Category Archives: Blog

Judge Dismisses Child Abuse Lawsuit due to “Privilege”

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If I was a criminal organization, I would definitely cloak myself with the veneer of religion. Regardless of your egregious actions, if you’re associated with a recognized faith, there is no crime serious you won’t get away with.

Take a recent example in Arizona, where a judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Mormon Church on the grounds that spiritual confessions are a sacred right, regardless of what crimes are being confessed. This means that any church official who fails to report serious and ongoing abuses are immune from any responsibility. How outrageous is the crime in question? How about a father who perpetually raped his daughter, confessed to it, and the church did nothing to stop it.

When a young girl was being habitually raped by her father, his confession to his pastor did not warrant the church to communicate with authorities to put a stop to it. He was able to continue to abuse his poor daughter for another 6 years, and had even begun to turn his attention to her 6 week old baby sister.

The church decided to excommunicate the man instead of calling the police, and washed their hands it. Since the man (if he can be considered one) had confessed to his monstrous actions in the presence of a another man trained in the art of make-believe, when the girl finally grew up and tried to sue the church for doing nothing to stop her sexual torture, an Arizona judge made sure that the one being protected was the mega powerful Mormon Church:

In a ruling on Friday, Cochise County Superior Court Judge Timothy Dickerson said the state’s clergy-penitent privilege excused two bishops and several other officials with the church… from the state’s child sex abuse mandatory reporting law, because Paul Adams initially disclosed during a confession that he was sexually abusing his daughter.

“Church defendants were not required under the Mandatory Reporting Statute to report the abuse of Jane Doe 1 by her father because their knowledge of the abuse came from confidential communications which fall within the clergy-penitent exception,” Dickerson wrote in his decision.

 

Let me remind you that this type of immunity is unique to religion alone. The closest analog we have to this privilege would be that of a lawyer, who is allowed to know about your crimes, without having to reveal details to the authorities. It is not without limitation, however. If there is a possibility of the furtherance of a crime, then your lawyers have a legal (not to mention moral) obligation to notify the police of your future plans. No such limitation exists when it comes to religious “confession”.

The major problem with this kind of immunity isn’t only that it allows criminals to continue to act with impunity. It’s far more sinister than that. Confession is also a way for these monsters to be absolved of their crimes morally. Faiths like Mormonism may claim that believers are bound by an objective morality, but in practical terms, churches have always found ways to involve themselves in the absolving of immorality, if not primarily because it has such good financial returns. It was indulgences that paid for the St. Peter’s Basilica, and the monetary benefits of offering salvation that has the the full power of secular law on its side, with legal protections of such magnitude, continues to fill coffers and puts asses in pews.

There is no end to my discuss when it comes to the privileges afforded to religions, especially when we know for a fact that they are so underserving of it of them. There are few world organizations that should have LESS protection than the major religions, who have fought for years to protect the rapists that live among their ranks. Remove their fancy vestments, or shave their overgrown beards and you would see them for what they are: a bunch of gangsters, rapists and embezzlers that would be right at home in a place that has bars on the windows.

Hit and Run Pastor Seeks Leniency

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There’s no denying that cars are dangerous. In the United States alone, vehicles account for roughly 40,000 deaths a year, with the numbers increasing year on year. The problem is particularly bad in states like Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina, which have twice the average road fatalities when compared to other states. One place that tends to have a much lower average is Washington, DC. Perhaps people tend to drive more conservatively there.

Still, it doesn’t mean some people don’t driving recklessly. On October 4th, Reverend Samuel Holloway, drove his car dangerously close to a small family, pinning a 6 year old boy’s foot was under his SUV’s tires after he accelerated past a crosswalk they were using. Following the frightening incident, it appeared that the man was pulling his vehicle over when instructed by a witness, but instead he quickly fled the scene.

Unaware that his accident had been caught on camera, when Holloway finally turned himself in (after 2 weeks of being in what he called a “mental fog”)  it turns out that he also had a suspended license. Now, rather than getting jail time, his attorney is requested leniency, claiming that there were extenuating circumstances that led him to both hit the family, and drive away.

Holloway’s motion goes on to say that at the time of the accident, he had not eaten or taken his blood pressure medication. The document states that a “stressful day,” “high blood pressure” and “mental confusion” following the crash, all contributed to Holloway’s “uncharacteristic, unacceptable and unreasonable flight response.”

Holloway is trying to use his status in the community to skirt responsibility and jail. It’s unsurprising. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he wants instead to be given a slap on the wrist. He’s likely to get his wish, as American judges tend to have massive blinders when it comes to the priestly class.

While there hasn’t been an official decision, I’m willing to bet that he walks away scot-free. It’s the great advantage that pious people can still boast. All they need to do is look sad, say they love Jesus, and the rest is forgiven. No wonder they love their religion so much; it’s a goddamn get out of jail free card!

Church Punishes Priest that Exposed Abuse

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If you ever believed Church rhetoric that they’re working hard to purge abusers from among their ranks, than I have a bunch of magic beans I can sell you.

Take the case of a Portuguese priest named Joaquim Nazaré, who recently exposed a dozen of his colleagues by reporting them to an Independent Commission specifically set up to investigate priestly abuse. When his employer found out, they reacted the way you would expect: they punished him for it.

You see, the problem was that one of the priests, Nuno Aurélio, had committed his vile acts 19 years ago, which meant that it passed the statues of limitation (which I should stress, was the result of the Church pushing hard to impose these limits). As a result, Aurélio claimed that the accusations amounted to slander, which the church agreed:

“Given that the burden of proof is on the accuser, it is clear that the defendant’s statements are defamatory and slanderous”, the ruling, reached last summer, continued.

“Nazaré – who had never appeared before the court – was condemned in two forms: he had to apologize not simply “personally” to Nuno Aurélio, but “publicly through diocesan channels” as a form of “reparation for the scandal”, and pay a month’s salary out of his pocket..

So imagine that your coworker sexually abused a child to the point that this person later kills themselves, and when you tell a commission specifically created to expose this kind of monstrous behavior, you’re forced to apologize to the abuser, and pay a month of your salary in punishment. I’m sure you would be thrilled.

Luckily, Nazaré is a badass who refuses to back down. He’s been removed from any position of authority as punishment as a result. His career prospects are now dead, but in my opinion, its better for him this way. Who wants to work for such a corrupt organization anyways? He’s obviously too good for them.

Keep in mind that not a single priest has actually faced any justice as a result of this investigation that found that over 5,000 people has been abused since 1950. That’s the equivalent of one kid getting raped every week (with some change left).

Irony, Thy Name is Religion

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A former student of Bogan High School in Chicago was awarded $150,000 after she sued the school, claiming that she was forced to participate in a Hindu meditation ritual. Outraged that she was obligated to go along with a religion that was not her own, this individual (who has never walked a day in the life of an atheist’s shoes) decided that this egregious act deserved financial compensation, and a dipshit judge agreed.

In the lawsuit, Green alleges the “Transcendental Meditation” program was held during school hours, and students were required to participate in an initiation ceremony called a “Puja” — an “expression of gratitude” to the dead founders of the practice.

 

During the “Puja,” instructors chanted words in Sanskrit containing “statements recognizing the power possessed by various Hindu deities and invitations to those same Hindu deities to channel their powers” without telling students what they meant, the suit states.

So let me just reiterate this so that you don’t choke to death on your own bile: a school mandated prayer session violated a woman’s core beliefs. Who knew that it was possible to get such a windfall from having a foreign religion shoved down your throat?

Now, because of how precedence works in the legal system, I am strongly encouraging my fellow atheists in Illinois to use this case as a springboard for their own forced religiosity. How many school programs have discriminated against non-believers in similar ways? I agree that this mandated prayer session didn’t belong in school, and that this should apply to all religions. Of course, for that to occur, Christians would have to stop being a bunch of crybaby hypocrites who think the rules don’t apply to them. Fat chance that will ever happen.

Woman targets Jews, mistakenly attacks hate group instead

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Conflict often brings out the worst in people. When Palestine attacked Israel by kidnapping and murdering over 1400 people, the retribution visited upon them has been tenfold, with over 10,000 people now dead. It is not a pleasant equation, and undoubtedly, countless innocent lives have been lost as two rival ideologies seek to annihilate each other. Israel wants revenge, and Palestine wants to see the destruction of the lonely Jewish state surrounded by Muslim neighbors. The outcome of such hatred and animosity is depressingly predictable. Things are bound to get worse instead of better.

The rest of the world has also reacted poorly. From fights in the streets to protestors chanting anti-Semitic rhetoric, it’s an unpleasant time to for those of us that cherish peace and good will towards men.

This brings us to the story of one Ruba Almaghtheh, a 34 year old woman who drove her car into what she thought was a Jewish school. It turned out to be a sect of “Black Israelites”, called the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge. These Black supremacists have been identified as a hate group, but Ruba had only seen the star of David on the building, and that was all she needed to know to ram her vehicle into the structure.

The “school” teaches things like hatred of gays, white people, Jews, with a generous dash of sexism. The locals, however, are usually more worried about the decibel level of their protests rather than their hateful message, which seems more silly than terrifying.

Some homeowners say that the group accuses white and gay people of destroying historically black neighborhoods, and at least one resident has complained of being called a “cracker, a slave owner, [and] a white devil,” but they reiterate that the volume of the group’s message, rather than the message’s content, is the real problem.

Ruba is being charged as a terrorist, regardless of attacking the wrong group, who no doubt shares some of her ideology. Such a label is bound to only extend the prison sentence she faces. https://fox59.com/news/indy-police-arrest-terrorist-for-purposely-driving-her-car-into-home-used-by-hate-group/

Mormon Church sued for improper use of tithing

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The Mormon Church is in the hot seat again. You may recall that TGA reported on a whistleblower that exposed the church’s finance as being primarily about business and investments rather than charity (their portfolio being over 100 billion dollars). Keep in mind that the main reason that religions are allowed their tax free status is the understanding that monies collected are supposed to be for charitable services. As a result, they were fined a paltry 5 million dollars, which represents roughly .00005 % of their wealth. It would be the equivalent of committing 100,000 dollars of fraud and being fined 5 bucks. Who wouldn’t commit crime with this kinds of punishment?

Not every Mormon is thrilled that money is being used for purposes other than religious. Three members of the church are suing following the whistleblower report that demonstrated that the church uses the funds for everything BUT charitable work.

The church’s corporate arm, the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solicits donations for humanitarian relief with promises that all donations are used to help those in need. But those promises are untrue, the latest lawsuit argues.

Instead, the church allegedly hid the fact that some if not all donations are permanently invested in accounts never used for charitable work.

I would be surprised if this leads anywhere. It’s notoriously hard to get churches to be held accountable for their scams, and with 100 billion in the bank, it’s not impossible to imagine that quite a few palms will be greased before this is all over.

What should happen is fairly obvious: the Mormon Church needs to be taxed on properties and investments which do not meet the standard of charitable contributions. In this case, this would mean that a large portion of their coffers would finally be placed under the same scrutiny of any other major financial organization. However, I can already predict that gutless government agencies will bend over backwards to accommodate these scammers, for fear that they might be accused of being anti-religious (as though this is a bad thing).  Anyone expecting justice to be delivered when the guilty are religious organizations are bound to be extremely disappointed. At least it’s nice to know that many of their own members have serious misgivings about continuing to tithe the church. That’s a start, at least.

Christian University Fined for Deceiving Students

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Christian Universities are a joke. The notion that an educational institution would have an official religion is against the very idea of learning. Forget being able to challenge the beliefs and ideas of others, which is the bedrock of any liberal education. Instead, if you are a sensitive Christian that despises the idea that you might share real-estate with people who don’t believe in exactly the same this, then the University of Grand Canyon might be for you. All you need to accept is the idea that the amount of money you’ll be spending on your education will be way different than what you were originally quoted.

This is because they were recently fined 37 million dollars for deceiving students pursuing doctoral programs into paying more money than they were originally slated to give. This represents the largest penalty ever issued to an “educational” institution for this kind of activity. They should feel proud.

The University ranks 395th out of 435 in the US, which means that if you were to randomly pick any school in America, the odds of getting a worst one would be quite low. Grand Canyon ranks in the bottom 25% of American Universities, and from the graduation rates, it’s obvious that the school is far more interested in registrations than graduations.

Here are a few reviews that seem to corroborate this

I spent eight years working on a PhD only to have incompetent dissertation chairs. I was put in an extension course after extension course writing my dissertation proposal with no end in sight. Paying out of pocket. They use up all your student loan money and they don’t care to see you graduate. Horrible experience.

I don’t even know where to start. I am in my first class and can already see I made a huge mistake. The interface is awful and half assed. I was given bad in financial info. It is not worth what you pay.

Were you expecting a religious organization to be interested in anything other than money? Where have you been for the last millennium or two?

Churches concerned over lack of Gen Z generosity

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Churches around the world are in trouble. You see, young people are leaving Christianity in droves, and those that are staying have very shallow pocketbooks. This is the latest discovery of a recent study of protestant pastors that found that the majority of them were very concerned that the next generation of Christians were finding themselves unwilling to be charitable:

The future of the Church depends in large part on generosity. And that generosity will soon hinge on a generation who presently exhibit less financial security and lower levels of Christian affiliation, church attendance and charitable giving than their elders”

There are several reasons for this lack of “generosity”. For starters, Gen Z is poorer than their parents. They are also more educated about church misconduct, and it hasn’t helped these religious organizations that so many sexual abuse scandals have surfaced. It’s not exactly great marketing. Lastly, Gen Z might be politely showing up to church, but it seems the main reason is just to please their parents or grandparents. They lack their own reasons for showing up, and that’s a good thing.

The fact is, religiosity is dying among the younger generation. Living in the information age has made it practically impossible for churches to keep their flock. Either some scandal erupts, or a basic internet search will thoroughly destroy any claims made by the religious.

So, how are these guys going to keep paying the bills? Who cares!

 

Russian Muslims target Jews at Dagestan Airport

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As the situation worsens in Israel, the rest of the world has responded in a variety of ways. In many countries, Pro-Palestinian protestors have been making their voices heard, and often, these voices have been echoing some familiar sentiments that many of us thought were long gone. Russia, who claims to be fighting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to “rid Kiev of Nazis”, has been named as one of the possible instigators and planners of the attacks that happened (alongside Iran), specifically in an attempt to get attention diverted away from their disastrous war.

The Republic of Dagestan is largely Muslim, which naturally means that the animosity they feel towards Jews has always been high, and is now at a fever pitch. A few days ago, when word reached the populous that a plane from Israel had been diverted to their local airport, they came in force to “greet” any potential Israelite with the familiar phrase “Allahu Akbar”, or God is Great. This phrase has always struck me by how it reeks of insecurity, even as it is used in violent incidents.

The terrified passengers were harassed, and some appeared to have been injured in the process.  the mob was tearing passports from the hands of innocent travelers, telling people that they were “only looking for Jews today”. Around 60 people were arrested by police, but it didn’t just stop at the airport:

On Saturday, a crowd in the city of Khasavyurt in Dagestan gathered outside a hotel where they believed some Israelis were staying.

The protesters threw stones at the windows and a sign was put on the door reading: “Entrance strictly forbidden to citizens of Israel”

There are roughly 300-400 Jewish families that live in the Russian republic. How long before something more serious happens?

Church warns of Fake Priest scammers

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It’s not often that the Catholic church tries to do something right. It’s so uncommon that when it happens, the cynical part of me wonders if there might be some ulterior motive behind it. For instance, the Diocese in California is trying to put a stop to fake priests who are tricking recent immigrants into paying thousands of dollars for “services” that would typically be either free or inexpensive.

Diocesan spokesperson Erin Haight told NBC News the bogus clerics “are charging these poor people thousands and thousands of dollars for things like health blessings for communions and confirmations.”

The church is learning lesson in humility, as the police have stated that only victims of the fraud can come forward. There is no legal way to distinguish between a destructive cult and an established religion, so it turns out that anyone that wears a crown of thorns can ask believers for whatever they want, and this kind of theft is totally legal.

Since so many of the victims are illegal immigrants, it’s almost assured that the perpetrators of these scams will continue to do so without resistance. Since they utilize the veneer of religion, they are practically untouchable. All the church can do is try to educate its flock to prevent them from being conned. The irony here is almost palpable.

New House Speaker is a Creationist Idiot

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We always knew you were a little troubled, America. If you aren’t being terrified on a daily basis by mass shootings, you have to worry about your republic being eroded by religious zealots intent on transforming the United States into a theocracy. They are now one step closer with the Republican Party installing a religious extremist as their House Speaker.

Mike Johnson is now one of the most googled person, since before his important position, most of America was unaware of his existence. A brief look is not encouraging: the man is a religious wacko, who has worked with conservative groups to ban abortion, which he blames for school shooting (it’s not the guns, you know). He also thinks that the embarrassingly dumb Creation Museum (which he fought to have funded with taxpayer money) is an important “educational” tool.

“The Ark Encounter is one way to bring people to this recognition of the truth, that what we read in the Bible are actual historical events,” Johnson said in a 2021 interview with Ark Encounter founder Ken Ham while guest-hosting the radio show of Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an evangelical activist group.

This man is now second in line to the American presidency. Is this a sign of more things to come, or will this act as a wakeup call for voters that religious nutbags are actively trying to destroy their democracy? Only time will tell.

Madrassa teacher Arrested for Mollesting Students

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Over the years, we’ve covered a lot of child abuse by pastors and priests. It’s an almost daily occurrence, so much so that the phrase “youth pastor arrested for molestation” has become a bit of a meme these days. Because Christianity is so dominant in our society, we forget that other religions have the same tradition of molesting their flock, and protecting their abusers.  Take for instance a recent story out of India. A 25 year old madrassa teacher was arrested after he was accused of “sodomizing” almost a dozen students (that we know about). They also arrested the trustee, who had not only failed to take any action to report the abuse, but he also helped the teacher to flee when word came that police were going to arrest him. Both had tried to flee when the accusations were made, but they were eventually apprehended.

The whole affair came to light after one of the students was brave enough to do something about the abuse.

The offence came to light after one of the students of the residential school called his mother using the mobile phone of another maulana a few days back and complained about the teacher’s sexual gestures and acts with students, the police statement said.

It’s a reminder that only the courage of victims will finally stop these religious organizations from providing shelter, aid, and a fertile ground for their depravity. As the stigma of abuse sheds, I have no doubt that there will be more stories of this kind. Here’s hoping that the victims get some form of justice in all of this.

Kazakhstan bans hijabs in schools

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The topic of the hijab is a tricky issue for secular countries. On the one hand, it’s an obvious form of religiously mandated modesty, forced upon women. On the other, it can be (in limited cases) a free expression of one’s religious devotion, though unsurprisingly this freedom is rarely granted outside of Western countries.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, young women who dare to defy the practice are routinely harassed and sometimes beaten to death, as was the case a year ago, with 22 year old Mahsa Amini. Since her death, more women have defied the mandate to wear it, even as thousands are arrested and killed. The ones living in exile of this theocratic country are not fans of the headscarf, as it has become a symbol of both social and political revolution.

Paradoxically, in England, a recent statue was erected celebrating this vicious denial of female agency. This is the same country where honor killings have gone up by 81%. Many of these killings go unsolved, as the family is unwilling to cooperate with police investigations. How many other faiths can boast of this kind of this devotion?

Kazakhstan is facing the growing threat of religious upheaval. The country is 70% Islamic, although the government tries its best to stay secular. Their recent solution to the danger of sectarianism is inelegant, to say the least. They recently banned the wearing of the hijab in schools, arguing that wearing it represents a kind of religious  propaganda. Officials stressed that the ban does not apply outside of school, but already, the familiar cries of oppressions abound. In protest, hundreds of girls refused to show up to their schools, and one official was beaten by two religious thugs when she refused to allow a student wearing one to enter.

This kind of restriction only serves to feed the grievances of the religious, who always feel oppressed, even when their boot is on your neck. Free societies are always at danger of losing their commitment to liberty, since this can often be used as a tool to spread religious repression. This is what the hijab represents; the cross-section of freedom and oppression. The irony of course is that were Islam in power, the choice to wear it would disappear for everyone. The dilemma of freedom is a one sided affair, but it is our responsibility to preserve it.   Still, we cannot win this fight by compromising the values we hold dear. Instead, if schools really believe that religious symbols represent propaganda, the only inoculant against dogma is a good education. If there’s one place everyone can improve, it would be this.

Courts overrules JW parent’s fight to prevent blood transfusion for child

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Religious folks baffle me. Imagine that your child is dying, and in order to save their life, a simple blood transfusion is needed. For the vast majority of us, this is simply a no-brainer; people have been receiving blood transfusions for almost 400 years, and it’s a relatively benign form of aid.  Sure, there are some minor risks involved, but for the most part, thousands of transfusions happen without incident. Not so in the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have interpreted the Bible’s disgust in spilt blood into a generalized philosophy that outright bans their members from receiving transfusions, even when it would save their lives. It’s estimated that almost 600 JW’s lose their lives every year from their refusal, and since their adoption of this ridiculous practice, over 30,000 of them have perished needlessly.

If you want to let yourself die over the ridiculous belief that your god disapproves of this life saving medical procedure, and you are an adult, there’s nothing stopping you from throwing your life away. However, this certainly does not mean that you have a right to decide for others whether or not they get to live. That’s something that the courts in Australia also seem to agree, as a recent ruling from a judge is forcing a JW couple to allow their three year old toddler to receive blood for her upcoming medical surgeries. For months the couple has been fighting her doctors, and so the courts had to get involved to save her life.

The court took into account the parents’ strongly held convictions. “However, based on the medical evidence and the submissions advanced by the parties it was clearly in JI’s best interests and welfare to authorize the proposed treatment in advance of her upcoming surgeries”

Why is someone’s conviction important? Anyone can have a conviction, but it does not mean that their beliefs are righteous. You could have a strong conviction that everyone on earth is the devil and needs to be destroyed (a belief that’s held by quite a few religious groups, I might add). The fact that the court and even the doctors were trying to bend over backwards for these types of ludicrous beliefs is beyond me. Only the veneer of religion can make people this weak and pathetic in the face of such stupidity. By just concentrating on the facts, it boils down to a child’s life hanging in the balance, all because her parents think that a Bronze Age god gives a crap what gets put in your body.

Cursed are the Poor

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While religion is on a slow decline across the world, there is a brand of Christianity that is flourishing as people’s economic prospects begin to dwindle: prosperity gospels. Their philosophy is simple: wealth is a direct result of “seeding” the church, which is just a fancy way of saying that the more money you give to religious charlatans, the more God will bless you.

Most of you are already familiar with the big names in the biz: Creflo Dollar and Joel Osteen come to mind. However, this ignores the hundreds of other small hustlers like Jason Mattera who demand that their already financially stricken flock give them thousands of dollars with the vague promise that they will see these amounts returned tenfold. It’s an easy pitch for those desperate for a miracle.

No content with just ripping off their fellow man, now some have taken to venting about how the evil of poverty is a direct result of those lazy bums that refuse to do an honest days work, and a lack of faith in God. You see, in their world view, people who need help have failed to help themselves, and the whole notion of “Christian charity” is really a fundamental misunderstanding of biblical teachings:

Of course, Christians are supposed to be at the tip of the spear in alleviating poverty, especially when it comes to other believers. That doesn’t mean, however, that we are under any obligation to help indolent bums.

Such people are not entitled to our generosity.

The irony in all of this is that a majority of adherents to prosperity gospel tend to be people of lower means. In a sense, these poor wretches want to understand their own failures and seek to justify the intense inequity in wealth distribution around them. Why are some rich and others poor? Their conclusion is simple: it’s all their fault for lacking faith:

Many scholars of religion…argue that the Prosperity Gospel resonates only with those of the lower class by offering them the “opiate” of upward mobility. Others make the reverse argument that the Prosperity Gospel actually rationalizes the wealth of those who have been upwardly mobile by saying that this is spiritually derived and deserved (Bruce 1990b; Fee 1981; Gifford 1998).

As wealth inequity grows, so too will this movement, which will only continue to add to the problem. From now on, anyone associating Christianity with compassion and charity better think twice!