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Why Do Religions Recruit ?

Why do religions recruit?

Why does any business advertise or market?

1) money
2) to keep the business alive and hopefully to make it grow

Like it or not, organized religions are businesses.
They require money to operate, and that means they need people in the pews.
 
RGacky3 said:
It really is, if not then why are the only religions that proselatize the ones whose religious texts command them to proselatize?
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To give one example, and this is not exclusive:

Islamic faith requires people to kill infidels (non believers). This is itself, a form of proselytization. It is simply a much more forceful / militant form. Proselytization does not have to be going door to door asking if the occupants of each house have gotten to know Jesus Christ.
 
DDD said:
If all would think the same we would be highly weak at perceiving developments from other ends. Not to say that we would be highly susceptible to: group think, freeze think, and would generally lose freedom to think with that.
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So you are saying if all people used science and reason to form their worldview, we would be susceptible to stagnation intellectually and philosophically? I whole heartedly disagree. Science requires just the opposite.
 
Metaphysical expression is part of human nature. Perhaps it was the idea of sharing values and beliefs more than that of converting you specifically.
 
Dragonfly said:
Why do religions recruit?

Why does any business advertise or market?

1) money
2) to keep the business alive and hopefully to make it grow

Like it or not, organized religions are businesses.
They require money to operate, and that means they need people in the pews.
Click to expand...

So true! Charity businesses too! Exempt from tax even.
 
Knowledge=power said:
So you are saying if all people used science and reason to form their worldview, we would be susceptible to stagnation intellectually and philosophically? I whole heartedly disagree. Science requires just the opposite.
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No I am saying that we would intellectually and philosophically strive, but will fail in other non-rational non philosophical directions. You know Freud said the majority of the mans mind is irrational. Those would not be attended enough to be taken advantage by something. Hence diversity is always a better option for humankind.
 
Dragonfly said:
Why do religions recruit?

Why does any business advertise or market?

1) money
2) to keep the business alive and hopefully to make it grow

Like it or not, organized religions are businesses.
They require money to operate, and that means they need people in the pews.
Click to expand...

I am a believer in the mother of all proselytizing religions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that in no way represents why the LDS church does missionary work. First there is no paid clergy, it's all volunteer. So there is no top leadership getting rich. Second the LDS missionaries pay their own way for the missions. It costs them money. Plus members pay a 10% tithe and volunteer a lot of hours. The desire for money or power is not the motivating factor. Quite the opposite. I personally am thankful that missionaries volunteered two years out of their lives, two of their best years at 19-21, to share the gospel as my father was not one of those who slammed the doors in their faces.
 
Somebody is making a killing in the Mormon Church. According to a Reuters article(Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations | Reuters) it rakes in some $7 billion per year in tithes and other donations. Estimated worth of its Temples and meeting places total around $35 billion, and it owns billions more in farms, shopping malls and other commercial endeavors.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't care all that much. They didn't get a dime from me. I just wanted to point out the big picture.
 
laska said:
I am a believer in the mother of all proselytizing religions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that in no way represents why the LDS church does missionary work. First there is no paid clergy, it's all volunteer. So there is no top leadership getting rich. Second the LDS missionaries pay their own way for the missions. It costs them money. Plus members pay a 10% tithe and volunteer a lot of hours. The desire for money or power is not the motivating factor. Quite the opposite. I personally am thankful that missionaries volunteered two years out of their lives, two of their best years at 19-21, to share the gospel as my father was not one of those who slammed the doors in their faces.
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That is indeed admirable - that your members volunteer 2 years out of their lives - and I say that sincerely. If only all our youth would do some form of ministry/mission works, it helps build up character among other things.

Churches, like all organizations, need money to operate. We shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of - nor should we apologise - that our churches gain from tithes and donations given as offerings to God...after all, everything we have came from God.
 
Bezukhov said:
Somebody is making a killing in the Mormon Church. According to a Reuters article(Insight: Mormon church made wealthy by donations | Reuters) it rakes in some $7 billion per year in tithes and other donations. Estimated worth of its Temples and meeting places total around $35 billion, and it owns billions more in farms, shopping malls and other commercial endeavors.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't care all that much. They didn't get a dime from me. I just wanted to point out the big picture.
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They have their own welfare system, they counsel members not to take government assistance. So they have farms, orchards, factories, job training, counseling, etc to take care of the needy in the church. They help many outside the church. They also are like the red cross in natural disasters. They have universities, hospitals, etc. They have to build churches and temples. No one is getting rich, it is volunteer.
 
rhinefire said:
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday and she asked if I wanted to go play bingo with her. I said no and asked where is was. She said it was cat a church and I responded with humor that I am not a church guy. Well, BANG! Now it was "you're not religious"?! type questions and I said no there are too many. She said but they are all correct and I said I believe in a higher deity but I will not let another person tell me what it is. So she asks me top go to church with her! Sensing this is going to get nuts I ended it with a polite "no thanks". So the question is or maybe it's a complaint, why do religious people believe they should change non-believers, or as I like to call them people that are NOT like them? Why not just enjoy your faith and not try to coerce others in to believing like you do? Again, I am not an atheist but I believe in letting everyone just pursue something this important on their own.
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I will be quick to answer your question. Very simple in my opinion. Those who believe in the Bible try to convert or change other people because it was a commandment given by Jesus Christ at the end of each of the 4 gospels to go and teach the things he taught to every creature on the earth. So that is my simple, basic answer to your question.
 
laska said:
I am a believer in the mother of all proselytizing religions, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and that in no way represents why the LDS church does missionary work. First there is no paid clergy, it's all volunteer. So there is no top leadership getting rich. Second the LDS missionaries pay their own way for the missions. It costs them money. Plus members pay a 10% tithe and volunteer a lot of hours. The desire for money or power is not the motivating factor. Quite the opposite. I personally am thankful that missionaries volunteered two years out of their lives, two of their best years at 19-21, to share the gospel as my father was not one of those who slammed the doors in their faces.
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Ha. Here's a quote from wikipedia:

The LDS Church has not publicly disclosed its financial statements in the United States since 1959
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Now why do you suppose the LDS Church would keep something like that a "secret" ????????

[/sarcasm]
 
laska said:
two of their best years at 19-21,
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If you think 20 is the peak, you must be young. I would consider those two years relatively worthless, spent in ignorance and arrogance and knowing virtually nothing about the world, for at least 90% of people.
 
Dragonfly said:
Ha. Here's a quote from wikipedia:




Now why do you suppose the LDS Church would keep something like that a "secret" ????????

[/sarcasm]
Click to expand...

I am sure lawyers for any religious or not for profit group can give you many reasons why not to make their financial statements public if it is legal to do so. Off the top of my head I can think of at least one good reason, so you can make investments and business deals without worrying about your haters boycotting or putting pressure on companies.
 
Or perhaps, just maybe, if people knew exactly how many crap-loads of money these "institutions" actually made per year they'd be far more likely to donate it elsewhere?

Or perhaps, just maybe, if the government knew how many crap-loads of money these "institutions actually made per year they'd be more likely to remove their tax -exempt status?

It might be kept a secret because it's disgustingly extreme in it's proportions.
 
rhinefire said:
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday and she asked if I wanted to go play bingo with her. I said no and asked where is was. She said it was cat a church and I responded with humor that I am not a church guy. Well, BANG! Now it was "you're not religious"?! type questions and I said no there are too many. She said but they are all correct and I said I believe in a higher deity but I will not let another person tell me what it is. So she asks me top go to church with her! Sensing this is going to get nuts I ended it with a polite "no thanks". So the question is or maybe it's a complaint, why do religious people believe they should change non-believers, or as I like to call them people that are NOT like them? Why not just enjoy your faith and not try to coerce others in to believing like you do? Again, I am not an atheist but I believe in letting everyone just pursue something this important on their own.
Click to expand...

At the level you're talking about, she probably thinks highly enough of you to care about what happens to you in the hereafter and wants to see you "saved".
 
rhinefire said:
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday and she asked if I wanted to go play bingo with her. I said no and asked where is was. She said it was cat a church and I responded with humor that I am not a church guy. Well, BANG! Now it was "you're not religious"?! type questions and I said no there are too many. She said but they are all correct and I said I believe in a higher deity but I will not let another person tell me what it is. So she asks me top go to church with her! Sensing this is going to get nuts I ended it with a polite "no thanks". So the question is or maybe it's a complaint, why do religious people believe they should change non-believers, or as I like to call them people that are NOT like them? Why not just enjoy your faith and not try to coerce others in to believing like you do? Again, I am not an atheist but I believe in letting everyone just pursue something this important on their own.
Click to expand...

You just need a hip-pocket response: "Thanks, I appreciate it; but I'm not interested."

If someone sincerely believes that unless you accept Jesus Christ as your savior, you're damned for eternity, you really can't hold it against them when they give it a good old college try. ;)
 
rhinefire said:
I was talking with my neighbor yesterday and she asked if I wanted to go play bingo with her. I said no and asked where is was. She said it was cat a church and I responded with humor that I am not a church guy. Well, BANG! Now it was "you're not religious"?! type questions and I said no there are too many. She said but they are all correct and I said I believe in a higher deity but I will not let another person tell me what it is. So she asks me top go to church with her! Sensing this is going to get nuts I ended it with a polite "no thanks". So the question is or maybe it's a complaint, why do religious people believe they should change non-believers, or as I like to call them people that are NOT like them? Why not just enjoy your faith and not try to coerce others in to believing like you do? Again, I am not an atheist but I believe in letting everyone just pursue something this important on their own.
Click to expand...

Some religions "recruit", others don't. What you're referring to is the process of proselytizing. Some religions believe that their adherents have the duty to do anything they can to provide salvation to others, and you are failing in your duty to those around you if you don't "save" them. Others (like Judaism for example) make it hard as hell to become part of the club. It depends on which religion you're talking about.
 
Knowledge=power said:
To give one example, and this is not exclusive:

Islamic faith requires people to kill infidels (non believers). This is itself, a form of proselytization. It is simply a much more forceful / militant form. Proselytization does not have to be going door to door asking if the occupants of each house have gotten to know Jesus Christ.
Click to expand...

Islam doesn't require that, it requires the death penalty for apostates, not infidels ...

But again, you're ignoring my point, there is nothing inherent in religion that makes it reqruit, it's simply the holy texts.
 
Fisher said:
if faith adds to your life, then you will want others to enjoy what it gives to you as well.
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It's all in you screen name.....

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19
 
DDD said:
No I am saying that we would intellectually and philosophically strive, but will fail in other non-rational non philosophical directions. You know Freud said the majority of the mans mind is irrational. Those would not be attended enough to be taken advantage by something. Hence diversity is always a better option for humankind.
Click to expand...

Non-rational and non-philosophical directions are exactly what needs to be weeded out - religion will go with them.
 
RGacky3 said:
Islam doesn't require that, it requires the death penalty for apostates, not infidels ...

But again, you're ignoring my point, there is nothing inherent in religion that makes it reqruit, it's simply the holy texts.
Click to expand...

The holy texts define the religion.
 
Knowledge=power said:
Non-rational and non-philosophical directions are exactly what needs to be weeded out - religion will go with them.
Click to expand...

I understand that, but it cannot sadly. Religion feeds on this innate part of our minds. Some have more reason and others do not. Religion feeds more with them that do not I think, though there are exceptions.
 
DDD said:
I understand that, but it cannot sadly. Religion feeds on this innate part of our minds. Some have more reason and others do not. Religion feeds more with them that do not I think, though there are exceptions.
Click to expand...

What you describe is a spirituality of sorts, which is fine. Religion as an institution is what needs to go.
 
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