What do you think of paying to hear a religious speaker?

[sandandfoam]

The Dali Lama was here today. There was a charge of €25 to go and hear him. Tickets were sold in a flash.
What do you think about paying to hear a religious speaker?

 

[Just_me_Mike]

The Dali Lama was here today. There was a charge of €25 to go and hear him. Tickets were sold in a flash.
What do you think about paying to hear a religious speaker?

I think they can lick my ... ummm well you get the idea...
If I had such important things to say, they would be free...

 

[Breathe]

I don't like it.

Religious stuff should be free, or as free as possible.

 

[Noaidi]

Was the money going to charity?

 

[sandandfoam]

Was the money going to charity?

I have no idea.
Would it make a difference to you?

 

[Reptillian]

Yeah, if the money is going to charity or was for a good cause, then I'd pay to hear the Dalai Lama, I'm a follower of his on Twitter...he seems like an outstanding guy whos had a very interesting life. If he was just pocketing the money or it was going to some business tycoon then no I wouldn't pay.

 

[Noaidi]

I have no idea.
Would it make a difference to you?

Yes, I think it would. If that money was going to a worthy cause, I wouldn't mind paying for the privilege of hearing someone I admired speak.

 

[tumbleweed41]

Are you talking about the POSSIBILITIES Civic Summit?

That is not the Dalai Lama charging 25 quid a ticket, that is the three non-Profits that organized the summit charging for it. The proceeds go to Children in Crossfire, SpunOut.ie, and Action From Ireland (Afri).

If I were in Ireland and able to get tickets, then yes, I would go and have no problem having my money go to these organizations.

It is when religious speakers charge money that goes directly into their own bank accounts that I have a problem.

 

[sandandfoam]

I'd have no problem with a religious asking for donations for any charity. I think ticket only entry is a bad job though.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

The Dali Lama was here today. There was a charge of €25 to go and hear him. Tickets were sold in a flash.
What do you think about paying to hear a religious speaker?

I probably wouldn't do it myself, but why not?

I can only think of three reasons to insist on religion being free:

- the idea that it's necessary, and therefore people have a right to admittance to religious services.

- the idea that the religion in question is "God's free gift to humanity" or something like that, and therefore it isn't the place of any individual human to charge for it.

- the idea that evangelism is a good thing, and charging potential converts a fee to get the "sales pitch" works against this goal.

I don't agree with the underlying premise of any of these reasons. As far as I'm concerned, religions can put whatever price they want on their message, including none at all if that's what they choose. The only point where I start to worry is where a religion manipulates its members to extract money from them. But if a church decided to charge admission for its Sunday services the way the theatre charges admission for a movie, I wouldn't object. I probably wouldn't go either, but I wouldn't try to stop them.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Pay is good.

Pay now and pay often.

(I say that as a completely disinterested third party)

 

[Noaidi]

I'd have no problem with a religious asking for donations for any charity. I think ticket only entry is a bad job though.

Ticket-only entry is probably for logistic reasons. If everyone and his mate decided to turn up, it would be chaotic.

 

[sandandfoam]

I think my problem 9-10ths is that I imagine the Dali Lama is worth listening to, there are many many people in Limerick who haven't got €25 (or €50 for a couple) to go and listen to him. It seems like an odd place for a religious person to be in - with a message for those who can afford to hear it.

 

[sandandfoam]

Ticket-only entry is probably for logistic reasons. If everyone and his mate decided to turn up, it would be chaotic.

Give away tickets for free to 3000 people and then ask for donations at the gig, or just let in the first 3000.?

 

[sandandfoam]

Pay is good.

Pay now and pay often.

(I say that as a completely disinterested third party)

I think you'd make an excellent tv pastor

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I'd have no problem with a religious asking for donations for any charity. I think ticket only entry is a bad job though.

My Econ 101 prof is hiding in the back of my brain, reminding me that if people really do consider a talk from the Dalai Lama to be worth 25 Euros, then even if you don't charge admission, they'll expend that much in other ways of equal value... by waiting in line for 25 Euros worth of time, for instance.

The problem here is that this value is completely wasted. Even if the Dalai Lama would've just used the 25 Euros to buy an ivory backscratcher, at least you'd be helping to pay for some ivory backscratcher-maker to send his kid to the dentist or something like that. 25 Euros worth of waiting in line helps nobody at all... the value simply disappears.

Also, something else occurs to me: presumably, the speaking venue wasn't free. After all, I doubt that the hall owner would be thinking that they'd make their money on beer and liquor sales at a Buddhist talk. If the attendees aren't going to pay for the cost of the venue, who should?

Or should the venue grant the space for free out of the goodness of its heart?

 

[Noaidi]

Give away tickets for free to 3000 people and then ask for donations at the gig, or just let in the first 3000.?

I would favour the first option. As you said, not everyone has the money available, so optional donations would be good.

 

[sandandfoam]

Or should the venue grant the space for free out of the goodness of its heart?

I don't know whether they did or not - but as the venue was a public building I imagine it should have been free.

 

[Revoltingest]

Pay is good.
Pay now and pay often.
(I say that as a completely disinterested third party)

How Republican of you!

 

[Songbird]

Penguin stole my thoughts, but I was going to say I'm quite fine with religious speakers charging fees. How are travel costs and venue fees supposed to be covered? And most religious events I've attended offered a limited amount of free or reduced-price tickets for those who asked. Often speakers want to reach as many people as possible, which entails a lot of travel and related expenses, as well as want to make the message available at no cost for people who can't afford it.