Traffic study halted after leaks of memo from megachurch staff urging members to manipulate results
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- Опубліковано 14 тра 2024
- The church says a "staff member made the unfortunate decision to attempt to sign people up from within Lakepointe to positively impact the count."
These aren’t churches. They’re money collectors.
"franchises"
No a money collector is someone that collects a fee even if you don't want it. These mega churches provide something that many people want voluntarily. Are you to blind to see this?
@@vipero00 or I could be too blind but I see truth clearly and it’s not to be found there.
Tax exempt businesses that have inspired many anti-social business cronies who have shifted and continue to shift more burden on the backbone of the nation, the working class who continues to hand them the bully pulpit in too many instances.
@@vipero00, I want an iPhone for free but none are available. This racket shouldn’t be tax exempt. Separate sure, not tax free. Especially when it’s already breached the separation zillions of times. It’s time to hold them accountable though this entitled trash will whine persecution. They always do. Despicable.
Mega churches need to PAY TAXES!!!!
ALL churches need to PAY TAXES!!!!
Crooked church
@@Ollie__Taboogerhow dare you
@@Ollie__TaboogerNo. I don’t feel that ALL churches being taxed. BUT, I think that the citizens need to expose some of these churches for who they really are.
@@bikdav If you tax one you got to tax them all. You cant pick and chose, thats just not fair you know. I know how a lot of churches do things, they also put their personal homes, cars, furniture and clothes on the church so they can avoid paying taxes. Religion is big business.
Their only "regret" is that they got caught!
Indeed. You should search the comment of Billy Graham's son on Bill Clinton's affair and then his response to Mr. Trump's affair. Hypocrisy at its best. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
If they were catholic they could go to confession and say 3 hail Mary's and be cleared after all wrong doings ( sins )
Anyone who ostentatiously displays their religion must be assumed to be a liar, a hypocrite, a grifter, a gullible fool or some combination of those things.
I was about to write the same thing.
It would be better if instead of paying for a self-serving traffic study, the church paid its fair share of taxes.
Exactly.
If more people understood how economically devastating it can be for a town to have a whole bunch of property owned by a tax exempt private business. They can't properly fund the police and fire, the can't maintain roads, pay teachers, etc.
In some cities, large universities with sprawling campuses, hospitals, office buildings, apartment blocks that are owned by some loose religious thing of some sort are sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of *_untaxed property._* Plus whatever economic activity they engage in is not taxed and they prevent any taxpaying economic activity that could happen in its place.
Think about when tax exemptions became a thing in the late 1940s and the decline of cities started soon after.
NO Right-Wing organization OR billionaire will EVER pay taxes as long as a Republican is in charge.
Yeah, churches pay so much tax….
Nobody should be paying taxes. Money is just printed paper, the government makes. It's all a manipulated mess the government created.
A lying megachurch? Who would have thought? Where did I read something about, "Thou shalt not bear false witness?" Help me out here, Lakepointe Church.
The "senior executive pastor" says they are sorry.
@@viktorakhmedov3442 I guess that makes it all okay.
They will blame it on the one staff member and take plausible deniability for the rest
@@viktorakhmedov3442 Yes, "executive" says it all.
its a tax haven and scam
Not a church - a corporation. Unethical one at that.
Tax free corporation.
I mean "executive pastor" kinda says it all
Tax free ,and hipocrits too
All churches are unethical because they’re selling a lie as “The Truth”.
Megachurches being deceptive? Gosh, who would’ve thought?
I’m shocked 🙄🥱
If your "church" has a "senior executive pastor"........
Tax churches.
Shameful behavior. "By their fruit you shall know them." As a Christian this makes me sick and angry.
When deception is one of your principles, pretty much not what Christ taught.
So imagine how this makes someone who hasnt been brainwashed feel. Churches are dens of evil, judgemental hypocrites and need to be taxed heavily to help pay for the damage they cause our society.
Me too!
Stop believing. That's Step One of the Recover Reality Plan. And the most difficult, you must BELIEVE that your belie is wrong - really difficult, but SO worth it when you see through the thousand-plus-year layers of lies.
If this makes you mad, just wait until you realize Christianity is a load of steaming bulloney.
"Mega Church" is all you need to know.
“Executive” and “pastor” should never go together
They need to pay taxes. I don’t care about this stoplight thing they need to pay them. You can afford a stoplight you can afford to pay taxes.
Mega churches are repulsive. Giant stables for all the sheeple.
They all are.
@@daveburrows9876, Beat me to it.
A church lying or encouraging deception? No way....
All 10 sins
Your govt and citizens do it every day, especiañly when it comes to trans people, but you guys are all lock step with that. Kick rocks demons!
@@georgesheffield1580considering the tech we have now… they probably did a few more new ones lol
The amazing thing to me is that megachurches like this exist at all. People are just SO gullible.
Religion interfering with its community?
Shocker
TAX CHURCHES !
AMEN !
Tax colleges too
Wait! A Christian convinced themselves (and everyone else who signed up..) that dishonesty in service of what they think is serving the Lord, is OK? Is that what we’re seeing?
Go figure.
Fortunately, the screenshot in the video showed only 6 sign-ups. This will probably be a good learning opportunity for those 6 on thinking for yourself.
It's call "lying for the Lord" and it is a very common thing in Christian churches.
If they had said, "A FORMER staff member made the SHAMEFUL decision to attempt to LIE to the city....", I MIGHT believe they were not in on it.
The church wouldn't hesitate to if they thought it would matter. Why would they care about sacrificing a staffer on the altar of PR?
How can any church do this and still keep their IRS tax-free status?
If scientology can do it, why not actual religions? 😂
@@91thewatcher23 Black "churches" hold political rallies and tell them who to vote for. Truly a protected and "privileged" class. In clear violation of the statute.
@davidb2206 The all-white evangelical church my sister attends in Tennessee doesn't use rallies, they just politicize the Sunday sermons, and make sure the whole congregation "knows" who they should be voting for. And it's the same case for my other two white evangelical sisters in Florida: the church makes sure "you know who you better be votin' for!"
I've grown-up in both predominately black and white baptist churches in the south.
Even the nondenomination ones.
Both are equal in dogmatic fear mongering sermons and closeminded ill-informed propaganda rallies.
Anyone surprised?
No?
Didn’t think so.
As soon as someone says "Oh I'm a Christian" or any other religion..... I nope the F out. Religion is the biggest scam the world has ever seen.
joel osteen wouldn't allow hurricane refugees in his church because the carpets had recently been cleaned.
Didn't happen
very Christ-like
A church scamming people? You don’t say.
Criminals in every organization and at every level.
What crime?
Move the church.I left my church when my pastor told me Adam and Eve roamed with the dinosaurs and they were 17 feet tall. Never looked back!!!
You made the right call. Everyone knows the devil put dinosaur bones in the earth to deceive people. /s
Sounds more like the church is a nuisance in the neighborhood.
@@wownewstome6123First I've heard of people complaining that their property value went up 😂
@@geoffh1 Some people can lose their home over a property tax increase. Seniors or the disabled on a fixed income. Most people's income doesn't keep up with inflation.
@@geoffh1Happens all the time, look up "gentrification"
Tax the church
I cannot understand how come people go to these types of church. They want your money.
Because the people who attend them feel that they're getting value for their money. Megachurches can afford top-notch sound equipment and electronics to produce a really spectacular Sunday morning show. They also often provide special programs for kids and teens, which appeals to parents. It's entirely transactional.
And if at some point the cost/benefit ratio tilts away from this megachurch... the faithful will stop coming. SA scandal, internal power struggles, the opening of a new megachurch with an even better worship service... or a couple deciding that with their oldest child starting college they have to cut some expenses, and they'd rather keep their their current streaming subscriptions than continue tithing 10% of their pre-tax income to a megachurch.
They should be arrested for fraud and lose tax exemption.
Corrupt church, corrupt the study.
There is nothing in the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights that says businesses shouldn't pay taxes, religious is a business, plain and simple. They should, at a minimum pay property taxes.
Isn’t that considered fraud?
no
@@user-yt9id8zq3g fraud -
noun
wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
A lie is a lie to God Almighty. Even if worldly so called Christians think they are getting away with something.. GOD WILL EXPOSE and He will get the last laugh. BIBLICAL. Read the book of PROVERBS.
How is it fraud? It was real cars going down the road
@@huckfin1598 they told the members of the church to drive down the road a specific times in order to manipulate the results.
The shocking part is that the church no doubt sees nothing wrong with attempting to deceive in order to get what it wants.
“The body of Christ” ? Spare me 🤮
By the way. Signing up for shifts and making a special note to inform them that you only get credit for the 10 laps during your "shift" tells me that doing this counts toward whatever "obligation" for community service they tell their congregants that God wants them to work each week.
Yes, that’s a bit cult-y.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." -- Mahatma Gandhi
They are all going to Heaven, I'm sure. Religion equals big business. Tax em!
Mega churches = large flock of sheep to fleece
The church I go to paid for our lights and help the YMCA and a couple hotels next door. They also hire police to direct traffic. You MUST be honorable and honest in ALL things. You must LOVE your neighbors as yourself.
BS
1. Why so defensive? You go to one of those creepy conman run mega-churches?
2. Why are you bragging that your church “paid for our (the church’s) lights, of course the church has to pay for its own lighting and electricity. As for the others, okay so? Churches are supposed to do that kind of thing.
3. Really? Do you LOVE your LGBTQ neighbors as yourselves, welcome them into your church? Somehow I very much doubt it.
@@georgesheffield1580
Nah, if this person's church does all that, good on them -- sounds like they actually practice what they preach, which is exceedingly rare and ought to be encouraged when it benefits the general welfare of a community.
I was driving by a church one Sunday as people were leaving. I paused to let a car exit the parking lot, and the rest of the congregation tailgated that one car out until the lot was empty. I had to wait for 50 cars, none of them let me through.
Doesn't surprise me at all.
Tax this church!
I 'm shocked; shocked, I tell ya. A church being dishonest to get what they want?
what's so bad about this is that they didn't even try to be honest and being honest would probably show a light was needed
Cheating is ok, as long its for their side. Sound familar?
A dishonest church, not surprised at all.....
They are as rare as dishonest politicians. Quite often its these religious terrorists who corrupt our politicians.
Though shall not lie
Their entire religion is based on lies.
Thou
It's you shall not bear false witness. Exd 20.
@@PShawtx
Yes…right before Exodus 21, where slavery is made permissible by the laws of god.
It’s funny to me that a book which lies about the existence of a god suggests people should not lie.
The "DIRTY" sign on the counter says it all about these money grubbers
We don't have any mega-whatevers in my area (assorted churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and community centers are scattered around) but every one of them -- along with a couple of large private schools -- has somehow managed to arrange with the local police to have traffic control for a couple of hours on days when it's needed to make sure everyone can use the roads *and* get in & out of the property with a minimal amount of drama. Stop demanding changes to infrastructure that are good for a single entity for a few hours out of an entire week.
That makes sense. There's probably plenty of volunteers for flagging traffic among the clergy. To help with their public image.
Remember the old saying, "The Devil's in the details"? Evidently, The Devil is at Lakepointe Church!
Why is it that so many religious people have such flexible morals while calling everyone else immoral??
I think everyone involved in this situation needs to go about the solution in a more roundabout way.
as an Evangelical Christian all I have to say is, that's pretty disgusting...gee, thanks for making us all look bad. Really appreciate that...
Evangelical christians have been making themselves look bad for centuries. Nothing new to see here.
Please. You've done it to yourselves. Keep pretending you aren't being leeched from too.
As a former Evangelical Christian, we didn’t need any help with reprehensible behavior.
I think enthusiastically supporting Trump en bloc did the "making us look bad" part.
It's OK. Everything else about evangelical Christianity makes it look just as bad.
Should have been no problem for them to get a light that only functions say on Saturday and Sunday when they have the highest level of services. But no they feel entitled and they wanted a permanent light because they feel entitled.
A dishonest megachurch? Shocking, simply shocking.
Deception is the #1 tool of Satan!
The number one tool of the Christians - lies. Religion is a tool to manipulate the simple-minded.
The followers of Satan didn’t do this. The followers of God did. Christians, making Satan look good every day!
Interesting and hypocritical comment to say the least. Reason being, in the Bible Satan has better morals and is better behaved than the God of the Bible.
I'm interested in knowing where, exactly, in the Bible does Satan lie? God certainly lied to Abraham when he told him to sacrifice Isaac. Or is that okay because it's God?
@@marinaatkin1581, Not only that. But if you read the OT Satan has better morals and is better behaved than the God of the Bible.
Christians will condemn, say slavery today and in other religions holy books. Then turn around and justify,excuse, defend the very same thing in their holy book.
Sounds typical of all religions 😠
Build infrastructure instead of useless churches
Stop making cemeteries too. Waste of space. Not to mention the chemicals that leak into the ground.
@@busterbrown446Some cities have green burials now.
TAX THE CHURCHES
Tax the wealthy
NO. You don't know what your talking about.
@@user-yt9id8zq3g who?
@@user-yt9id8zq3g gawd sux
@@rickgalloway8344 They pay most of the taxes now.
All churches should pay taxes. It’s antiquated to think they shouldn’t.
The church can make up for their attempted fraud by offering to pay in full to have the light installed.
They already agreed to pay for the study and the light.according to their letter. If you listen to the newscaster, she reads it out at the end of the video.
Which begs the question, isn't a light the best improvement for the situation?
@@survidmtI wonder whether a roundabout would be better since it is mostly on Sundays that is the traffic problem and a roundabout would get rid of the left hand turns that cause the most delays.
@@davidroddini1512 Well you may have a point, that sounds like a better alternative in that no electricity required, other materials roughly the same. Now if you can just teach Americans to use them correctly were set,lol.
@@davidroddini1512
I have driven by these kinds of churches, to me a stop light at the churches entrance would make better use of city or county money, wouldn’t be shocked if a light at this community’s entrance wouldn’t be a bad idea even without the church nearby.
Absolutely disgusting that they would blame their actions on Christ.
why? all religious nuts blame their actions on christ, or at least say that "god told them to do it"
Jesus walked
@@danieldaniels7571because there were no cars.
All churches need to pay taxes. Every single one of them. Just like the NFL should pay taxes. There should be no such thing as tax deferred.
ABSOLUTELY agree!
Looks a spot where a ROUNDABOUT should be considered. Then traffic doesn't have to stop when it's not busy.
hypocrites that dont believe in the word of jesus. Thou shall not lie!
The entire thing is a lie. It's no wonder they engage in the practice. So the simple fact is if you believe a lie, you are more likely to commit a lie
Or maybe less hypocrisy and more dyslexia, they saw it as, "Shalt not thou lie"
The local Catholic Church here has a deputy guiding traffic every Sunday. Why need a light?
That worked where I used to live but it was a two lane road with an obviously lower speed limit than what the film shows here.
Well, the city will pay for the traffic light, whereas the church often pays for the officer hired to direct church-related traffic. This looks like fraud for financial benefit, IMO. Probably with a touch of feeling superior and more important than the surrounding neighborhood.
You could look at the number of people at the Catholic church and compare it to the mega church. It some instances, it makes sense to have a person directing traffic but sometimes it gets to a point where that isn't enough and traffic lights are needed.
@@anniejuan1817The church said in writing that they will pay for the light. But they needed the traffic numbers to justify the install. And then there’s the matter of who pays the power bill and ongoing maintenance. Traffic control gets expensive.
That's it right there. They either already pay or the city is threatening to make them pay for an off duty cop to direct traffic every Sunday.
When you already don't pay taxes, and the city comes to you asking you to pay some money, any money at all, well, you can see how that would be a burden to them, right?
... Extremely 'ethical & moral' (NOT) of this church to alter & modify their driving habits to corruptly gain an advantage in that traffic survey ... Wow 😳 🐂💩👎...
Oh liars and cheaters , they are.
If they want to interfere in local politics, then they can lose their tax exempt status.
How do you express your contempt for mega churches without getting censored by UA-cam?
Pretty sure my family has its own three letter dept to monitor what we say.....but you, my dear, are paranoid.
Though shall not bear false witness. Except when it helps pseudo Christians.
No one is more hypocritical than a religious person.
Their tax exempt status should be revoked.
The devil has taken up residency in that church.
A traffic light costs about $400,000 (I believe). Interesting that the Church has the dinero to fund that.
The church can build or acquire branch locations in other cities. Then thousands of people would not crowd a single location. This has worked pretty darn well for over 2,000 years.
These are not real churches. There is only one main snake oil salesman. It's a show for the weak of mind. The same people who go to trump rallies.
Tax them. Tax all of them. Also, they are lying. As usual.
Separation of church and state. So why don't churches pay taxes.
Well THAT'S not very 'christian' of you now, isn't it? - _An Atheist_
We have similar situations here in Baton Rouge. The churches pay for off-duty deputies, in most cases, to deal with the traffic load without calling on government to handle it. 🤔
Your deputies are government employees
Your deputies are government employees.
Cults are bad. If you allow them to exist, you MUST tax them the same as every other business.
The fact that there is "senior executive leadership" really makes me question what these people think "church" means.
Religious people also try to manipulate science.
I remember from back in the '50s my grandparents church was how they use to be, white with a bell tower and wooden pews. It didn't hold thousands of people, and the minister held a regular job and wasn't even paid. The money the parishioners tithed was used for missionary work and helping the poor. These so called churches today are supported by people trying to buy their way into heaven.
(1) We helped the CHILDREN in our own community, not random foreigners for some virtue-signaling. There is plenty of Christian help to do RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE. Veterans without dental care at the VA hospitals or even transportation to the VA hospitals! Why would any honest congregation or church send money overseas?!
(2) The pews were HARD WOOD, so you could not fall asleep or not pay attention.
@@davidb2206
You sound like a Muslim, or maybe a Satanist.
@@davidb2206Some truth here. But help to CHURCHES in other countries is scriptural. It should be done after the local Christian needs are met. " His own household..."
@@YSLRD LOCAL widows and orphans is also scriptural, whether Christian or not. It means take care of your own community, not distant foreign lands. The LOCAL need will never be met, yet today's "Christian" fools applaud themselves with their virtue-signaling by sending $$ abroad.
@@YSLRD My considered and polite reply was deleted. I do not support any channels or platforms that do not support free speech, as it is vital to the cause of liberty, worldwide.
This is a perfect example of why businesses, industry and such are regulated. You cannot trust people. Period.
Grew up being forced to go to this horrible “church” and experienced so much bullying. Corporations like this should be forced to pay taxes and be held accountable.
Isn't that the m.o. of mega churches.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Got caught doing a P.DIDDY
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I went to a mega church during high school. They hired off duty cops to direct traffic and worked with the city to ensure safety for everyone. Most mega churches are not about worship. They are about appearances and money. If you really want to find God's people, go to the poor churches. They give so much more than these huge places.
It’s called “lying for the lord.” Humans can convince themselves that any scam is ok if they think it helps them.
The Commandment of religion is its survival and success no matter how unethical or even criminal the means to an end.
Don't cut yourself on all that edge😂
Wow.... wow.
They need Jesus.
They obviously have Jesus. Just today's Americanized version of Jesus. Bless their hearts. You won't find a phonier soul than today's American Christian. The Bible and it's teachings are quite foreign to them.
Why cant the church just pay for it. Theyre not paying taxes, which is used to fund those streets
What!? Churches are less than honest? Well! 🤣
WFAA - What on Earth was with the decision to insert Dishwashing B-roll? WTH did that have to do with anything? Especially the pause on the ‘turning off the water’ shot. C’mon.
This is truly sad that anyone could think cheating is away to achieve anything except moral compromise. Shame on this person. Public apologies are needed.
The problem lies with "stroads", these suburban street designs that attempt to act as both a street and a road, causing dangerous compromises.
I've seen cops directing traffic outside Chick-fil-A's during high traffic times, do the same.
Yep. You can pay for off-duty officers to work "in uniform" to direct traffic.
@@Bigrignohiothat’s the issue, they don’t want to pay an officer by the hour. They’d rather get the city to pay for a light
@@ryanespinoza7297 Thought it said the church was going to pay for the study AND the install? But I guess it would still be on the city to maintain it.