How to Become a Millionaire - Become a Pastor

I have always been a bit leery of fundamentalist preachers - especially the ones who carry on about tithing and money while showing little Christian charity or humility. Obviously, in this country one need only think of Pat Robertson and other televangelists who have made their preaching into multi-million dollar empires and live like the wealthiest of Pharisees of old. It seems that this less than altruistic trait so popular with the professional Christian set in the USA has been exported now to Africa - along with homophobia and ant-gay obsessions. The Ecomomist looks at this development in East Africa where one can go from poverty to great wealth all by setting up as a pastor and fleecing the uneducated. To me, it's Christianity at its worst and is just as morally bankrupt as the Catholic Church hierarchy that lives the good life while preaching humility and sacrifice to those they live off of like parasites. Indeed, these folks make use car salesmen look ethical and paganism look attractive if this is the future of Christianity. Here are some highlights:
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AT A rally in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park on a Sunday afternoon last month, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, parliamentarian, assistant minister for housing and one of the country’s foremost Pentecostal preachers, was passing around a paper bag for contributions from the crowd.
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Officially Pentecostals and other “charismatics” count for no more than 5% of the population. In reality, their ministers preach to about a third of the country every week. Their rise reflects an important trend across Africa. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, about 17m Africans described themselves as born-again Christians in 1970. Today the figure has soared to more than 400m, which accounts for over a third of Africa’s population.
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Ms Wanjiru has lived the Pentecostal dream. She is from a poor family of casual labourers and eked out a life as a housemaid and toilet cleaner before working her way up to a marketing job. She then experienced a vision from God calling on her to save Africa. These days videos, CDs and other accessories can be bought from her website using credit cards or phone credit. She makes good use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media. She is not afraid to court controversy, last year baptising the boss of the Mungiki organised-crime outfit, Maina Njenga.
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[T]here is also plenty of hucksterism. You will be blessed with health and wealth by God, congregants are told, especially if you give generously. As in other parts of the world, the new churches in Kenya and Uganda provide a place for the ambitious poor to get ahead. Yet the real competitive advantage of the new churches in east Africa seems to be their willingness to tap, at least subliminally, into traditional beliefs.
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However, the new churches may not be able to translate today’s assertiveness into permanent political power. . . . Then there is the question of class. Pentecostalism cannot quite shake off its impecunious roots. The cabal of civil servants, soldiers, and businessmen who dominate the golf and social clubs of Nairobi and Kampala, the capitals of Kenya and Uganda, are mostly Anglican and Roman Catholic and are unlikely to be swayed by any casting out of demons.
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Support for the anti-homosexuality bill in the Ugandan parliament has fallen away after Mr Ssempa and other preachers accused a rival Pentecostal, Robert Kayanja, of sodomy. Mr Kayanja, coincidentally a half-brother of the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has himself been criticised in Uganda for milking the poor to live a luxury life. And the clear anti-Muslim sentiment scares politicians who want to win the sizeable Muslim vote.