New CNN Black in America Documentary, "Almighty Debt" Explores Prosperity Gospel, Burden of Debt

We will be interviewing CNN's Soledad O'Brien ahead of the airing of her latest special, "Almighty Debt: A Black in America Special," in which she looks at how some blacks are fighting debt from the pulpit, premiering at 9 p.m. ET on October 21.

African-Americans go to religious services and pray daily more often than the general American population, studies show. And while those rates seem to be holding steady, the places of worship and the size of the groups are changing, says one expert. Many people continue to attend mega churches, but the small communal gathering is rebounding in popularity, Teresa L. Fry Brown said.

“There is an increase now in house churches,” said Fry Brown, the director of black church studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. “They kind of faded for about 20 years. But now more people are having small gatherings. And they may not even call it church - like Bible studies in homes.”  There are a couple of reasons for the change, she said. Some churchgoers find the bigger houses of worship too restrictive or simply don’t trust the leadership of the church. She said people are meeting more often in club houses, homes and restaurants. And the gatherings aren’t always sponsored through a church.

In 2009, the Pew Research Center reported that 53 percent of African-Americans attended church regularly, compared with 39 percent of all Americans. Fry Brown, who is an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal church, said those numbers seem to be “holding,” even as the role of the black church is changing.
The black church has always been a place where a person could go without being judged, she said. Source: CNN

For me, the prosperity gospel touted by megachurch pastors Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Frederick Price, embattled Eddie L. Long, mired in a gay sex scandal, Paula White and others, is flawed and fools congregants into thinking just tithing and sowing a seed will produce a luxury car such as a Bentley and untold riches. That's just not so. The Bible never said we were all destined to be rich. There will always be rich, poor and the people in between. I learned the hard way that too much debt will lead to a whole host of problems. For me, if I can't pay cash for a new car, then I won't buy it. I'll continue to drive my car until it dies on me. Then I will get a late-model used car. We live in an "upgrade society" and not a "replace society." We want to have the latest flat-screen television, even though our old TV works just fine. We want to have the latest technology when, from a budget standpoint, it's not affordable. Then, we will always be mired in debt if we don't make better financial choices. Stop living on your credit cards. Live on what you earn, after you have taken out your savings. It's pretty basic.

Listen to our interview with Soledad O'Brien:  http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com/2010/10/hinterland-gazette-interviews-cnns.html

Watch the trailer:

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