Fleecing The Flock - RW Fundy Pastors Have No Vow Of Poverty

[TheMastersNemesis]

Leaders of these fundy churches certainly take no vow of poverty. Many of them are so rich and live so high. They live a life style that virtually none of their congregation can afford many of the basics. It is amazing how selling the Bible and phony salvation can be so profitable for these charlatans. Yet the believers believe their tithes will give them special privileges in heaven.

The "snake oil" salesmen of the 19th century never passed. They transformed to sell a new kind of "spiritual snake" and they are richer than ever. The vow of poverty does not exist for them. It is the vow of riches and power instead.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. They follow what's called the "prosperity gospel."

The idea is that material wealth is a sure sign of God's approval, so there's nothing wrong with praying for a new car, for example. And if you are going to preach that theory, how better to demonstrate to the members of your church that God endorses your message than to be incredibly rich yourself? This idea - heresy, if you like - is responsible for duping the gullible into donating money they can't afford to the pastors of many megachurches, who live like kings. One writer speculates that this might have even contributed to the crash of 2008: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/did-christianity-cause-the-crash/307764/

[HFRN]

2. Grassley:Jesus came into the city on a simple donkey,what are disciples of his doing flying in jets?

"Jesus came into the city on a simple donkey," the senator said. "What are disciples of his doing flying in jets?"

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4149598

[Igel]

3. Yeah, but it cuts both ways.

"Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world. What are disciples of his doing being rulers and part of a kingdom that isn't his, if they believe him to be their lord? Isn't it like being told that you're an employee Apple, but you've decided to take a job as CFO for Google? You're a colonel in the US Army, but also high-ranking in the Nazi Luftwaffe?"


When you pick cherries, you pick the ones that you think are the ones you'll like. Those that look sour, rotten, green, or otherwise undesirable you let fall to the ground. If you're going to cherry pick, at least admit it--and then don't compound the problem by being a hypocrite and Pharisee, saying that others must do everything as the Christ did but you have an indulgence to do as you please.

And if Grassley doesn't consider himself a Xian, if he's an outsider to that group, then he's doing what I've dubbed outsplaining: Telling members of a group he's not part of what they must feel, believe, experience, and do because as an outsider he's so much more qualified to know. Mansplaining and whitesplaining are varieties of outsplaining specifically directed to women and minorities.

[HFRN]

4. whatever you said

i missed it, and i suspect it's because there was nothing there