Religious conservatives are up in arms after Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance committee, asked for financial records from mega churches selling a version of the bible to their flock known as The Prosperity Gospel. The creed promises that the Almighty rewards the faithful with not only spiritual but material bonuses. In other words, by walking with Jesus wealth comes with it. The power of Jesus has the power to make you rich because God provides for all that seek him. This has been a powerful message for the lambs that are lead to slaughter and the only ones getting rich are the ministers of this message that would make Jesus, who usually rode a donkey and gave up all earthly possessions to preach the word, strike these men down as agents of the unholy.
With the money donated from their flock they purchase private planes, jewelry, and mansions looking more like Hip-hop mega stars or captains of industry rather than God-inspired preachers with messages of hope and everlasting in the after-life. It isn't enough that God, through his son Jesus, promised us eternal life. We want the richness that God has promised us today and we want it in the form of material possession and wealth. And of course the more God loves us and we follow him the more he will reward us with the riches of life. Somehow our fellow preachers lost sight of the message of love, peace, and forgiveness which are the real messages of god and Jesus. These are the rewards God promises us but today they are not enough. We can measure how much god loves us by our W-2 statement, the size of our home, and by how many cars we have.
The message today is that you do not have to wait for the after-life to get redemption and a life of eternal happiness but we can get it all now. We can start this life now and enjoy the pagan luxuries in the immediate consumer world. The only cover charge is a small donation, of course, to my ministry to demonstrate your love for God, and God will reward you because through believing in me you believe in Him. This warped message is being delivered to the poor, distraught, and unfortunate who buy into this. Does their lot in life change? This is a subject for later discussion. My main reason for bringing up this topic is because we are in the midst of selecting a new president. With the Democrats painted as liberals and the Republicans as religious conservatives. I do not believe the faithful belong to only one party exclusively. This brings other dangers when you have one issue voters and deny any other issues facing America are more daunting than spreading Christianity.
Here is the rub: Churches and religious organizations pay no taxes and have no accountability of the money they receive. The defenders of this gift ( remember they do not pay taxes so this means our taxes benefit them) are insistent that the First and Fourth Amendment that preserves religious freedom and separation of church and state allow them to do whatever they want, preach whatever they want, and collect money and spend it however they want. We now know, after 9/11, that religious and charitable organizations actually funded terror campaigns. Would we feel the same way if these were Muslim churches and there was suspicion that they were using their funds for financing terror? But broader issues remain.
The leading Republican candidates are being driven by the conservative right that fights for school prayer, ban on abortion, adding creationism to school science study, and others demanding this country was founded on Christian ideals. Not really but they sell it anyway. Mike Huckabee calls for " take back this nation for God". How do we reconcile the drive towards theocracy with the invasion on these churches finances? Why do we allow churches to deliver political speeches at the pulpit and bus members to political rallies when, as part of their tax free status, they are to refrain from such behavior?
We can not have both in the US. A system that allows churches, whatever their affiliation, to receive tax breaks and operate freely from government intervention and scrutiny and then have leaders of our government bring their religion into the public forums. This leads to electing officials and appointing judges that manage with their religious zeal rather than their knowledge of the constitution and what it stands for. We have seen, in other parts of the world, where the Bible (Koran) is used as the main resource to drive law and rule a nation. This has never been good and has only lead to war on both sides and the degradation of women and displacement of the poor.
When a presidential candidate suggest that you can not have democracy without religious freedom you have to wonder why we are in Iraq. Is religious freedom a prerequisite of democracy? Maybe but it surely doesn't mean that the majority of worshippers can force their religion unto others. We need to look at all churches to insure they follow the rule of law and do what they need to be doing to receive the tax breaks they do receive. Political rallies, endorsing candidates, bringing religion into government should be denied and any church doing so should be stripped of their status and demand taxes be paid. If they want to rally for riches, be a political influencer, or merely be someone taking from the disadvantaged every time the collection plate is passed they do not need chruch status. It is time for Christians who have gotten lost following Jesus to step up and follow God instead.
Invoking the name of God should not be enough to receive secular tax breaks. If the preachers believed half of what they preached they would not need the tax breaks to survive because they would be rewarded, like their flock, by living the Gospel of Prosperity.
