“Trust, but verify” was the United States’ mantra during the 1980s concerning the old Soviet Union and arms control. The principle is simple. Trust people are going to do what they say, but do not be so gullible to not verify that they are keeping their promise. This post issues a warning to those involved with so-called religious organizations to apply this standard. Any organization that asks you to donate money, time, or talent must be held accountable. We must trust, but we must also have the peace of mind that our money, time, and talents are being put to good use, and for the benefit of the organization.

In this essay, I am not talking about study groups, ritual partners, or loose associations where you may throw a few dollars into a pot to cover ritual supplies, food for an evening festivity, or the incidental costs of a get-together. I am talking about a group or person who asks you to donate money, time, or talent to help the “organization” do its “spiritual work,” and claims that all money collected will be used for strictly “religious purposes” or transferred to a “worthy charitable organization.”

First, let us discuss groups and organizations. This is not just an issue within Hellenic circles, but also in both the greater “Pagan” and religious communities as well. There are people who are participating in groups that believe they are involved in a religious organization, and they are not. Upon close inspection, the actual “religious organization” is really only one or two people. These one or two persons “own” the name of the organization, and have complete control (most specifically of money raised). Once you turn over your money, or donate your work, these individuals (not the group) own it. These leaders, very often, present a facade of democracy, but at the end of the day, the money is being placed into their hands, with no accountability.

A group that wants to act like an organization must be properly structured in order to protect the members. This is true of everything, from religious organizations to the local little league club. I am not saying every group needs to file Articles of Incorporation or apply for 501(c)(3) status in order to be legitimate. It is unnecessary in many circumstances, even if the organization is a “church.” I am stating that if an organization is asking you to donate money, time, and talent that there must be accountability, and a way to provide checks and balances. This can be accomplished by creating both a constitution and a set of by-laws, which defines the purpose of the organization, the powers of its officers, and the rights of its members. These documents include how officers are elected and removed, how meetings are conducted, and what officers the organization will have with a description of their duties. These are the supreme governing documents of most real organizations.

This all comes down to honesty and full disclosure. There are people who make no bones about the fact that they provide religious services (for a fee) to support themselves and their families. For example, there are professional Wedding Officiants who create businesses around performing weddings. These individuals, very often, perform more weddings in one month than a regular church minister will perform in a whole year. You then have a choice. Do you “donate” $250 to a church minister and religious organization, or do you pay $250 for a professional service. Very often, this comes down to ideology. With the professional service comes the expectation of a certain level of expertise, while with the religious organization there is an expectation that the funds supports the church’s religious work.

There are many people who create a group of practitioners around them, convince them that they are a unified group, but all money, time, and talent expended is ultimately controlled by an individual, couple, or small elite group. They setup ways for you to “donate” money to the worthy work of the group. They ask you to spend time doing work. They ask you to donate your talent as an offering to the Gods, but your efforts will go into their pockets. Your time goes to supporting their efforts to attract more group members and more financial supporters. Once your talented works are freely given to these pied pipers, they own it. The money, if these works are then sold, is not tied to a legitimate organization but is the income of the individual you gave it to.

Please trust, but verify. Do not get lulled into a false sense of security because a person makes you feel comfortable with spiritual rhetoric. We must be vigilant for people who swindle in the name of the Gods. Some of the heads of these “religious organizations” are guilty of nothing less than conspiracy to defraud their “members.” They practice what is undeniably a fraudulent contribution scheme that could be considered (at a minimum) money laundering, mail and wire fraud, and could be filing false income tax returns.

Do not be fooled by false promises peddled by scam artists. Do not get suckered by phony religious organizations or societies. Do not let yourself be used. This does not mean that an unscrupulous person leads every unstructured organization. It means trust, but verify. Please, protect yourself.

Tags: Ethics, Hellenic community, Pagan community, Religious community, religious organizations, scams, schemes, swindles