Many churches do charitable work. In my area, the homeless shelter could not operate without the support of local faith communities - including Jews and Muslims.
Fewer people participating in church means fewer people doing that charitable work. If the need is going to be served, more non-religious organizations will have to serve it.
I'm all for taxing churches. I'm also all for taxing the rich and investing that money in social programs that help those in need.
Whenever I get special treatment for something, my first thought isn't "yes, of course, I deserve this, I'm important and special and everybody knows it," it's "oh my god, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, I have to change my behavior to make them proud going forward so they don't feel like they wasted their time helping me."
In college I had a professor who gave me extra credit for a bunch of assignments I just never submitted because I was going through a depressive episode, and from then on I was on top of things, never missed another one. I would have failed without him, he had no reason to help me but he did anyway.
In November 2020 a stranger who is now my closest friend helped me out of a bad situation, and I can never repay her kindness and generosity. She honestly changed my life.
I don't deserve anything, and I'm grateful for all that I've been given. I can't imagine how entitled someone would have to be to expect this sort of treatment at all times. How could anyone sleep at night if they took advantage of the generosity of others? Help isn't an infinite resource, it must be cherished and either paid back or paid forward (that's not to say that all help must be transactional, there's not some ledger that needs to be balanced, I'm just saying that you should follow the golden rule; do unto others)
If you find yourself as a starfish, and someone throws you back into the surf, be grateful and strive to live the best starfish life you can; if you're not thrown back, don't resent others who were or the helper who passed you by.
If you're the one walking the beach, help as many starfish as you can, but don't kick yourself over the ones you couldn't.
Some old men came to Abba Poemen and said to him, “When we see brothers who are dozing at the synaxis (services), shall we rouse them so they will be watchful?” He said to them, “For my part when I see a brother dozing, I put his head on my knees and let him rest.”
My friend and collaborator, Dawn of Dawn Chorus Writes on youtube, is creating a fundraiser for the Pakistan flood crisis. There will be a massive story turned audiobook (co-written by yours truly). Once the audio version is available, all ad-revenue, super chats, and pledges go straight to the relief effort. Dawn and I will not see a penny of it! We are looking at a short turn around, so this should be coming up fairly soon.
This fandom, for all its quirks, has tremendous heart and I ask that you help spread the word. Reblog this post and the ones that come up related to it! Please consider offering to help in your own special ways! You are all amazing and so generous with sharing your talent and enthusiasm with the rest of us!
I will keep you all posted as to when this story goes public! You are all amazing! Stay miraculous!
Believe the mystical stuff or not, participation in religious organizations used to give people access to community. A church was like a big extended family that also did charity work. As churches have become more political, those beneficial aspects of participation have become harder for people to get. So they're quitting.
Christian nationalists see their hold on power crumbling, so they're becoming more radical. They're throwing more money at hard right politicians.
People who care about feeding the hungry and healing the sick - the stuff Jesus taught - are finding other ways to serve their neighbors.