Whenever a person or agency says "Give us money and the ghosts will leave you alone" or "you'll get into Heaven" or any other belief-oriented construct, I have to view that as a con - no matter how sincere the plants might be.

I'm *not* saying "all religion is a farce". I'm saying "religious institutions are cons". This is because of the observable fact that no amount of money is enough to bribe ghosts or God into doing anything, anything except ignoring us.

People with deep or potent spirituality are my favorite people. Please don't get the idea that I'm a bitter cynic toward belief - it's that I'm fiercely protective of exactly that same demographic and I hate HATE hate for my loved ones to be harmed.

Churches that ask for money do harm. Take the religion *out* of the edifice and *in* to the heart. Use it, don't be used by it.

That's also why I'm protective of cults - by far the majority of cults are 100% innocuous and non-harmful groups. They are persecuted because they *don't* follow the predatory and materialistic models of religious institutions. They look weird and don't do the same rituals as Christians or Jews so they're seen as bad -

- sort of like people treat 'alts' and other spicy online personalities -

Institutions that grow beyond a group of people that all know one another and begin to take in revenue are *cons*. I beg you reconsider my point and see what I'm saying (and what I'm not saying), because involvement in these cons is deadly, deadly to human beings at large.

If you think I'm saying "your church sucks" *please* understand that that is *not* what I'm saying (especially if you know everyone that's involved with the management of your church personally).

exactly!