The Sanctity of the Sanctimoneous

The meek shall inherit the Earth (churches say)
and in thanks for that promise we bow.
Then they pass 'round the plate, you see churches can't wait -
they demand their inheritance now.


All the rip-off artists in history, all the conmen and grifters and flim-flam men, can't equal the damage done to the poor and meek that religions have accomplished. From Oral Roberts demanding 10 million from his followers to stave off God's promise to murder him, to Jim and Tammy Faye Baker and their time shares that even God couldn't figure out the schedules for. From the Ayatollahs and their promise of virgins in Heaven (if you're lousy in bed virgins can't compare you against better lovers) and Billy Grahams and pedophile hiding Popes, the meek have been duped, bilked and generally taken for a ride. There was a line in a movie which must be the first lesson learned by those entering the religious fields: "If God didn't want them sheared, why'd He make them sheep?" Here in Charlotte we are now having the trial of Pastor Jinwright and his wife - accused of bilking his parishoners by taking a million dollars a year out of their pockets. The problem lies in our belief that anything really big is good (like Wall Street and banks and General Motors), so our churches have become the Goldman Sachs of salvation. I guess God can't hear you unless you babble along with 4,000 other strangers and funnel your message through our new age, self proclaimed prophets of truth and hallelujahs.