TheSearcher:
I feel sorry for anybody who agrees to this.
Vidiot:
Yes, that is the fate of real sheep - to be consumed. And, I also wonder why that comparison never occurred to me when I was in. I guess I was just daydreaming while listening to boring meetings.
But, as far as the religion's new donation arrangement, I do believe they are testing the waters to see not only what they can get away with, but to slowly plant the idea that people "should" regularly give them money. I would not be surprised to see that something resembling tithing is down the pike. And, never mind that the religion always said "we are not like other religions". The mask is off and quite frankly they do not give a shit how they appear to any of the long-time faithful in the religion.
They want $$ so that the people who told everybody else to work for chump change and not have college or career (COs, DOs, etc.) can live in the style they would like to become accustomed to, at least for the rest of their lives. I believe that this basically is what this is really all about.
The religion, at this point, probably feels that whoever doesn't like it can hit the road.....Happily, I already did!