In The Spirit
Is it credible that people could be so inconceivably gullible? That their need for support and for hope is so great that they completely surrender intelligence and good common sense for a belief in the curing abilities resting in the personage of an emissary of the Divine? How is it that these extraordinary charlatans prosper? It is surely beyond belief.Yet there it is, Christian fundamentalists, Pentecostalists, sacrifice reason to their spiritual belief in the grace of God. The presence of God is transmitted to sufferers, fearful beings inheriting this earth, through the auspices of one whose hubris is so great as to equate himself with the presence of God on this earth. That Jewish man of so long ago, reputed to have been the earlier emissary, has his own emulators.
And to think that a Messianic impostor such as Benny Hinn originated in Toronto. One shudders. Now the United States is blessed by his residence, his presence, his unerring ability to cure sufferers of whatever their dire ills happen to be. His presence as God's emissary ensures he can perform miracles that modern medicine and its practitioners cannot.
And by such simple expedients, as espousing the impossible. "God is giving you power over demons", says he. "He is giving you power over Satan, when you walk in, Satan will walk out." Mind over matter? Confidently instill belief in the vulnerable, who desperately need to believe, to grasp that lifeline of possibility; no, undeniability, and you are assured status.
This man promises miracle cures. He promises believers prosperity. He offers through the auspices of his good graces with God, life-altering spiritual experience. Those in his audience whom he addresses, gasp and fall back into mind-numbing faints, dexterously 'caught' by assistants standing to attention behind them. Mass hysteria? Heaven forfend that interpretation.
Benny Hinn Ministries are installed the world over; in Toronto, England, South Africa, Korea, Australia, Brazil. Texas is blessed and honoured by being the place chosen for its headquarters. What a truly singular honour. It's rumoured that Mr. Hinn is the most 'successful' faith healer in the world; success in this instance being equated with financial remuneration.
Tax laws in the United States do not require that faith ministries divulge the extent of their fortunes. Unlike most religious groups, Benny Hinn Ministries does not voluntarily divulge their financial data. Mr. Hinn himself, however, does proudly admit that every penny his ministry takes in is spent on God's work.
God, it would appear, wishes Mr. Hinn to live a lavish lifestyle, in a sumptuously appointed California mansion, and airlifted in his private jet around the world. If he behaves like an eminently successful CEO, it is only because that is precisely what he is. But what do we unbelievers know, after all?
"He cured me of AIDS", claims one young woman who attended one of his healing clinics in Kampala, Uganda. "I can feel it. I just know."
Indeed. God help her.
Labels: Human Fallibility, Religion
posted by Pieface @ Friday, August 17, 2007
<< Home