Churches need to candy coat the truth so their clientele will came back again and again week after week.
We don't "candy coat" anything. We deal in truths that, many times, are extremely difficult.
They get to enjoy the fruits of their labor for providing entertainment.
Entertainment is the furthest thing from our minds.
Think about it, while the congregation sit in comfortable chairs in a beautiful setting listening to someone (who they revere as someone who knows more abut the word and has more faith than they do) standing there before everyone spewing out their intolerance and their opinions as if it were the actual word of god while acting like a comedian by telling jokes.
Our ministers are not "holier than thou." They are not seen as "having more faith." Further, most of our ministers are extremely tolerant and inclusive. And we try as best we can to discern God at work in our midst and help people learn to notice God. Jokes in the pulpit are largely passe.
You know why, they don't pay taxes...pastors pay taxes on their "salary" I wonder how much the practice of embezzling money occurs in these institutions.
We pay taxes at a higher rate, though...
And embezzlement is a risk in any institution, however, speaking for my own denomination, better boundary and control systems are being put in place all the time to prevent both the appearance and the instances of impropriety.
Pastors write books, become TV evangelists, and travel the world to spread the word. Why not? Theyve found a profitable niche for themselves. Haven't they?
I've never written a book -- most haven't. I don't plan on become a televangelist. Most do not. I haven't traveled the world. Most haven't. I'm living paycheck to paycheck, like many others in the work force.
Your statements are gross overgeneralizations that may describe a rare handful of people. They do not adequately describe the great preponderance of the clergy. They are designed to be provocative and argumentative.