If you’ve never heard of Joel Osteen, consider yourself lucky. In America, there exists a certain breed of hucksters called “prosperity pastors”, who claim that the secret to a good life is to give a ridiculous amount of money to the church (something they call “seeding” instead of “fleecing”). This, they claim, will be rewarded by God, who apparently counts every penny you give to these assholes.

When he isn’t busy turning away the needy, he’s on social media, saying dumb shit like this:

“It’s the simple things in life that bring us the most joy. You may not have a lot of resources, but if you have family, you’re blessed. If you have your health, you’re blessed. If you can look up at the stars at night, you’re blessed.”

The response has been pretty brutal. Many people are pointing out that his insane wealth is anything but simple, and were also quick to point out his hypocrisy.

Personally, I wouldn’t even mind guys like Osteen if they were preaching to the rich. God knows that some of those assholes could stand to lose a few bucks. However, most followers of prosperity gospels are disproportionally poor, and often, they seek the church as a way to potentially get rich, which they think can be done by giving money they could have otherwise used for other purposes. In reality, prosperity gospel have some of the poorest congregants, specifically because of how much they are taxed by the church.

Don’t just take my word for it. There are people out there that have escaped the clutches of these scam artists, and they have a lot of unkind words to say:

Missiologist Paul Borthwick tells of a trip to Ghana, where he witnessed a 300-pound preacher appeal to his body as proof that God had blessed him, and would bless his listener’s seed-money as well. “When you live in poverty” the missionary with Borthwick said, “you don’t want to feel loved. You want God’s power to make you prosper. . . . [T]hey have been taught [that] money is the way to release the power.”

The prosperity gospel isn’t just bad theology. It’s a form of oppression.

Personally, it’s all a grift to me. Some are just more hard-core than others, that’s all.