Hey Justin! this is good anti-church motion graphic work, and I can't add it to my channel) he-he-he. but there is some good questions and things to think about. there is a lot of problems in the modern churches, and, as anywhere, here is theft and cheaters. but personally for me, this is not good reason don't be thankfull to God, who change my life.

Awesome work on the mograph design. Just a really well done video. Good luck in the contest!

Love the edit here, man. Very clean, appealing, beautifully designed and, most importantly, I love the message!

Good luck with the top 10 and the voting!

Important research and information, thanks for making this. I'll pass it on. Thanks for connecting. : )

Justin,

While I appreciate your talent (excellent editing and graphic work, etc), I'm not sure you actually make an argument in this video. You inculcate the beginning of your film with myriad of statistics, but when you get to the most important part of your argument - that churches supposedly "line their pockets" with money given to them by the federal government - you just show shots of random large houses with absolutely no context (and then some anonymous guy staring at a church looking disappointed).

I'm not saying that faith-based groups - ESPECIALLY mega-churches (which, for the record, do NOT make up the majority of American Christians) - don't have their own problems when it comes to using their money for the greater good, but even when the data is mixed (see here: onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2010/02/one_year_into_the_obama_faith-based_office_let_the_opining_begin.html) they still - overall - offer services just as good as or even better than their "secular" counterparts. Furthermore, most of the service organizations in lower-income American neighborhoods ARE faith-based.

I'm all for holding institutions accountable, but making blanket statements about an entire religious group (or, f I'm reading your video right, ALL religious groups) based off of mega-churches - and doing so with no data or context - seems to be counter-productive. Help me out here, brother - what's the goal in all this?

Great work combining motion graphics with real footage. I'm in the middle of a project going for a slightly similar feel. This gives me inspiration that it can be done, and done well! Also, never mind the haters... It's not good unless you piss someone off. If they want to complain then they should make their own video. Keep it up!

Great video, very professional

Pt 1 My opinion

Charities and churches are identical in many ways.

The people that are in charge or work for the charities are often very well paid with some of them making 100,000$ to a few hundred thousand. They take money donated to charity and stay in 4 star hotels and live like kings.

It has been reported that a mere 10 cents on every dollar actually goes to those it was meant for. when you add to the fact that most charity's withhold money for when they really need it you understand better how little of the money is available and is used on those it was intended for.

I understand charity workers need to live to but I I don't think they need to stay in 4 star hotels on charity money and I don't think taking money from the poor to pay their 6 figure salary's is justified either.

Pt2

I strongly believe in god and giving money to further the preaching of the good news. I find how the money is used by churches disgusting.

No Tithing for Christians. At no time were first-century Christians commanded to pay tithes. The primary purpose of the tithing arrangement under the Law had been to support Israel’s temple and priesthood; consequently the obligation to pay tithes would cease when that Mosaic Law covenant came to an end as fulfilled, through Christ’s death on the torture stake. (Eph 2:15; Col 2:13, 14) It is true that Levitical priests continued serving at the temple in Jerusalem until it was destroyed in 70 C.E., but Christians from and after 33 C.E. became part of a new spiritual priesthood that was not supported by tithes.—Ro 6:14; Heb 7:12; 1Pe 2:9.
As Christians, they were encouraged to give support to the Christian ministry both by their own ministerial activity and by material contributions. Instead of giving fixed, specified amounts to defray congregational expenses, they were to contribute “according to what a person has,” giving “as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2Co 8:12; 9:7) They were encouraged to follow the principle: “Let the older men who preside in a fine way be reckoned worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard in speaking and teaching. For the scripture says: ‘You must not muzzle a bull when it threshes out the grain’; also: ‘The workman is worthy of his wages.’” (1Ti 5:17, 18) However, the apostle Paul set an example in seeking to avoid bringing an undue financial burden on the congregation.—Ac 18:3; 1Th 2:9.

Really great work on this, besides the subjet matter being quite interesting since I lived in Mega Church capital of Colorado Springs for almost 20 years. The compositions you chose were great. Loved your use of the cutouts on the animations as well. :)

Absolutely beautiful and well thought out.

This is awesome! As the son of a preacher I have seen the cash flow first hand. My father has tried to set up mega churches with moderate success. Virtually all the ministry's money goes straight into his pocket. Now he owns two new mercedes, a $500K home, and takes 15-20 vacations a year to exotic locations. I have no respect for pastors who bleed their community to support their grossly inflated salaries, including him.

Being against something does not lead anyone to being for anything.

Justin

y u no like church?

...oh. oh yeah.

This video is awesome... why doesn't everyone realize that every religion is a scam, oh yeah because were surrounded by idiots.

Justin! Congrats! Amazing~ You deserve it, man.

Very convincing; this short has a great message Justin. I have never understood how Christians of almost every stripe can reconcile Jesus' philosophy of generosity with the outright oppulence of modern day denominations. The Mormon Church is a glaring example of such wealth; in 1996 alone, LDS tithing totaled at 5.2 billion.* What's worse is that Mormons who are struggling financially are urged to continue tithing 10% in order for them to recieve "blessings". This is an organization that is systematically funneling funds from the lower rungs of it's population to the higher ones. Some is spent admirably of course, but much is not, as evidenced by the profusion of extravegant Mormon church-houses across the western US.

This is just one disquieting example among many. We obviously need a new paradigm - one that couples a genuine concern for human well-being with an unflinching honesty about moral and finantial accountability. The New Tithe is a good start to get people thinking. I hope it is widely viewed.

* time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986794-1,00.html

Just another voice in the anti-church movement. You fail to mention where many churches spend their "lucre". Seacoast Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC, has a free medical clinic. dental clinic, eye clinic, food bank, clothes closet, a mentoring program for the youth which has been recognized by the local high school as a string influence on raising marks and graduation rates of the youth. mission programs, neighborhood mentoring programs, to name a few.

If you can't figure out how your church is using your money, go to one that is open about where their money goes.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Hey Justin, I really enjoyed this piece. You guys put a lot of work into it and it definitely shows throughout the video. Could you tell me what sort of plug-ins, if any, were used for the motion graphics/compositing? And was it all using After Effects? Thanks and job well done!

This is wonderful. We need more professional looking pieces like this to "spread the word" that we are good without god!

'Atta kid, Justin! Great job.

This is just... WOW! Good job, sir!