Christianity and the crash
In this month’s Atlantic, Hanna Rosin discusses the faith, materialism, and optimism of the “prosperity gospel” and asks whether this relatively new American phenomenon played a role in the market crash. Of course, it’s a stretch to connect the foreclosure crisis and the collapse of Lehman Bros et al to everyone who buys Joel Osteen’s books. But the philosophical outlooks at the core of over-eager banks and prosperity-driven Christianity share a great deal in common. “Spend now - don’t worry, God will provide.”
The unpleasant reality—an inadequate paycheck, a pregnant daughter, a recession—is invisible. It’s your ability to see beyond such things, your willing blindness to even the most hopeless-seeming circumstances, that makes you a certain kind of modern Christian, and a 21st-century American.
Perhaps more evidence of an uncomfortable truth: that many of our seemingly technical problems, studied by experts in think tanks and projected onto actuarial tables, have deep cultural and psychological roots.
-Colin
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I read the same article sometime last week. One of the most striking aspects I thought was the connection between sub-prime loan officers and the prosperity gospel churches. Some pastors were happy to facilitate the loan officers at their “wealth-building seminars” to essentially prey on the church’s constituents. It gives the impression that these pastors are not much more than Billy Mays with a bible in hand. While the title of the article is a little hyperbolic for shock value, it definitely makes the point that the prosperity gospel promotes unwise spending habits. After all, if you’re in need, Jesus will give you $1,000.