Archive for the ‘Religion as economic tech’ Category
Kill kids, get diadem
In 1096 the Rhineland Jews were attacked by the spontaneous and badly-led popular first wave of the Crusade. In several places Jewish men killed themselves, their wives and children to prevent forced conversion; for centuries this story has been cherished as an important part of the Ashkenazi heritage, although the gentile reader may be reminded [...]
Tithe me up, tithe me down!
Most fundamentalist churches teach their members that they should do something called ‘tithing’. This is on the authority of the Old Testament arrangements made to feed the Levites, who alone of the Israelite tribes were apportioned no land. In the Middle Ages, tithes were understood in the same way, as a tax to support the [...]
Prosperity cult no novelty
Europeans tend to sniff at the Prosperity Gospel, claiming that it is only possible in hypercapitalist, greed-is-good America. But the idea that the Elect will be rewarded, and recognisable, by their earthly prosperity is from John Calvin, who was a Swiss and followed by Dutch and Scots. Mediterranean Catholics, meanwhile, seem to conceive of the [...]
Muggers as failed prophets
Little old ladies are notoriously afraid of muggers; which is yet further evidence that human risk assessment is wildly irrational. For the mugger might hit her once in a lifetime, purely by chance, and at worst threatens her with physical injury, pain and death. Many churches, on the other hand, would demand ten percent [...]
No harps in Cockaigne
Anyone who asks what they are actually supposed to do in the afterlife is merely demonstrating that they have too much money for their own good. For the vast majority of the world’s population down the ages would have been quite content not have to slave from dawn to dusk for a master – whether [...]
Latter-Day Marks
In the USA, Mormons are actively targeted by con-artists, particularly investment scammers. Now, what is the basic qualification for falling for an investment scam? Answer: wanting to get something for nothing, or at any rate as much as possible for as little as possible, in defiance of what we ought to have learned about the [...]
Does the prosperity cult work?
Statistics show that American Christians are more prosperous than unbelievers. There might be any number of different explanations for this, of which the believers’ tendency to spend less money on booze and broads is perhaps the most innocent. Another is that people attend church more after having made their pile than before, because now they [...]
Museum reflections
The Egyptian papyri in a Berlin museum left me with the impression that the basic mode of ‘early religious art’ was portrayal of the ordinary people coming in a never-ending procession with gifts. At one level this is clearly the universal Middle Eastern trope of subjugated peoples bearing tribute. But it seems also to apply [...]
Count the fingers you get back
A conservative army officer once advised me, never trust a Christian businessman. The infidel businessman will cheat you, he said, but the Christian businessman will cheat you with what he imagines is God’s blessing, and then cheat you some more to finance his church. His serene confidence in this right to cheat you makes him [...]
Come back Moses David, all is forgiven
Despite the sales pitch about getting your money back at a rate of interest usually associated with investment scams, it would be a serious error to believe that everyone becomes a fundamentalist Christian in order to get rich. The leaders yes, but not necessarily the followers. Many are joining the new churches out of simple [...]
