I was always bothered, when I was working in the city, by the people on the street who held up pictures of Christ while they begged, who wrote Bible verses on their signs. It seemed exploitative to me; I was less likely to give them money than to those who simply claimed a need. Jesus, I said once to a co-worker, is not a marketing device.
What I meant, of course, was that I thought that Jesus SHOULDN'T be a marketing device. That's all I could mean, really, because there is no denying that in today's society, Christ is a marketing device every day, all around us. What began as something sincere in the days when we knew the members of our parishes has become the frequent tool of the unscrupulous. I'm not just talking about the credit repair people advertising on Relevant Radio, giving the impression that they're just there to help. I'm not just talking about people advertising on the back of the church bulletin and offering a 10% discount to parish members simply because it's a cheap way to draw in business. I'm talking about something much more sinister, and much more pervasive--something a single example should clearly put into perspective.
Google "Christian payday loans". No really. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Yes, there are more than 8,000 results.
I must admit that even cynic that I am, even with the experience I've had in researching and writing consumer protection information about payday loans and payday lenders, I held out a moment of hope. I just had to. I thought that maybe, just maybe, Christian payday loans were a moral alternative to the payday lenders who command fees equivalent to 400% interest or more in storefront offices and over the Internet.
So I clicked on a few links. I read some information. I filled out a few forms. And I learned that Christian payday loans are different from regular payday lenders are different from other payday lenders in one way: they write "Christian" on their websites and marketing literature.
What is Christian about charging 400% interest to working people in such dire straits that they can't afford to wait for their next paychecks to arrive? And what, exactly, is Christian about using the word "Christian" to sell something without letting Christian principles alter your business practices in any way? Jesus as a marketing device is bad enough, but Jesus as a marketing device for deceptive and destructive practices is more than we should tolerate.
Recently, in the name of Christianity, we've seen protesters disrupting the funerals of fallen soldiers and slain college students. Now, we see businesses that exist only as a means of taking advantage of the working poor selling their virtually unbreakable cycle of debt with Christ's name. This list could go on, and I'm sure that you don't need me to spell it all out. We see it all around us every day. But what are we going to do about it? How are we going to reclaim Christ's name and insist that it stand only for the principles HE taught and works truly done in his name?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
I don't have any answers, but I do share your outrage. One action is speaking out against it - which you've just done. Good job!
Excellent. I really hadn't given much thought to the money lenders. Whenever I have seen these Christian Ads, I assumed they were trying to help. Thanks for the big reveal.
Hope you and your daughter enjoy this Easter Season.
I'm appalled with what I learned here. Thanks for the head's up. I don't know how to repel such 'Christian marketing' but I appreciate the awareness you bring.
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Dieta, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://dieta-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
Wow. That's pretty awful. I hadn't even heard of that before.
Wow.
THANK YOU for posting this!!! Too many take advantage of one's faith - the more unquestioned, the better chace you will be swindled. I was raised catholic, though I do not practice it now as my mom HAD to divorce a bad husband when I was 10 and my brother is gay. However, a cousin of mine is 'born again,' and she hired a church member to remodel her house. He said he was a Christian trying to support his family back east by just starting to market his handy-man talents to the community and to the city of Pheonix, as he was new. He offered her a deal that was too good to be true with the excuse that she was a fellow Christian, he's be willing to give her a deal if she was willing to help him. Since he was just starting out, he needed work history and photos for his protfolio, therefore the 'too good to be true' price.
She got ripped off. The guy tore her house apart - cabinets, carpeting, everthing - most likely to add free inventory to his or his boss; collection of discount home improvement projects.
Two things strike me from your excellently written post...
First off, that many so-called christians are the least 'Christian' people out there - and Fred Phelps and that lot are the worst offenders.
Secondly, the Catholic church was originally the world's first international corporation and pretty much dedicated to generating income, from selling holy relics to charging for prayers. The whole concept of purgatory was invented by the catholic church to give rich people's souls a place to 'hang out' until the post-mortem prayer's they'd paid for helped them into heaven.
Jesus has always been and will always be one of the most overused marketing devices and it's brilliant that your post highlighted how people often try to seem more legitimate by selling the same old crud with 'Christian' added to the title.
Excellent post! I get those "Christian payday loan" junk mails in my inbox daily and always ignore them. Someone's always trying to use Christ's name to exploit people. Thanks for taking a stand. I'll see what kind of stand I can take as well.
Opinion Streams.
Secular minds often use the word 'Christian' as a means to draw wealth from the pockets of the poor and needy, while pretending to help them when in reality they are only helping themselves.
What are we to do about it?
We need to expose them for what they really are, and warn our brothers and sisters in Christ to avoid them.
Moreover, we need to continue showing the world what the word 'Christian' really means, by upholding and living by the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.
We may not reach everyone; yet, our labor will not be in vain. For, thus says the Lord: "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11 NKJV)
What a wonderful post. I would really like to think that the person with a fish symbol on their company van would treat me better but maybe not. If they don't I think they even worse than normal crooks because they give Christianity a bad name. However, for the homeless man. St Francis was working in his father's shop when a man came in begging in the name of God and Francis shooed him out of the shop. He then thought why should he be more willing to give to man who asked him for something in the name of a friend that someone who asked in the name of God? He scooped up a handful of money and ran after the begger. When he found him he gave the begger the money and begged him for forgiveness. I don't always give them money, I make up goodie bags with socks and stuff inside and they seem to really appreciate it
Hello ,
My problem is that my Pastor supports my husband in his abusive behavior.
Please if you can read my site I need help support and advise.
This is what has been happening the last 3 years
http://christiandomesticviolence.blogspot.com
Post a Comment