Since the Wright Thing

has taken up a lot of media coverage, some have been asking themselves what about con men for Christ John Hagee and Rod Parsley, both of whom are big supporters of John McCain?

In case you don't know about them, they are these Word of Faith hucksters who have been more and more visible in recent years. Hagee has been pushing for this country to head towards Armageddon in the Middle East with his rants against Islam and supposedly being pro-Israel. Parsley has been called a dominionist, one of those people I have written about in previous posts who want to take over all of our secular institutions and turn them into theocratic ones. This is supposed to be in hopes that when there is Christofascism everywhere on earth, Jesus will return and save those who believe in Him.

They are both dangerous because they have undue political influence. They are also con men in the tradition of Oral Roberts who peddle the "seed faith" concept (also called the "prosperity gospel"), which I have previously written about. It goes something like this: If you give me your hard-earned cash, you too will be rich. If you aren't rich as a result, it's because you haven't given enough to me--er, God--and you haven't earned His blessings as a result. Being rich is a sign of God's favor, and I am living proof of it.

It's sort of like putting your money into a slot machine. The difference is when you throw your money away in a slot machine, you know, or should know, the odds of you getting rich, let alone doing well, are against you. The hucksters for Jesus are preying on your gullibility to think you will be as blessed as they are. In either case, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of the house.

A new book, God's Profits by Sarah Posner, is about the new group of hucksters prominent in the televangelist world who are gaining political influence. Kenneth Copeland is mentioned, but I am more familiar with him than with some of the others. He's been around a long time, and I used to listen to Kenneth Hagin Sr. years ago. Hagin was one of the originators of the Word Faith movement, which isn't embraced by everybody in the religious community. I also used to listen to Rod Parsley's mentor, Lester Sumrall, a couple of decades ago on the radio. So I am well acquainted with this latest trend although I haven't listened much to the likes of Parsley, Hagee, and Joel Osteen. Their message is essentially the same as the previous generation of hucksters, so I haven't missed much.

Of all of them, Hagee and Parsley are probably the ones to watch because of their increasing visibility.