveinsert cause here." Self-proclaimed democrats who attend Baptist youth group Wednesday, fight for Save Darfur Thursday, and listen to Bono on their car ride to a party Friday--even they can ignore the cherry-picked guidelines of their faith.

Intolerant contradictions can plague anyone who attends church and youth group. Its not a rule, but it is noticeably a catalyst. Despite being so well read and educated, teenagers can easily fool themselves into the game of church community;irreversibly republicanorsave-the-rainforestliberal alike. Their place on the political spectrum does not matter. Anyone canpick and chooseto embrace love and acceptance but practice intolerance to others.

First, I must state that I live in an area where members of the "Religious" right are the majority. They do all sorts of things that are intolerant, such as outlawing gay relationships (which is illegal).

Secondly, I did state I was making a generalization, and I do understand liberals can also be intolerant, not to mention moderates. No one is perfect.

And with that, I apologize for making that mistake, and will not do it again.