Money-Changers in the Temple

The only act of violence Jesus Christ ever commited was, when angered, he scourged and drove the money-changers from the temple.

It is no mere coincidence that he now is driving the TV money-changers, hiding under the guise of evangelism, from the temple they have defiled with greed, rapacity and covetousness.

They fight each other for the spoils of technological Bible-banging with more avaricious fervor than they fight Satan. Lolling beside swimming pools in their luxurious estates, bought with the crumpled, sweat-stained dollar bills of their credulous congregations, they blandly admit fornication and marital infidelity while they plan the next act of cupidity against their fellow charlatans. Let them remember: God is not mocked.

Christ said: “Give all that thou hast unto the poor and follow me.” Those words are not heard over the guarded walls of the million-dollar estates, complete with air-conditioned dog houses while the homeless starve in the streets, past which the TV evangelists pass by in their Rolls-Royces.

While they claw at each other for the hard-earned money of the duped adherents, all of them would laugh derisively to hear, if ever they did, the Bible’s warning that “It shall be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Obviously they prefer to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and forgo eternity.

JIM CARMICHAEL

Studio City