Hirplings

Everyday, on my way to work, I pass this massive Church. This place, I just found out, was 110,000 sq ft as of 1999 and has grown since then. I really can’t even imagine how much it cost to build. I know that a “capital campaign” in 2002 raised $30 million to fund additional space for worship and education. But it got me to thinking, these “non-for profits” are making all kinds of serious bank. And really, what purpose does it serve to have such an expensive building and really, organization? Helps recruit new members, can offer those members a lot, like a gym and all sorts of activities, including organized sports, and education.

I’m no expert on religion, although that won’t keep me from acting like I know it all, but I just can’t help but think about all the good that could be done with that money. All those services and perks are great, but could easily be done on a smaller scale. So maybe at this point, if a Church, Synagogue or Mosque is worth X amount of dollars, we should tax that ass.

And while I’m on it, with religion wanting such a prominent voice in politics, let’s flip the script, and get Government involved in religion. I suggest a new wing of the Government that is to oversee all that’s going on in our places of worship. If we’ll allow Congress to get involved in baseball, we can allow them in the God business.

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I never read comic books, so this might be common knowledge already, and if so, I’m sure someone will correct me. But the other day I was watching Dark Knight on HBO, and I found myself wondering about the Joker’s back story. Here’s what I’ve come up with. He was a former military guy, some sort of Special Forces. Something happened, and his face got all disheveled. Then the Government turned their back on him, as it was probably done in some hush-hush mission. So he turned on them, and that’s why dude is so bent on tearing shit up. I also found it ironic, that someone who is such a strong supporter of anarchy can be so methodical in his planning.