Nice little photo-essay in Time Magazine showing some of the many (many, many) religious leaders whose message has been that God wants you to be rich.

I must admit, I find this an appealing style of preaching. I recall as a schoolboy reading the story of Job, and learning that at the end, after all his tribulations, Job not only gets all his stuff back, “The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” ( 42.x) That, I thought, is definitely a God you want to keep on the right side of.

In the 1970s, when Reverend Ike was riding high, I used to listen in to some of his broadcasts. He was totally up front about the wealth thing. “You call out to God, and you tell God, you don’t want no pie in the sky–YOU WANT YOUR PIE **NOW**, WITH CREAM AND A CHERRY ON TOP!” Passing round the collection buckets, the Rev used to warn the congregation that: “I don’t wnat to hear no coins falling into them buckets, now!” Well, it kind of makes hash of the widow’s mite, but it’s not hard to see the appeal.