[BenL]

Andrew, you have verbalized what I have been feeling for years. You have given it a name ... well, several names actually ... but I will stick with Prosperity Theology for the sake of simplicity.

As you have shown in your essay, Prosperity Theology is a theology of conquest. It relies more on the Book of Revelation than the Gospels, and in a way that totally misinterprets Revelation's apocalyptic nature. The Savior preached by Prosperity Theology is not the peace-loving Jesus I encounter in the Gospels, the Jesus who loves the outcast and walks meekly but with divine fortitude toward Calvary.

This approach to Christianity uses two major tools to get its job done: war and exclusion. It is violent by nature, not loving and peacable. It demonizes anyone who disagrees, which by its very nature sanctions violence. It has set itself up as Judge and decides who's in and who's out. To me, this is the ulltimate blasphemy, since it is a role reserved for the Almighty. Are we not supposed to quake before the justice of God, ALL OF US? We all rely on God's mercy and love, knowing that we fall short every day. Knowing this in ourselves, is it not the ultimate hubris to declaim the failings of others?

Jesus taught that what we do to the least of his brethren we do to him. How can putting people down, demonizing them, subjecting them, discounting them be evangelical in nature?

I worry about the polarization of our society: rural vs urban, rich vs poor, Christian vs Muslim, red vs blue. There seem to be more things that divide us than unite us. Is this state of affairs not the logical outcome of Prosperity Theology?

I also worry about how we meet this onslaught. Do we use their own tactics against them, demonizing Fundamentalists and Evangelicals? Does that not make us as bad as they are? Or do we meet them with love and nonviolence, with peace in our hearts? I hear the messge and believe in it, but I often can't walk the walk ... or even think the thought when I am pissed off. God forgive us and bless us all.

BenL