Do churches have "a stake in things not getting better"?

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I'm sitting here watching the Agenda on TVO (a good show, BTW). Today's segment is called "the unrecognized peace": it's about how violence is much less - orders of magnitude less - today than it ever has been at any point in history.

The host asked one of the panelists, Magaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, why it is that people are surprised when they hear this. Her response was that a big part of the reason is that we've built up a "grief industry", and that some people and groups who influence public discourse "have a stake in things not getting better".

While she didn't specify which people and groups she meant, my mind immediately leapt to certain churches, since some (many?) denominations have a frequent theme that the world is in an ultimately fatal decline that will only be corrected by the Second Coming. Obviously, pointing out that things are better than they've ever been and getting better all the time speaks against the truth of what they're preaching.

So... what do you think? How much is the "grief industry" she referred to religious in nature?

 

[Me Myself]

I personally don´t think it´s religious.

I just subscribe more on what this guy tells us about it :

That said, I think also according to hinduism we are in "Kali Yuga" that is supposed to be the worst era for mankind and to last a lot of time until finally the universe grows old the last incarnation of Vishnu comes killing most (all?) People around and then Shiva does Tandava dance that destroys creation :areyoucra

Or something like that

Personally I would guess we do are at our primes times

 

[Madhuri]

Me_Myself: Kali Yuga represents a decline in religion or spirituality. In terms of materialism (technology, entertainment, research etc.), the world is supposed to be abundant and growing. But spiritually, it means there is a consistent decline until there is no longer any 'righteousness' in the world (ie/ there may still be religious people, but religion is used for selfish means like power and politics).

 

[Me Myself]

Me_Myself: Kali Yuga represents a decline in religion or spirituality. In terms of materialism (technology, entertainment, research etc.), the world is supposed to be abundant and growing. But spiritually, it means there is a consistent decline until there is no longer any 'righteousness' in the world (ie/ there may still be religious people, but religion is used for selfish means like power and politics).

Hummm Better I ask it properly in Hinduist DIR now then ;D

 

[Madhuri]

Penguin, I think that there are powerful groups influencing politics that certainly make life worse that it needs to be. Some of these groups are religious, some are just large corporations. An example of an industry that has a stake in things not getting better is the pharmaceutical industry.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Some churches have a stake in things not getting better. I don't go to those churches.

I agree that there is a grief industry, however, we shouldn't let precedent blindfold the violence that happens today.

 

[fallingblood]

I think I agree with Madhuri here.

I can see some religious organizations that would support turmoil or chaos. There is big money in the suffering of others. However, I think many people realize this as well, and as Margaret Wente said, there are people who have a high stake in this.

 

[MrProximus]

One church I attended gave this analogy. The church is a hospital for the spiritualy sick. That does sound like they have a stake in things being bad. I am not sure if that means that they have a stake in things not getting better. As tormented a soul as I have, I was uneasy about being around so many spiritualy sick people.

This is a complex question, but unforunatly I think the answer is "YES" many churches have a stake in things not getting better. After all if things get better there will be less and less spiritualy sick people to minister to. But churches (some churches) do help make things better as well. The tirck is that most people in church seem to think that they have a monopoly.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I'm sitting here watching the Agenda on TVO (a good show, BTW). Today's segment is called "the unrecognized peace": it's about how violence is much less - orders of magnitude less - today than it ever has been at any point in history.

The host asked one of the panelists, Magaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, why it is that people are surprised when they hear this. Her response was that a big part of the reason is that we've built up a "grief industry", and that some people and groups who influence public discourse "have a stake in things not getting better".

While she didn't specify which people and groups she meant, my mind immediately leapt to certain churches, ...

Naturally ...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Naturally ...

Do you have anything constructive to contribute, Jay?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

I'm sitting here watching the Agenda on TVO (a good show, BTW). Today's segment is called "the unrecognized peace": it's about how violence is much less - orders of magnitude less - today than it ever has been at any point in history.

The host asked one of the panelists, Magaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, why it is that people are surprised when they hear this. Her response was that a big part of the reason is that we've built up a "grief industry", and that some people and groups who influence public discourse "have a stake in things not getting better".

While she didn't specify which people and groups she meant, my mind immediately leapt to certain churches, since some (many?) denominations have a frequent theme that the world is in an ultimately fatal decline that will only be corrected by the Second Coming. Obviously, pointing out that things are better than they've ever been and getting better all the time speaks against the truth of what they're preaching.

So... what do you think? How much is the "grief industry" she referred to religious in nature?

I don't really think it's possible to say whether things today are better or worse than they ever have been. There's too many variable factors involved to accurately compute such data. However, I do think that there are those who "feed" (financially) off of grief. I don't necessarily think it's a church thing or a religion thing, but a human greed thing, and sometimes said person is affiliated with a particular church, and exploits that church for his/her own benefit. I personally thing that morality is at an all time low, but this is just a personal, subjective point of view.

 

[blackout]

Do churches have "a stake in things not getting better"?

Sure.

Along with big government and pharmesudical companies.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Sure.

Along with big government and pharmesudical companies.

Like Chris Rock said, "the money's not in the cure, it's in the medicine." Like I said earlier, it's all about greed.

 

[Valjean]

Well, there is an inverse relationship between security and religiosity.
Stable, secure societies don't seem to need religion as much as insecure societies.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Well, there is an inverse relationship between security and religiosity.
Stable, secure societies don't seem to need religion as much as insecure societies.

This is true, which is why people are more likely to turn to religion in times of distress, and not when things are good. Which leads back to the original question, how much do some churches actually help cause said grief, because they know people are more likely to become religious during those times. And, unfortunately, at least in the US, religion is big business.

 

[Desert Snake]

Yep, for tithing, also, though I don't know why people send money in. What exactly is the church preaching, anyway?