There are Black religious fundies who believe in the same eschatology and prosperity gospel theology as their White counterparts.

I don't know if any of this explains the oxymoron of Mormonism in Africa, but it's interesting.


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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/02/12/black-zionists-israel/

"In January 2019, I made a trip to Accra, Ghana, for what would be my last visit to my grandmother. She was 84 at the time and had broken her hip in a fall the previous December. I had a feeling I should go and spend time with her.

"We were watching TV in her small living room, the fans on in the harmattan heat. A news report came on about then-President Donald Trump. “That man, I like him!” my grandmother said, chuckling. Her laugh was such that it was hard to resist cracking a smile. “Mama, why?” I asked. She had never traveled to the United States.


"She said she liked his decisions on Israel, specifically the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which I saw as a setback for Palestinians. Grandmother said America would be blessed by God for standing with Israel.


"In his paper “Political Engagement Meets the Prosperity Gospel: African American Christian Zionism and Black Church Politics,” Yale sociologist Roger Baumann considers two dramatically different theological stances among Black churches. The one that produced the letter to Biden embraces the social gospel and preaches about the need for racial and collective emancipation. The other promotes the “prosperity gospel.” Writes Baumann: “Black churches that emphasize a prosperity gospel have largely been left out of considerations of so-called ‘political churches.’”


"I grew up in the prosperity gospel tradition in the 1990s in a mostly White evangelical church. My Sunday exposures to the theology were backed up by the televangelists that were on TV daily, including the influential Pastor John Hagee. We would often hear the Old Testament scripture, “Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, And whoever curses Israel will be cursed.” We were told that tithes and offerings in support of missions to Israel would produce material blessings and other signs of God’s favor in our lives.

"Not infrequently, we would take up offerings to send Christian missionaries to Israel, with the conviction that, although Jewish people were the chosen ones, Christ’s return depended on acceptance by significant numbers of Jewish people that he was their promised Messiah, king and savior. Per the prosperity gospel tradition, we were promised rewards for our participation in this project — usually financial blessings, opportunities, favors, good health and better jobs. With its tantalizing prospect of prompt payoffs, it’s no surprise that prosperity gospel churches, often infused with Pentecostal fervor, have been growing like wildfire across the African continent and growing in political power.

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People who are obsessed with a certain subject, e.g. race or sexuality, are often hiding something.

Do you think cannibals in Idaho are a "real" threat?

Why do they *need* fear?

If they don't have something to fear, they create something to fear.

If you were someone who reasoned rather than reacting, you'd wonder why too.


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https://brucegerencser.net/2023/04/the-evangelical-war-on-books-movies-and-american-culture/




The Evangelical War on Books, Movies, and American Culture



"Who would have thought that banning books, defunding libraries, and closing them would be front-page news in 2023? Yet, here we are. Library books are under assault, primarily by Evangelical Christians. Once again, the media refuses to “see” that religion is what is motivating the war on books, particularly Evangelical Christianity; the same religion behind Trumpism, the January 6 insurrection, the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the frontal assault on LGBTQ people. I am not suggesting that Evangelicals are the ONLY religious people behind the present culture war — conservative Catholics. Mormons, and a smattering of people from other groups play a part too — but without the support of Evangelicals, the culture wars die overnight.


"I am sixty-six years old. I was part of the Evangelical "church for fifty years, both as a member and a pastor. In 2008, I left Christianity, but I have continued to follow closely the machinations of Evangelicalism. For all of my adult life, Evangelicals have been waging a war against secularism, people who are different from them, and violators of their peculiar interpretations of the Bible’s moral code.

"Evangelicalism is a fear-based religion. Taught to fear God, Evangelicals also fear anyone who is different from them socially or politically. Not known for their support of tolerance and diversity, Evangelicals want to live in a monoculture; one where everyone is a Christian who thinks and believes as they do. In recent years, some Evangelicals have been very clear about their objective: the establishment of a Christian theocracy; one where Jesus and the Bible (as interpreted by them) rule supreme.

"Here in the United States, there was a time when Evangelicalism was a dominant force, both politically and socially. Those days are gone. Evangelical church attendance is in decline, and younger adults are exiting stage left in droves. Paranoia and fear are in the air, and instead of taking a hard look at themselves, Evangelicals blame American culture; especially mass media, public schools, secularism, atheism, humanism, liberals, progressives, Democrats, LGBTQ people, and anyone and anything else that doesn’t comport with their worldview. Of course, this behavior is not unusual for Evangelicals. Known for blaming the Devil for all sorts of things, Evangelicals are experts at pointing fingers and judging people they disagree with. That’s why many of the readers of this blog who have Evangelical backgrounds are estranged from their Evangelical parents and families. Their loved ones refuse to accept them as they are; refuse to play nice with anyone who doesn’t believe exactly as they do.



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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2024 11:45AM by anybody.

All sorts of interesting religions out there. It’s not going away any time soon either.