Prosperity for whom?

Newsoftheweird.com brought this one to my attention.

As Easter approached, the ad ran repeatedly on the Inspiration Network: David Cerullo, clutching a Bible, told viewers they, too, could receive prosperity, physical healing and other blessings God gave the ancient Israelites.

All they had to do, the televangelist said, was send $200 or more.

This is called “prosperity theology”. It boils down to “give a preacher money and Jesus Christ will give you even more money than you gave originally”. I didn’t realize Jesus could act as an investment banker or money manager. Doesn’t this “theology” run counter to the Bible? What was that about rich men and camels and the eyes of needles?

It gets worse, though.

Much of the money sent by people … is now funding the City of Light, a 93-acre campus in northern Lancaster County, S.C., where the network’s plans include a sophisticated training and broadcast center.

Taxpayers also are helping to pay for it. Eager to bring jobs to a county with 19 percent unemployment, South Carolina offered the network incentives worth up to $26 million to land the campus – a deal that has been questioned by economic development experts.

Whoa, horsey! Tax dollars are paying for a religious institution? Isn’t there something in the Constitution about this?

Does this mean that the Pastafarians or followers of the Invisible Pink Unicorn can get cash to build research centers and television networks? That would only be fair.

Read the story at the Charlotte Observer.