"Money degrades all the gods of man and converts them into commodities.”
—Karl Marx
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.”
-Jesus Christ
"Well, you need to hear about money, because you ain't gonna have no love and joy and peace until you get some money!"
-Creflo Dollar, "Praise the Lord". Dated: 20th July 1999
I have mentioned in an earlier post, all the economic scandals that have plagued black mega-churches. The image of the cool, smooth-talking con-man fleecing the gullible of their hard-earned and scarce dollars is not a new one. It is a cultural icon of sorts, a common fixture in the black community, tolerated and accepted. Even the most faithful members of the church are aware that it is often full of such conmen. An objective perusal of the many religious channels on cable would be enough to turn any reasonable man's stomach. Televangelists and mega-churches are temples of excess. They are the gilded symbols of human gullibility and greed.
My grandmother was talking to me yesterday about Creflo Dollar and she said that she listens to him every day but "He's too expensive for me. I won't send him any money." Then went on to complain about his ceaseless calls for tithing. I had to wonder why she would continue to listen to such an obvious charlatan. Why anyone does.
“Money is God in action.”
—Reverend Ike
Since the days of Reverend Ike and Father Divine, the church has been one of the major parasites sucking the economic life out of the black community. I cannot blame the church leaders alone for this. They strike a bargain with their congregations that the faithful willingly agree to, the congregation's money in exchange for the illusions the church leaders feed them, the entertainment, hope (even if it's false hope), love (even if only the illusion of love),and that sense of community I mentioned in previous posts. People pay the church because it makes them feel good to do so. And hey, this is what Capitalism is all about right? The right to make profit by supplying a demand. That being the case, why grant them non-profit status? Why make them tax exempt? You cannot show me a picture of Benny Hin or Creflo Dollar parading around in $4,000 suits and driving around in $100,000 cars, living in million dollar mansions, and tell me they are the heads of non-profit organizations. They run multi-million dollar corporations and should be taxed as such. Pastors and ministers are peddlers of a product every bit as profitable and addictive as alcohol and cigarettes and it should be taxed the same way. It should also be kept away from children.
The church supplies believers with something to believe in and that sense of belonging. I understand it. I just feel bad for the children who are forced to attend and so become church junkies just like their parents. If they were dragging children to the bar or the dopeman and forcing a life long addiction upon then that would stunt their emotional and intellectual growth and drain their incomes then there would be general outrage. We do exactly that with religion yet where is the outrage? My own family members were willing victims to these charlatans and conmen yet I was lucky enough to resist indoctrination. It's only when these conmen inevitably take more than the hundreds of millions the faithful dump into their collection plates that the faithful get up in arms. And, sadly, I'm not talking about pastor's using tithings to buy million dollar mansions and jets, four thousand dollar suits, and hundred thousand dollar cars and jewelry. The black religious community tends to accept and excuse that for some idiotic reason. It takes a sex scandal to get them up in arms. It's only when the pastor starts stealing their wives or fucking their kids that there's a genuine scandal.
Which brings us to Bishop Eddie Long and this whole nonsense about his homosexuality. I Googled "Black Church" for this article and had to read through seventeen pages of stories about Eddie Long's sex scandal. I never made it past all of that to get to any more substantive stories. Yes, Eddie Long is a hypocrite. So are hundreds of child raping priests in the Catholic church. But is what Eddie Long did by harassing that young man worse than what idiots like Creflo Dollar do every Sunday, harassing their congregation for money? Here's a little excerpt from one of his sermons:
"I mean I've thought about for the Dome, fix up some bars and give everybody a little card, they stick it in a computer slot and if they were tithing the music would go off and {sings} Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Well Dome. But, if they were not tithing the bar would lock up and the red light would start going and the siren would go off and a voice would go "I'm tired now. Crook, crook , crook, crook! and security would go and apprehend them. Once we'd got them altogether we could line them up in the front and pass out automatics {?} to the ushers {?} and at the count of three Jesus's we'd shoot them all dead. And then we'd take them out the side door there ... aren't you glad we are under the blood of Jesus. If we were not under the blood of Jesus I would certainly try it. ... If you take time to tithe then tithe correctly, it’s impossible to go to Hell. Cause if you’re doing all of that, man, tithing will keep you in Heaven. It will keep you in the presence of God. ... The tithe is your covenant..."
-Creflo Dollar
My mother listens to this moron. My Grandmother listens to him. Is there any wonder why I say that I am embarrassed by the idea of a Black Christian? Is there any wonder why I think religion is one of the greatest yokes on the backs of the Black man and woman in America? Alcohol, Drugs, crime, obesity, illiteracy, religion. Those are the six major plagues on our culture. In any ghetto in America, you will find this poisonous combination: churches, liquor stores, drug dealers, fast food joints, and not a bookstore in sight. It is sad, because it illustrates the point that the least educated and least fortunate are the ones most afflicted by the insidious disease that is religious faith. The black middle class (what is left of it) illustrates the sad fact that even those who have emerged from these upbringings find it almost impossible to free themselves of these fetters. As long as we continue putting our hard earned dollars into the bloated coffers of conmen and charlatans like Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, and their ilk, we will remain mentally enslaved, easily controlled and pacified, always behind.
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I will comment carefully here as I am not black and did not grow up in a Christian Africa-American environment. However, I grew up in a still very Catholic Quebec (albeit in a secular family) and I do have Haitian relatives, who come from a very religious background. When you come from a community or a people that has been exploited, sometimes even oppressed, you will try to find comfort in religion. It gives some consolotion to the believer. The survival of a French speaking people in Canada was partially credited to the Catholic Church, because it was the only institution from France that stayed after the British took over. But of course, the Church also mind-fucked us for centuries and its influence could still be felt during my childhood, even though its power had dwindle: I had religion classes that was keeping me a brainwashed Catholic, I was afraid of Hell, etc. Every time Quebec society wanted to progress, the Church opposed it with the last energy: when women wanted to vote, when we wanted to allow same sex marriages, etc. When a people exploited, oppressed, often the power within this people becomes the exploiter, the oppressor. Priests and rpeachers have plenty of fairy tales to give solace to their congregation: you are poor now, but you will live eternally in Heaven if you worship God and do what I say. The English took over, sure, they are exploiting you, sure, but don't worry, they will not take your soul. Just don't think about learning anything, just find your redemption in work and prayers. Don't try to make your life better through learning and critical thinking.
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to be Black to see the hypocrisy in megachurches and televangelists exerting control over politics and our daily lives, brainwashing people into handing over their hard-earned cash, and impeding moral progress at every turn. I think the experiences you described are universal.
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