Marketing religion

I was listening to a segment on my local NPR affiliate yesterday (don't act surprised that I listen to NPR) and the guest was Mara Einstein, the author of Brands of Faith: Marketing Religion in a Commercial Age. She talked about the ways religion has been marketed in the past and, particularly, how religion is marketed in the our modern world. She made reference to the sale of religious products (e.g. how you are forced to walk through the "book store" to enter any Kabbalah center), branding (e.g. the myth about how mega-church preacher Joel Osteen swears he didn't want to become a rock star preacher, but only did it because it was his father's dying wish), and about how some groups dumb down religion to draw people in to buy products/services that might make them feel better, but don't require any commitment from people.

I agree with the fact that religion must change with the times and find ways to appeal to new/young audiences to survive. I think a lot of why people try to "convert" or recruit people to their church/religion/faith is so that their ways of worship and religious institutions don't die. But, there is a limit - and some of these practices go over the line. For example, the Kabbalah Centre (which teaches a faith that is only very mildly similar to the actual faith of Kabbalah) holds Seders and services for special occasions at expensive hotels, and charges exorbinant rates, that likely include a profit. The "Church" of Scientology requires that members pay money to achieve rank-like levels within the organization (You have to give a hand to Scientology though. At least their website looks legit...the other religious websites linked are all full of ads for stuff you can buy.) Additionally, most (if not all) televangelists are loaded (what ever happened to the Christianly vow of poverty for church leaders???).

These examples make it pretty clear that when profit is involved (or large profit-like salaries for church leaders), the religion has crossed the line. Having participated in several legitimate religions/denominations, my impression of a church's outreach is a "we're here to serve you" mentality, not "come pay us for something that you haven't even fully bought into yet." Usually, anything that the church offers is free, or at the most with a "suggested" donation (e.g. the monthly devotional brochures that you could pick up at the back of my church could be ordered by subscription, but if you wanted them for free, you could just keep coming to church every month,) Heck, the non-denomination, young, chic church I attended for a while made a disclaimer every week before passing the collection plate "this is only for those who call this church their home. If you are just visiting or trying us out, we don't want your money!"

Ultimately, by taking a "hit" on some of these services (coffee before service, devotional pamphlets, etc.) legitimate religious organizations are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing - using their monetary resources to spread the word about God and what he's all about. By selling these services, whether it be a fancy Shabbat dinner, books, or bottled water (that I guarantee is Detroit tap water), the church is telling its followers that God is for sale. Only those who can afford Him get to experience Him.

Me thinks these religious organizations stink a little of humanism, and not divinity. Incidentally, read this fun web page entitled "How Cults Work."