Christian preachers have long served as ideological conduits channeling political and philosophical currents from the powers that be to the masses. This is true for both the political right and left. Hence when I hear persons assert that preachers should “keep politics out of the pulpit,” I interpret this as a vacuous request. Asking a preacher to refrain from politics is like asking water not to be wet. Despite claims of “private spirituality” that have become commonplace, religion is, and will always be, a public matter. How folk interpret sacred texts, the role of God in the world, and/or the form and function of the sacred informs political choices and helps to determine their support or opposition for a particular cause.
I will admit, however, that at times religious beliefs and political conclusions can be as out of sync as Mike Huckabee doing the electric slide. This is what I noticed last week while attending the Southwest Believers Convention hosted by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland.
Over 5.000 persons from across the country packed into the Fort Worth Convention Center to hear Copeland and their Word of Faith line-up proclaim their message of divine health and wealth. Yet when it came to President Obama’s plan for health care reform — a plan that would greatly assist the vast majority of working class and underemployed conference attendees — Kenneth Copeland was excessive in his disdain for government-run healthcare.
“Socialism” seemed to be Copeland’s favorite term throughout the week as he warned the crowd to reject any government assistance. “Sickness and disease,” according to Copeland, “is not a medical problem, it’s a spiritual problem.” Thus, he argued that any healthcare program would be nothing more than a “Babylonian system—man trying to meet his own needs without God.”
By the end of the week, Copeland even channeled his inner Sarah Palin by arguing that the government wants to kill people. I quote:
“The government ain’t trying to help people, they trying to save money for the government…Eventually we are going to get to the place where we start killing 70 year olds. People are already in place in the government who are going to be making these decisions who have decided that 70 year olds aren’t contributing anything to society.”
Wow! Really? Call me crazy but I would think that a professed “health and wealth” preacher would be concerned with accessible and affordable healthcare.
But, then again, maybe Copeland’s own personal wealth is dependent on his follower’s bad health. If some of his “financial partners” had the privilege of receiving medical care for their illnesses, maybe they wouldn’t be as quick to put money at Copeland’s alter in hopes of their healing.
But, hey, I don’t mean to sound cynical. I’m just trying to stay sober!
Tags: death panels, democrats, health, healthcare, obama, republicans
In fact, this is what's pulling me away from these hypocrites lately. I noticed that they will take all the socialism offered unless it's coming from a Democrat. I've come to realize that their agenda is not really Heaven...it's power!
The devil could be in the White House and these people would find ways to be lenient on him if his views are closer to the radical right. Frankly, it's no wonder that most young kids are becoming more progressive and less religious once they get into mainstream society. I do not have any love for the immoral and corrupt society either...it's just that hypocrisy rattles me most.
As a rationalist, naturalist, and nonbeliever I find these kinds of gatherings, and these kinds of claims, absolutely remarkable. Is it really possible that people believe the sorts of things that are described here, or is something else really going on? Is there some kind of weird irony that can explain it? Are the organizers of these things true believers or are they simply cynical charlatans? Is it possible that the audience is so unaware of their own needs and self-interest that they can accept this sort of thing? So many questions and it makes no sense at all.
Religious Hucksters have been around since Christ. Perhaps it's in the human gene to believe that there's an imaginary world of a better life run by characters who will save us from all our troubles. There's more reality to Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Besides that, people are I guess, prone to the believablity of coincidences. Throw some money towards these guys and watch miraculous things happen. Probably would've happen anyway.
I actually signed up for these emails by accident. When I found out that it was really about anti-religion I kept on receiving the email updates just so I could feel my daily dose of hatred. (It heightens your senses to know there are people who hate you for what you believe no matter how many homeless people you feed, prisoners you encourage and patients you visit.) As a right-leaning independent, and full-time minister serving as a lead pastor of a protestant congregation, I will tell you that the stereotyping I see written on these posts is just as bad as those those in my profession may be guilty of. But even with the fact that you are so spiteful of me and those in my profession, I still find this sight very informative in trying to understand those I am trying to reach with the love of God. As far as the health and wealth gospel (of which I am not a member), just because they may believe in the supernatural, doesn't mean they don't have a fear of what man can do to other men if given enough power. Over time, when the Republican platform lined up with many of the same values most believers share in common, the Republicans got a free pass on too many issues and demonized the left for anything we could. I don't know many people on the right who would say the health care system is perfect the way it is, but it is alarming how many people defend Obama's reform without riasing a few questions about the amount of power over people's lives we just want to give away without considering other options. I know many people who voted for Obama who are opposed to thise reform. You are fooling yourself if you think it is only a Republican vs. Democrat issue. I am for some reform but I am vehemently opposed to a national HMO program (I happen to like and trust my medical providers). There is a reason why most people do not want to belong to an HMO if given a choice. Some of the wording Obama has used to justify and explain his reform is unsettling. I just wanted to say go out and have some fun today! And, May God bless you!
I'm curious, what wording around health care/insurance reform from Obama has been unsettling for you?
You realize this site is not "anti-religion", but does cover the broad spectrum on religiosity, right? Please take your persecution complex elsewhere because we both know that the vast majority of people in this country belong to a religion, and mostly to christianity. Further, there probably wouldn't be so much stereotyping if there weren't so many pastors violating their parishioners' trust or just taking advantage of vulnerable people. This not to say that there aren't good people doing good work. However, ministers, pastors, and priests, who are all supposed to have some sort of connection to god and be a bit holier are going to be held to higher standards.
Oh well, I would imagine you and I would judge slavery differently as well. And, before we start with the holier than thou work, let me say I am also a christian, obviously with a different perspective.
I don't think that there is any doubt that there are hypocrites on both sides of the aisle; I was personally commenting on what seemed to me to be an astonishing set of beliefs, i.e. those presented in the article above. My question about whether people believe these things or not is genuine, as they seem to me to be completely unrealistic and detached from the real world.
It seems strange to me that Americans believe that their current health care system is the only one that is possible and the only one worth keeping. It has certainly not always been this way, and unfortunately it has become what it is because of a particular brand of limited free-market greed. There are many other healthcare systems that meet the needs of many people in the world, and Canada, France, the UK, and the rest of Western Europe seem to have developed systems that meet the needs of many more people than the American system can. When people talk about what is good about the American system, they often talk about how important it is to have trustworthy medical providers. Where will these providers the new system? Will they go away to spite the government insurance plan? Why don't Canadian, French, UK, and other Western European providers continue in their systems? Are they stupid? Are they tools of the government? Why do their patients trust them? Other nations have nationalized healthcare and it works very well for them. What you will not be able to get in other countries is same-day access to very high technology and same-day invasive surgery especially cardiac surgery. It seems to me that what we should all want is a healthcare system that helps us live happier longer lives. If you think the American system does that, you should look at health outcome statistics which show that citizens of other countries live longer and express satisfaction in their healthcare system.
The problem of end-of-life care is an interesting one and it appears that Americans are not going to have a rational conversation about this. A very large amount of money is spent on patients with conditions that are not going to go away and are not going to approve with treatment, and it appears that there is a peculiar form of guilt that is very powerful that keeps people spending money for very little return. As has been mentioned in many other settings, it is not uncommon for people to want to spend $250,000 on chemotherapy for colon cancer for what may or may not be a couple of months of extra life. When you think about it, is that the best way to spend money on health, or could that level of expenditure help to decrease the incidence of lung cancer if used for prevention instead of treatment once the disease is widespread? When people talk about death panels and doing away with people over 70 and little babies with birth defects, could you imagine is supposed to be doing this? Your neighbor? The person across the hall from you? Who wants this? Why do you think it is a real possibility?
Having some fun today sounds like a really good idea! Let's all try it.
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"Who wants this? Why do you think it is a real possibility?"...
What planet are you from? The very simple answer to this question is...ANYONE with an ulterior motive...ANYONE with a desire to control others...and the planet is crawling with them. Sadly they're mostly in GOVERNMENT.
I'm amazed at your ignorance of world history and how much abuse and genocide has transpired at the hands of unchecked government.
IT IS MARVELLING TO ME, ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING that people aren't waking up to ASK THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS about this ObamaCare bill.
The lessons from history are there to be learned, why aren't we PAYING ATTENTION?
I would bet my life that every one of the frothing-at-the-mouth guys (and they are mostly older white males) at these Town Hell meetings have health insurance themselves, probably through a public system such as VA Medicare, Tri-care, etc. What obnoxious hypocrits. They repeat anything told to them by the right-wing blowhards (i.e. Limbaugh, Hannity, etc. and especially the certifiably insane Glenn Beck). The corporate masters in the healthcare industry are pulling all the strings and these people are too stupid to see it. The GOP is excellent in fear-mongering--it's all they have....
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