"The members of the Christian community have been convinced from the very outset that this foreign-exchange trading enterprise is in fact an act of divine favour. We ought not to apologise for this conviction".
All quotes from Bishop C.B. Peter Morgan, The Sunday Gleaner, July 27.
The fundamentalists are going for broke! They are staking their credibility on the bona fides of certain 'foreign exchange investment enterprises' as being "for the benefit of the Kingdom of God".
Bishop Morgan is a founder of the local charismatic movement, claiming to possess the fullness of the charisms of the spirit, including the gift of discernment.
Spirit of capitalism
Undoubtedly, it is their discernment that the Holy Spirit is leading Christians to invest in these schemes so they might be blessed with wealth. They believe that these schemes are God's route to building His kingdom on Earth, God's way of bringing true justice to an unjust banking system, so that the poor might be "liberated from the systems and practices which cripple them and which demean them, and which confine them to the ghettos of institutional poverty and social oppression and hopelessness".
Max Weber established the link between the 'Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism', but, says Bishop Morgan, there is "the common perception that the present financial and business institutions are controlled by a private cartel which hides behind laws and statutes which are prejudicially applied against the interest of the people".
What is needed is "a reformation in the entire banking and investment industry to serve the critical socio-economic needs of the nation".
The Protestant reformation has gone awry; the new charismatic reformation or evangelical ethic is going to reform capitalism and usher in God's kingdom of prosperity.
Of course, Satan is never far away.
"Many of its traders and club leaders have felt pursued by the local Financial Services Commission (FSC). No wonder the traders have accused major banking institutions and other business interests of collusion and joint conspiracy in trying to frustrate the industry, both locally and overseas, for fear of competitive challenges."
Blaming FSC
Everybody is against them, and Bishop Morgan puts the blame on the FSC for the fact that the schemes were not registered and regulated.
"The Financial Services Commission (FSC), which is the regulatory agency established to monitor and license the banking and financial-investment market, must create the environment of trust and true professionalism to encourage investment prospects to consult with them and ultimately, to seek regulatory approval for their operations."
No blame is due to the brokers and traders who took people's money and invested it without being registered to do so. It is the FSC that must fix itself so that these schemes will want to "consult with them".
Gullibility in religious affairs is matched by gullibility in financial matters. Markets go up and markets go down; you make a killing today, but you might make a loss tomorrow. How can you guarantee a high rate of return in a fluctuating market?
Bishop Morgan says they have "weathered the storm of initial accusation of being 'Ponzi' or 'pyramid' schemes".
He is clearly a man of tremendous faith. He needs to know that the accusation is still there, and that they are still in the height of the storm; the ship is all but sinking!
Led astray
For me, as a Bible Christian, the real tragedy is that so many have been led astray to believe that the gospel of Jesus is a gospel of prosperity. It comes from an early Old Testament idea that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked in this life, despite the obvious presence of good, but poor people and wealthy wicked people.
The book of Job addresses this very conundrum, and comes to the conclusion that mere humanity cannot fathom God's ways in these matters. With the emergence of belief in the afterlife, rewards and punishments for conduct in this life were transferred there.
But Jamaican fundamentalists love the Old Testament, and quote it indiscriminately, using it to justify, for example, capital punishment (an eye for an eye) despite Jesus' admonition "You have heard it said " (Mt 5:38).
The only scripture passages that support the gospel of prosperity are Old Testament ideas transcended by hard, but crucial, sayings of Jesus: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23); "Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Luke 18:22). "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God" (Luke 18: 24). "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20)
Credibility at stake
The gospel of prosperity is a brand of capitalist christianity very popular in the United States (since it justifies their way of life) and drives much of the politics there.
We have to contend with it in Jamaica as part of the 'American invasion'.
The fundamentalists are going for broke! And their credibility is at stake. This fiasco is going to call into question whether, in fact, they have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit as they claim, or whether they have the Holy Spirit at all.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
