It's a an American problem, and it has become a cultural colonialism problem. Here in Latin America, we have a very unique and aspirational flavor of the gringo prosperity gospel infesting the church.
I wonder if prosperity is unique to the US. My impression of Chinese medicine and traditions is that they emphasize good fortune, prosperity, and health.
Good point. At a human level, the desire for life and health is universal and such desires have manifested in petitions to gods and God from the dawn of human consciousness. In that sense, I think we can be overly critical when such desires show up in religious contexts, marking them as pathological rather than wholly natural and very human.
But I think there is still a significant difference. The prosperity gospel is a twisting mockery of the original Christian message of "do unto others" and helping "the least of these". So in that sense it's a betrayal of its founder, Jesus. Whereas witchcraft / paganism has ALWAYS had an individualistic/transactional theology and methodology -- i.e. I'll sacrifice this animal to this god in order to obtain this.... Just look at the modern "Wiccan creed" of "do what thou wilt, but harm none" - it's a lot different from Jesus's creed of "if you love me, then feed my sheep". So in a way the "prosperity gospel" ethos is inherent to witchcraft, not a betrayal of it....
Individualist, entitlement society focused personal satisfaction and pleasure, loves to wrap this focus in spiritual words to justify it. What gets manifested is selfishness.
It's a an American problem, and it has become a cultural colonialism problem. Here in Latin America, we have a very unique and aspirational flavor of the gringo prosperity gospel infesting the church.
I wonder if prosperity is unique to the US. My impression of Chinese medicine and traditions is that they emphasize good fortune, prosperity, and health.
Good point. At a human level, the desire for life and health is universal and such desires have manifested in petitions to gods and God from the dawn of human consciousness. In that sense, I think we can be overly critical when such desires show up in religious contexts, marking them as pathological rather than wholly natural and very human.
But I think there is still a significant difference. The prosperity gospel is a twisting mockery of the original Christian message of "do unto others" and helping "the least of these". So in that sense it's a betrayal of its founder, Jesus. Whereas witchcraft / paganism has ALWAYS had an individualistic/transactional theology and methodology -- i.e. I'll sacrifice this animal to this god in order to obtain this.... Just look at the modern "Wiccan creed" of "do what thou wilt, but harm none" - it's a lot different from Jesus's creed of "if you love me, then feed my sheep". So in a way the "prosperity gospel" ethos is inherent to witchcraft, not a betrayal of it....
Individualist, entitlement society focused personal satisfaction and pleasure, loves to wrap this focus in spiritual words to justify it. What gets manifested is selfishness.
We're in the money
We're in the money
We've got enough of what it takes to get along
Gold Diggers of 1933