Don’t You Blaspheme In Here!
As the saying goes, “all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Well, I’m speaking out on something today. Let’s see what you do on this one. This is partially a rehash of an old piece I did, but it still applies. Hope you enjoy.
I first want to say that this will address a very sensitive topic to many: religion. I do not mean to make light of, fun of, or change your beliefs. I feel that all religions are to be respected, no matter what deity you pray to.
But I do want to make you think a little. If your sorry ass keeps letting you get taken advantage of, you need to start opening your eyes.
One day I was watching a religious broadcast, not for the religious aspect, but because I found it entertaining. You’ll understand why in a minute. I don’t want to put the name of the preacher out there, but I don’t think A Dollar of mine will ever be Flowing out of my pocket to him (if you can’t figure it out who it is, think about it).
He was talking about communion and how he was at a church and they didn’t have bread and wine. This guy said that he took potato chips and Sprite, blessed them both, and they became the bread and the wine for the communion (I’m not making this up; I couldn’t if I tried). I burst into laughter, thinking, “He can’t be serious!”
Then, I looked back at the television, and the audience gave him a standing ovation. Women were crying and testifying. Men gripped their bibles tightly as feelings of euphoria took over. All in attendance looked towards the heavens as if to thank God for sending this man down to them.
That made me ask a question: Is organized religion is the new “hustle”, and I don’t mean hustle like we talked about before like effort, ingenuity, and creativity. I mean like a con.
Organized religion has grown to astronomical proportions. Mega churches with thousands or parishioners are popping up all over with television deals and advertising sponsorships. If you can’t make it to service, don’t worry. You can even get your favorite televangelist’s latest DVD delivered to your door for a little as $19.95…shipping and handling not included.
Here is why I think the con works: People are afraid to question anything claimed to be sent from God.
Think about it. Let’s say I was throwing a dinner party, ran out of cheese, crackers and wine, gave you chips and soda instead, and tried to pass it off as the exact same thing. You’d think I was crazy. But throw the Word it and people are falling out from catching the Holy Ghost.
I’m not saying this applies to all churches, but I see too many people scraping together what little money they had left to feed themselves (and even their kids) for the week and putting it on the collection plate, thinking that God will put food in their mouths. It’s sad really. Belief in God is one thing; allowing someone to stick you up with a smile and a Bible in their hand is another.
If some of these things are going on in your house of worship, you may want to think strongly about changing where you pray:
- If there is an ATM in the lobby
- If the church checks your W-2’s to make sure you’ve paid your 10%
- If they pass the collection plate around more than once during service
- If you put money into the collection place and the usher stands there shaking it like he wants more
- If your church and/or preacher is being investigated by the IRS
Some of you are laughing or saying to yourselves that these things are made up. Actually, these are things that take place in churches that some people I know go to.
People will question their leaders all the time. We question scholastic leaders (teachers), we question our bosses at work. We even question the leader of our country who resides on Pennsylvania avenue. We won’t question our religious leaders though, even though we are instructed to. The Bible Book of Matthew 7 warns to “beware of the false prophet.” How do you know he’s a false prophet unless you question what he does?
If you feel something isn’t right, ask. Don’t be afraid to speak up. I don’t remember reading about Jesus ever turning someone away when they wanted to know more. I also don’t remember Jesus ever being adorned in the most expensive clothes or drinking from cups made of gold. I guess times have changed; some preachers need luxury cars and private planes.
And you wonder why you’ve had a building fund for years, but the roof still leaks?
What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment.
I watched a late night CON man on BET and he was peddling prayer clothes. I have friends who are preachers and they blur the lines a lot as they say they wrote the book but do not say no one would pay attention unless they were preaching.
Bloodsuckers of the Poor and then they try to justify it. How can your preacher drive a Bentley but be a server of the people? How can he have a mansion but he is supposed to raise you up? Then they name their wives first ladies and shit like that. C’mon man I know what a CON is we’ve been running them since I was a pre-teen but never did I ever cross a man willing to do it with GOD.
Straight up I judge them by what they produce. If the people that follow stay stupid and they never prosper then I know to check that MOFO head for horns. Besides that people want to believe they are doing good and here’s a CON man making you feel that although you’re F-ing up royally all is forgiven because you are a imperfect vessel.
The CON is so through that when you try to show people the common sense they think you are speaking against JESUS! Some people have to be killed and these cats to me are the official bullet testers of my hollow points!
Morning, Freeman. I like the passion; testing the hollow points on them is a little aggressive but that’s just me. You are dead on about people thinking at you are speaking against Jesus if you don’t agree. It’s hard to get people to question anything they hear in church, even though that’s what the Bible tells you to do, to question and to research if you don’t understand or agree.
The fact that people are afraid to question that is scary to me because some of the biggest atrocities in the history of man have been done in the name of God.
From a historical perspective; I’m not surprised that this hustle goes on. Religion or rather the deep seated fear of the unknown has been used to keep the masses in line throughout human history. It’s even far more effective and efficient than simple violence. More recently; these clowns come out of the exact same tradition and expression of Christianity that told our ancestors that it is God’s will that they remain in slavery.
I’m not surprised that this is still going on. But I am disappointed at the stupidity of our folks who attend these churches and allow themselves to be mentally and financially abused.
I understand you fully. When I was younger I used to watch Rev. $ but when I got serious about my faith I had to turn him off because he wasn’t making sense. I think that the problem is that people are not reading the bible for themselves. The bible gives out the requirement of an overseer. So you will know if your church is aligned with what God wants it to be.
Another thing is that people need not to glamorize their Pastor like he is God. One pastor told me that he prayed that he would get a Mercedes and told his congregation that in a sermon. Why did the church raise up money for him to get one…..sounds crazy to me!!!! His congregation is in Detroit, MI in the middle of the hood. I know that the people sacrificed a lot for their offering. He’s driving around in a Mercedes while the congregation is walking….oh I forgot you have to make sure that the man of God is token care off…………
Welcome, Crystal. I focus on Rev. $, but as you’ve seen, it’s a lot of preachers. I can’t believe that pastor said that he prayed for a Mercedes and that the congregation fell for it.
We can’t be afraid the question religion anymore. Just because we question doesn’t mean we don’t believe. The bible tells us to question what we think may be false, but we fear not going to Heaven so much that we’re scared to. That’s wrong. We have to stand up and hold the supposed messengers of God accountable.
Afternoon TrueMan! Yeah killing is harsh especially blowing their brains out is overkill but it’s a debilitating Hustle they are executing. When people ask me do I feel the same way about dope dealers I say yes too.
When people come to you seeking help and you turn around and leech their money through Jesus it just pisses me off. The thing that gets me is they know they are doing it too. I mean damn! At least a dope dealer knows he might go to hell but these preacher cats are on a whole different level of denial!
I agree, but at some point personal responsibility has to come in. I’ve read the Koran before, and one passage I like is “If you take one step towards Allah, he will take two steps towards you.” Stop waiting for the Lord to fall out the sky and open your mind. Then they would see what’s going on. We need to wake up.