IF YOU WANT TO GET RICH QUICK, START A CULT

As I was googling for more news about money-hungry pastors recently, I came across a very interesting article entitled 4.5-Year Jail Term for Mosque Thief Shows That If You Want to Take People's Money, Start a Church.. This article is about the 6 members of Singapore's City Harvest church who were convicted of misappropriating $50 million in church funds. Despite the huge amount of money involved, their sentences were lowered to between 7 months and 3.5 years. On the other hand, the man who stole $1900 from a mosque was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. Netizens were of the opinion that he should have taken $50 million instead of a meager $1900. The moral of the story is if you want to take money illegally, do it wisely such as starting a religion and asking for donations.

This article reminded me of the juvenile detention center where I conducted my doctoral research. I didn't know why I suddenly started thinking of my 12 boys in the detention center after reading this article. How can I forget them? We got along very well and if not because of them, I would not get my Ph.D. Truly, I have learnt a lot from them. Two of them, aged 13 and 14, were brothers. They were very handsome and cute boys, especially the younger one. Why were they apprehended and sent to the juvenile detention center? Because they attempted to steal RM17 from a donation box in a mosque. The two brothers had no pocket money after their father left them and their mother's meager income was barely sufficient to support them. They were so poor that they had to depend on the handouts given to them by their relatives and neighbors. However, their failure to steal RM17 did not allow them to escape criminal liability and both of them had to spend more than one year in the juvenile detention center. Well, there is a world of difference between RM17 and $50 million and I feel even sadder for these two boys now. Is there any justice in this world?

According to Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (13 March 1911 - 24 January 1986), an American science fiction author, "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion."  How right he is! One cannot deny the fact that many of those who started their own religion have become filthy rich today. Do you know that a good speaker who knows how to influence his audience can easily attract a large congregation and brainwash them to give away everything they have including their lives? According to Linda (not her real name), a former megachurch member, "the pastor would tell every existing member to bring in at least two new members to the church every weekend. If they fail to bring in new members, they would be scolded and humiliated. To encourage the people to donate as much as they could, the pastor would brainwash them saying that God would reward those who make generous donations to the church a hundred-fold and that they should downgrade their homes and sell their cars to donate more to the church. During the 'offerings' session, envelopes are used to collect donations from the church members. Those who make large donations are applauded whilst those who give little are strongly encouraged to contribute more. If any of the church members were too poor to make an offering, their group leaders would monitor them closely and persuade them to donate whatever they have. On top of the 'offerings', the congregants are required to give 10% of their income/allowance to the church every month. To monitor their tithing, the congregants are given an envelope and a form to fill up their name, contact number, and the amount of money they are giving. Apart from the compulsory offerings and 10% tithing, the congregants are also required to contribute at least $200 for the building fund. In addition to the donations, it is compulsory for them to buy CDs, not only one, but several copies of the exact same album." Linda's description of the megachurch donations therefore clearly explains how one can get rich by starting a religion.

Many years ago, when a friend of mine kept pestering me to go to her church, I didn't understand why she suddenly became so persuasive - even more persuasive than the sales representatives that I have ever met. She seemed to be so desperate that she came to my house to drag me to church and even said that she would introduce a doctor to me at her church. Since I was totally uninterested in her church and the doctor in it, I did not give her invitation second thought. All I wanted to do then was to get rid of her because she was so annoying. It took me so many years to realize that she was actually doing what her pastor wanted her to do - to attract new members and hence more donations. Talking about donations, Linda's story (above) clearly describes how clever her pastor is in the art of getting donations. Although he has to spend some money to buy the offering envelopes, these envelopes not only serve as a donation reminder but also an important tool to make the congregants part with their money out of social pressure. Having a group leader to monitor the donors and to persuade them to donate is another effective way to make the congregants part with their hard-earned money. The people are just too shy not to donate when they are pressured to do so. However, Linda's experiences at the megachurch sounds scary to me. I am thankful that the Catholic Church has never pressured anyone to donate money like that.

Many of us would have read about Jim Warren Jones (13 May 1931 - 18 Nov 1978), an American preacher and cult leader, who led his followers into a mass murder-suicide. Also known as the Jonestown massacre, more than 900 individuals died of cyanide poisoning in this incident. Why did they follow the orders of their cult leader, Jim Jones? Why did Jim Jones have such great influence over his followers? Through mind control and brain washing. This infamous and horrific event clearly shows that if the pastor is able to influence the minds of his followers in his favor, they would commit suicide with him. The moral of the story is if  the pastor can brainwash and control the minds of his congregants, they would do anything for him such as downgrading their homes and selling their cars for cash and donating all the money to their pastor. It is nothing surprising if they stand by him and give him their unwavering support knowing that he has misappropriated religious donations and church funds. Why not? Do you know that in certain churches, pastors are treated like Gods?

Caishen, the Chinese God of Wealth

I have been wondering why those who start a religion always prefer to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If their ultimate intention is to make as much money as they could out of the congregants for their personal benefits, perhaps they should stop using the name of Jesus and the Gospels to profit. In actual fact, apart from Christianity, there are many religions that they can consider and many other subjects that they can preach. They don't even have to call their place of worship a church. Why not call it a temple or an organization? The names such as Prosperity Temple, God of Wealth Temple, Come And Be Rich Temple, Get Rich Fast Organization, or Money! Money! Money! Organization sound equally good, don't they? Why not call themselves 'Gurus' instead of 'Pastors'? If they know how to brainwash and control the mind of their followers, they can still get lots of donations, perhaps more than what they can get from preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For instance, a guru who starts a cult to make quick money should preach about materialism and ask his followers to worship the God of Wealth. It would be meaningless if he preaches about how much Jesus loves us and that He will always be there for us and then ended up embezzling church funds himself. What actually is he trying to preach then? Is he trying to demonstrate that Jesus will be there for us when we take other people's money?

We all know that begging is a lucrative career in Malaysia and beggars have never been arrested for misappropriating funds. Why? Because the money given to them is intended for them. It does not matter how they spend the money because they have never asked the public to give the money to Jesus. So, if the pastor's intention is to keep the donations for himself, why not start a cult and preach about his own ideologies instead of preaching about Jesus and the Gospels? If he could brainwash his congregants, turn them into faithful followers and make them worship him, making it clear that the donations are for his ideologies, then there is no embezzlement. If his followers don't mind giving him money and willingly support his ideologies, then he is free to use the donations to buy condominiums, luxury cars, and invest in a music company if these are his ideologies. There is no need for him to abuse the name of Jesus to build his empire and tarnish Jesus's image with his bad fruit and scandals.

Covid-19 Emergency Support Report

Photo Source: SFXC Facebook

My dear readers, you may have read Controversial Louisiana megachurch pastor who has repeatedly flouted social distancing by holding in-person services now wants Americans to donate their stimulus checks to evangelists. This pastor has endangered the health of his congregants when he defied stay-at-home orders and repeatedly held large religious services. He also asked the poor to donate their $1200 stimulus checks to his megachurch. Should the pastor ask the poor to donate their stimulus checks when they need money to spend on basics such as groceries and rent? Instead of asking the congregants to donate their stimulus checks (Bantuan Prihatin Nasional) to the churches, the Catholic Churches in Malaysia continued to help the poor, aged, handicapped, and those with medical issues even during the Movement Control Order. Due to restrictions in movements for NGOs, funds were credited into the beneficiaries' bank accounts to help them survive the tough times. How did the Catholic churches do that? Our priests do not invest in condominiums or music companies. They don't live lavish lifestyles. They don't need private jets and luxury cars. They don't have to buy Lamborghinis for their wives. Most of all, they are living the life of Christ (You may also like to read Beware of Greedy, Selfish and Money-Hungry Pastors & FATHER OC LIM: AN IMAGE OF CHRIST THE PRIEST). To view the content page of this blog, please click here.


References:
1. 9 Reasons Why City Harvest Church Was the Devil To Me
2. My unpleasant experience at City Harvest Church after being brought there by a female friend
3. 4.5-Year Jail Term For Mosque Thief Shows That If You Want To Take People’s Money, Start A Church
4.  Kong Hee lives in Sentosa Cove but asked donors to give and downgrade homes
5.  Pastor John Gray Defends Buying $200K Lamborghini for Wife
6.  Controversial Louisiana megachurch pastor who has repeatedly flouted social distancing by holding in-person services now wants Americans to donate their stimulus checks to evangelists