My favorite Brit (next to Michael Palin, that is) takes on the evangelical fad for “prosperity”–i.e., God wants you to be rich, so give me your money as a sign of faith and if you’re not rich in X many days, you don’t believe in God enough. Pay me more money and I’ll teach you how to believe stronger.
Yeah. I have trouble believing people fall for this crap too, but apparently Barnum’s Dictum still rings true.
In any case, go and read Barth’s Talk To Action post about Prosperity and Prosperity Lite. It’s worth your time.
Snatched from Ekklesia, an African church leader who says faith-based AIDs programs aren’t doing any good.
“As faith-based organisations we have been involved in HIV prevention, but we have been doing more harm than good,” said J.P. Heath.
He explained: “We have offered care - made promises to look after orphans and [to] help with funeral fees. We must [now] stop helping people to die and start helping them to live. We must mobilise faith leaders to say that we can live with HIV.”
There was recognition among the religious leaders that one of their biggest challenges comes from those who use the language of faith or the doctrine of the church to preach that HIV is a punishment from God and that the use of condoms is a sin.
The head of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Mark Warner, said the church had to understand that the prohibition on the use of condoms was exacerbating the disease rather than preventing it. Abstinence as the only form of prevention was not viable when discussing HIV prevention, he said.
“Churches must realise that the use of condoms in fighting HIV is not contrary to our moral teaching,” said Bishop Warner. (Ekklesia)
I’ve often wondered at the anti-condom stance in some religions. The only reason I can find for it is that temporal power partly rests on number of followers–the more you have to pay tithe to the offering-plate, the better your church does. Who cares if diseases run rampant or people’s lives are destroyed by no access to health care or proper contraception? Got to get that money into our Swiss accounts, yo.
For God’s glory, you know.
