Brazil is shock full of these scammers.
The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
11–20 of 58 posts
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#12It's not just televangelists; the local variety of parson is just as exploitative. I grew up in the Mississippi Delta—every "Reverend" drives around in a Cadillac while most of his congregation struggles to make ends meet. These same Reverends preach on the religious benefits of daily fasting while the children of their congregations get their one square meal of the day at school.
For some data points: "When it comes to clergy, new Catholic priests, which includes bishops, can expect a salary somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range, with median salaries varying slightly depending on geography. The highest median salary for a new priest is in the Midwest, at $29,856, while the lowest median salary, $24,960, is found in the Central region, which spans from Minnesota to Texas. The maximum salary for p…
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Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#13It's not just televangelists; the local variety of parson is just as exploitative. I grew up in the Mississippi Delta—every "Reverend" drives around in a Cadillac while most of his congregation struggles to make ends meet. These same Reverends preach on the religious benefits of daily fasting while the children of their congregations get their one square meal of the day at school.
Not to challenge your own experiences, but this is an overgeneralization of pastors/preachers as a whole.
I personally know multiple pastors who can barely afford the basics, much less luxuries, and who work side jobs to make ends meet. They have soberly made difficult decisions to live out their faith.
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#14This isn't limited to the US either, City Harvest Church in Singapore is a great example of the prosperity gospel in action elsewhere. S$50 million (US$36m) of donations were siphoned from the church, of which half went into attempting to launch the pastor's wife into pop stardom, including this distinctly un-churchy video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSZQH_c9jOU
(Yes, that is Wyclef Jean; he was paid almost $2m to produce the song.)
More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Harvest_Church_Criminal_B...
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#15It's not just televangelists; the local variety of parson is just as exploitative. I grew up in the Mississippi Delta—every "Reverend" drives around in a Cadillac while most of his congregation struggles to make ends meet. These same Reverends preach on the religious benefits of daily fasting while the children of their congregations get their one square meal of the day at school.
For some data points: "When it comes to clergy, new Catholic priests, which includes bishops, can expect a salary somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range, with median salaries varying slightly depending on geography. The highest median salary for a new priest is in the Midwest, at $29,856, while the lowest median salary, $24,960, is found in the Central region, which spans from Minnesota to Texas. The maximum salary for p…
but everything included, so that is basically 35k, tax free, or in a lower tax bracket since so much of the compensation is non monetary, purely disposable.
edit, this says the median is 45k https://work.chron.com/much-catholic-priests-paid-12915.html
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#16> [H]e dresses in a suit, pulls out a Bible and urges viewers to pledge a very specific amount of money. "Don't delay, don't delay," he urges, calmly but emphatically ... drawing in viewers who ... are desperate for change.
Can you imagine if this kind of stunt were pulled in the secular sphere? An aspiring leader dressed up in a suit, urging viewers to raise a specific amount of money. "Don't delay, donate today!" drawing in viewers desperate for change.
Wait a second...
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#17Genesis (the band) had a great song about this in 1992: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-rfCnW5VlE
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#18why is this in hn?
if it is relevant, would hn link to articles on any selfless acts and charities by the religious(given that in reality hundreds of millions are helped by them)? seems there is an anti christian bias in this sort articles selected by hn; only the ones reflecting badly on christians are allowed.
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#19Smart ones profiting off of the masses, like the stock market, or just how the whole world works.
You assume that the whole stock market is a zero-sum game which is patently false. Businesses raise money , many if not all use this money to grow their businesses and return money to shareholders via dividends / buyback. Stock appreciation is a result of this activity. FYI , a dollar invested in S&P index in 1926 was worth 5000+ dollars in 2014 (http://skloff.com/growth-of-1-dollar-investment-1926-2014/). If this is profiting off the masses, I don’t know what to say :-)
Re: The preachers getting rich from poor Americans
#20It's not just televangelists; the local variety of parson is just as exploitative. I grew up in the Mississippi Delta—every "Reverend" drives around in a Cadillac while most of his congregation struggles to make ends meet. These same Reverends preach on the religious benefits of daily fasting while the children of their congregations get their one square meal of the day at school.
For some data points: "When it comes to clergy, new Catholic priests, which includes bishops, can expect a salary somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range, with median salaries varying slightly depending on geography. The highest median salary for a new priest is in the Midwest, at $29,856, while the lowest median salary, $24,960, is found in the Central region, which spans from Minnesota to Texas. The maximum salary for p…
Many churches have traditionally provided housing for their clergy, which makes this pay rate seem somewhat more reasonable.