1.   Many rappers from L.A., the gangster rap capital, rely heavily on what they rhyme about to earn merit.

2.   Buddhists believe they can earn merit by giving food to monks.

3.   Buddhists also believe that by helping the needy they earn merit for the afterlife.

4.   Then as now, engineers and workmen donated labor to repair the damage, believing that giving wealth or labor to a pagoda earns spiritual merit.

5.   Though the monarch is exceedingly wealthy, many Thais feel that presenting offerings to him will earn religious merit for their next lives.