One of the reasons people turn to God is they hit a low point in their life and have no where else to turn. So it’s no surprise that the current recession is bringing more people to church:
“It’s a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,” said the Rev. A. R. Bernard, founder and senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York’s largest evangelical congregation, where regulars are arriving earlier to get a seat. “When people are shaken to the core, it can open doors.”
People are usually open to superstition when things are at their worst. Like a terminal patient who turns to alternative remedies, they feel they have nothing to lose.
One way Christians are getting people to attend is by having financial classes:
Nationwide, congregations large and small are presenting programs of practical advice for people in fiscal straits — from a homegrown series on “Financial Peace” at a Midtown Manhattan church called the Journey, to the “Good Sense” program developed at the 20,000-member Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., and now offered at churches all over the country.
In general I think this can be good. People need financial training — they obviously haven’t done too well on their own. The principles are pretty basic though: pay yourself first, spend less than you make, be frugal, put at least 6 months of living wages in savings, contribute regularly to your 401k, etc.
However, churches give one more piece of advice in their financial classes: God wants them to give at least 10% of their income to the church. Some teach that when people do this, God will bless them with more money. Others don’t make such lavish promises and simply say that God will be happy with them and give them other blessings. But make no mistake — this is taught. That’s the main danger I see in the Christian financial classes. People who are deep in debt and facing foreclosure shouldn’t be giving 10% of their income to a church.
Many Christians are getting pretty excited about the recession, and even praying it turns into a depression. They think it will usher in another “Great Awakening”:
Part of the evangelicals’ new excitement is rooted in a communal belief that the big Christian revivals of the 19th century, known as the second and third Great Awakenings, were touched off by economic panics….
[Rev. Don MacKintosh, a Seventh Day Adventist televangelist in California, said,] “We need to leverage this moment, because every Christian revival in this country’s history has come off a period of rampant greed and fear. That’s what we’re in today — the time of fear and greed.”
Let’s hope that’s not the case. It’s an absence of reason that has led us to this recession — you can only spend more than you earn for so long, you know.
But the answer isn’t going to church and worshiping an ancient sky-god with his zombie demigod son, Jesus. The answer lies in knowledge and restraint. We need to use our brains, not blindly follow preachers or ancient holy books.
(via)
Amen to that ;-)
It’s pretty sad that some actually hope that people suffer more just so that they will have stronger faith in their superstition, which is supposed to offer healing and rejuvenation.
How is believing in something that is unlikely going to make your life better?
Can’t stories that are meant to be uplifting be understood in order to improve ones mindset without having superstition?
To be fair, some churches are careful about asking for tithes. The church I went to when I was a teen – a liberal Episcopalian church in a building that looked like a Pizza Hut that had found religion – always made it clear that you gave 10% of what you had left at the end of your budgeting. You paid your expenses, settled some of your debts, and squirreled some away into savings. Then you looked at what you had left, your disposable income IOW, and gave 10% of that. If that was zero, then so be it.
Of course, the prosperity gospel is a different story. I think they tell you to give 10% of what you’d like to earn.
When I went to church, they taught that giving 10% of your NET income was cheating god. You had to give at least 10% of your GROSS income- and that was just a starting point.
Hm, undoubtedly tithes are a consequence of not receiving state funding.
In Denmark, where I live, the Protestant church is recognized as the official state church (by way of our constitution, unfortunately), and it is funded by the state through taxes, about 20% of which are mandatory, the rest you can avoid if you don’t want to contribute to this arrangement. So we have freedom of religion, but not equality of religion.
As bad as this arrangement is, it means the practice of tithing is mostly reserved for fanatical cults (Pentecostals, Latter Day Saints, and “beyond” – in fact, mostly churches with American roots), and, I presume some Islamic denominations. Very few people think that the church is entitled to tithes. We generally regard it as a relic of the Middle Ages or an expression of fundamentalist eccentricity.
My folks tithe, but I don’t recall that it was ever mentioned in church.
And if the recession deepens, who knows, maybe that would be a good thing. Canada enacted single-payer health care during the last one.
Of course many churchists might disagree with that idea …
There’s a lot of money to be made in Fear and Misery. The church figured it out a long time ago.
Yeah, one does wonder if the early Catholic church would have invented the idea of purgatory if it wasn’t such a huge cash cow for the church (absolution through donation and tithing).
After all, it’s not like there’s any scriptural evidence of purgatory (apart from two or three biblical verses which must be seriously mangled to mean what the church wants them to), and there’s certainly no mention of the church having the power to decide such matters in the afterlife.
The great false dilemma – you either choose greed and misery or religion and happiness. There are no other routes, according to these people.
How about religion and misery?
i would guess that bad times like recession work in the same way as getting old (fear of death) does: people just fear the future and turn to a higher idea if they can’t resolve something or don’t have control over it.
Great post. I’m always surprised by how much people will invest in their superstitions.
@VorJack: It’s true that many churches don’t hammer home the tithe stuff from the pulpit. But I guarantee it’s talked about in these financial classes, because they are based on “what the bible says about money” and the Bible says to give tithes.
(Though my favorite line from churches, which I’ve heard far too many times, is a variation of: “Here at 22nd St. Syphilis Church, we don’t ask for you to give money. If you’re new, please don’t give money. Some churches beg for money, but not us. We trust the Lord to provide. We’re a little under in our bills, but yes, the Lord shall provide. Now Brother Boring, please come and say the Offering Prayer unto our Lord and Savior…”)
Do we Christians deserve these rants? Definitely, but not all Christians are the same. Just ask Penn Jillette:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM&eurl=http://brentpeak.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embedded
I’d never tell anyone they HAD to tithe, because the Bible makes it clear that it’s not to be done out of compulsion. Unfortunately, most churches don’t handle it that way, though.
And even if a recession or depression did bring more people to church, it’s not something I would pray for. In fact, the Bible tells me to do the opposite: “Work for the success of the city I have sent you to. Pray to the Lord for that city. If it succeeds, you too will enjoy success.” (Jeremiah 29:7) I’m very sorry that there are Christians who would do otherwise.
@Daniel Florien
True enough, I suppose. Once you start offering financial advice with a religious overlay, then you’re in trouble. Somehow I don’t think ‘render unto Caesar’ plays a big role in the discussion.
The biggest problem I see with this is that many that turn to the church for aid will end up on the losing end anyway. I know a few people who will miss a few meals if they have to just to pay their 10% to the church. The people going to these classes are already going to be way behind and any church that would be expecting them to tithe are no better then common criminals the way I see it.
Brent it is good to hear this but the problem tends to be that unless you as a christian go against this type of behavior, the ones committing the acts will use you as part of their backing for it. What I mean by this is many of the more extreme fundies get you to support their actions by making it seem as if to stand against them is to side with the devil.
@somegreencat Trust me, I’ve stood against my fair share of fundies. And yes, they do think I’ve sided with the devil. Christians are often meaner to each other than they are to nonbelievers.
Why does the expression “A fool and his money are soon parted,” come to mind?
It seems the real reason people turn to a anthropomorphic god sock puppet in times of trouble is they have too poor of an education to abandon that childhood occupation of sock puppet puppeteer.
It is interesting to note many people have lost much of the value contained in their 401K’s due to the recent sub prime mortgage finantial credit crunch and bail out.
Buying junk silver coins or gold would have been a more practical hedge against the inevitable currenct debasement.
Daniel I am sad for you. God is the greatest thing and I would never unbelieve(which you can’t-once saved always saved)I will pray for you. What made you turn away?