Pay to Pray

[Chatbrat]

Saw an ad for a local temple that is selling tickets for their high holy day observances

This is what made me a non observant Jew--Jesus threw the money changers out of Temple--looks like little has changed in over 2000 years

When I was growing up, all the tickets were colored coded, if your parents could not afford the expensive seats--you didn't play outside of the Temple -a game of flipping the tickets --heads or tails-- no one wanted to admit their parents were in the cheap section or the auxiliary in the gym

[CFrance]

Back in the '70s, I was the only gentile in a Jewish women's bridge club. That's where I found out that temples had dues. In order to be a member, you had to pay that temple's dues amount. At least in Pittsburgh in the '70s. Some temples were more expensive than others. It was a status symbol what temple you belonged to.

Christians could belong to any church and pay what they could afford. (Of course, there were the "pillars" of the church who obviously gave more and brought more weight to bear--politics is everywhere.) My Jewish friends couldn't understand the concept, or why I didn't understand theirs.

[swooner]

Back in the '70s, I was the only gentile in a Jewish women's bridge club. That's where I found out that temples had dues. In order to be a member, you had to pay that temple's dues amount. At least in Pittsburgh in the '70s. Some temples were more expensive than others. It was a status symbol what temple you belonged to.

Christians could belong to any church and pay what they could afford. (Of course, there were the "pillars" of the church who obviously gave more and brought more weight to bear--politics is everywhere.) My Jewish friends couldn't understand the concept, or why I didn't understand theirs.

Wow! What a revelation. Temples charge membership dues as they have for many years. Financial hardships are dealt with appropriately. Long time reality is that non members must pay for high holiday tickets. If you did some research you would know this is common practice. In case you didn't know, Temples don't pass a collection plate during services. They are sustained by their membership dues. High Holiday tickets for outsiders are incidental. Your comments border on anti Semitism as do the comments of the original poster of this Thread. Wanna talk about what the latest news is from Pennsylvania?

[CFrance]

Wow! What a revelation. Temples charge membership dues as they have for many years. Financial hardships are dealt with appropriately. Long time reality is that non members must pay for high holiday tickets. If you did some research you would know this is common practice. In case you didn't know, Temples don't pass a collection plate during services. They are sustained by their membership dues. High Holiday tickets for outsiders are incidental. Your comments border on anti Semitism as do the comments of the original poster of this Thread. Wanna talk about what the latest news is from Pennsylvania?
Oh baloney. I never said a single anti-semitic thing, plus I said that these were my friends. Go back and read the post. We were simply amazed at the differences in the way the two religions figured out their finances. They didn't know any more about how things worked in Christian churches than I did in Jewish temples. Don't read things into something that aren't there.
I, having seriously dated a Jew through high school and college and having had many Jewish friends in a multi-cultural city where I grew up, find your statement laughable.
Oh, and as the latest news from Pennsylvania goes, I was never a Catholic.

Also, in case you didn't know, the collection plate in a Christian church means you may be just turning in what you have pledged, as to what you could afford, or it could mean that you're putting something extra in for various reasons. But when it comes time to "pledge," you give what you can. You are not shut out because you couldn't meet a certain amount of dues. Maybe this has changed down through the years, but that is what we were discussing in my bridge club.

[Carla B]

I didn't read anything at all out of line in your post, CFrance. And I also didn't know until now that temples had membership dues. As you say, religions have different ways of collecting funds.

[graciegirl]

Oh baloney. I never said a single anti-semitic thing, plus I said that these were my friends. Go back and read the post. We were simply amazed at the differences in the way the two religions figured out their finances. They didn't know any more about how things worked in Christian churches than I did in Jewish temples. Don't read things into something that aren't there.
I, having seriously dated a Jew through high school and college and having had many Jewish friends in a multi-cultural city where I grew up, find your statement laughable.
Oh, and as the latest news from Pennsylvania goes, I was never a Catholic.

Also, in case you didn't know, the collection plate in a Christian church means you may be just turning in what you have pledged, as to what you could afford, or it could mean that you're putting something extra in for various reasons. But when it comes time to "pledge," you give what you can. You are not shut out because you couldn't meet a certain amount of dues. Maybe this has changed down through the years, but that is what we were discussing in my bridge club.

I did not see a drop of anti anything in your post or Chats that was negative. There is a big difference between the religious institution and the hearts of people. No one in this world has to pay to pray. I too dated a nice Jewish boy in High School for a brief time. My two closest female friends on this earth were Jews. Most people don't see differences in groups like the press seems to hype.


I do not care if you are Jew or Gentile, Christian or Buddhist, Muslim or Jain,gay or straight, rich or poor, black or white, Democrat or Republican, fat or thin, pretty or not so much, old or young, smart or not so much....If you are nice to me then I will be nice to you.

[Ecuadog]

Politics, religion... next we'll be talking about sex. That's what I'm waiting for (discussion, I mean).

[Kenswing]

Wow! What a revelation. Temples charge membership dues as they have for many years. Financial hardships are dealt with appropriately. Long time reality is that non members must pay for high holiday tickets. If you did some research you would know this is common practice. In case you didn't know, Temples don't pass a collection plate during services. They are sustained by their membership dues. High Holiday tickets for outsiders are incidental. Your comments border on anti Semitism as do the comments of the original poster of this Thread. Wanna talk about what the latest news is from Pennsylvania?Are you serious? There must be some lines that you're reading between that aren't showing up on my screen..

[graciegirl]

… You are right Nucky. I have no right to try to stop public discussion. It is very painful to see and hear that people who we were taught to respect and value have betrayed that trust. I can't defend or deny the truth of Pennsylvania.

[Nucky]

My church In The Villages was doing very well until I joined in the singing. They pay me to clam up!

People have been discussing, fighting, disagreeing about religion forever so why not now? Mr Brat and Mrs CFrance said zero in a derogatory way.

[aninjamom]

The custom of paying dues at a temple go way back; according to the Bible in Exodus, it originated when God told Moses to have each Israelite male over 20 yrs old to contribute "half a shekel"'s weight in gold or silver towards building the original Tabernacle. It was mentioned later on as a "Temple tax" in Matthew 17, where Peter was concerned about being able to pay the tax. Jesus has him catch a fish that has a coin in it's mouth to pay it with!
This is the origination of the idea of tithing; that Christians should contribute to the support of their church. Jewish Synagogues require it, Christian churches rely on your conscience and appeals.

[graciegirl]

My church In The Villages was doing very well until I joined in the singing. They pay me to clam up!

People have been discussing, fighting, disagreeing about religion forever so why not now? Mr Brat and Mrs CFrance said zero in a derogatory way.

You are right Nucky. It is very painful to see the cover up of the facts in Pennsylvania. I was wrong to try to stop a discussion about It.

I have taken down what I had written. This may be the final blow to a once loved institution.

Many people of faith of all kinds live here in The Villages as well as many people who do not believe in God. There are many kind, good, ethical, caring, loving people who are our friends who live here. I have rarely seen being part of a community of faith has harmed anyone but mostly gave love and support through the trials of life.


It is my new awareness that people must be born with somewhat set personalities. I have always believed that people are born with their sexual orientation. There is a problem now trying to understand what to do about pedophilia. Sex between consenting adults is one thing and overpowering someone and hurting them, raping them, and causing fear and trauma for their entire life is another.

[alwann]

I stay sane by reading the satirical, cynical, irreverant news site called The Onion. (theonion.com) Here's a taste of what it reported about the Pennsylvania fracas:

"The Vatican released a statement Friday saying “listen, no normal person is going to sign up to be a priest...we make them follow all these bizarre rules, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we have trouble finding people who aren’t degenerate creeps."

[CFrance]

… You are right Nucky. I have no right to try to stop public discussion. It is very painful to see and hear that people who we were taught to respect and value have betrayed that trust. I can't defend or deny the truth of Pennsylvania.
But I agree with you that people's religion is a very personal thing. No one should be chastised for giving up on his or her particular religion because there are bad apples there. If that were the case, we'd have to give up on our democracy, n'est-ce pas? But we haven't, and we won't.


I'm sorry for what happened in the Catholic church, and I hope the fallout will effect changes. But as far as personal faith goes... well, you've had your faith forever. It's more than the church... it's personal between you and God, and wherever you feel most comfortable practicing that faith.


Okay, I'm done. Carry on!

[CFrance]

I stay sane by reading the satirical, cynical, irreverant news site called The Onion. (theonion.com) Here's a taste of what it reported about the Pennsylvania fracas:

"The Vatican released a statement Friday saying “listen, no normal person is going to sign up to be a priest...we make them follow all these bizarre rules, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we have trouble finding people who aren’t degenerate creeps."
And The Onion keeps me sane too! It's totally farcical and must be taken with a bucket of salt. But it makes me laugh. "Rosa Parks Takes a Taxi"... I'll never forget it. (Oh no, :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:)

[graciegirl]

[...

[CFrance]

I just read for the first time from MSN Newsfeed a news source called "RollCall". At first assessment it seemed unbiased. Then I thought that can't be. Anyone know anything about RollCall? or is it too...slanted.


I have just changed the subject. It is hard to find sources about anything to count on for unbiased truth, let alone humor. I will look into The Onion, CFrance.
If you have a grandchild in NYC, she might know about it. It used to be given out free every week at the newsstands. I used to buy our son a subscription every year till he moved to Brooklyn and started getting it for free.

[Bucco]

And The Onion keeps me sane too! It's totally farcical and must be taken with a bucket of salt. But it makes me laugh. "Rosa Parks Takes a Taxi"... I'll never forget it. (Oh no, :popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:)

The Onion is hilarious !

Funnier yet, to me, are those who in the past quote them as a serious source in discussing politics.

[Bucco]

If you have a grandchild in NYC, she might know about it. It used to be given out free every week at the newsstands. I used to buy our son a subscription every year till he moved to Brooklyn and started getting it for free.

The Roll Call is a great source. You must know the intent of this paper and use it for that purpose.

Unbiased news sites do not exist. We have become very lazy readers and followers of news. If you rely on ONE news site or ONE of any source of news, you are doing your self a terrible injustice.

If you want to be informed, you need both sides of every issue, and today most importantly be able to decide what IS an issue and not just more words to make you believe something.

Staying informed is iimportant, but is not for casual followers.