That's pretty much the gist of this article on CNN:
Has the so-called Prosperity Gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California Riverside, he realized that Prosperity's central promise — that God would "make a way" for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, toxic expression during sub-prime boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe "God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house." The results, he says, "were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers."
Actually, it was "greedy parishoners meet greedy brokers" and together they create FINANCIAL CRISIS THAT HARD-WORKING CATALYST HAS TO PAY OFF!
Thanks, morons, thanks.
And let me just ad, this is definitely going to financially hurt the churches who depend on the prosperity gospel for their funding. If the tithing is based solely on a love for giving, then yes, I suspect the church will survive any type of economic recession or depression. However, if the giving is based on a belief that it will make you rich, then when the smoke clears and it becomes obvious that no one is getting rich for several years, the giving is going to slow down significantly. And that's going to make it rough for these churches to support multiple campuses. And ultimately, I think it's going to lead to a bankruptcy or two. And thus, when the Depression hits and I'm jobless, living with my parents, raising my chickens and trying to plant beans and rice in my parents back yard in North Portland, I'm going to find great solace in these failures and I will laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh….
Are these people losing their houses because they could not pay their original mortgage payment or is it because they were talked into an adjustable loan instead of a fixed and now cannot afford the rising adjustable rate? I know as a first time home buyer twenty years ago my husband and I were talked into an adjustable loan to keep our payments lower only to find out when our interest rate rose to thirteen percent that we were screwed. We quickly got out of that and have always made sure to get fixed rates ever since.
Having gone through this process many times I can tell you from experience that every mortgage broker or bank that I have ever worked with except one has pushed us to get an adjustable rate and a thirty year mortgage. We are currently in the process of refinancing to get our rate lowered and a fifteen year mortgage. Buy doing this we will be saving over one hundred thousand dollars in interest and our home will be paid off before we retire. The bank we are working with now is very much willing to discuss every possible way we could do this loan to save us the most money. This is the first time in my experience that this has happened. I think it is because I have learned the hard way and finally know what questions to ask and what is available to me as a consumer.
A lot of people, especially the younger generation are being sold down the river on a boat of debt and really are not being given enough information to make good decisions regarding their finances. Yes it’s stupid I know, but that is the way credit companies and financial institutions have wanted to keep people. Understanding how money works and what to do with your finances is something this generation needs to be taught. To counteract the lies that were out there in the marketplace the church should have been doing this. Instead they pushed for your ten percent tithe and never gave a damn what you were doing with the rest of your income.
I know there were some in the church like Larry Burkett and Debt Busters and some others that were on to the lie people were buying into about credit, but on a local level most pastors do not teach on anything but your tithe. That is all they care about. They will even let you put your tithe on your credit card in most churches now. What kind of message is that sending?
Where will this generation learn about the power of their own money instead of being slaves to credit and slaves to the tithe? People have been kept in the dark from both sides. One side to keep them in as much debt as they can and the other to extract that tithe any way they can. Neither one caring where they ended up financially. When people figure this out and begin to take responsibility for their own financial life that’s when things are going to change. And it looks like this current financial crisis is just the motivation to make that happen.
It won’t be that bad…we’ve lived off of beans and rice before (think winter of 03)…the only difference is were a little older now…and you’ll be sharing your bedroom with Aiden and Brady…
Good Times.