This beautiful red
dog was tied up on our apartment's front steps on the night of September 11,
2017 in Tulelake, California. I heard a dog crying, it sounded like someone was
hurting him really bad. I didn't get out in time to see what was happening or
to catch anyone. He had a rope around his neck tied to our apartment's railing
that was tied like a rough hanging noose, it would get tighter if the dog moved
or tried to rest or if we tried untying it. We did finally get it untied from
the railing, which allowed the dog to breath better and move around but still
couldn't get the knot undone from his neck. We called the police and the police
officer that came had to cut the rope because there was no way to untie it
without strangling the poor dog. The police officer said he knew the owner but
later on I found out the poor dog went to the Klamath Animal Shelter, in
Klamath Falls, Oregon. If I was living in a house, I would have adopted him on
the spot, he was very gentle even though he was scared and was good with cats.
I hope he either got back with his real family (and they weren’t the
abuser/abusers) or was adopted, not put down like the usual thing here.
Animal Abuse is a
disgusting thing. People that do these things are truly soulless monsters.
Animal abusers have a special place in hell waiting for them.
This goat had the
cutest little face ever, so nerdy and the kindest and warmest eyes. She was at
the Tulelake/Butte Valley Fair in Tulelake, California a few years back.
I played with art
software to make a rainbow goat from this cutie.
Writers Note: This
was a college paper I had to do comparing two different ideologies.
Who should control a
woman’s body, mind and soul? Is Eve equal to Adam? Throughout history women
have been treated like second class citizens; property of men. They have been
blamed for being evil seductresses and sorceresses; leading the male sex to
ruin, through black magic and feminine wilds. They have been called too
intelligent, as well as, too ignorant, and too strong, as well as, too weak; to
have basic human rights for themselves. They have been misunderstood, hated,
abused, killed and in many ways totally ignored, but still blamed for all the
world‘s ills; controlled in one way or the other, body, mind and soul; for
thousands of years. These questions have especially been asked since the
beginning of the three main Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam which are for the most part patriarchal in nature. The Apostle Paul‘s
form of Christianity, also called Pauline Christianity reinforced a patriarchal
ideology.
In Pauline
Christianity women are viewed as just a part of a man’s body, not owning her
own; just a simple rib. This belief comes down from the teachings of the
Apostle Paul and misinterpretation, through language translation and biases,
and by Church leaders’ interpretations of the creation story of Adam and Eve in
Genesis. In the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible)Genesis 2:21 and 2:22 states: “So Hashem God cast a deep sleep upon the
man and he slept; and He took one of his sides and He filled in flesh in its
place. Then Hashem God fashioned the side that He had taken from the man into a
women, and He brought her to the man”. In the true translation from Hebrew to
English, half of the being Adam is taken to make the being Eve; not just a
single rib. This means in the unchanged indigenous Jewish religion, if interpreted
correctly in Hebrew not Greek, man and woman are two equal halves of what was
once a hermaphroditic being, a being that was both masculine and feminine in
body. The equality of the sexes in the original writings of Judaism is also
supported by Genesis 1:27, which states: “So God created Man in his image, in
the image of God. He created him; male and female He created them”. On a
spiritual level God is seen as both masculine and feminine, viewing both sexes
as equal and important to the spiritual and physical worlds.
Both Protestant and
Catholic forms of Pauline Christianity have long banned the equal rights of
women throughout history, using false interpretations of Jewish biblical text
and gender biased in the Christian bible, to support their rules and laws. Pope
Gregory I (540-604) stated: “Woman is slow in understanding and her unstable
and naïve mind renders her by way of natural weakness to the necessity of a
strong hand in her husband. Her “use” is twofold; [carnal] sex and
motherhood.”Church leaders barred women from equal access to education, jobs,
medical treatment, owning property and many other basic rights. Her mind, body
and soul belonged to her male relatives or her husband. A woman’s husband could
beat her into submission under Christian law, because she was considered just a
child mentally, and the daughter of Eve, the deceiver; spiritually. Rabbi
Gershon Winkler writes: “Ruling class European men looked at and treated their
women basically as they did their African slaves…” A woman was not seen as a
complete human being without a husband, she was incomplete. John Wesley
(1703-1791) wrote: “Wife: Be content to be insignificant. What loss would it be
to God or man had you never been born.” Jewish leaders on the other hand viewed
the role of women as being important in Jewish society. Hugh Fogelman states:
“Judaism recognizes that women are endowed with a greater degree of
“binah“(intuition, understanding, intelligence) than men.” The woman was not
just a vessel for future generations, but an important factor in her community,
in both physical and spiritual matters. Jewish women were not only wives and
mothers, but they also were community leaders and businesswomen. Fogelman
writes: “For example, Jewish women had the right to buy, sell, and own
property, and make their own contracts.” Women were also viewed as equal to
their husbands. Fogelman writes: “Jewish women are held in high esteem in
marriage.” A wife must be taken care of and loved with respect by her husband,
and any type of martial abuse, physical or mental, is breaking Jewish law
(including rape). A woman is viewed as a complete human being, not just a
child, not just a mere rib. Fogelman states: “In Torah/Judaism, woman is the
completion of man, but, woman needs no completion herself. That is why a woman
says the blessing, each morning, “Blessed are You, Hashem, King of the
universe, Who has made me according to His will.” Man needs woman for
completion, man needs circumcision for elevation, but woman needs nothing
except what is within her, which was granted her by God.”
A woman’s choices
throughout history were very limited, wife and mother. Motherhood came with
many dangers, without proper care many had reproductive health problems that
shorten their lives or they died young in childbirth, from multiple pregnancies
without limit; most without proper care for both the mother and baby. Birth
control and pain control during labor was against Christian doctrine, because
of the Christian belief of “original sin“, where the pains and suffering of
birth is God’s curse on the female gender. Martin Luther (1483-1546) the German
leader of the Protestant Reformation said: “If they {women} become tired or
even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth, that’s why they are
there.” In the Jewish faith there is no concept of “original sin“, men and
women are all born inherently good; clean slates at birth. In pregnancy the
mother’s life comes first, The Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 69b states that: “the
embryo is considered to be mere water until the fortieth day. Afterwards, it is
considered subhuman until it is born.” Abortion was never taken lightly in
Judaism, because of the potential for life, but when it came to the physical
and mental well-being of the mother it was permitted; because a fetus does not
receive full personhood until half way out of the birth canal, when it takes
its first breath of life on its own. Pain relief in childbirth was also allowed,
to ease the mother through nature’s pain, which was not considered some curse
from God; children were considered a blessing not a curse. Many Christian women
during this time used Jewish doctors and midwives, for reproductive health
care. This could be dangerous to the Christian woman, who was breaking
Christian laws on procreation, and the Jew, who was viewed as a child of Satan;
both were seen as breaking Christian laws and crossing ethnic boundaries.
A woman’s soul was
also always being questioned, some church leaders even questioned if she even
had a true soul. Some spoke of the female being somewhere between an animal and
her male counterpart. Some even spoke of the female sex as filth. Tertullian
(160-220) an early Christian philosopher stated: “Woman is a temple built over
a sewer, the gateway to the devil. Woman, you are the devil’s doorway. You led
astray one whom the devil would not dare attack directly. It was your fault
that the Son of God had to die; you should always go in mourning and rags.”
Church leaders believed that women were weaker both spiritually and sexually
than men, believing that the female gender was more prone to the evil side of
spirituality, and that women were naturally sexually attracted to the devil;
which controlled them to the point of demonic possession. In the past a women
who believed in gender equality was often silenced by fire for being a witch.
It was believed that a woman must be listening to the devil, to think of
herself as equal to a man. Clement of Alexandria (150-215) stated: “Every woman
should be filled with shame by the thought that she is a woman.” Any religion
that celebrated womanhood, the feminine side of God or viewed women equal to
men; were considered blasphemy against Christianity. This included Judaism,
some forms of Christianity, and folk beliefs that focused on the Divine
Feminine. Rabbi Winkler writes; “For example, Jews had to tone down the roles
of their women in religious life and function to avoid suspicions of
witchcraft, a suspicion held of all women — their religious affiliation
notwithstanding — who exhibited independence, learning, and mystical prowess”.
A woman was always under suspicion of devil worship by Christian authorities,
just because she had the misfortune of being born a female.
Today, women are
gaining equal rights throughout the world, especially European countries and
here in United States, because of women suffrage and modern feminism. Women are
beginning to be released from the role that Simone De Beauvoir called: “the
Eternal Feminine”, the saintly mother or the perverse man-hating sorceress.
Education is open to women in every discipline, they have choices in careers,
even those once offered only to men; as well as marriage and motherhood or
both. Women have the right in most of the developed world to birth control, and
safe medical help throughout pregnancy, and controlling their own bodies and
fates but the world could still do better for poor women and women living still
in oppressive regions. Women can go into political and leadership roles, and
make a difference in the world around them. Today many, Christian denominations
like, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and others, view a woman as equal
to a man, having female ministers, teachers, and religious leaders. Renewal,
Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, Humanistic, Kabbalah (mystical
Judaism), some Orthodox, and various other forms of Judaism; also view women as
equal to men. Women are becoming Rabbis, teachers, and religious leaders in
most of Judaism’s denominations, except for Orthodox. The Jewish people are slowly
regaining the Divine Feminine, which was once lost. Pagan religions, which
celebrate both the God and Goddess, are making a comeback throughout the world.
Women as well as men do not have to fear being put to death in a large part of
the world, because of believing in equality of the sexes.
But there are still
many parts of the world that women are still living under violent patriarchal
religious rules. There are those in the Europe and the United States whose
views mirror the darker side of Christianity‘s past, viewing the female gender
as the weak, sinful, and the dark other, to the male sex. That must be
controlled and put down to a different level of existence. Many Conservative
Christians today who follow Pauline Christianity view feminism as a demonic
philosophy, which is anti-Christian; going against ancient biblical sex roles
of being wife, mother, helpmate and caretaker. The female sex is valued for the
womb inside her, and the future generations that will come from it. They
believe that the female is just the weaker piece of the male sex, without a say
in anything that might affect her, physically, mentally, and spiritually,
believing that only her male counterpart should make the decisions that affect
her body, mind and soul. Women are not to hold leadership roles, or careers
that place them over men. To step out of this role a woman is considered evil,
separating her from the path to the heavens. Feminism is viewed as dangerous to
the biblical order of things because it stands for women’s right and for women
to control their own lives and bodies Pat Robertson stated: “The feminist
agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist,
anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands,
kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become
lesbians.” Robertson’s viewpoint is a mirror image of Christian leaders throughout
history, on the dangers of equality of the sexes, and the evil female. Feminism
is also viewed as cheapening the roles of wife and motherhood. Austin Cline
writes: “Many people in modern America complain that motherhood and raising
children have been devalued by the feminist movement and the efforts to get
women into the workplace. These same people, however, are the religious
conservatives who have throughout America’s history been responsible for the
actual devaluing of women’s contributions to society. Motherhood and raising
children haven’t been devalued because of feminism and women working in the
corporate world; instead, they have been devalued precisely because they are
seen as “women’s work” and unsuitable for men.”
This article is on
ageism and its causes and effects on our lives as we age. “The term “Ageism”,
was coined in 1969 by Robert Butler, the first director of the National
Institute on Aging” (E. Palmore, Ageism: Negative and Positive 1990). Robert
Butler defined ageism as bigotry no different than sexism or racism, where
negative stereotyping causes pain and discrimination against a group of people
just because of who they are. Ageism, unlike other bigotries, we will all
experience at some point in our lives. Because we all grow older, no one is
exempt.
Our Society and
Ageism
There are four basic
factors in Western civilization that help promote the negative bias and
stereotyping of those who have reached what is viewed as old. This can vary
from ethnic group to ethnic group, and individual to individual.
The First Factor of
Ageism:
The first factor is
the fear of death. Western civilization separates death from the nature life
cycle, viewing as somehow unnatural, Eastern civilization and their
philosophies, on the other hand, have always viewed death as just a part of a
continuous cycle of life. In this process, which is called reincarnation, death
is viewed as part of the process of rebirth and is not feared. So in Eastern
society aging is not feared and the elderly are not ignored or put in a
negative light, they are seen as wise elders and are deeply respected. The
opposite is true in Western civilization and in its philosophy. Kastenbaum
(1979) stated: “As death is feared, old age is feared; death and old age are
viewed as synonymous in American society.” Butler also (1969) states: “Ageism
reflects a deep-seated uneasiness on the part of the young and middle-aged. A
personal revulsion to and distaste for growing old, disease, disability; and a
fear of powerlessness, uselessness, and death” (The Theoretical Basis of
Ageism, quote from Kastenbaum and Butler, http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageismtheory.html.)
The elder in Western civilization is seen as a burden and reminder of our
body’s mortality.
The Second Factor of
Ageism:
The second factor is
the media including: movies, television, commercials, music videos, magazines,
books, and even the evening news. Pappas (2011) states: “If you’re over 50 and
pick up a copy of Vogue magazine, don’t expect to see someone like you peering
back from the cover. Despite having a readership that’s one-fifth women over
50, the magazine has only featured one woman over 40 on the cover in the past
year — Halle Berry, then 43, who appeared on the September 2010 issue…A new
study finds that this absence of older women isn’t limited to Vogue, or even to
magazine covers: An analysis of editorial and advertising images reveals that
despite proportions of older readers ranging as high as 23 percent, fashion
magazines portray women over 40 sparingly, if at all. Even in magazines geared
toward aging baby boomers, the images collectively present a thin, youthful,
wrinkle-free ideal that’s impossible to maintain later in life” (Magazines’
Youthful Ideal Threatens Real Women’s Sexuality, http://www.livescience.com/14562-fashion-magazines-vogue-older-women-sexuality.html.)
Youth and beauty are portrayed as being all important, a person’s worth is
based on their youthful appearance and physical beauty, not the character of their
personality, mind, and soul. The older a character on a movie or television
show is, the more likely they will be portrayed in a negative way, especially
women. Usually the older female will be portrayed as the villain who is
jealously going after the much younger heroine of the story, because she wants
her life and to regain her youth by destroy another. Magazines play with our
fear of growing older. By telling us that as we age, we will lose our beauty
and sexuality. And in turn lose our value in society to be loved and respected.
So they promote and advertise all kinds of costly beauty products, procedures,
and plastic surgeries. Many procedures with dangerous side effects, like Botox
and skin peels. Or surgeries that can permanently scar a person or kill them;
turning a once healthy forty or fifty something into a corpse. Even greeting
cards have to get into the act of degrading the aging process. Some birthday
cards turn a happy birthday into a horrible sarcastic joke. This emphasis on
youth not only affects how older individuals are perceived but also how older
individuals perceive themselves.
The Third Factor of
Ageism:
The third factor is
America’s emphasis on productivity. Butler (1969) stated: “It should be noted
that productivity is narrowly defined in terms of economic potential. Both ends
of the life cycle are viewed as unproductive, children and the aged. The
middle-aged are perceived as carrying the burdens imposed by both groups.
Children, however, are viewed as having future economic potential. In a way,
they are seen as an economic investment. Economically, older adults are
perceived as a financial liability. This is not to say that older adults are
unproductive. However, upon retirement, the older adult is no longer viewed as
economically productive in American society and thus devalued” (The Theoretical
Basis of Ageism, http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/ageismtheory.html.)
The sad fact is even if the older adult is working and healthy they are still
viewed as being less productive, especially here in America. A stereotype that
is blind to the truth and that devalues people that are still very productive,
both economically and socially.
The Fourth Factor of
Ageism:
The fourth factor is
how medicine and science have handled research in the aging process. Most
studies in gerontology in the past have been poorly done. Done in long-term
care institutions where the studies were cheap, easy and lazily done. But in
reality only a very small percentage of the elderly are in these types of
institutions (about five percent.) These are the elderly that are sicklier than
the rest of the population, due to many factors not just the aging process. So
the research was not wide enough to be valid or fair. The only thing all these
studies really did was add to the long list of fears, stereotypes, and negative
bias against growing older.
Myths and Facts of
Aging
The number one myth
against aging and the elderly is that most are suffering from sickness or
disability. Nearly half of Americans believe that illness and disability are
the number one problem of those over sixty-five. That getting older makes you
frailer and more open to diseases and injuries than your younger counterparts.
As we get older our quality of life, it is believed, goes from health to
suffering, fearing that we all will end up in a long-care institution (a
nursing home) at some point in our late adulthood, to suffer through a long
death (Five Myths of Aging, http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/aging/the-five-myths-of-aging.)
The fact is that about seventy-eight percent of people over sixty-five are
healthy enough to engage in normal everyday life activities and that only about
five percent of the elderly are in long-care institutions. These are the worst
of the worst that may be suffering from an age related diseases like
Alzheimer’s, but also may be suffering from genetic diseases or health problems
due to past lifestyle choices.
Mental decline and
mental illness are two other health myths held against the elderly. Mental
decline is viewed as something that just happens as we age, a normal part of
aging that we must endure and suffer through. (Five Myths of Aging, http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/aging/the-five-myths-of-aging.)
But most of us will retain our normal mental abilities, though they may slow a
bit, including the ability to learn and experience new things until our lives
end. Unless we develop a disease that effects our brain function. Mental
illness is also falsely viewed as a common problem with growing older. But only
about two percent of people over sixty-five are institutionalized for
psychiatric illness. In fact mental illness is much more common in the young.
Loss of sexuality is
another myth of aging, that as we age we loss the need for sexual intimacy. And
if we do not it is somehow morally perverse, that we are dirty old men and
women who have somehow missed the message of Western civilization that
sexuality ends when procreation does. (5 Myths About Sex and Aging, http://www.aarp.org/relationships/love-sex/info-05-2011/sex-myths.html.)
Sadly even well-educated medical professionals seem to buy into this
conservative view of sexuality. But in reality we were created as sexual beings
and will die the same. Most healthy couples still have satisfying sexual
relations into their eighties and even nineties. Sexual intimacy plays an
important role in the lives of both men and women, offering love and closeness
and most feel that sex after sixty is as satisfying as or more satisfying than
when they were younger.
Another myth of
aging is that those that are elderly live in a state of isolation and
uselessness. But the majority of the elderly are not socially isolated or useless.
Most live with spouses or family, and if they do live alone they keep close
contact with family and friends. Most feel they have purpose in their lives,
having jobs or careers, volunteering in their communities, having a religious
faith (believing in some higher being and purpose) and feeling loved and needed
by their partners, spouses, family circle, friends and community. Though there
is a decline over time of social activities as we age, it is not as dramatic of
a change as we may make it out to be. Some of us will have little to no change
in our social ties to the world or the social activities these ties provide.
Some of the social decline we experience is by choice or being pushed out of
things because of how old we are. Being told you are too frail or too old to do
this or that can help put you into a forced isolation that has nothing to do
with your biological age, just social pressure to conform to an ageist
stereotype.
The Effects of
Ageism
Dittman (2003)
states: “…in a survey of 84 people ages 60 and older, nearly 80 percent of
respondents reported experiencing ageism–such as other people assuming they had
memory or physical impairments due to their age. The 2001 survey by Duke
University’s Erdman Palmore, PhD, also revealed that the most frequent type of
ageism–reported by 58 percent of respondents–was being told a joke that pokes
fun at older people. Thirty-one percent reported being ignored or not taken
seriously because of their age. The study appeared in The Gerontologist (Vol.
41, No. 5)” (Fighting Ageism, http://www.apa.org/monitor/may03/fighting.aspx.)
Like all bigotries, ageism comes with many emotional and even physical affects.
A person who is shunned and discriminated against will feel stressed. Feeling
isolated and alone, they may feel like they have no place in the world, no
purpose. They may adopt the very views that are used against them. “I’m too old
to be doing this” or “I should be acting may age.” They will slowly pull away
from things they once enjoyed and even people they love being around, trying to
fit into the stereotype that is put on them. Social interactions and activities
may be completely avoided. They may suffer low self-esteem, shame, self-hatred,
drug and alcohol abuse, and in extreme cases severe depression and suicide.
Dittman (2003) states: “Not only are negative stereotypes hurtful to older
people, but they may even shorten their lives, finds psychologist Becca Levy,
PhD, assistant professor of public health at Yale University. In Levy’s
longitudinal study of 660 people 50 years and older, those with more positive
self-perceptions of aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with negative
self-perceptions of aging. The study appeared in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology (Vol. 83, No. 2)” (Fighting Ageism, http://www.apa.org/monitor/may03/fighting.aspx.)
Counteracting Ageism
Changing society’s
views on aging is one of the best ways of counteracting ageism. Rodeheaver (The
Gerontologist 1990) “suggests that in order to counteract ageism, changes must
be made in the system which perpetrates it beliefs. This includes the media,
culture, and institutions such as government, human services and corporate
America” (Curriculum Module on Ageism, University of California at Berkeley, http://cssr.berkeley.edu/research_units/casas/links_details_curricula_ageism.html.)
We also should be aware of our own deep down prejudices against the aging
process and the elderly, and find their root cause. Interacting with the
elderly is one way to overcome our own personal feelings and biases against
growing old. The elderly can also take action by staying active in their
community and government (not becoming invisible.) We should remember that we
are all growing older, and will have to deal with the effects of ageism and its
negative stereotypes, at some point of our lives. How will we handle it? This
is something to think about.
Conclusion
Western civilization
has to change its views on aging and the elderly. We must remember the Fifth
Commandment “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus). When we honor our
parents we honor God, and I believe it means our elderly neighbors also.
Somehow we have lost the respect that once was held for the elders of the
tribe. Eastern civilization still views the elder as a respected member of the
community, the wise one to go to for help and knowledge. This is the model we
should emulate here in America instead of treating the wise elder like
something that can be thrown away, ignored and disrespected.
Aging is a natural
process we all are experiencing right now, treating it as something horrible
and unnatural that must be suffered through, is treating life in a very narrow
way. Yes, there are changes in our bodies over time, but attitude has a lot to
do with our health, mental faculties, and happiness as we age. If you are young
in spirit, always looking to the future and learning new and exciting things.
Not one to back down from the process of life, a person that never believes
“you’re too old to do something” or that “you most act your age.” Your life
will be very different than the person who sees the aging process as a sickness
and growing old as a future of darkness and suffering. “We do not see the world
as it is, we see the world as we are” (The Jewish Talmud).
What most of us today imagine as a religious institution is
usually a modest, peaceful, and spiritual building. It houses a place of
worship; a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque, and most likely, has a person
who is trained to lead services in his or her particular religion with the ability
to counsel the members of these religious institutions or organizations. These
clergy are usually given a yearly salary through their congregation’s offerings
or through a national denomination group‘s charitable donations, these
contributions are also called tithing. This tithing is also used to help
congregation members when they have some type of financial problem and to help
local charities, to feed and clothe the poor in the community.
Different from basic religious intuitions or organizations
televangelists and their mega-churches send out their flamboyant mesmerizing
and at times disturbing sermons on to your radio, television, and internet.
With studios that look more like Hollywood sets than a place of religious
worship; showing a strange mixture of Christianity, spiritual drama, and
wealth. These ministries can be heard and seen in your home twenty-four hours a
day; seven days a week. These ministers speak of a version of the Christian
gospels that is called the “gospel of prosperity” which is also called the “law
of reciprocity“. This is the belief that donating money, or tithing to God,
creates wealth and a place in heaven for the donor. These televangelists also
strongly use the vivid imagery of hell, damnation, and Armageddon, to pull the
listener into their messages of tithing and its blessings. Though, not a new
concept in Christianity, it takes a very modern tone in these ministries
showing the listener all he or she can have if they just follow the “gospel of
prosperity“ and what may be their fate if they do not give to God. They use
people’s generosity, religious beliefs, fears, uncertainties, and sometimes
greed, to raise donations in the name of God and charity. But is this morally
and legally right? Can you really buy your way to heaven by tithing? Or is this
just another telemarketing scam?
Televangelism: Business, Political, or Religious
Organization
Television and radio ministries have been around for
decades, pulling listeners in with their strong messages of Christian
salvation. Televangelists like Billy Graham and Oral Roberts started the
movement of ministering to people in their own homes, through television and
radio programming formatted to entertain the listener and to provide another
religious outlet that was not just in a church pew on a Sunday morning. These
ministers’ message was a strong old Southern Pentecostal style of Christianity,
pulling from scriptures that focus heavily on the belief of salvation only
through Jesus Christ. They relied heavily on the belief in faith healing
through the laying on of hands and spiritual and physical prosperity through
giving. They also focused on the belief in the Rapture at the End of Days,
which is the belief that Christians will be taken physically up to heaven
before the war of Armageddon, which will be fought by Jews and other
non-Christians. Armageddon will end by all non-Christians being annihilated
because of their lack of belief in Jesus Christ, all Christians will then
return to earth, and Jesus Christ’s second coming will be complete. These
images were not only to encourage Christians to stay faithful to Jesus Christ,
but to bring in more listeners for the televangelists and their ministries.
Television and radio ministries were a new way to
proselytize to a mass audience starting out nationwide and gradually growing
worldwide, taking their message to a variety of cultures and countries that in
some cases had never heard of the Christian religion or its message and
scriptures. This was a more efficient way to spread the word than the old
traveling missionaries that had to journey around the world to proselytize to
the masses. These ministers also found that it could bring in a lot of
donations from eager donors. These donors wanted an easy way to spirituality,
believing it would help forgive their sins and would create a better existence
if they gave to God. They also hoped to create wealth and protection from
poverty and all its damaging side effects. Donors also believed that giving to
God would save them from physical and spiritual annihilation, guaranteeing them
a place in heaven during the Rapture and war of Armageddon in the future. This
made it not only a way to minister to the millions but to raise millions of
dollars yearly through their listeners’ hopes and fears. The profits from these
early media ministries started a whole new media system, based entirely on the
concept of saving souls through television, radio, publishing, and much later
the internet. These ministries were based on worship, healing, and salvation
through tithing.
Today there are Christian religious programs on most cable
and local television and radio stations. There are cable stations like The
Christian Broadcast Network (TBN) and satellite companies like the Angel
Network, that devote themselves entirely to Christian programming and
ministries throughout the United States and the world. Many of these
televangelists have or are affiliated with what is called today mega-churches,
which bring in even more congregation membership and revenue for their
ministries.
These ministries also have their own websites, and own or
are invested in publishing and film companies who create all forms of Christian
entertainment, including books, magazines, television shows, movies, and video
games. These are all based entirely on Christian news, lifestyle, scripture,
and belief. These media outlets raise billions every year from their listeners’
charitable donations. They promote the belief that if you give to them as a
church and charity, and buy their products, that you are giving to God‘s
kingdom guaranteeing you earthly wealth and a place in heaven.
Televangelists tell their audiences that the money that is
donated is biblical tithing, money that is going directly to God, his kingdom,
and people. This money will create wealth for them, the donor is told, and is
going to those who are needy around the world. Televangelists use their own
interpretation of Christian scripture on giving and charity called the “gospel
of prosperity” to convince their followers that poverty is caused by not
believing that wealth is good and a natural spiritual state of being a true
Christian. The richer you are as a Christian the more you are closer to God and
his favor. These ministers use psychological reinforcement to make the listeners
feel special or superior to those who are suffering in the world. This makes
poverty a curse from God making believers of the “gospel of prosperity” feel
that the poor are sinning somehow, and if they are poor, making them believe
they must give no matter how. To insure that followers give to their
organizations, televangelists create different interpretation of the Old
Testament (the Torah) and New Testament (the Christian bible).
The ‘prosperity gospel” keeps reminding listeners that
poverty is a curse from God, and donating your last dollar is the only way to
save yourself from this curse. There is no other way to atone for your sins,
than to send money to, whichever televangelist you are listening too.
Televangelists use extreme psychological and business tactics to get listeners
to pick up their phones and donate. They sell religion in the same way
telemarketers sell you products and services, anything from friendly persuasion
to outright spiritual threats, using God and the fear of damnation as their
sale’s tools. They play on people’s weaknesses, desires, basic needs, and spiritual
fears, particularly, targeting those who have been raised in the Pentecostal
faith or other Evangelical denominations. They prey on the elderly and their
retirement benefits and real estate holdings, and they also pray on those with
fixed incomes. Those who they know are having spiritual doubts in their own
religious experiences, whether Christian or not, are also targeted. These
ministers feel that those weak in faith may be easily converted to their
viewpoints and interpretations of Christianity through fear tactics.
Televangelists make themselves the only path to God and salvation, for the
millions who listen to their messages. Televangelists pull heavily on the
Christian tradition of never questioning a member of the clergy or their view
of what is right or wrong, which would be considered rude. Many of these
listeners do not understand Christian scripture, and feel it is not their place
to understand. They feel that because it is a minister (a man or woman of God),
they can trust them and their interpretation of biblical scripture because they
have been anointed by God Himself. To question anything these ministers say
would be a sin against God himself. These ministries also want to generate an
atmosphere of distrust when it comes to the secular world for their followers,
making them more emotionally and spiritually depended on them for their
spiritual and physical well-being. They rely on people’s gullibility and
ignorance of their own religion or political viewpoints, speaking out against
any form of intellectualism, whether it is religious or secular. If their
listeners start asking too many questions, these ministers fear they will stop
listening to them. This would stop the donations coming, which would affect
their ministries. Ignorance is bliss for these businesses.
Listeners are told on these ministries’ websites,
television, and radio programs how they can send in as little as a dollar,
twenty dollars or thousands of dollars. Payments can be made by cash, check,
credit card, money order, and direct-deposit. They can be made one-time-only,
weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, and yearly or whatever is convenient for the
donor. Listeners are encouraged to give in various ways. They can give stock
from companies that they have invested in. They can give IRA and annuities in
portions, sharing their retirement with a televangelist’s ministry of their
choice. Donors can give property as gifts, receiving a partial payment from the
ministry, and avoiding the capital gains tax. Donors can also give estate
gifts, by putting the ministry in their wills, to avoid estate taxes. Listeners
are shown products like jewelry, books, DVDs, CDs, and other products with
Christian imagery and subject matter, that they can receive for even more
charitable giving. They are also encouraged to go buy these products in their
local Christian book stores and national Christian websites. Most listeners do
no truly know where their hard earned money goes; they just send it in without
any questions.
Televangelists like Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth
Copeland, Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, and others, look more like
corporate business leaders and political lobbyists than your basic clergy at
your local place of worship. With the use of Christian scriptures and imagery,
good business skills and management, and psychological tactics, they gain
wealth through the selling of salvation, blessings, and the pardoning of sins.
The money they raise from listeners is used to invest in many businesses like
cattle, movies, book and magazine publishing, diamond mines, nutritional and
vitamin companies, amusement parks, and various other investments. These
investments have nothing to do with basic religious ceremony or duties, or
charitable outreach and giving. Televangelists live a lavish lifestyle through
their listeners’ donations and gifts, with large salaries that allow for
multi-million-dollar homes and offices, expensive cars, and private jets (http://www.inplainsite.org/html/tele-evangelist_lifestyles.html.)
These religious organizations are more
like corporations, but because of the constitutional rules of the separation
between church and state and the tax except status of being a non-profit
organization; do not pay taxes. The United States government does not really
know how much these religious organizations or televangelists are worth
financially, because their businesses and investments are so vast, encompassing
the globe.
These ministries are also strong proponents on the fight to
weaken or eliminate the constitutional rules on the separation of church and
state. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights states:“Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof…” This constitutional protection is for all religions, not just one.
But, some of these ministries would like to establish a national religion and
church going against the United States Constitution, destroying the basic right
of freedom of religion and religious choice. They strongly lobby for this
through the policies and politicians they support. These ministries reinforce
this by scaring their audiences with the belief that if Christianity is not
made the national religion, Christianity will be deemed illegal. Listeners are
told that if they do not vote the way that the ministries want them to, they
are going against God and his Kingdom. The paranoia this helps produce creates
a group of people that do not trust their government or any secular
institutions that could help them, and at times can create violent reactions.
Tithing and Charity: History and Facts
So what is true biblical tithing? The Ancient Israel, of the
Jewish Torah (also called the Old Testament) viewed tithing and money as two
different things entirely. Money from a person’s own talent and work was their
own profits, to be used to support themselves and their families. Most things
from nature, was believed to be God’s gift to the Israeli people, and was
tithed back to help others, especially from farming and herding. The poor were
not obligated to tithe, because it added to their hardship, which was not
religiously acceptable to the laws of Israel. In fact these tithing were to
feed the needing and to give to the temple and its priests and servants. Modern
day Judaism still states that you must provide for yourself and your family
before you give to God.
Early Christian-Jews kept this tradition on tithing until
the Church legally changed the meaning of tithing and made it a mandatory part
of the Christian faith in 777 B.C.E. Even after the meaning of tithing was
changed, many early Church leaders still followed a life of poverty, believing
this was more biblically acceptable. They believed that riches were of the
physical world not the spiritual realm and were not important to a spiritual
existence.
In medieval Europe, the Catholic Church allowed the wealthy
to buy what was called “indulgences”, pardons for sins committed in business
and personal interactions These “indulgences” where a type of tithing to the
Church by wealthy business families, who believed that being in the business
world and doing its dealings created sins that they had to atone for by
donating a portion of their wealth. These donations (or tithing) helped create
a large amount Christian art and architecture, by building churches,
cathedrals, and paintings that were of biblical stories and people. Many of the
works from artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarrot, and
Raffaello Santi (also called Raphael), were funded through these church
followers’ indulgences. This type of tithing did come with its critics; men
like Martin Luther (1483-1546), the leader of the Lutheran Reformation felt
that the Catholic Church and its leaders were over stepping their holy duties.
Making themselves the holy ones and selling forgiveness that they had no right
to, and making the Church very wealthy. This was much like what televangelists
are doing today for themselves and their businesses.
Basic churches today use tithing for variety of purposes.
Most ministers have a set yearly income, which comes from their local church or
national denomination. This income is based on the ability of the church or its
organizations to pay, some ministers make more than others, but most do not
make more than a middle class income. Tithing is also used for the upkeep of
the church building and its property, which probably includes some type of
outside help and services. Church donation are also used to help the poor and
others who need help, like soup kitchens, work resources, drug counseling,
psychological help, spiritual support, and various other community programs
throughout the church’s area. Churches will also partner up with other places
of worship, community centers, and charitable organizations, to help a larger
population.
Religious origination are not the only form of charitable
non-profit agencies, there are secular charities also. But both must follower
regulations and laws that were enacted to protect the charity and the donor.
Non-profit businesses most stay politically neutral without supporting a
candidate or political cause. Charities can focus on reaching your heart. But
ethically and legally cannot use any tactics that can be perceived as
threatening. The donor is always in control of what they choose to donate. The
donor also has the right to inquire about where their donation is going and to
ask about the charity’s financial records, which should be public record.
Charity Navigator states in their article “Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy
Donors”: “Savvy donors know that the financial health of a charity is a strong
indicator of the charity’s programmatic performance. They know that the most
efficient charities spend at least 75% of their budget on their programs and
services and less than 25% on fundraising and administrative fees…
Sophisticated donors realize that charities need to pay their top leaders a
competitive salary in order to attract and retain the kind of talent needed to
run a multi-million dollar organization and produce results. But they also
don’t just take the CEO’s compensation at face value; they benchmark it against
similar-sized organizations engaged in similar work and located in the same
region of the country… Charity Navigator reveals that the average CEO’s
compensation of the charities we evaluate is roughly $150,000” (http://www.charitynavigator.org/.)
A donor must realize that some charities may pay more by
region and by what the non-profit is supporting. A charity that is based on
raising money for higher educational programs, museums or the arts will pay
their CEOs more than a charity that is helping the poor. The best way to be a
smart donor is to investigate a charity, whether religious or secular, and find
out what their reputation is.
Conclusion
Religion and charity is something that can and should go
hand and hand. Religious and secular institutions have had a history of helping
poverty and need throughout the world, and this has and will continue. On the
other hand, televangelists and their organizations do not follow rules and
regulations that deem them as a valid religious or charitable non-profit
organization. They break basic rules on political activity and it is hard to
prove what percentage of their listeners’ donations ever makes it to a real
charitable cause. The records are not there to see, which is the only valid way
to know if your donation is going to the needy or going into someone’s pocket.
But looking at televangelists’ lavish lifestyles of excess should give the
donor insight to where at least most of their donations are going too.
Televangelists preach about the importance of tithing to God for salvation and
the forgiving of sins. They twist Jewish and Christian scripture to support
their message of the “Gospel of Prosperity” or the “Law of Reciprocity” to make
themselves powerful and rich, lining their own pockets in the process. So can
you really buy salvation through tithing? This question can only be answered by
God, and He or She, cannot be interviewed.
What does it mean to separate religion and government? The
separation of church and state is a growing issue in the United States today.
There are as many interpretations of this separation as there are religions and
belief systems in the country. Everyone has their own ideas on how it should be
put in place and what the main religion of the country should be if any
religion at all. Some speak of a total secular society, with no spirituality
included in anything; others speak of a Christian dominated society, with no
room for other faiths, believing other faiths are spiritually dangerous to
their society. Both extremes can take a dangerous path, if put into law.
History has shown that when a government enforces one
religion over all others, minority faiths and their people suffer greatly. This
is proven by the Inquisition in Spain during the thirteenth century by the
Roman Catholic Church. Jews and Muslims, who would not convert to Christianity,
were tortured, murdered and those who survived were expelled from Spain in
1492. A total secular run country can also be as dangerous to its citizens and
their freedom. Communist Russia, of the past is one example, and North Korea
today is another. Where a government controls what can be taught and believed,
treating their people as things without spirit, with no legal protection to
express their spiritual needs. Isolating them in a world of darkness and
hopelessness, and punishing them with imprisonment or death if they are caught
worshiping in anyway. Both these paths of government are without balance and
are dangerous to the people under their rule.
The First Amendment defines the separation of church and
state as the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ”This state’s clearly
that the United States will not establish a nationwide religion. That having a
faith or not having a faith is protected by our Constitution. That we can
worship in our own way, without fear of discrimination or threat by our
government, and express those faiths without fear of imprisonment or death as
long as our faith is not breaking common laws, like drug use or harming another
person. This is not discriminating against any faith, but honoring all faiths,
and giving a space of public life that is free of a government promoted
religious proselytizing. This is one factor of our government that makes it
possible to live in a diverse society. This separation is metaphorical in many
ways, religion influences government and government influences religion. Though
at times confusing and easily twisted by religious leaders, the separation of church
and state here in United States is balanced and fair to all.
Separation of religion and government is very important due
to the fact that the United States is a diverse country with many different
religions and belief systems. We have the freedom of religion and the freedom
from religion. Many argue that church and state should never be separated,
forgetting that there is more than one religion or belief system in the
country. To be fair we would have to include all religious doctrine in our
educational and governmental systems, honoring and teaching all religious
doctrine in our schools and including all religions’ rules and regulations in
our government. Putting more pressure and work load on those who are employed
in these jobs. Especially, in the public school classroom, imagine how much
time and effort it would take to have an equal prayer time for every religious
child in the classroom. Then imagine parents being upset because their child
was learning about another person’s faith, which was against their beliefs.
This in fact could become a legal nightmare. Private religious schools getting
federal funding may sound like a good idea. But will the parents want the
government interfering in their child’s education? Because when tax dollars are
used, government is more involved in what is going on in the school, as it
should be when public tax dollars are involved, monitoring what is happening in
a place that once was private. In a perfect world honoring all faiths, in all
public forums might work, but since we do not live in a perfect world, this
would only cause chaos (both legally and spiritually). The separation of church
and state protects everyone, religious and nonreligious alike, and should
always be recognized and protected.
