The Prosperity Gospel sham ruined America.

[Funtatlaguy]

The big money folks, the one percent of the one percent figured out a great way to get many religious people on their side.
They needed the idea of the evil “moneychangers” to change into people to be admired and aspired to.
And they did that by creating something called “The Prosperity Gospel”.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/prosperity-gospel
As the definition explains, greed can now be considered good and not evil.
The whole “it’s more difficult for a rich man to enter heaven than a camel to go thru the eye of a needle” Biblical reference was forgotten. Never mentioned from American religious pulpits again.
Just preach that being rich is good, and to get rich, you should give more to God (the plates being passed in church).
Suddenly caring for the poor and downtrodden Jesus teachings were forgotten and never mentioned again from the pulpits because if these downtrodden were just a “little more religious and a little less lazy” they too could experience Gods bounty (not just in Heaven) but on earth too.
Suddenly the preachers with the billion dollar homes, yachts, and jets were not to be condemned but to be admired.

And the GOP big money people knew they had their IN with a huge segment of society.
Just feign a little nod to religion occasionally and tell the masses that they should worship greed, and not just greed but EXCESSIVE greed.
Then, the pivot to the US vs THEM narrative was much easier to achieve.
Them are evil. They don’t believe in the biblical principle of the MAN being the head of the church and the family. Don’t discount this patriarchal viewpoint and how prevalent it was and still is. Whether you call it “toxic masculinity’’ or not, it exists and The Prosperity Gospel has helped accelerate it.
And it’s not just men who believe in the principle.
You will still find many women (mostly white) that still believe in and want white men to run their churches, their homes, and (hence) their governments.
The Prosperity Gospel won on November 5 and no brilliant extremely qualified woman or horrible, felonious and extremely unqualified male opponent could change that.

Longtime gone GOP strategist Lee Atwater would marvel at how his old party has brilliantly merged money and religion into such a powerful political force.

[Irish_Dem]

1. We have become a national of psychopaths. Hatred and greed are the American values.

[Blue Full Moon]

2. Then there is this

So Musk who has so much money than he could ever use. Is going to destroy everyone's lives just to get more money with crypto currency. He wants to destroy our country, our economy. Which in turn will destroy the economies of other countries. Cause hyperinflation and cause a depression that the Great Depression won't even hold a candle to. We now will get Moreno because the crypto boys paid for all those lying ads against Brown. He is a crypto bro. So everyone out there who voted in favor of this you did so because of the price of eggs. The CEO of Krogers admitted to raising the price of eggs to where they were at, not because of inflation but because they wanted to make more profit. Hope you will like paying about triple that price. You voted for this.

[travelingthrulife]

4. I guess if Musk destroys the world first he wins the Tech Bro Olympics?

We are trapped in their video game.

[Blue Full Moon]

6. Yep

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/10/22/experts-challenge-ecbs-claims-on-bitcoin-and-wealth-inequality/
There was another post with way more detail
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219691355

[-misanthroptimist]

3. Well, it's certainly ruined Christianity

But it's just one of a half-dozen or so elements that have ruined America.

[Blue Full Moon]

5. Movie Born Yesterday has a brilliant description of this

?si=tUTs2uZr-or-c2dO

Ayn Rand was Russia's best weapon. Then Ronald Reagan ushered the me only. The love of wealth is their religion. That is why they think tf is from God.
Never mind The New Testament quotes Jesus as saying in Luke 18:25 that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Jesus and the rich young man); This is repeated in the same words in Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25.

[AltairIV]

7. Agreed.

They are a satanic cult who worship money, power and destruction. Treat them as such.

[Blue Full Moon]

8. Satanic cult is right

Want to find a Satanist (not talking about
The Satanic Temple) look for someone with a high position in church, rich, and in position of power and then goes out and violates everything that a religion stands for then uses the everyone sins excuse. While yes sometimes people do sin, make mistakes that's not what they are doing. They are embedded in Christianity.

[malaise]

9. Religion, power, wealth and empire have a very long tradition

Just saying

[orwell]

13. In western culture...

...that was the function of religion.

Reinforcement of patriarchy and establishment of predatory wealth appropriation is a feature, not a bug.

[malaise]

14. Ding ding we have a winner

Mandatory separation ogf church and state is required

[orwell]

15. I'll even take...

...mandatory separation of church and hate for starters.

One can only dream...

[malaise]

16. I deed

😀

[hatrack]

10. It's a particularly malignant offshoot of Calvinism . . .

Which in and of itself is nothing but 200-proof malignancy.

[malaise]

11. THIS

Rec

[ck4829]

12. It really did, forgetting Matthew 19:24 at that as well

[keep_left]

17. Aka "name it and claim it", "blab it and grab it", etc.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Name_it_and_claim_it
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Secret

Anyone here remember Creflo Dollar? (Yes, that's his real name--like something out of a Saul Bellow novel). This nonsense has a long and storied history in America. Oprah even subscribes to a version of it, though more secularized, which was popularized in The Secret.