10-15% of your salary to religious leaders in Trinidad and Tobago.

[admin]

So guys before you get all offended and feel a need to bash out please think about it before you do so.
Im a christian so I'm talking from a personal experience and from experiences of others.

Some time ago I went up to the universal church of god at Broadway Port-Of-Spain upstairs Maharaj jewelers. Everything seems normal until the pastor handed out a set of brown envelopes to the congregation say if you give willingly and generously I will pray for you, I was like is this what religion has come to and left.

I also heard a lot of people who are long time members of that church saying they must pay at least 15% of their entire salary to the church.

Now this is not about churches practices alone I know a lot of pundits are just as bad.

So guys I personally feel this is exploiting a person who really believe in god, I taught the word of god is free? Why must we pay to hear the word of god if really we are being taught the word of god that is.

I usually see every religious leader profiting a big way from this scheme and also driving high end vehicles why?

I don't know yes why not give to the poor I don't even hear these religious leader even talking about give to the poor again wtf is really going on in this world yes?.

 

[grimreaper009]

15% wdh i thought it use to give how much you wanted as it didnt matter if it was small or big...................

 

[Shadowhunter]

I've found a lot of religious leaders always have big house and nice car in t&t. I know people who scam the church repeatedly and get away with it because 1. Contacts and 2. They are now church leaders lol

i think religion should be free. If you have to put a price on prayer or love it's not legit IMO. So what about the unemployed or poor?

 

[nirtime]

It is really a good topic to discuss. Ive noticed this as well. A lot of people give their hard earned money to these schemers because they believe in God and they dont realise what these people are doing... A man or woman of God could never take from people in that manner and this is how I look at it.

Nothing.is.wrong with helping out the establishments since they are supposed to be non-profit but to say that 15% of a person's hard earned salary must go to these scums, never! In a truly religious setting the person would be given the option to put money or not.

 

[LadyDeath]

Pastors say nowadays they need contributions to feed their family lmao! Bullcrap if u ask me because what do you do on the times that you don't have church service? They need a job just like all of us ! This is the real world

But anyhow, the most money making business today is Churches/Religious Temples and Bars. That's why i don't attend church; to much bachannal, gossip and wrongful use of donation money

 

[Shadowhunter]

As far as I know, religious leaders are supposed to be selfless and non-materialistic. Many of the old stories tell of religious leaders being nomads/homeless, always being seen wearing one simple piece of clothes, and being fed by meals provided for them by devotees when they weren't fasting. If you watch some movies that are old enough you may catch snippets of the hard, honest, poor lives religious leaders were once known to lead.

Nowadays it's another story. The quickest way to get rich without really doing anything is to become a religious leader IMO. Religion is supposed to be an open option for everyone, not only those with full pockets. How many stories have we read of religious leaders embracing and helping the homeless and downtrodden without anything in return? Imagine these stories are still used to teach people and stress on doing good out of the kindness of one's heart because it's the right thing to do.........right before asking them to empty their pockets.

 

[nirtime]

Precisely. There should be not be a material motive behind the acts. It should come from seflessness and other desires that are not material in nature but I guess thats hard to find these days.

 

[LadyDeath]

It's just like pastor Cuffie church . You have to pay for a seat and it depends on your salary. The richest people sit infront and they don't allow beggars at all !

 

[Shadowhunter]

I find when people talking about how their religious organization help them it's usually prominent wealthy people too, or people that have contacts and involved in other scams. Come to think of it, I know someone else that used their religious org to get ahead and they too are now quite prominent at the head of their organization lol. Seems the more corrupt you are in some circles the more you get ahead.

 

[nirtime]

Yes it is a blindfolded way to power and possession(materialism) for those who have no conscience and are willing to exploit people.

 

[LadyDeath]

Exploiting others in the name of God. They are the most corrupt people you will meet.

They say a Pastor gets free: Money, clothes, land , food , jobs, business opportunities etc.
I know a pastor that driving a car that a woman won from playing the lottery. She love her pastor so much that she gave the pastor the new car and have to use public transportation to get around lol :/ smh ! These brainwashed people eh

 

[nirtime]

I was taking my lottery car and wasn't giving the pastor nothing. The fact that he accepted the car knowing she travels doesn't say much about his character but I guess she doesn't feel that way.

 

[Shadowhunter]

LOL! That's something else but the man has no heart to take it and see the woman struggling with our public transportation system!

I once asked a pandit about the "seedah" people give them.

What seedah is:
You are supposed to prepare a simple brown paper bag with 5-7 different grains, articles of clothing, water, etc. and put money in an envelope and present it to them after they oversee a prayer service. The amount of money is at your discretion, but it is common knowledge that anything less than $300 is insultingly low. People can put upwards of a $1000. He is supposed to accept it in the envelope because they are not supposed to touch money during the religious service (so instead of doing it selflessly and not messing with money, put it in something so they're not technically touching the money itself lol) I've read from many religious scriptures, including those in Hinduism and was fluent in some of the pandit's current astrological books etc too.

What the scriptures say about giving:
From my reading, people are supposed to do prayers selflessly, with whatever means they have no matter how small, in the name of what they are thankful for or hoping to achieve, owing everything to God, and perform acts of charity. eg. feed the whole village etc (prayers food!), give clothes, money, and food to the needy. There are specific articles of clothing, grains, and colors to be used for each day/deity you fasted for and did the prayers for. Sometimes it is specified whether you give it young boys in need, elderly in need, etc. The pandits do not tell people this, and if they cannot read the information themselves, they do not know. Many wealthy places or temples will offer meals to the homeless etc after a service, but it is not common practice to give these things to people as charity afterwards.



Back to my point lol.
I asked the pandit about this decline and neglect of charitable giving and prominence of giving seedah with salary. He told me that long ago, generations back, people used to do things the "right" way and he knew that is what the scriptures said. He said after doing prayers, cooking for large groups, and offering seedah, many people could not afford to also buy clothing etc and put money for the poor as well and it was out of the way and inconvenient for many. When asked why not forgo the seedah and let it be given to the poor instead, he said this is how pandits make their living now and all pandits do it. (Despite many of them having regular full time well-paying jobs on the side). He said if he did things the true old way, he would not profit from what he was doing and insisted that he helped many people and people continued paying pandits this way etc. because it was what they were now accustomed to and believed in. He did add however, that if people wished to ALSO donate to charity the true way the scriptures entailed, then they may feel free to do so AFTER giving the seedah and other requirements for prayers lol


**
I think things are portrayed to people very carefully in any religion, once it is profitable to the leaders. Look at the state of the homes for the elderly, homeless, battered, and children in this country. Then look at the size of houses and shiny new cars you see the heads of nearly every religious organization having. How can this be right? Charity is a common theme in all religions, whether it is specified to nitty gritty details or just a repeated notion and subject of educational religious stories. Look at these true places in need in this very religious country. How can this be right?