Increased Church Attendance Due to Bad Times: Fear Instills Foolishness

I read an interesting article in the New York Times today. It’s a long one so I’ll shorten it down for you guys. The article states:

The sudden crush of worshipers packing the small evangelical Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, N.Y. — a Long Island hamlet of yacht clubs and hedge fund managers — forced the pastor to set up an overflow room with closed-circuit TV and 100 folding chairs, which have been filled for six Sundays straight.

It then goes on to provide some other examples of churches whose numbers have grown a great deal, to the point where regulars must come early just to get seating. What do the churches think about all of this? Well, this statement pretty much sums it up:

“It’s a wonderful time, a great evangelistic opportunity for us,” said the Rev. A. R. Bernard, founder and senior pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York’s largest evangelical congregation…

Huh, it sure is great to know that churches are benefiting from everyone else’s fears and sufferings. They’re obviously loving this “wonderful time.” The more people they can suck in, the more money they make. Just what they need, more money to fund their lavishly built churches while many Americans lose their homes.

Even Jehovah’s Witnesses are taking advantage of the fact that many have lost their jobs. About a decade ago they had switched their door-to-door shenanigans to night so that they could catch people at home, however; now that so many have lost their jobs and are thus at home during the day, they’ve “returned to daylight.” Thats great, just what people want - something else to piss them off when they’ve just lost their jobs.

So why exactly are people flocking to churches at the face of the economic downturn? Obviously because they’re afraid. According to the article they’re afraid that they may lose their jobs and for those that don’t have jobs, they’re afraid they won’t find jobs.

I’m not sure where these people have been, but apparently they don’t realize that unemployment rates in places like Zimbabwe and Nauru are anywhere from 80-90% (CIA World Fact Book, 2007). Or that 11 million children a year die around the world from preventable causes (UNICEF, 2004) and 2.7 billion people struggle to live on less than $2 a day (UN Millennium Project).

So the question I have is, if “god” doesn’t give a shit about all of these people - which is evident, what makes these Americans think he’d give a damn about them and their greedy American ways? I’m not sure what makes them think they are so important compared to the rest of the world that the “all-powerful god” would allow them to keep their fancy sports cars and stuff their gluttonous faces with McDonalds everyday. After all, according to the article, church rates are increasing in regions home to yacht clubs and hedge fund managers.

What do evangelical churches think the reason is that they thrive in hard times?

For some evangelicals, the answer is obvious. ”We have the greatest product on earth,” said the Rev. Steve Tomlinson, senior pastor of the Shelter Rock Church.

I’m glad he nailed that one because that’s exactly what it is. A product. A scam that thrives on the misfortunes of others. Sure you can argue that it gives people hope, but in the end it’s simple false hopes - and we all know those don’t change anything.

- The Noose

Tags: Christianity, Prayer