workin' hard to waste your earnings
 

i work at a publix grocery store and there is this old woman (she has to be about 70) who works there every sunday for 8 hours standing on her feet giving out free samples. they pay her an extra dollar to work on sunday... we got to talking the other day and she said that she gives what she makes on sunday "to god"

this saddened me... this poor old woman works hard so she can give her money to some church so they can build some outlandish gym or something. :( sigh... she might as well throw her money in a toilet.

It's her money, and it's not a waste for HER doing that... live and let live.

P.S. working at a grocery store and all what are you doing with your money that is so fulfilling and not a waste?

I bet she feels far more fufilled about her job and the way in which she spends her money than most of us do.

It would only be a waste if the church was somehow misleading her and wasting her donation. But do you have any reason to think that they are deceiving her or do you simply disagree with the idea of donating to a church?

Whatever makes her feel like her life has been worth something is a good way to spend her money IMO. Even if you believe that giving to the church isnt good, in her eyes it is, so she feels that she is doing something positive for her community/congregation, far from a waste.

How do you know what her money pays for? It could pay for a food pantry for hungry folks, or it could go to missionary work, or any number of worthwhile things.

if her church uses guilt and manipulation to get her money...yeah, that's a huge problem. but if it makes her happy to support a community that she loves...i don't see any issue. I don't have much either, since i'm in school...but about 10-20% goes to my church.

Sunday wages, not including the extra $ per hour, is 14% of her income, if there are no other sources, such as pensions.

I say she probably gets a lot of satisfaction out of the earning and "spending" of her money. I hope she involves herself with the church and they give her a voice to suggest what is done with HER money. That would keep her mind active, as well as her heart.

The other possibility is that some shady fucking "church" is manipulating her out of all her money. That is too depressing to even think about.

Is she Catholic? Maybe she wanted to be a priest and in her imagination the free samples are like the Eucharist wafer.:hmm:

We need more people like that 70 year old woman, imo. Giving for the sake of giving is a concept which is lost on every generation since the 50s.

like missionary work is worthwhile, people have to spend money to send people to hand out bibles so they can get more people to give them their money... :(

...ah why do i care

Maybe it's that. Or maybe it's building schools and homes in impoverished areas, or as my church does, providing low cost drinking water in third world nations, so that the kids don't get sick from drinking sewage. All depends on the church....

Yeah some churches do useful stuff like build wells. Other churches hand out useless "Christmas" presents with free fundie chick tracts in the box....not mentioning any names *cough*Franklin Graham*cough*.

Why can't people help people without the motive of impressing "God" or converting people later?

rrf maybe its not worthwhile to you.. but it gives HER great satifaction. Why do you care? Do you want someone starting a thread saying,"RRF spends his money on needless tchotkes and crap. WTF does he do that?"

it's her choice, and not yours to judge.

misdirected godly funds
 

kind of off the thread here, but i gotta vent.

the whitetrash/wifebeatin/nojobhavin/puppykillin motherfucker that lives next to me had a church donate a washer & dryer to him because his family is a "hardship case."

he just sold the dryer last week for cig $$$.

he should be beaten to death by a gaggle of those lil ole ladies.

yes, it gives her satisfaction.

but............that money could have been put to much better use somewhere else. and after she donated the money "to god", she doesnt know where that money goes. it could easily end up with the person that jimk described.

Re: misdirected godly funds
 

In a case like this, is it appropriate to contact the church and let them no what happened? At the very least it would ensure that this guy no longer got any donations. Maybe it will help direct the gaggle find the guy quicker.

hey The DUDE

the great thing is that the goverment gives my money to people like the one described by jymk. With the church you can have more control.

Re: workin' hard to waste your earnings
 

Meh! Don't really know where I stand on this. It is her money after all, she gets satisfaction out of it. Where's the harm?

As for the church spending money wisely/fairly. I would be of the opinion that the church most definately does do some very constructive work, but not without a personal agenda. But whatever...positive work is still positive work.

It's her money, her satisfaction, and, if you believe in such, her soul. Personally, if I thought that giving away part of the money I earned would bring me satisfaction and joy, I'd be giving away a portion. I'm too cheap for that, but I'd do it if I thought it would work.

I guess it all depends on why she does it. If she does it out of the kindness of her heart to try and contribute to the "poor" or to help support [insert needy person here] good for her. She could also do it, in some strange way, to bribe "god". But whatever, its her money... easy come easy go.

What i dont understand about churches is they always beg for money (yes beg) and in the mean time everything in sight is solid gold or gold plated with gems out the ass, solid marble, or pricey carved wood. Where is this money going again? (just got a flashback of the end of indiana jones and the last crusade.)

what church are You talking about? the one i used to attend to was Nothing like that.

Oh, c'mon, kid! Your innocence is heartbreakingly sweet, but have you ever seen a cathedral?

Does the money go to a good cause? Possible, yes. Likely, no.

Look at your sig.

she does what she wants and she's happy.

Yeah, but her kids are probably starving. How many homeless Bishops do you know?

i know many clergy who have taken vows of poverty, or simply struggle to put food on their family's table in order that they might serve their church....you really need to check the realism of your assumptions, JH.

What is so wrong with someone spending their money in the way that makes them happy? She apparently makes enough other than sunday.

it gives her serenity.

as if the things you waste your money on are that much more significant.

and some of that church money goes to preachers homes and miistresses and prostitutes

I don't want to get deliberately anti-clerical or inflame anyone specifically here, but I would like to point out two specific things:

a) the very high instance, percentage-wise, of priests who are convicted or accused of child molestation/sexual assault and,
b) the also fairly high instance of decently ranked bishops with multiple Benzes, large estates and quite a few "women" to go around. (After all, celibacy is merely a vow to not marry. Premarital sex is a sin, but there is no vow/priesthood central issue). This particular disease is far more gluttonous over in Europe.

That's nice and thanks for enlightening us on this. However, I would like to ask if I may, what does that have to do with a poor old woman give her money to a church?

this reminds me of a story i heard once when i used to go to church... something like the wealthiest person giving allllll this money to donations or whatnot as his good deed of the day. while a poor guy gives ALL his money. while less, it is allll his spendings and savings and is therefore worth more. yeah i butchered this story bcos i think it had something to do with god or jesus but you get the idea :P

Just because someone is spending money on what they want, or what they think will make them happy, doesn't mean it will make them happy. Doesn't matter whether it's some bullshit religion or some bullshit designer shirt, it' still some hungry ghost crap artist pulling a fast one on some other hungry ghost crap artist so they can both sit there telling themselves how happy they must be.

Her personal sacrifice benefits herself as much as others.

You're making a lot of assumptions.