Give us money or you're going to Hell!

Want to know why so many people have issues with Christianity? It's not so much the whole concept (let's face it, all religions have some hard-to-fathom origins) but the whole corporate mentality of contemporary Christianity. Let's be honest; it turns people off. I mean really...you don't see Jews, Buddhists, or Muslims on TV begging for money.

Mind you, I'd probably enjoy watching that. I can just imagine an old, Orthodox rabbi, explaining philosophy and giving good reasons to send him money. But you never see that.

I can imagine the Dalai Lama hosting a talk show, and interspersing it with pleasant, humorous, requests for donations.

I can imagine a Muslim cleric who...no, I can't. I could've written a great idea here...but it would just be too over-the-top.

No, it's the so-called Christians, mostly American Christians, who have ruined it for everyone. Ever since folks like S. Parks Cadman and Aimee Semple McPherson took to the radio waves and started preaching, the corporate mindset kicked in and saw PROFIT rather than PROPHET. McPherson started one of the first megachurches. This whole concept is pretty much un-Christian. But, it's the American way. Do it bigger and better (different perhaps, never better)...and make as much as you can. And...it's wrong.

Even as a kid, I'd see televangelists on TV and feel repelled by them. I knew even then that what they were doing was wrong...but so many people fall for it. All you have to do is claim to be God's messenger, and someone is going to listen to you. As an ordained minister, who also spent 25 years working in the mental health field, when someone tells me that God spoke to them, my first question is "Did you take your meds?"

While perusing Facebook today, a friend posted something humorous about Jack Van Impe. Mind you, I think that man and his lizard-like wife are just evil. They use fear tactics to swindle people out of money. It's little more than religious extortion. "Give us money or you're going to Hell!" Van Impe (or as I call him, Ren Van Stimpy) is typical of America's right wing extremist theocratic bullshit. He takes scripture and twists it to fit his own desires.

Allow me to say, from experience, real faith and real Christianity are good things. Christianity is about love and doing good. It's not about putting other people down, calling them names, and generally being a dickhead. If you're watching the news, or reading an article about so-called Christians espousing messages of hate...remember, those people are NOT Christians. Don't confuse the real deal with con artists.

As a Christian, I'd like others to be able to share in my faith...but guess what...I'm a big boy. I know that not everyone will. I'm OK with that. Just try to be nice to people. Help others when you can. And guess what...you don't have to send me a donation. I've never asked for one. Probably never will. If someone is asking you for money, ask yourself why. Then donate the money they ask for to a real charity.

“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart.
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice