Summary of links

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/8228495/Destiny-members-quit-over-spending-on-church-building
This article details how 'Bishop' Brian Tamaki has urged his members to contribute more and more of their own money to help build his "City of God". Many members including original members have left the church as a result. Members are being asked to contribute $1000 per person which is evidence of greed and corruption within this church group, as well as many others.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7036203/Bishop-urges-his-flock-to-leave-homes-and-jobs
This article shows the 'cult' nature of religous groups, Destiny Church being only one of them. The leader of the church has urged its members and prospective members to leave their homes and families because their spiritual home and family is more important; that being the Destiny family and the new "City of God" in South Auckland that God apparently told Brian Tamaki to build.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pakistani-Christian-couple-refuses-to-convert:-husband-is-burnt-alive%2c-wife-raped-by-police-17949.html
This article is evidence of the way religion can brainwash people and lead them to become extremist in their activities. Some of these activities even being condoned by higher authorities within the church as 'the will of god.' A man was brutally beaten and set on fire while his wife was raped in front of their children right in front of a police station. This disgusting behaviour was justified because the couple refused to convert to Islam.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/jehovahs-witnesses-a-cruel-cult-20130315-2g5x3.html#ixzz2NbKoNxzX
This article explains how religions such as Jehovah's Witness and Scientology are actually funded and subsidised by taxpayer money, as well as some of the practices being funded such as being able to rip a 5 year old child away from their family because Mum or Dad  decided to leave the religion. This shows how religion is so ingrained and accepted among modern society and the dangers of that fact.


http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/indian-woman-dies-after-being-refused-abortion/article4097428.ece
This article details the story of a women in civilised, modern, Ireland dying after being refused an abortion while going through a miscarriage. This is a shocking display of inadequate basic human rights, even if to save a life. The fact that lawmakers voted in by the trusting public would rather two people dying than trying to save one, which could have been done easily, goes to show just how far people will go to please a supposed 'loving' God.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10868155
This article again illustrates how people have universally become so disconnected to ideals within certain religions that it is being treated as a joke, or a source of income. A priest took $150,000 of church money and spent it all gambling. This is total breach of public trust and more importantly trust of people within the church.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/23/world/americas/mexico-pope-cost
This article is about how Mexico spent over $11 million preparing for the Pope's visit in 2012. In a country as unstable as Mexico this is a huge amount of money to spend for one man to drive through a city. The fragile nature of Mexico as nation is evident as 'even the drug cartels have promised to cooperate..'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1303241/Taxpayers-foot-luxury-hotel-Popes-entourage.html
This article details the cost and expenditure of the Pope's visit to Britain in 2010. The British taxpayer footed the £12 million bill for the Pope's stay including luxury hotel room. This article notes that with the church's estimated fortune of over £30 billion, which is around $60 billion NZD, and asks why the taxpayer should have to foot the bill. This is further evidence of the hypocrisy and greed within even the highest sectors of religion.

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=17361#.UYG6sLWW-Sp
This article outlines how nearly $2 million dollars of relief for victims of the 2004 boxing day tsunami never got to those affected. A general secretary for the Church of South India diverted over a third of the money intended for relief to give to her daughter to  help her medical career. This is just yet another example of universal corruption throughout churches and different religions. The article also states other things that the highest officials of the church have been charged with - tax fraud, cronyism, nepotism, money hijacked from land deals, hospital fraud, stolen Tsunami funds, vote buying, and much more.


http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/03/13/reverend-minister-worried-about-immorality-corruption-in-the-church/
This article details the worries of a reverend of the Zion Community Church International. He worries that the catholic church is over-run with corruption and that church leaders had forgotten the basic principles of Christianity. This is evidence of the way religion and the supposed power it gives to people has gone to people's heads and the outdated nature of these institutions.