15 April 2023
I don’t see any irony whatsoever.
“It is altogether fitting and proper*” for a secular custodian to solicit subsidies for an ongoing operation. And it is appropriate for a spiritual advisor to guide congregants through moral challenges.
As an atheist-materialist myself, I’m not in the market for “spiritual” guidance because I don’t really believe that means anything, but I’m still a big fan of emotional and moral support. And I know that somebody‘s paying the electric bill, otherwise the lights wouldn’t be on. What’s your beef? You don’t have to put dime one into the collection plate when it comes around. The best part of my life is the stuff I don’t have to do. Leave us alone!
(* Yes, I do steal from Abe Lincoln. After his body count, he deserves it. Besides, in addition to being the greatest mass murderer among American Presidents, he’s also the greatest poet among American Presidents, and the one attribute never detracts from the other.)