Hello and welcome again! In recent times, an outdated ‘buddy’ of ours has popped again up within the information — and no longer for a just right reason why. Kenneth Copeland has been making waves together with his latest money-making scheme. His involvement within the grifty finish of Christianity ain’t new, despite the fact that. As we’ll see, his title pops up all the way through fashionable fundagelicalism. He couldn’t exist with out the issues operating in the course of the underpinnings of his tribe — however he additionally helped create the ones flaws. Nowadays, let’s have a look at Kenneth Copeland and his grifting griftery — and why he’s trapped in his gilded cage.
Born in 1936, Kenneth Copeland has made himself a family title in fundagelicalism. However no longer simply any fundagelicalism. He hangs out within the prosperity gospel finish of the fundagelical pool. There, he preaches that his god completely needs other folks to be wealthy, wholesome, and glad. All his god wishes is a few signal that believers actually imply their worship, and the most efficient signal there’s of sincerity is a big donation to his “ministry.”
Many critics have tsked-tsked at his lavish way of life, which contains using personal jets to get round. However there are a whole lot of different causes to totally despise Kenneth Copeland and imagine him yet-another-fundie-scammer but even so his evident money-grubbing:
And now, only recently, he’s were given his, uh, thumb within the Covid-19 profiteering pie.
Per week or so in the past, this nutjob Kenneth Copeland held a magical-healing consultation. This televised program, “Status In opposition to Coronavirus,” had him oiling up his hand and lengthening it to the digital camera whilst he proclaimed that Jesus would completely heal and offer protection to audience who put their arms to their televisions.
Deficient man, he simply can’t close up about right-wing Covid-19 conspiracy theories.
He attempted telling his fans that the sickness is a few roughly susceptible pressure of influenza, which isn’t true, and that “wholesome other folks don’t seem to be demise from this,” which could also be no longer true. Demonstrating his basic incompetence, he mentioned he sought after everybody to wait his church in spite of the outbreak:
“I would like you in my church. If we need to cross out thermometers. If we discover one with a fever, let’s get him healed correct there,” he mentioned. “What if you happen to do get it? Giant deal!”
I guess he’s a gradual learner and that the measles outbreak in 2013 didn’t clue him in. In fact, there’s no longer one example of a Christian being magically healed of this or every other illness.
As overdue as final week, he used to be available in the market pointing out that fundagelicals’ prayers “have beaten” Covid-19. And naturally, it has best gotten worse since this declaration. Oh, and he blames other folks’s hatred of Donald Trump for putting off the “divine coverage” he thinks his god had over The united states, which “opened the door” to Covid-19.
He acts like any such candy outdated man, like hyuck hyuck let’s simply praaaaaaaaaaaaaaay now y’axe, however in his center, he’s as nasty, evil, vicious, and emotionally-shriveled-up because the worst unhealthy apples in his faith.
Kenneth Copeland’s god is a horrific, evil, punitive, and vicious being — identical to he’s.
However he didn’t simply move slowly out of the faith’s posterior the previous day to absorb the lack of expertise banner.
A few years in the past, he ingratiated himself with a brand new motion in fundagelicalism referred to as “Phrase of Religion.” If that title sounds acquainted, it will have to! A protracted, lengthy listing of the worst-and-ickiest fundagelical leaders have embraced that motion.
Phrase of Religion started many a long time in the past with E.W. Kenyon, who influenced Kenneth Hagin, Sr., who influenced Rodney Howard-Browne, who influenced the Toronto Blessing hucksters David and Carol Arnott. In his house nation of South Africa, Rodney Howard-Browne himself attended “Rhema Bible Coaching Middle,” itself a part of Hagin’s Phrase of Religion motion.
In truth, the timeline we used for our Toronto Blessing collection if truth be told refers to Kenneth Copeland as a “protege” of Kenneth Hagin!
It’s rather an incestuous, tangled internet, isn’t it? Interesting stuff!
“Phrase of Religion” and prosperity gospel are intently similar. In Phrase of Religion, Christians assume in the event that they title what they would like, then it turns into actual. In that means, it operates just like New Concept, which ended in The Secret and different snake-oil methods, and can even derive from that older philosophy.
Listed here are the primary portions of Phrase of Religion:
I’m simply now knowing that the Pentecostals I joined as a youngster should had been into these items beautiful closely. They formally rejected prosperity gospel, however they totally purchased into different main portions of it, particularly the bits about spoken phrases having huge energy.
The large downside with wingnuts is that they just spiral in a single course: wackier. They don’t ever pull again at the throttle. They simply push ahead on it to propel themselves into stranger and stranger territory. No one can rein them again in, as a result of there’s no tether to truth that any of them settle for as legitimate. They simply stay development on their earlier sand-castle of wingnuttery and pushing concepts additional and additional into the perimeter.
When a perimeter thought first seems, it’s frightening and bizarre — nevertheless it has a foundation in precedent, so fundagelicals settle for it. A yr or two later, it’s canon. Then, a brand new wingnut seems to push the perimeter out even additional.
Kenneth Copeland helped create that entire mindset, and it’s made him filthy stinking wealthy in addition to given him a humongous quantity of private energy over others. However this ideology additionally created for him a gilded cage, as a result of there’s no preventing the teach now. He has to get out in entrance of each and every unmarried wingnut thought the tribe comes up with, or the teach will go away him at the back of.
So it’s no longer that Kenneth Copeland would possibly even need to smear oil on his hand and shove it at a digital camera whilst claiming “Jesus” cares significantly if a Christian Carol-Anns their track.
It’s that if he doesn’t do it, then any person else will — and the flocks will give that wingnut their cash as a substitute of him. He should without end push the envelope of wingnuttery.
Being trapped in a gilded cage filled with wingnuts may no longer occur to a extra deserving individual.
And if his antics alienate much more other folks from his faith, such a lot the simpler. Would possibly he fly his freak flag as top as he can — since the entire global wishes to peer precisely what Christianity’s end-run looks as if.
NEXT UP: Crucial oils! See you the next day to come!
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