Spiritual Abuse? The "Prosperty Gospel"

[upstatecajun]

By Earl Pike

One form of spiritual abuse that doesn’t get condemned nearly or vociferously enough can be found in what has been labeled the “prosperity gospel.” Briefly put, the prosperity gospel is the theologically indefensible notion that God wants you, those of you who truly believe in Him (I use the male pronoun here, as it is universally employed by prosperity gospel disciples), to prosper not only spiritually, but materially as well. In short, God wants you to be rich, or at least comfortably upper middle class.

I thought about this again this afternoon because I received a letter from Benny Hinn, who heads a ministry that bears his name in Irving, Texas. (How I received a letter from Mr. Hinn I can’t explain; I seem to be on a lot of odd lists.) His name may ring a bell: Hinn and a dozen other evangelists were summoned before a Senate Committee impaneled by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa back in 2007. Grassley was concerned about financial abuses in some of the better-known televangelist “ministries,” a concern, it turned out, with more than a little merit. According to Ministry Watch, a nonpartisan faith-based watchdog group that spotlights financial abuse in faith communities, the church business has been good to Hinn: “Personal perks for Hinn, family and his entourage include a $10 million seaside mansion; a private jet with annual operating costs of about $1.5 million; a Mercedes SUV and convertible, each valued at about $80,000; and what the church termed as “layovers” between crusades that included hotel bills ranging from $900 per night to royal suites that cost almost $3,000 for one night’s stay.” And that’s the short list.

http://www.liberalohioan.com/Pike-Prayer.html

[get the red out]

1. Don't they go even lower than that?

Don't they preach that if someone is poor then it is because they are displeasing to God? That's a damn good way to undermine any altruistic influence that the commonly held idea of Jesus implies. It is also a way to get people to vote for the rich and against helping other human beings while these "ministers" roll in money.

If there was/is a Satan, this would be him at work. To me this represents the concept of evil at any rate, evil is alive and well in people like these ministers.

[Mnemosyne]

4. They do preach that the poor deserve it as 'punishment' and no one should

help them. It's the Ayn Rand version of "Christianity".

You also have displeased 'god' if you are ill. I was told that I was sick because I didn't allow the holy spirit to fill me.

I agree, their materialistic religion sounds more like Satanism. I always suggest that 'Satan' has fooled them and is head of their church. They don't like it.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. I guess Jesus was just screwin' around with that camel passing through the eye of a needle stuff?

'...I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' - Matthew 19:23-24

There are parallel versions in Mark 10:24-25 and Luke 18:24-25 as well, so the authors of these respective gospels must have considered it pretty fucking important.

Fact is, Jesus had a heckuva lot more to say on the subject of money (remember the moneychangers at the temple incident?) than He did on, say, homosexuality - which was absolutely NOTHING!

[xchrom]

3. the ecumenical movement and the inheritors of that movement for some reason

have a hard time criticizing fundies and unaffiliated evangelicals.

the reverse isn't the same -- they will criticize main stream and liberal churches to a fare thee well.

it shouldn't be like that -- liberal congregations should be much more forceful confronting these people.

[Nikia]

5. I agree that Mainstream and Liberal Christians should call these people out

Jesus was all about helping the poor and until recently that was considered part of being a Christian.

[xchrom]

6. i totally agree with you.

you can see in instances like the episcopal church -- it's happening to a degree.

but not enough.

[QC]

7. Our local prosperity gospel cult leader's church is in foreclosure,

and up for auction later this month and his $4,250,000 "parsonage" with its six bedrooms and eight and a half baths is the subject of a property tax lawsuit.

Couldn't happen to a better man.

I just hope he doesn't lose his cool and attack his current wife again.

[customerserviceguy]

8. Preaching is a business

where you sell snake oil to people. The 'prosperity' preachers have just figured out that you can get by better with well-off customers than you can with poor ones. They thump their silly book to get their lazy-ass customer/congregants to spend more time figuring out how to get a bigger pie that they can hound them for 10% of.