Thursday, July 9, 2009
Religion Question of the Day
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:30 AM
In times of record-high foreclosures and Treasury Department scrambling to shore up loan-refinancing initiatives, the Prosperity Gospel can sound as if it comes from preachers who live under rocks, not in mansions: "God wants to give you your own house," big-cheese pitchman Joel Osteen announced in 2007's Your Best Life Now, which he penned in an economic Indian summer of a bull market and excited homebuyers.... Osteen is everywhere these days. You see his coiffed pate smiling on Good Morning America, at the new Yankee Stadium for its first nonbaseball event, on the cover of Texas Monthly's ideas issue—all in one week. Yet he artfully disappears for housing-crisis questions like "Why, if God wants to reward the faithful with material possessions, are so many believers in foreclosure?"
Maybe Olsteen isn't aware of the foreclosure crisis—it's not the people who sell snake oil who are losing their homes, just the people who bought it.
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1
The scary thing is, he might not be aware of it. Money has a way of isolating an individual from reality.
2
these types are funny. god does this, god does that, but when faced with irrefutable evidence that he does no such thing, they clam up and vanish. other people who believe imaginary characters are giving them things are put in psych wards. these people are put on the today show.
4
it is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
5
Osteen is the most insidious kind of creep - all dewy-eyed and innocent. Middle-aged Christian women lap it up. In fact, check out his huge audience and see what percentage of it are women of a certain age. It's both funny and sad - but mostly sad - that their religious fervor is really a veiled menopausal urge to jump young Joel's bones. I know....ew.
And the whole Osteen tribe who (if I'm not mistaken) runs the organization exclusively knows this latent desire is their bread and butter. It's just too creepy for words.
And the whole Osteen tribe who (if I'm not mistaken) runs the organization exclusively knows this latent desire is their bread and butter. It's just too creepy for words.
7
I was always taught that the people that God loves the most end up burned at the stake or sawed in two. At least that's what it says in Butler's Lives of the Saints.
8
Jesus said we should be like the poor.
Not like the Pharisees.
"Prosperity Gospel" is the Word of Mammon ... and Satan.
Not like the Pharisees.
"Prosperity Gospel" is the Word of Mammon ... and Satan.
10
The Lord blessed me with the knowledge of endless riches. For $10 I will explain to you the Great Secret of G-d's elect and how you too can tap into endless riches.
Seriously!
Seriously!
11
That's not the half of it. There have been reports of people who sought assistance in avoiding foreclosure, were told they could avoid foreclosure by cutting down on tithing, and instead chose to walk away from their homes.
Check it out.
I wonder how many of those people have been, and are still being, swindled by Osteen and his ilk.
Check it out.
I wonder how many of those people have been, and are still being, swindled by Osteen and his ilk.
12
Anybody who uses a twit like Olsteen as a reference point for their finances is even more stupid than your average "Christian". And that's fucking stupid!
14
I don't even believe in God, but I totally lap up Osteen's message of hope in a "take it with a grain of salt" sorta way. (I don't agree with everything he says) From what I've heard of his talks, he acknowledges more complexity than just "believe in God and he will give you a home" and even acknowledges that good things may not come in your lifetime. He also acknowledges his own limitations as a preacher and that's why I can appreciate him. He's doing his thing - to be a cheerleader of hope. That's his skill, his talent, what he offers to the world. And I can benefit from hearing that message via tv or internet without paying him a cent.
It's easy to dismiss all conservative christian fundy people, but I find it more interesting to look for redeeming qualities/things in common.
It's easy to dismiss all conservative christian fundy people, but I find it more interesting to look for redeeming qualities/things in common.
15
As I recall, the renovation of the Compaq Center to be Lakewood Church cost $84 million. Not the building itself: the renovation costs alone.
I really hate driving past it.
I really hate driving past it.
16
@13:
That's basically the answer to the question posed at the end of the quote, to wit: if they were TRULY good Christians this wouldn't have happened to them. Creeps like Osteen would simply respond that they didn't pray hard enough, they didn't tithe enough, they didn't believe strongly enough to DESERVE the immeasurable riches God hands out by the fistfuls like so much Halloween candy.
It's that sort of moral absolutism that lies at the foundation of these kinds of scams; only most people make the mistaken assumption that they, being good, righteous, deserving lambs o' God, are naturally going to be among the chosen beneficiaries of God's largess. It just never occurs to them - at least not until far too late - that it could possibly be otherwise.
That's basically the answer to the question posed at the end of the quote, to wit: if they were TRULY good Christians this wouldn't have happened to them. Creeps like Osteen would simply respond that they didn't pray hard enough, they didn't tithe enough, they didn't believe strongly enough to DESERVE the immeasurable riches God hands out by the fistfuls like so much Halloween candy.
It's that sort of moral absolutism that lies at the foundation of these kinds of scams; only most people make the mistaken assumption that they, being good, righteous, deserving lambs o' God, are naturally going to be among the chosen beneficiaries of God's largess. It just never occurs to them - at least not until far too late - that it could possibly be otherwise.
17
According to their 2000 year old zealotropedia, God likes to jerk His people around. For a great example of this, read the Book of Exodus.
18
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person 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 someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
19
And also:
This game is too easy.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This game is too easy.
20
@12, that was gold!
Prosperity theology is a perfect example of the intellectual bankruptcy of evangelical christians. They choose to read all the anti-gay passages from the bible literally and from a fundamentalist standpoint, but are remarkably flexible about all the bits warning against slobbering over the filthy lucre. Fucking hypocrites.
Prosperity theology is a perfect example of the intellectual bankruptcy of evangelical christians. They choose to read all the anti-gay passages from the bible literally and from a fundamentalist standpoint, but are remarkably flexible about all the bits warning against slobbering over the filthy lucre. Fucking hypocrites.
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