Big Church Going Up In E. Hartford/Manchester Line

[MadVlad]

I'm in for the porn shop too.....

[Lowerdeck]

There is also a huge megachurch located right on Rt 7 in New Milford..

[lastvisiblerat]

I'm not a Christian, so this is purely an outsider's view, but I'm not sure what to think about the mega churches. It seems like they would tend to lack the intimacy and spirit found in the traditional small, community church. When people describe the services at mega churches to me the descriptions usually bring to mind a mix between a business seminar and a rock concert. Personally, I would rather see people walking to the little church down the street that their grandparents went to - the church the community was built up around - than piling in the car to go find a spot in the sprawling mega church parking lot.

[mikel]

They should tax the crap out of this church, then convert it to a porn shop.

[JimSawhill]

First we need to separate profit from salary. Someone not working for free doesn't mean it's a "for profit" company. The abuse comes when the charitable giving is absorbed mostly from administrative costs. Offering a free gift with a donation is what most non profits do including places like the Sierra Club, Move On etc etc.

If they were banking money for profit, yes they all should be taxed. So long as the funds taken in are returned to the community in some for of charity, that's what it's all about.

As for the churches not providing services in the area, they provide a HUGE benefit. Just the Manchester Area Conference of Churches alone gives to the city of Manchester. All one has to do is look and probe and you will see that the church is, if anything a benefit and not a "business".

Most administrative costs in the "churches" are far far far below the average non profit.

Here is a quick clip to demonstrate the point:

Average CEO Pay

According to our analysis, the average CEO's compensation (for the 5054 charities in our database as of September 2006) is $141,947. This figure, based on each charity's most recently filed Form 990, includes salary, cash bonuses, and unusually large expense accounts, but not contributions to benefit plans or deferred compensation. To put it in perspective, the average charity's CEO's salary makes up about 3.4% of the organization's spending. This isn't outrageous when you consider that these are multi-million dollar operations. Leading one of these charities requires an individual that possesses both an understanding of the issues that are unique to the charity's mission as well as business and management expertise similar to that required of for-profit CEOs. Attracting and retaining that type of talent requires a certain level of compensation - roughly $140,000 according to our analysis

Charity Navigator is a good site to do some investigating into non profits. You might be shocked in what you see.

You want to talk big business?

Rank Charity Total Expenses

1 American Red Cross $3,396,784,508

2 AmeriCares $1,075,766,809

3 World Vision $869,733,000

4 American Cancer Society $836,582,000

5 Feed the Children $828,567,221

6 Food for the Poor $798,317,637

7 Volunteers of America $723,584,820

8 America's Second Harvest $639,567,751

9 The Nature Conservancy $602,357,073

10 Gifts In Kind International $587,167,018

The American Cancer Society for instance sops up 96.4% of it's intake for administrative costs!

[JimSawhill]

See, and I'd prefer the porn shop, but that's me.

[JimSawhill]

They should tax the crap out of this church, then convert it to a porn shop.

[MadVlad]

LoneRanger:

Would you want your WIFE or Daughter dancing there? If so, let her be hired. If not, you are a HYPOCRIT!! Either way, a CHURCH is better for the soul!!

JimS

[JayHass]

People don't dance in porn shops, they buy items there....

[JayHass]

However, if people wants to tax CHURCHES -- all tax exempt businesses should be taxed. That includes church, schools, university, the Sierra Club, PETA -- ALL!!

JimS

[dgreco]

megachurch...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakewood_Church

[JayHass]

I'm not a Christian, so this is purely an outsider's view, but I'm not sure what to think about the mega churches. It seems like they would tend to lack the intimacy and spirit found in the traditional small, community church. When people describe the services at mega churches to me the descriptions usually bring to mind a mix between a business seminar and a rock concert. Personally, I would rather see people walking to the little church down the street that their grandparents went to - the church the community was built up around - than piling in the car to go find a spot in the sprawling mega church parking lot.

[HartfordTycoon]

And that's all I've been saying but there seems to be a bias just against "churches".

Big church coming to town? Oh, no...they should be kept poor so they are not a "threat" to "us". Churches can't have influence nooooooo no no no, we can't have that because someone, somewhere might hear some truth that cuts to the core and feel "icky" about their personal choices. Put a porn shop in place this way we can all wack our willies over someone elses daughter and tell ours to be chaste until she's 30.

Friggin hypocrites.

[MadVlad]

And they sell products that destroy lives and families. Period. Tell me you would want and be proud to see your daughter being told to "throat it" on film and treated in such a demeaning manner. Please for the love of society tell me that the thought doesn't make you think twice about your statement - politics be damned.

Well that's someone elses daughter on screen regardless of how they got there. Tell me your wife would want you there buying porn instead of spending time with her and loving her for who she is. Not many porn stars lead happy fullfilling lives...ask Anna Nicole.

I don't care if you hate the church or whatever truth is truth and how anyone posting here can seriously look themselves in the mirror and seriously say a porn shop is better for a neighborhood than a church is beyond me. We are doomed as a nation if that's the case.

[mikel]

I honestly think that lot would be better used for a porn shop. A real sleezy one.

[Bill Mocarsky]

I'm in for the porn shop too.....

[MadVlad]

Can we have both?

[dgreco]

I don't have a bias against churches. I think we should take another look at who we tax. Private University, I'm open to exploring the option. What exactly do religious groups pay taxes on. The mega churches I've been to sell DVDs, CDs, Tapes, Posters, ect. all with the Pastor's face on it. When the church makes a profit on these items do they pay any taxes, do they help with the community, do they pay the Pastor enough to buy a Bentley? Where does it go? I guess those are the only things that make me uncomfortable given my view on what Christianity really should be.

[JayHass]

Porn doesn't destroy lives and families. People with no self control destroy families.

[mikel]

Somebody here needs to get laid ASAP!

[MadVlad]

Sure, lets legalize drugs too. Heck, why not child porn? Whatever works for you right? Why set any standards? There is no "right" or "wrong"...normal is just a setting on the dryer.

You dont' think Porn is a bad thing, and that's your choice but I simply can't understand that an individual can think that there is some benefit to the porn industry.

Or wait, how about the kid who just typed in thewhitehouse.com when it used to be a porn site for a school report or whatever and gets a face full of spread legs wide open. That's real nice. Heck, *I* did it innocently looking for a picture of the American flag online.

On and on it can go.

I have no problem with porn shops, most are pretty discreet, and the "kids" that everyone wants to defend from seeing such debauchery would have no idea what that shop is unless their retarded parents told them.

Tell that to the kid who gets raped by the neighbor because he has unfettered access to porn around the corner to feed his addiction. That's just one example, I can't even believe I'm having to defend that a porn shop is bad. Seriously.

My wife can watch porn if she wants, and she can go to church if she wants, it doesn't make me feel one way or the other. If she wants to buy a vibrator to have some fun, go for it. That doesn't diminish her love for me or whatever, and doesn't make her a lesser person just because you disagree with it.

I've never said she was a lessor person. I never said anything about your wife except I'm sure she would rather have you paying attention to her than some peppermint bag on a stage. I think that's a balanced statement most women would agree with.

How dare you try and impose your inane standards on me, my family, and my thoughts. If you have some stupid axe to grind, take it somewhere else and leave me out of it....

Okay then, how dare you try to impose your (lack of) moral standards on me. This can cut both ways.

BUT I never tried to impose anything on you except a little reality that choosing a porn shop over a church is rediculous...you wouldn't want your daughter taking in the *ss on some video while thousands of guys wack off to it so why support it when it's Ms. nobody...it's hypocrisy pure and simple. If you can't see the logic in that, well I'm just plain old sorry.

Personally I could care less how you live your personal life...it's of very very little interest to me. But in the public realm and what people support that affects everyone as a community, I do care about. I wish more would.

[JayHass]

This nonsense fantasy world you live in isn't even worth a response. Feel free to make comparisons to kiddie porn on your own time. You have now ceased to have anything worth listening to, welcome to the ignore list...

[JimSawhill]

Porn doesn't destroy lives and families. People with no self control destroy families. I never said a porn shop is better than a church for a neighborhood, open your eyes and stop reading into what I'm saying. Here are the comments I made: "I'm in for the porn shop too...", "people don't dance in porn shops, they buy items there". How that morphs into me hating churchs, saying that a porn shop is better for an area than a church I have no idea. I have no problem with porn shops, most are pretty discreet, and the "kids" that everyone wants to defend from seeing such debauchery would have no idea what that shop is unless their retarded parents told them. My wife can watch porn if she wants, and she can go to church if she wants, it doesn't make me feel one way or the other. If she wants to buy a vibrator to have some fun, go for it. That doesn't diminish her love for me or whatever, and doesn't make her a lesser person just because you disagree with it. How dare you try and impose your inane standards on me, my family, and my thoughts. If you have some stupid axe to grind, take it somewhere else and leave me out of it....

[Lowerdeck]

Some do prefer the small white church with a steeple in the center of town - and that's just fine by me too. Just like everything else in this country, it's all about choice and what you prefer.

Lowerdeck:

Most "mega" churches will seat 3000 +, just FYI. There are already two or three churches in Manchester that can house over 1000.

The Cathedral in Bloomfield can seat about 3000.

My old church in Charlotte was able to seat almost 10,000!

[MadVlad]

MadVlad:

Now, would you want a porn shop in your neighborhood? I wouldn't. Porn shops are not 'FAMILY FRIENDLY', so why would you want one there? In Florida, Jessica Luindford got killed because the guy was at a porn shop. Yes, I know not all guys at a porn shop are, but I wouldn't take a chance with a porn shop in my neighborhood.

JimS