Should Religious Organizations Open their Books to Public Scrutiny?

[AmorsoloX]

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the RCC is rich enough that they should have done something to help solve poverty,adopt homeless children, feed the poor and all?

they dont want you to know that.. thats bad for their business... kinsa ba ganahan mo donate sa rich man dba? hehehe

[hush232002]

they dont want you to know that.. thats bad for their business... kinsa ba ganahan mo donate sa rich man dba? hehehe

as big as the RCC they need money, enough resources to move. dli ni ila panghambog,publicity stunt pareha sa goberno. but why scrutinize? what's there to scrutinize? i just dont get it about the transparency thing. did you even bother to ask them?

[emow]

Issue here isn't about legality.. but transparency.

Speaking of morality, one would argue that the church is morally responsible for letting the people how it is spending the people's contributions.

I believe the people who donate have the right to know how their hard earned money is used by their religious group. Don't you think that's fair?



Firstly, the topic does not say anything about taxing these religious groups.

Second, If you argue based on moral dimensions, each religion has its moral dimension which may differ from one to another. Morality when it comes to religion is RELATIVE and is subject to interpretation.

Also, the state should not favor one religion or another.

Simple ra man akong point... all that is asked is just a little transparency from these religious groups... If these religious groups really do what they say then I don't see why they would mind showing the public how the donations are being spent.

If you have done nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide....

There's a saying that "Sunlight is the best disinfectant"... I believe that with transparency, mawala na nang corruption and abuses of these people who are giving their religious groups a bad name? Don't you think so?

Madame TS, have you ever asked the heads of the church/parish/sect you belong to? Where did your money go? What do you really mean when you say they should open their books? do you mean iladlad nila along the hallway like being attached to bulletin boards? Do you mean anyone can just enter their office and demand to see their books ora mismo? do you mean they should quickly serve your request to inquire about the 2T peso you donated to them?

If ever iladlad man gani na nila, it should only be to those people who are concerned with that particular group... alangan man kung usa ka muslim mudemand mu tanaw sa books sa aglipay church, kelangan ipakita gyud na nila ipakita sa muslim? Your view of transparency in this regard is violating the privacy of the various religious denominations. If you don't like to donate because you feel that they are misusing your donations, then don't donate anymore....can they force you? unsa man paki nimu once you have voluntarily given something to them? Donations are like gifts you know... Once you have given it, you lose authority on that particular something... kung mu donate kug auto sa simbahan para himoun nila ug service, makabout pa ba ku kung unsaon na nila paggamit? Nya ikaw, igu ra ka kakita sa bago na sakyanan na aku gi donate, wala ka kabaw gi donate diay to naku, mu ingon dayun ka "hala, bago sakyanan, grabeha aning mga pari ui, gigamit man kwarta sa donations para magpa-ayahay..." sakto ba na?

[unsay_ngalan_nimo]

LOL sure.. they own BPI diba? since the Spaniard time...

sure do want to know where the money is going because someone told me that some goes to the vatican...

[unsay_ngalan_nimo]

money laundering.. thats why...

[jojo_mouth]

Yes it should be open.. Certain amount are being remitted to Vatican. If we consider OFW as heroes for bringing dollars in our country, the RC is opposite. They bring dollar out of the country. This should be taxed! The same thing if you travel abroad with USD10K (?), that is your limit otherwise you will be taxed and even charge with money laundering.

No offense to RC (I am one).

[itzurisen]

Yes it should be open.. Certain amount are being remitted to Vatican. If we consider OFW as heroes for bringing dollars in our country, the RC is opposite. They bring dollar out of the country. This should be taxed! The same thing if you travel abroad with USD10K (?), that is your limit otherwise you will be taxed and even charge with money laundering.

No offense to RC (I am one).

exactly, my father told us the same thing. magremit man d-ai pud ni cla sa Vatican,,, hehe

[personalmgt]

is your claim factual or based only on your opinion? they have the right to or not to publisized their accounting. but why bother?for what? to prove that the RCC is rich enough that they should have done something to help solve poverty,adopt homeless children, feed the poor and all?

Do you know what sarcasm is?

It's supposed to invoke satirism. Whether you like it or not, RCCs answer would something that goes like what I said, but not literally.

What makes you think they have the right not to publish their accounting? First, they receive our donations, they're tax exempted and they think they have a seat in the congress. The RCC is too, spoiled... IMHO.

[vipvip68]

Madame TS, have you ever asked the heads of the church/parish/sect you belong to? Where did your money go? What do you really mean when you say they should open their books? do you mean iladlad nila along the hallway like being attached to bulletin boards? Do you mean anyone can just enter their office and demand to see their books ora mismo? do you mean they should quickly serve your request to inquire about the 2T peso you donated to them?

Open their books means they publish financial statements. The purpose is for full disclosure so the data is available to anyone who wants to view them. Some parishes are already doing part of this by disclosing how much the collection was for the previous week but there's no mention of how the money was spent.

It would be impractical for anyone to barge into their office so a simple website with their monthly financial data should do nicely.

If ever iladlad man gani na nila, it should only be to those people who are concerned with that particular group... alangan man kung usa ka muslim mudemand mu tanaw sa books sa aglipay church, kelangan ipakita gyud na nila ipakita sa muslim? Your view of transparency in this regard is violating the privacy of the various religious denominations. If you don't like to donate because you feel that they are misusing your donations, then don't donate anymore....can they force you? unsa man paki nimu once you have voluntarily given something to them?

Financial information should be available to all regardless of religious affiliation. Also, there is no need to demand anything if these religious groups will all willingly publish their financial info on their website.

Donation is voluntary in some religions.. in other religions its compulsory such as those that practice tithing. Yet, even with the Catholic Church, there are set amount of "donation" for baptism, weddings etc etc. Just try getting married without having to pay the priest anything.

Dapat unta free ang weddings , funerals , baptism etc since they are getting donations sa mass.

Donations are like gifts you know... Once you have given it, you lose authority on that particular something... kung mu donate kug auto sa simbahan para himoun nila ug service, makabout pa ba ku kung unsaon na nila paggamit? Nya ikaw, igu ra ka kakita sa bago na sakyanan na aku gi donate, wala ka kabaw gi donate diay to naku, mu ingon dayun ka "hala, bago sakyanan, grabeha aning mga pari ui, gigamit man kwarta sa donations para magpa-ayahay..." sakto ba na?

Take it from the point of view of the one who has received the donation. If you ask people for money then they donate money to you, You have a moral obligation to see to it that their donations are put to good use. The least you can do is disclose how you spent their money as your premise for asking their donations is mainly to help the poor or to continue the good works of the church.

I personally know of a parish where the priest spends most of the donations to house and feed 80 of his kababayan...these people from his hometown are living off the donation of the people.

Using your example, kung gi hatagan ka ug sakyanan sa imong ginikanan, it's your responsibility to take care of the vehicle and make sure that it is put to good use. You can claim na imoha na nang sakyanan and you can do whatever you want with it pero out of respect sa imong parents they have the right to know that the car they gave you is being put to good use. How would your parents feel if imo lang gi drive off a cliff ang sakyanan or imo gi baligya for money...

We know naman sa Catholic church pa lang daan that some of the donations are used as pay off money for child abuse victims and also money is used for families of some priests.

Simple disclosure will minimize abuses like that from happening and opening their books ensures that the money donated will go toward what the donation was intended for

Besides, akong point is... If they aren't doing anything wrong then have nothing to hide.


Again sa imong example nga mag donate ug sakyanan.... imong donation has an intended purpose right? What if the priest uses the vehicle to hire prostitutes or iyang ipagamit sa iyang pamilya sa probinsya for personal needs nila... Dili ba ka malain? Sa imong logic... you just give unya bahala na ang pari unsaon na' niya pag gamit? What if gibaligya ra sa pari ang sakyanan which was intended for use unta sa parish... and he uses the proceeds to fund his gambling habit? How would you feel then?

[emow]

@ TS: i think its upto the parishioners to demand that from their parishes, respective to RC.... but i don't agree any people who are not concerned with the group to peek into matter with which he has no business with.... If the parishioners donated money, then MAYBE they can request something like that.... nganu gud tawn mag apil2x ang athiest, muslim or katoliko sa financial statement sa grupo ni brother Eli? something ing ana ba.... I know some parishes posting their income from donations quarterly on a bulletin board with expenses.... but i don't think that would satisfy anyone who wants to look for mud....