The New Status Symbol for the Megachurch Pastor
by Loren Adams, 17 May 2009
Despite economic hard times, religious right megachurch pastors (the same who
successfully placed Bush into office) have acquired a new divine appetite for
expensive status symbols: helicopters and heliports. Megachurches with
memberships ranging from 5,000 to 25,000 have launched satellite churches in
surrounding communities serviced by the same pastoral staff; thus, the need for
speedy transport. Helicopters fit the bill.
The current cost of helicopters range from $500,000 used to
$2,000,000 new, and helicopter pilots' median salaries range near $82,000.
Factor fuel and maintenance plus the cost of heliports for respective
sanctuaries and parsonages places the total bottom price tag at an ungodly
$2,000,000 per year.
Pastors in Springdale and Harrison from the 3rd poorest
state, Arkansas, have joined the trend. Federal Way, Washington; Houston,
Dallas, San Antonio, and several other cities with megachurches boast
helicopters & ports for their pastors to commute. Perhaps it's a means to
look "presidential" or to build a powerful image.... or to outdo
other ministers in the competition for souls.
But perhaps Jesus isn't pleased.
A church that spends $2 million + on helicopters is a church bound for heliport -- of the wrong eternal destination. How many
homeless living on their streets could be housed and fed? Millions are spent on
tax-exempt preachers' toys and none for medical care and research? How
Christ-like is that?
Many outside fundamentalist circles do not recognize what an
impact this false doctrine of American derivative has had, not only on the
church, but on the U.S. as a nation. Why do I write such? Because the
very ones who misled our nation into war based on absolute lies and greed are
advocates of this doctrine and believe that anything they "confess with
their mouths," whether true or false at the time, will come true in due
time if followers just keep repeating the propaganda and believe Jesus favors
them over others.
The 9/11 event reinforced the grip of religion on America,
perhaps by design rather than coincidence. Hence, the religious further
propelled the anti-intellectual president to more power. It was the perfect
recipe for disaster. Humans naturally turn to religion in times of crisis even
when artificially manufactured. In the book GOD IS
BACK, John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, describe America's religious
revival which I attribute for the most part to the traumatic event 9/11.
Religious right dogma spread across the land, Bush was
reinforced, and America endured eight long years of incompetent, corrupt
leadership followed by a yet immeasurable period of recovery, possibly
generations.
But the history of the religious right's power during those
years must be remembered.
One well-known megachurch pastor, John Hagee of San Antonio,
claimed on national TV God had informed him Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction and George Bush was sent by God to invade Iraq.
Hagee's congregation, The Cornerstone Church of San Antonio,
which promotes ethnic cleansing in Israel (evict the Palestinians) and
Armageddon, is frequently visited by Tom DeLay, Don Evans, and several other
former Bush cabinet members and has had as key guest speakers Ariel Sharon and
Benjamin Netanyahu. Recall John McCain's 2008 visit and Hagee's endorsement?
These are the religious right which fueled George W. Bush
and encouraged him to make war. This is his base without which he could have
never achieved the distinct accomplishment of devastating America.
This is ground-zero of the matter. Most people probably
couldn't put their finger on it at the time, but here is a revelation:
America was plagued by a great delusion that transformed the
fundamentalist movement into a Republican tool which, in turn, seduced the nation
into never-ending, unwinnable conflicts and a historic economic downturn.
"I'm so glad we got a president that prays!"
How many times did you hear that refrain or similar during
the years Bush was raping the nation?
A few years ago a friend's son was visiting acquaintances
down in Dallas. They were in a children's hospital where the acquaintance was
an intern. Somehow the conversation turned to Michael's Fahrenheit 911 movie,
and the Texas acquaintance abruptly asked, "But aren't you glad we've got
a president in the White House who prays to God before making decisions?
My friend's son said he about gagged.
Haven't other presidents prayed? On the other hand,
the difference is what Ron Reagan, Jr., pointed out in his father's eulogy:
"True leaders don't wear their religion on their sleeves."
Bushoviks act like their man is the first to ever honor God.
No, he's one of the few to ever dishonor Him. He's made a mockery of
Christianity; he's violated Christ's teachings which warn of piety and
self-righteousness.
THE DAY BUSH STARTED THE WAR
Remember the day Bush announced war? Many people probably
didn't recognize parts of Fahrenheit 911 at the beginning and then later in the
movie where George Bush and others of his administration were
"grooming" for the big moment March 19, 2003.
Where did Michael Moore get his "live feeds" of
Bush's team grooming for cameras the day of the announcement? It turns
out the BBC "accidentally" let the cameras roll prematurely, and then
Walt Disney technicians [who assisted Moore in making the movie] researched and
discovered the feeds.
Bush's roving
eyes would have meant little had they not been in motion just before he
declared war, without provocation, on a sovereign nation.
A Canadian journalist also reported Bush's "Like some class clown trying to get attention from
the back of the room, he started mugging for his handlers. His eyes darted back
and forth impishly as he cracked faces at others around him. He pumped a fist
and self-consciously muttered, `FEEL GOOD!' which was interestingly sanitized
into the much more and assertive, `I'm feeling good' by the same Washington
Post. He was goofing around, and there's only one way to interpret that
kind of behavior just seconds
before announcing war on Iraq: the man is an idiot.”
A year before his call to war against Iraq, he made these
remarks which were reported by TIME ON-LINE:
"F--k Saddam! We're taking him out!" Those were
the words of President George W. Bush, who had poked his head into the office
of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. It was March 2002, and Rice was
meeting with three U.S. Senators, discussing how to deal with Iraq through the
United Nations, or perhaps in a coalition with America’s Middle East allies.
Bush wasn't interested. He waved his hand dismissively, recalls a participant,
and neatly summed up his Iraq policy in the short phrase. The Senators laughed
uncomfortably; Rice flashed a knowing smile. The President left the room. (Michael
Elliott and James Carney, “First Stop, Iraq,” Time,
on-line edition, March 23, 2003)
Now we realize, through thorough research and investigation,
Bush and members of PNAC planned to invade Iraq long before GW landed in the
White House. All events were staged, including 9/11, leading up to it. He
looked at war as a game, where the “pawns” (poor American kids) were sent into
battle against someone who threatened his daddy, against a nation which
happened to have the second largest oil reserves.
To forget how and what brought Bush to power is to give a
permission slip for it to happen again. The religious right, un-Christ-like in
"faith" and actions, is responsible. Their concerns are political
influence, gleaming new buildings, satellite broadcasts, evicting Palestinians
from their homes, and building heliports on-premise for their multi-million
dollar helicopters.
If judgment is to begin at the House of God, surely they
must repent, turn from their wicked ways, and return to the basic teachings of
Jesus Christ. 