Catholic churches

Don't worry about round 1, it's easy to give the wrong impression when you're communicating through text. Contradiction 1 – Catholics could still make even more charities. I agree that the Catholics have a lot of charities, and I think that this is great. There is, however, a section in the Bible in "Mark 10" where Jesus is talking to a rich man who is searching for eternal life "Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. " – This follows the idea of Catholicism being an ascetic religion, and the Catholic churches, cathedrals etc. are doing a lot for charity but they are not using their money to the full potential for charity reasons. Jesus taught that a poor woman who gives all her money away has given more than a rich man who gives three times as much as her. Contradiction 2 – Churches are not beautiful by necessity. You said: "What Catholics are called to do is to put God first and themselves second. Therefore, it makes sense that the buildings we build for the praise of God be beautiful and of high quality. Ideally, churches should be better furnished than homes. " but in the Bible, it is said "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. " This is in "Matthew 6:4". So if you go by the word of the Bible, you do not need to make the buildings look fascinating and expensive, if you put God before you, God will notice, you do not need to show to the public that you put God before you. Furthermore says not to show that you put God before you to be seen by others "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven" this is in "Matthew 6:1". Surely giving the building their expensive and grand look is doing exactly what Jesus is saying not to do here. So if you have a little shed as your church, you may be showing the others around you the wrong impression, however, this does not matter, because God knows what you think of him and that's what matters. Another point you mentioned was: "look at the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament, and the Temple. Many valuable materials were used to construct those things, because they were for God. It is the same with Catholic churches today. ". The old testament was before Christ, so it was also before Christianity, this was how the religion was before the teaching of Christ were around, the teachings of Christ would go against the idea of using the money for decoration instead of helping the poor. Contradiction 3 – Public enjoyment is not worth it. I will accept that the look is fascinating and it can be enjoyed by all types of people. I have not got too much to say about the public enjoyment aspect of things, other than; the total enjoyment by the public does not really compensate for the total cost of building and maintenance of it. Contradiction 4 – What I would do with them. I completely understand that the churches, cathedrals and temples etc. are too important and significant to just demolish, I would keep the current places of worship, just make a few little changes to most of them, and this would keep the maintenance costs down. As there are so many places of worship, slight changes to each of them would save a lot of money in the long term. As for new churches being built, I would cut right down on the decoration and design. I would make it look different to a normal building so that it stands out, but I would not do this by spending more on a grander design, just a different design. I would not build as many churches, because, although they are helpful, they are not necessary to be a perfect Christian. As for the money saved, there are many practical and productive uses for it; it could be used to help educate poor children in Africa, or it could be used to help sort out the current problems with the social services. There are just so many charities and other helpful uses, although, in my opinion, I think that the children working in sweatshops in Asia and Africa should be given more options and education in life. Thank you for debating, and good luck.