Jesus has competition now. The business of religion is taking a hit
because now there is a new crop of faith healers out there bringing in more
money than even the Catholic Church. It
seems that religion is big business in Brazil where there is no one to
regulate the missionary. Literally
anyone could just open a church and start collecting money,
no degree in divinity school required. We all know that faith can be intoxicating and
offer people hope. There are children
in Brazil claiming to be able to heal people with a simple touch.
Injured soldiers and people from
all over the world have been visiting these faith healers. When years of therapy and operations have not helped
a person’s condition, sometimes faith
is the cure. It has fueled a spiritual
movement involving 40,000,000 people there.
They call it Evangelical Christianity and is the fastest growing
religion around the world. It has been
so successful that many bogus people have opened up churches simply to get in
on all those donations. There are
Pastors in Brazil that will also offer counseling and chiropractic care.
Anyone can become a pastor and
anyone can open a church and no chiropractic
degrees needed either. It is
their vision of prosperity and good health that attract people into these
churches. Other religions dwell on heaven and hell ,
damnation and revelation. These
churches always offer hope for a
better life in the here and now on earth and not necessarily places called
heaven or hell. Members of these evangelical
churches typically hand over 10 to 30% of their salary not including offerings
at Mass. Professor Eduardo Refkalefsky
from the University of Federal Do Rio DeJaneiro
says that the money goes directly from the member’s wallet to the Pastor of the Church. There
is no control over the money.
Salvation is a booming
business. In some neighborhoods there can be
as much as 10 churches within a three block area. Yet they are all filling up with people. Even If your ailments are not healed
people say they still feel better and more hopeful for a brighter future. Hope
is all we all can ask for in this life.
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