Do you approve of a church accepting donations from known drug traffickers?

[NNN0LHI]

Poll question: Do you approve of a church accepting donations from known drug traffickers?

http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050921/2005-09-21T155025Z_01_DIT156958_RTRIDST_0_ODD-MEXICO-DRUGS-DC.html

Church in row over "purified" drug money

Sep 21, 11:50 AM (ET)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican bishop sparked a row with the government on Tuesday after he admitted the Catholic Church accepted alms from drug traffickers and that they were "purified" when they reached its coffers.

Ramon Godinez, the bishop of Aguascalientes in central Mexico, said donations from drug gangs occurred "everywhere" in the country, adding that it was "not up to us to investigate where the money comes from," daily Reforma newspaper reported.

"You don't have to burn the money just because it's bad. It's better to transform it ... I've known of cases (where) it's been purified," he added.

The remarks caused controversy in Mexico, where more than 1,000 people have been gunned down this year in a spiraling war between rival drug gangs, many in cities along the U.S. border.

[skypilot]

1. I suppose an argument could be made...

...either way. On the one hand ill-gotten money could be put to good use I suppose but on the other hand it's probably not going to help the people who were hurt or even killed in the drug trade which produced the money to begin with.

[sasquatch]

2. There's a fundie church near that runs drugs

Can't quite prove it yet, but I'm working on it.

[whatever4]

3. Yes, same as alcohol distributors

That's how I look at it. The "war on drugs" is really nothing about stopping drug use or sales. It's about profit, black market, international trade (which is another reason they hate cannabis - it can be grown locally) and of course, the prison state. Drug laws target minorities, and they ALWAYS have. Moralistic laws that bring a nation to it's knees.

We have more people in prison right now than any other nation on earth. More than half of them are for drug related charges. What does that say about a country that allows alcohol?

Drugs and drug usage is constant throughout history. It will never change, and likely should never change. Humans need their intoxicants, and no matter what the law and society dictates, they will always HAVE their intoxicants. It's no different than using alcohol. The drug in question many be more hazardous to the health (another reason they hate cannabis, because it isn't, and further, has medical benefits, and this invalidates their entire agenda) but the principle is still the same.

So yeah, I think drug dealers ought to be able to contribute. I also think they ought to contribute to the community in taxes, and that IF they could without penalty, many of them would. To deny the possibility is to deny the truth of this entire story.

[Arianrhod]

5. Must be something about the way evolution produced nervous systems.

The little black flies around here LOVE wine, and I've fished many a drunken sod out of my glass. So do bees and ants. I've even had to fish ants out of whiskey before. Dogs and bears enjoy a nice beer.

Humans aren't the only organism on the planet that recognizes the value of good intoxicants. :)

[whatever4]

10. That's good, hahaha too true too true, thanks...bears? ; ) nm

[Arianrhod]

4. Why not? They accept money from other criminals. n/t

[BootinUp]

8. that was funny. n/t

[zbdent]

6. What, how much has Rush given

from his $25MILLION a year contract . . .?

[NNN0LHI]

7. Wonder how you all would feel if Delay was caught laundering drug money...

...through some Texas fundie church? Would y'all feel a little bit different about that?

Don

[Arianrhod]

11. No, not really.

I wouldn't put it past him to have done that, anyway; maybe it'll come out in his trial. The Christian Coalition funneled tons of illegal money through churches in 1994 and 1996, and got a slap on the wrist for it. I consider the Church as an institution to have been a corrupt entity since around the 4th Century; how the corruption is played out isn't of much concern to me in this specific poll question.

A criminal is a criminal.

[BootinUp]

9. Not sure I take a position either way.

neutral.

[junkiebrewster]

12. no

Better the church get the money than narco-traffickers. At least SOME good will come from it.

[porphyrian]

13. I don't care whose money they accept as donations...

...I just wish they'd pay some fucking taxes.