Christianity's own financial scandal

"At least when Bernie Madoff promised big returns he actually delivered (if only for a moment). When Joel Osteen, Ken Copeland, Paula White, or Benny Hinn take your money, you’ll never see it again (unless you happen to glimpse one of their private jets leaving a runway for Bermuda)."

That's the scathing insider view of the so-called 'prosperity gospel', where pentecostal Christians are promised that God will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams if they give their money to the preacher.

As other financial scams are being exposed, the prosperity gospel seems to go from strength to strength, with the preachers targeting the most vulnerable; last year’s Pew Foundation survey showed that pentecostal Christians have the lowest incomes and the least education of any Christian denomination.

"I hear the pastors declare that God will make everybody rich, if only they will throw what little they do have into the offering plate" says the anonymous insider. "My impoverished friends dance down the plush expensive carpet to the altar and pull out their dollar bills (not their food stamps and government checks, though they have those also) and cheerfully give. The pastor nods approvingly, his hands folded in prayer (a shiny Rolex on his wrist), his eyes misty."

The disillusioned insider continues "When a major tenet of your theology is that people who invest in your church will experience wealth, while the facts show that your congregants are among the poorest and most desperate in the country, you have just been exposed. Further, when the national economy is in shambles, it should be criminal to continue to avoid taxes as a charity, yet earn immense amounts of capital on the promise of a better future. In the business world we call it a scam. While high-level corruption and financial disarray are the soup du jour of recent weeks’ media cycles, this prominent and aberrant theology has been allowed to wreak destruction on a mass of people who are grasping at economic straws."

Meanwhile, God TV poster boy Benny Hinn is still at it. He's come up with a way to get you out of debt. Apparently God has told him to dedicate May 25 as debt cancellation day.

"It’s time to break free from the bondage you have been under" says the modern-day snake-oil salesman. "But it will take a sacrificial gift to trigger your debt cancellation harvest. Pray and give what God is directing you to give sacrificially. It’s time to say, 'My debt is cancelled!' In fact, I want you to write those words on a card or piece of paper and keep it in view. Then as an act of faith sow bountifully, knowing that God will give you a bountiful harvest."

Link: It's Mission Week... again!