Tue Dec 20, 2011, 04:45 PM

Zalatix (8,994 posts)

Churches fear to preach against Capitalist greed?

Not trying to bash religion, since I'm religious, but didn't Jesus preach heavily against excessive greed?

(Excerpt included)

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/01/preachers-confront-the-last-taboo-condemning-greed-amid-great-recession/

Though millions of Americans are angry over the economy, little moral outrage seems to be coming from the nation’s pulpit, they say. Too many pastors opt for offering pulpit platitudes because they are afraid parishioners will stop giving money if they hear teachings against greed, said the Rev. Robin R. Meyers, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City.

“Money is the last taboo in church. It’s much easier to talk about sex than money,” said Meyers, who wrote about greed and the other seven deadly sins in his book, “The Virtue in the Vice.”

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
Churches fear to preach against Capitalist greed? (Original post)	Zalatix	Dec 2011	OP
Money's the one thing god never seems to have enough of. n/t	Scuba	Dec 2011	#1
Institutional churches suffer from the inherent problems connected with a professional shaman class.	TygrBright	Dec 2011	#2
Which is why I prefer prayer groups instead of a big church	Zalatix	Dec 2011	#3
Don't bite the hand... nt	rrneck	Dec 2011	#4
There's the parable of "The Talents"	uriel1972	Dec 2011	#5
Yeah and nobody preaches about Lazarus, I assume?	Zalatix	Dec 2011	#6
Don't have my bible handy	uriel1972	Dec 2011	#7

Response to Zalatix (Original post)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 04:47 PM

Scuba (26,764 posts)

1. Money's the one thing god never seems to have enough of. n/t

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Response to Zalatix (Original post)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 05:20 PM

TygrBright (12,826 posts)

2. Institutional churches suffer from the inherent problems connected with a professional shaman class.

Even those who don't accumulate primarily for individual personal gain suffer from the "one upmanship on behalf of OUR god" that results in vicarious institutional accumulation.

Although some of the problem of the vicarious accumulation gets transmuted by time into valuable cultural and artistic legacies, that does little to benefit God at the time.

wryly,
Bright

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Response to TygrBright (Reply #2)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 05:22 PM

Zalatix (8,994 posts)

3. Which is why I prefer prayer groups instead of a big church

Small, storefront-sized churches use all their donations to care for the poor, in my personal experience. (Lots of storefront churches in big urban areas like California's southland.)

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Response to Zalatix (Original post)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 10:40 PM

rrneck (13,767 posts)

4. Don't bite the hand... nt

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Response to Zalatix (Original post)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 11:42 PM

uriel1972 (857 posts)

5. There's the parable of "The Talents"

which is often used by the big churches to excuse money grubbing. Not to mention the big debate in the mediaeval Catholic Church over whether the Church should follow Christ's example (I think you can tell how that one went :/)

Then there is the "Prosperity Theology", that is that rich people are loved by God, the proof of which is that he made them rich. And if you are especially good you will be made rich too. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

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Response to uriel1972 (Reply #5)

Tue Dec 20, 2011, 11:46 PM

Zalatix (8,994 posts)

6. Yeah and nobody preaches about Lazarus, I assume?

Last edited Tue Dec 20, 2011, 11:47 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

LUKE 16:19, to be exact.

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Response to Zalatix (Reply #6)

Wed Dec 21, 2011, 12:05 AM

uriel1972 (857 posts)

7. Don't have my bible handy

But I didn't say all churches, just those concerned with large amounts of money.

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