How do I start a business using religion?
Hi! First, I’m Catholic but only on papers. I’m agnostic/atheist. I’m about to graduate college in maybe a year. I’m an artist and I figured out it’s hard to live as one, so I’m thinking of ideas for business to help me in the future.
As a kid, I’ve always wondered where does the money from collection baskets go. One of my classmates before was an acolyte and he told me that the food the priests eat in church are extravagant. I also remember he told me the priests always drink wine. Thousands of money are put in the basket everyday, and then I think I figured out where it goes after. The church don’t pay taxes. I even study in a Catholic arts school and I heard they do not pay taxes (that’s just what I heard). My school is one of the well-known and it’s rumored to be one of the top 5 most expensive college in our country.
Recently, I told my friend that religion is a very good business and he agreed. I’d like to plan things out on how and where to start. Should I build my own church? Should I make partnership with other religious group? Also, I don’t like the people to know that I own the church. I’d like my name to be confidential as possible. Any ideas where do I start? Thanks!
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I am an atheist too, but I have respect for people’s religious beliefs. I am put off by your idea of using religion strictly as a way of making money. I would like to think that, for all the money that the Catholic church makes, there are at least some people in the highest positions who are sincere believers.
You will likely turn your church into a corrupted money-milking cow and drive a lot of sincere believers away. The church is, in it truest sense, a santuary for people with their own belief and not a business-oriented place. Please don’t contribute to people’s cynicism for churches.
You don’t want to join this line of subjects of sartire do you? You are an artist an I hope you are conscientious enough for that job.
That market is well cornered already. Try politics.
^^I agree wholeheartedly with Mimi. You will only damage yourself in the process of contributing to the ugly side of institutions that—for all their faults—feed, educate, provide medical care and therefore the opportunities for a better life to the severely disadvantaged throughout the world. By doing what you say, you will only feed the cynicism that already exists which continues to rob those of faith, those people, unlike you and I, who desperately need it.
You are suffering from a cynicism rooted in the arrogance of youth, which is, if there is even a scent of corruption in a thing all of it must be corrupt and therefore it must be discarded as such. But as you go through life, you find you must take the good with the bad, or you’ll get nothing done. You will go nowhere and you will starve because there are few actions of man entirely pure of transgression against man himself. Your idea is rife with them. You’re not even trying. Don’t exacerbate it by contributing to the disease. Instead, work toward those things that you know contribute to the greater good.
So, you’re an artist. Why not do religious art? You’re already connected. Return business doing art for an institution as large and wealthy as the Catholic Church could be very lucrative and might allow you the extravagance of concentrating on your own art in off hours.
You wouldn’t be the first agnostic to do this. There is every indication that da Vinci, d’Angelo and other artists whose work was valued by the Church were agnostic during their most productive periods—It’s very likely da Vinci was an atheist his entire life. He took the money from the Church, began an art school which produced artists who are still famous today, a factory that built prototypes for his flying machines, etc., and even weaponry for kings—all based on his designs. He also traveled a lot, ate well, had many lovers, and continuously did his art.
Life is complicated and it is it’s complexities that makes it continuously interesting.
Read up on this: link
prosperity theology is a relatively recent movement in protestant christendom that suggests that belief in god brings great wealth. An outgrowth of that is that contributing to the church is a testament to the strength of your belief: Giving more money to the minister makes you more likely to prosper.
Mixing money and religion – to me, at least – is the Ponzi scheme of all time.
You’d be an asshole if you started a church for the sheer purpose of deceiving people into giving you money, and I fear Crefo Dollar and Joyce Meyer might be upset at you stealing their thunder.
Merchandising is where it’s at.
The modern megachurch needs TONS of merch. T-shirts, hats, coffee cups for the cafe, banners, signs, bland and inoffensive Sunday school curricula, tracts, communion wafers, wine, candles, tithing envelopes, etc.
Steer clear of established religions as they are there primarily to provide spiritual and emotional support for its members and think more toward Evangelical as many of those are the ones that appear to be in it for the money and many do live lavish lifestyles.
Religion has been turned into business by so called godmen long time back.. what different you’ll be doing now?
If I were and artist and looking for something to do in that field I would make and sell 3D printed jewelry.
The technology has improved tremendously over the past 2 years. You can make seamless links of brass, gold, stainless steel, bronze, ... with feature sizes below 0.5 mm.
All you need to fire up the business is a good 3D software like Solidworks and a platform to sell the charms, jewelry, and icons. The actual manufacturing is farmed out.
You might draw up something that depending upon which axis you look at it, you’ll see each component of the Trinity.in one solid piece of metal.
Say you will donate a portion of the profit to a church so they will have incentive to push it for you.
Everyone here is so much more eloquent than I am, especially @Seek, that I can’t even compete. “You’d be an asshole if you started a church for the sheer purpose of deceiving people into giving you money, ” Perfect.
@monthly do you even know what Pastafarians are?
@cazzie Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t have linked to it.
My point is that the guy who started it is an atheist, and he made a business by starting a religion (albeit a tongue-in-cheek one). That’s what the OP is about.
They sell merchandise.
BFD. So does The Oatmeal and lots of other people.
I can guarandamntee you that the Head Pirate In Charge of the Pastafarians isn’t living in anything like this
Well to get where the Catholic and Anglican churches are today you need the strength of the state behind you for several centuries. That’s unlikely, so you need to become a good bullshit artist.
Nothing wrong with selling merchandise. And I’ve bought stuff from The Oatmeal (if you don’t have Exploding Kittens yet, it’s great). The OP was asking about starting a business using religion. In order to have a business you need something to sell. QED.
@monthly It’s one thing to start a business using religion (like selling merchandise and doing religious art), it’s another thing to build a church whose sole purpose is to make money, which is what @throwaccount aims more at if you read the details carefully.
Wow. Is everybody on this site rude to newcomers?
Look, I was just pointing out one instance of an atheist making up a “religion” and creating a small business out of it. That’s all.
@monthly I heard you. It’s just that I and maybe other jellies want to clarify, the OP doesn’t just want to start a business with religion. She wants to build a church and make money out of it. There is nothing wrong with you talking abouut doing business, as I already said. But the OP wants to take things to a much higher level.
Or maybe you don’t want to hear more ideas. I’m sorry you feel that us offering opinions is rude.
There are plenty of legitimate ways to make money as an artist from religion. For instance, there are companies which specialize in religious iconography for candles, posters, book covers, post cards, t-shirts, and so on. They often pay piecework based on the quality of the design. If you’re after bigger money, consider taking some art history and museum technology courses to become an art restorationist. Large churches all over the world are constantly looking for people to restore and protect their religious artworks.
@Mimishu1995 ” It’s just that I and maybe other jellies want to clarify, the OP doesn’t just want to start a business with religion. She wants to build a church and make money out of it. There is nothing wrong with you talking abouut doing business, as I already said. But the OP wants to take things to a much higher level.”
Building a church and making money out of it? That’s pretty much what religion is in the first place.
@Darth_Algar Exactly. That’s why I want to build a church! (Probably sell merchandise I made in a small gallery near the church)
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