Clever tyrants are never punished.
Voltaire
Joel Osteen makes me want to throw up.
But before I go any futher, here is some info on him for those who have yet to be exposed to this newfangled charlatan.
from wikipedia:
"Joel Scott Hayley Osteen is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He is married to Victoria Osteen, who serves as co-pastor. Joel Osteen was featured as one of Barbara Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2006", and was named "Most Influential Christian in America" in 2006 by The Church Report. His second book, Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, was released in October 2007 with a first printing of three million copies."
Osteen is nothing more than the emporer's new clothes, and he surely is buck naked this time! He can accurately be described as a money making machine, emptying the pockets of his "followers" as he lauhgs all the way to the collection plate. His message of positivity is not only sickening, it's actually quite sad when you think about it. Osteen would have been selling pencils in a cup somewhere had he not cloaked what he is selling (because he is selling something) in the name of religion.
Osteen has been criticized by the evangelicals and disowned by many mainstream preachers for his refusal to talk about any scripture which isn't entirely positive in it's message. He has indeed invented a new form of christianity. But let's not fool ourselves. This isn't really why "the other christians" are upset. They couldn't care less about what he was preaching before he started taking people and money away from their congregations. The money follows the people, and the people have spoken with their feet. They have gone to Osteen. It has given him bookdeals, a basketballarena for a church, and bank account which is rapidly increasing as we speak.
It's the oldest trick in the book. Tell people what they want to hear, and they will give you their money. Osteen is no different than the tired old telemarketing "psychic"-hags that advertise in a free paper near you. He is no different than the Peter Popoff's and the Jimmy Swaggart's. A charlatan veiled in the words of the scripture, just waiting for you to get your wallet out.
4 comments:
Is it because his "feel good" phylosophy comes from the pulpit that makes you want to throw up? because alot of people make money doing the same thing. People want to know "the secret" eh?
I like your blog very much.
i laughed, agreed, and enjoyed your writing.
Well, yes the throwing up-thing has mostly to do with the fact that he preaches from a religious standpoint.
However, "the message" would be rather sickening to whichever way it was delivered. I guess I'm just a rather cynical guy...
I disagree with you! I like Joel! He is great and I have never given him a penny! People want to give because he has helped them in there life! Just by him being true to himself! He is doing just what God wants him to do! Helping people in a positive way!
sandi said...
"People want to give because he has helped them in there life!"
Has he helped them, though? Or has he just told them what he knew they wanted to hear? Everybody can give people some encouraging words, that doesn't mean they're worthy of multiple bookdeals and a flow of continuous monetary donations.
The only reason he's so successful is the fact that he is cloaking the message he's selling in religion. At least that's my opinion.
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