Jesus was Prosperous and He wants you to be too..... oh yeah he had some fine clothes too!

Okay I am sure that to evangelical Christians this is not a new sermon.

My wife and three of my kids left for an Idaho vacation on Thursday.  On Friday I was rumbling around my quiet house and started flipping channels on the plasma.  On one of the channels I cam across an evangelical minister was was preaching that Jesus was not poor; but rich beyond dreams.  This was evidenced by his very expensive seamless coat that the Roman Guards coveted and bet on and that when he was born he did not just receive three small gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh but was endowed with three distinct caravans of the listed gifts setting him up for life.  The preacher went on to offer the idea that "if you invest in things that will out last you... you will be prosperous too" as an interlacing of both spiritual and investment advice.  Why is this not the Jesus I learned about in my ward house as a kid?

He was a charismatic man wearing a $150.00 shirt and preaching in a state of the art chapel with hundreds of thousands dollars worth of audio visual and theatrical equipment all funded by his congregation.... who were not prosperous enough to shop anywhere but Wal-Mart  I am left asking... is this what happens when we tie religion to Republican Politics.  You get a minister who looks and acts like a used car salesman spinning the republican agenda and because he is a "man of god" the congregation buys it and continues to vote for politicians who skim of the cream and leave masses with nothing!

Time to Bring Back Supply Side Jesus!




I was reading PZ Myers blog the same day and he posted the following article regarding the growing gap between the wealthy 1% and the rest of us.   It has long been observed that middle class in America is shrinking.  There is one major factor... no factories!  The middle class labor force cuts into the profit margin of the corporation.  The people of the US are worthy to buy their products, worthy to support their tax breaks but are not worthy of livable wage and benefits package.  Third world labor markets work cheap and are easy to exploit.  Why? No social justice!  No governmental requirements for a living wage, reasonable work hours and reasonable and safe working conditions!  It is not illegal immigrants who take our jobs it is countries like India and El Salvador.

This theme was continued in todays Salt Lake Tribune with Glenn Beck's continued assertion that Social Justice in Religions.... getting back to the core of Christianity is Marxist.

Beck’s “American Revival,” a combination of politics and stadium evangelism that promotional materials labeled a “fusion of entertainment and enlightenment,” is mostly about duty to God. And from the EnergySolutions Arena pulpit on Saturday, the TV and radio personality told roughly 5,000 ticketed fans it’s a duty requiring restoration of religion in public life.....

 “There is a perversion of faith right now,” he said, “a wicked, wicked perversion. And it is all about social justice. It is all about collective salvation. It’s actually all about Marxism.”

Collective salvation, he said, is a liberal goal meant to force individuals into doing the right thing by taking wealth from them and spreading it to the needy. In his view, he said, salvation only comes when individuals accept God.....

“It’s time to be a patriot again,” he said. “We gotta defend religion and morality in the public sphere.”

Karen Newnam, 48, of West Jordan, said she came away inspired to be more involved politically, and to learn more about where candidates stand. She agreed with the premise that religion is the basis for good government.

“I think that’s what our Founding Fathers based our government on,” she said, “and it seems to have worked.”

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance to start the day, and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said an opening prayer.

Even the Utah conservative politicians are afraid to separate themselves for this ridiculous crap because as Bob Bennett learned if you appear rational you are not conservative enough!  If you advocate for a clear separation of church and state or you believe that social justice means a healthier more compassionate society and you recognize that you cannot leave that the to good graces of humans.... you are a Marxist, Communist, or Socialist.

Unfortunately this is the only social justice that is acceptable the rabid religious right 

I have long said that everything that is wrong with this world was created by organized religion... I will now temper that assertion with the following addition:  "Everything that is wrong with this world was created by organized religion and greed!"  If you are a greedy religious fundamentalist.... you are dangerous for this country!