SUNDAY NATIONAL PEOPLES NEWS:THE
ROLE OF CHURCH IN A DEVELOPING ECONOMY: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE: CAN A NATION
STATE CALL FOR SUPPORT FROM CHURCH FUNDS TO FINANCE ITS CAPITAL AND RECURRENT
EXPENDITURES? SHOULD CHURCHES PAY TAXES?
The globalization of the Judeo Christian History and pattern
of ethics is a great blessing to mankind and the CHURCH and SYNAGOGUES became
the flag ship of that culture order.
The history of the church and synagogues dates backs to the
origin of mankind and has gone through thick and thin to survive and bloom in
contemporary time with general acceptability due mainly to the premises of ethical
morality of love, goodwill, order addressed for mankind to be at peace with his
fellow man and at concord with his creator.
Whence their role in molding, the behavioral ethics and
motivation of devotees is commendable. This has become a great legacy that has
boxed the Hobe’s nature of man’s carnality where life becomes brute and short
to the corner albeit still growing to achieve full conquest in this context..
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATION
STATES:
The church was very supportive to the development of many
Nation States the world over in the context of governance, statehood, diplomacy,
& financial support to governments and in many other ways, in its great
turbulent history.
The Roman Empire that embraced the Catholic order was a
Nation built around the philosophical and political system of the Bible, adulterated
here and there with the doctrines of men in most instances addressed to jockey
the society to acceptable standards…Church funds, offerings, tithes and
contributions became very supportive in the infrastructural developments of
these nations as well as in the capital, and recurrent budget expenditure of
these nations.
After the Roman Empire, the
Russian Orthodoxy, the Renaissance period of central Europe of Zuigily
movement, John Calvin and the times of Ignatius Loyola all paid loyalties to
their respective states…
Though at this juncture we need to quickly mention the
Crusaders wars that were financed with church money waged by Christian Nations…
A major milestone was recorded in history, in the context of
the great use of Church money to finance state budgets in the Era of King Henry,
the Grand Father of Elizabeth 1 who for other reasons of search for a male hare
to the throne of England Devoiced his wife ,Queen Mary the Nice of the Roman Papacy
for the inability to born him a male child,
and was subsequently excommunicated by Rome.
He quickly formed the Anglican Church and mandated Lord
Cranners the Archbishop of Canterbury to Nationalize all Catholic churches to
the Anglican faith and got independence form Rome…This was a great mile stone
in the spread of new marketable variation of same underlying reality of God
worship among men and subsequently this great risk of King HENRY paid off as
the Church Money was able to consolidate in the British society, rather than
the est while capital flight as in church money being sent to Rome all the time..
Britain soon became capitalized and with support partly from these Church funds
was able to kick start the British Industrial Revolution and today Britain is arguably
the centre of Western Civilization…There are countless other examples of how great
Nations looked up to the churches for funding their capital and recurrent
expenditures…
ANALYSIS OFF CHURCH FUNDS IN NIGERIA:
Nigeria
is a country with a per capital income estimate of above $1500.. with a GNP of
above $300 billion annually and a large population of above 250 million people
according to the 1963 census; so an estimate of growing number of the believers
may put at an estimate of more than 100million believers in Nigeria and the tithe
from these people 10% of their total earning, coupled with church offerings
every Sundays, Wednesday and lots of offerings and harvests of churches, the
Church institution in Nigeria has an access to colossal sums of money put at an
estimate of above $80 billion annually.
And when the new
systems of having foreign branches as in big churches like the Redeem group of
Adeboye, Christ Embassy of Pastor Chis Oyakilome, Bishop David Oyedepo’s Church
group etc, with numerous branches in more than 80 Nations of the world the
capital repatriated from these Nations all goes to the head office in Nigeria.
Whence the Nigeria Church has become a great money spinning
industry on a global scale and if one is not being conservative with the truth
the Nigerian Churches collectively generate over 60% of the GNP of Nigeria i.e.
above $200billion dollars annually. This is a colossal amount of money left to
the hands of a few church leaders who unfortunately are not sensitive to the
plight of the devotees paying the money in slavish reverence, as many devotees
are redundant, jobless and poor, while the Church leaders globe trot round the
world buying Airplanes, riding Jeeps all over the places with countless of
security escorts and are living in breathtaking mansions etc.. Really living
like oil sheiks….
The question is:
1] Should the Federal Government and State Governments pay
deaf eyes to the cry of the devotees who are crying out for equity in shearing
the dividends of the church money?
2] Should the Govt look up to the churches to cough out some
of this colossal capital in their hand for National Developments of
infrastructures which we all know are in bad shape…?
3] Should the government collect taxes from Churches as they
also benefits from the general spending of the government in keeping the
sovereignty safe, and prosperous for them to ply their trade..?
These are a few pressing questions that the States and
Federal Governments has to look into with a view to come to equity in the
aspect of Church money in the Nigerian State.
Whence there is the urgent need for the Federal and State
Govts to invite all church leaders to a table conference and appeal to them for
support in this hour of need of the Nigerian Federation.
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