I have been getting more and more perturbed by my girlfriends “church”, Calvary. There are many many things I dislike about their set up but I don’t need to go into all of that for this…
What I really want to get your opinion on is about the profiteering I have seen there. They have bands that play (which is ridiculous in and of itself) who all have CD’s for sale, the Ministers I have all seen all name drop their books and friends books that are for sale in the bookstore that is attached to the compound/churchground, and they have gigantic over the top stages, lighting, and flat screen tvs everywhere to show the broadcast. I see tons of stickers, and other merchandise all with Jesus’ name emblazoned across them happily slapped on cars, shirts, and anything else around.
I am Catholic (recovering) and I was always against people selling crucifixes and other trinkets at there shops so I really took offense to what Calvary is up to.
Am I wrong on this one? It seems like exploitation and very un-Christian. I would like to hear others views on these people/companies that make nice money selling Jesus. If I am wrong, tell me why, and if I am right, please tell me why is it so prevelant and why so many “Christians” buy into it?
Religion is a competitive business. They are against other religions because it costs them money and recruits. A true religion would be happy for someone who found the light. But ,they are not because their light wants money.
I saw a Sunday TV preacher selling blessed rubber bands. I was offended that he did not even attempt to peddle a trinket that was useful or worth something. It was crass. That is what they all do, just not so obviously.
Hey, at least you’re getting something for your money. It sure beats tithing in that respect.
<Obligatory angry atheist rant>
And while people go to church for their own edification or whatever, churches themselves have a marked history of existing for the edification, glory, and benefit of the church itself. (Else, why organize formally rather than do the Jesus thing and just meet and chat?) In addition to accumulating power over the people and government, this also has a tendency to involve the acculation of wealth. This shouldn’t be news to anyone.
</rant>
Actually it’s a bit refreshing to hear of a church doing it in an openly crass manner. At least one suspects they’re not all holier-than-thou about failing to buy a bumper sticker.
I thought it was funny in “When Do We Eat” when our main character (Jewish) runs his factory for over 20 years making and selling Mary statues and other Christmas trinkets. We were captioning this film a while back and someone mentioned this scene. Another co-worker interrupted with, “The statues will still be good if they’re blessed by a priest.” This co-worker was devout.
Any item that’s “blessed” by a human is the most childlike thing about humanity and faith. You can pray the whole rosary, but if you’re not holding one (!!) well, you’re just not prepared are you? And if you’re scared, better clutch onto that blessed gold cross for ULTIMATE protection.
No difference between a crucifix on a chain and a Sea World “Believe” pendant.
See what it’s becoming? Church used to be all about “look at my new hat, my daughter’s new dress and my well-behaved children!” Now it’s all about, “Did you see the bumper sticker I bought at the church store? You should get one too!”
If I bought those blessed rubber bands someone mentioned and I used them at work, will I be spreading the blessing to my customers (even though I’m atheist)?
The church would say it’s getting its much needed “ministry” out into the world. They’ll use the guilt-tripping analogy of sports teams. People will spend $$ on oversized jerseys and sports paraphenalia and 24 hour sports channels. So if you can summon up that kind of passion for your favorite team, then you can do it for your pal Jesus. They’d have a better leg to stand on if they were raising money for the poor, the widowed, the sick, and the imprisoned, because that was Jesus’s ministry. And what is it with every preacher having a gazillion titles. Notice how Jesus doesn’t have a bunch of special titles, but if you attend correspondance school for a few months, you can become Dr. Bishop Reverand Evangelist Annointed One. If the preachers wanted to be Christ-like, they’d just be “Bill” or “John” and leave the honorifics at home.
I once attended a church service where giniormous bronze lettering spelling out JESUS hung from the top of the stage, above the pulpit. It reminded me of something out of the “The Wiz”, in all its fabulous glitteriness. Two things came to my mind while sitting there. One, it blocked so much of my field of vision that if I had been an alien from another planet, I would have assumed we were all supposed to be worshipping those letters. And two, I was kind of worried it was going to crash down and kill everyone underneath it. The whole thing was so over-the-top and wasteful, I couldn’t enjoy the service at all.
I’m an atheist, and I think it’s brilliant. Hot product, captive audience, no hassles with trademark/copyright issues. It’s damn near a license to print money.
I used to work for a tv evangelist, i was one of the people who answered the phone and took donations, credit card numbers, transcribed the answer machine etc etc.
you have no idea of the money they make and the amount they will rip you off if they can.
for example, i worked in the home office, it was a dour car garage, my view consisted of a brand new corvette, a brand new motorbike, a seemingly brand new le sabre(he told me it was his old car…but this was 2006…and it was the 2006 model as far as i could tell), and all this was next door to his brand new 300 thousand brand new house, and his daughter attended private school.
his fav trick was if someone left their credit card for a donation…to firstly try and charge 5000 dollars on it to pay for the “annoited oil” they requested. The oil it should be noted cost…5 dollars per 500. so it was quite a profit.
Also his “boss” turned up once a week or so to check on the “charity” in his brand new candy apple convertible.
I am a atheist and even i could’nt stand the “religion” there. i lasted 4 days… and he attempted not to pay me for my work to top it off. in my time there, to my knowledge, just by the paperwork i handed to him, donations were over fifty thousand.
