Ryan Bridge: Churches risk coming across hypocritical

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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24h ago 2:16

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There was a priest on the news last night talking about homeless people the cost of buying a house in New Zealand.

This priest, who was all dressed up in his garb, then mentioned the fact there were marina berths down at the waterfront bursting at the seams with super yachts.

I thought that was such an odd thing to say.

I know the church's role is to help the poor. And they do that and I've seen them do that. And that's fantastic.

But to then also blame the wealthy for not helping the poor - is that helping? Or is that politics?

The church and state have been clashing of late.

We saw all those quote 'faith leaders' come out during the Treaty Principles Bill bill debate and give David Seymour a bollocking.

What exactly is the end game here? Are they, like the good bishop Brian Tamaki, keen on getting into parliament themselves?

The Salvation Army does a report every year looking at the wealth of billionaires. There's a lot of finger pointing and tisk-tisking about those who've accumulated a lot.

What about those who've got a lot, but also give a lot?

For a good example, we need look no further than the Catholic Church itself. It is one of the largest and wealthiest organisations in the world.

The Vatican, because of its small population and huge tithings from working and poor people the world over, is the 18th wealthiest nation in the world per capita. They boast a huge real estate portfolio.

The men who run the roost, the cardinals and bishops and what not, are all fed and watered by the women who really run the place, the nuns.

It's not a hard life they lead. Is it? It's hardly struggle street.

It's hard to work out exactly what it's worth all up. But media reports anywhere between 73 and 250 billion bucks. So more than the combined wealth of all the the billionaires this country's ever known.

To be honest - none of this bothers me. I believe everybody should believe in what ever god and afterlife they want to. That's religious freedom. I respect your right to think and pray as you want.

But if you're going to preach for the poor and against the wealthy, perhaps getting your own house in order might be a good place to start.

Least you come across a tad hypocritical.

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