Of false prophets and swindlers in the Lord’s name

Religion is always a very sensitive subject, particularly to the conservative and Christian fundamentalists, but however sensitive, certain things need to be subjected to scrutiny and let out in the open for the brainwashed to see the light.

Christianity, given the proliferation of televangelists and charismatic evangelists, has transformed to become some means of social control mainly of the psychologically weak; those who easily find themselves falling into the trap laid before them by religious charlatans, swindlers and false prophets whose sole aim is to mislead, con their faithful followers and enrich themselves. These are followers who are prepared to readily give up their intellectual and emotional independence in favour of faith in these false prophets who abuse the name of the Lord in order to advance their sinister aims.

“The Spirit tells me – Fidel Castro will die – in the 90s. Oooh my! Some will try to kill him and they will not succeed. But there will come a change in his physical health, and he will not stay in power, and Cuba will be visited of God.”

“The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid 90s, about ’94-’95, no later than that, God will destroy the homosexual community of America. [Audience applauds] But He will not destroy it — with what many minds have thought Him to be, He will destroy it with fire. And many will turn and be saved, and many will rebel and be destroyed.”

These are the false prophecies of some dubious character, Benny Hinn. Many of these televangelists claim to have the gift of foresight; but as history has revealed, none of their prophecies have ever been fulfilled. It is not only Benny Hinn who is a glorified con-artist but there are multitudes of them around the world. We have our own here in South Africa who live in the lap of luxury and lead very flamboyant lifestyles. I have always remained suspicious of any man standing in the pulpit who, instead of preaching the Gospel, dedicates a substantial amount of time to play on the faith of the congregation to swindle them of their money.

Tithing is the Gospel that is preached ad nauseum with the sole objective of subjecting congregants to overwhelming guilt if they do not “give to the Lord”. Something I have always been troubled by – the concept of giving to the Lord. Am I giving to these charlatans who pose of men of God or am I giving to God? Contributing to church coffers should never be through coercion and brainwashing but should be done willingly out of the goodness of one’s heart; and that contribution should never be redirected to finance the extravagant lifestyles of church leaders but help the needy communities. Of course these churches will set up charity organisations as a front to their real intentions – charities — which only receive a fraction of what the congregation contributes; the rest going to Swiss accounts and financing the purchase of Ferraris, Louis Vittons and Armanis. This is despicable!

“Away with you, you pettifogging Pharisee lawyers! You give to God a tenth of herbs, like mint, dill, and cumin, but the important duties of the Law — judgment, mercy, honesty — you have neglected. Yet these you ought to have performed, without neglecting the others,”

This cannot be less relevant to these men of the cloth who have neglected their religious purpose in the pursuit of earthly pleasures. Christianity in its traditional form is almost losing its significance, if it hasn’t already. Many of these fly-by-night pastors have not been schooled in Christian theology nor do they possess the moral authority to engage the public on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. They are self-serving and often require of their followers to hold them up in higher pedestal; to be seen as the re-incarnation of Jesus himself; transforming churches into cults where congregants follow like zombies and dance to the sinister rhythms of the con-artists.

It is high time that the Receiver of Revenue start looking into the activities of some of these churches. Most of them are business empires that generate an abundance of wealth for their leaders, leaving the faithful souls even poorer spiritually. I miss the good old churches where the church welcomed your 10 cents without overwhelming you with guilt that you did not contribute hundreds of rand. Those churches where priests were priests and not con-artists or false prophets; where you were not judged by the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the woman you’re with or who you know.

When the day of judgment is upon us, hell will be overflowing.