What?!

You didn’t become a believer when that German Christian lady was saved by the Kabul Police?

What does it take for you atheists?

I sincerely hope this was tongue in cheek…

You, sir, are a noble man. I think I’ll follow your example. I’m going to take my money out of my bank account because I’m pretty sure my bank has no big sign anywhere that prays for world peace. Also, I’m changing my dentist because that fucker doesn’t have a big sign anywhere that he prays for all the starving children in the world. Then, I’m going to phone the local branch of the Salvation Army and swear at them until they return the 10 year old t-shirts I donated last winter. They certainly don’t deserve them when they don’t have a big sign saying that they want child abuse to disappear. Fucking Nazis.

We pray for all the Korean hostages and their safe return.

If Shin Han bank could find it within themselves to pray for other hostages around the world I might keep my millions of Won in their bank, but since they couldn’t I have withdrawn all my money from my Shin Han bank account.

there is free will.

can’t say so for the Middle East.

free will is important and honorable.

A church building now is by far no means a bank or an investment. St. John’s near Columbia University in New York City has been pretty much empty empty and so have others been for quite a while thanks to white flight out of upper Manhatten for decades.

I’m sure in the past in Europe, bigger churches meant Kings and dukes and earls coming by, and thus equaling more church revenue.

what about a church building these days?

it’s common practice for Jewish synagogues to rent space for Christians on Sundays.

I’ve seen a Christian church that lost its Pastor and flock due to the Pastor’s early death, bought by Muslims and turned into a mosque. And not a single drop of blood shed. Ah, it took place in the United States !

when that best selling author Pastor dies, can you guaranttee the flow of people? Profit aside, but just for basic maintenance of the building, including A/C, heat, and cleaning snow ? Probably not.

they’ll look for a new guy with a more catchy best selling book.

I’ve seen too many Korean church buildings with huge ceilings that can’t foot the bill for A/C and heat even during church service times!

Of course the ceiling was a waste of empty air space! I could have told them that !

I agree that in the modern times, people should refrain from building huge churches unless they can justify it substantially.

Sanshin’s human vehicles would often ask for monetary comepensations and sometimes human sacrifices as in your daughter being a Moo-dang in order to avert disaster.

Sounds sort of like the medieval Catholic practice of selling indulgences. People who were too busy to go to church or too immoral to follow the rules could pay the local priest for a piece of paper saying that their sins were forgiven. More potent indulgences (for bigger sins) would of course require more money and be signed by someone higher-up in the Catholic pecking order — up to the Pope himself. Of course, the big joke is that lots of indulgence-sellers got busted for selling ‘fake’ indulgences (where things like signatures and seals were forged). Of course, the disaster to be averted here wasn’t a temporal one like your house falling down or anything… But many people would consider being consigned to Hell as a pretty major disaster.

If the Christians were truly about making money, they would have added an additional tax in the New Testament. They never did.

They didn’t have to… For centuries, the largest and best buildings in any community (except maybe for major cities) was the local church. Look at any of the major churches of the world (from Notre Dame to the “Crystal Cathedral” to Mormon Temples) and see if you can keep a straight face when you tell people that it’s really not about the money at all. I’m sure religions might start off with good intentions, but once the people in charge realize that they can basically do anything they like and then claim that an infallible, inscrutable being told them to, well… Let’s just say that it doesn’t take long for them to go from that realization to corruption. After all, it sure must be nice to act as a parasite upon society and not only have people willingly give you money, but praise you for it.

I suppose you western atheists give them more powers and credit.

Christians, but not all, also believe in supernatural interventions, such as in being filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesizing, speaking in tongues, etc.

Sanshin’s human vehicles would often ask for monetary comepensations and sometimes human sacrifices as in your daughter being a Moo-dang in order to avert disaster. Or buy a boo-juk costing 20000 won, 200000 won, etc.

to be fair, the Christian God’s vehicle may indirectly ask you to tithe regularly like their book says to do from the get-go, the Old Testament, but not necessarily to avoid a specific disaster.

If the Christians were truly about making money, they would have added an additional tax in the New Testament. They never did.

all Koreans know that marrying a moo-dang is the worst thing they could do. There is distinct fear of being a slave to that particular san shin for generations.

No Korean seriously thinks their family line is chained to the Christian God for you marrying into a Pastor or your son or daughter being a Priest or a Nun. Leave as you please. Free will. Free will is part of the common doctrine in western society as well.

I would avoid a san shin religion. But, that’s just me.

Jesus? That sounds like Voodoo. The Christian position is that God has reason.

Nope, not voodoo. God’s will means that there were reasons why the supplicant’s prayers were not answered in the way that he or she wanted.

Your commenters don’t know sh*t about why a person might go to help people. These ladies were not evangelists[...]

And you don’t know diddly about this hostage situation, apparently. There is enough evidence that these people are A/ missionaries B/ not nurses. They went there to do proselytism, and got caught in the cogs of a wheel way too big for them.

Your commenters don’t know sh*t about why a person might go to help people. These ladies were not evangelists but nurses and teachers who went to help because the people in Afghanistan need such help. They went with a church group because that way they could be supported by each other.
They were not there to “convert”: Their work was a witness of the love of Jesus, but like Francis DeSales said: Preach, use words if needed. They didn’t need words.

I’m not sure what you’re reading in the Philippines, but claims on the part of the church that they were there as “nurses and teachers” are taken here in Korea with a fair amount of skepticism. And for good reason.

The main disgusting thing is that the Korean government refused to let Afghan special forces get them.

There’s a lot that’s disgusting about this incident, from the irresponsibility of the church that sent them to the feckless behavior of the Korean government. Not to mention, of course, the kidnapping itself.