>>Dragan;
>>
>>Something I have never understood about television/radio licensing in the United States. Such licensing is controlled by the government and the Federal Communications Commission controls the licensing of broadcast stations. It is said ?the airways are a public trust?. Now if this is so how can we allow any religious messages to buy time on our airwaves? Anything for a buck!
>
>And the point is - why do the churches have so much money? And they are tax exempt, AFAIK.
>
>I'm just curious about one thing: if that money is for charity (and charity is their PR, or they'd do it anonymously), what's the proportion of their total income set aside for charity, compared with the money they spat out for lawsuits, TV time and maintenance of their buildings.

Dragan;

According to federal law any and all monies collected by a religious entity for any reason may be used as desired by the religious group. You see TV ads – “Save the Children”, etc. $20 million was collected by a TV Church to save children however not one penny was used for that purpose. This is not uncommon. The books of religious organizations are not open.

Saint Jude (Danny Thomas/Marlo Thomas), Catholic Charities and Jewish Charities are famous for using at least 95-98% of the monies collected for the intended purpose. There are religious groups that attempt to help others and some who only help themselves and their leadership.

Tom