I'm struggling with none of those things but your presumptions come off as condescension. I'm in the 95+% percentile of earners for my age (according to some random web tool). That has nothing to do with my sentiments towards Olsteen.
Further insinuating that my mind is closed because I don't like Olsteen is...poor taste. Hopefully next you'll compare me to Hitler.
Wrong, I see you in the Weatherman sitting on the couch in this scene. It is totally you. Hollywood knows-- they always know:
https://youtu.be/JmZI1_78lJU
Psychoanalysis: you hate Joel because you think he didn't earn it like you. You think its easy to get up in front of 50,000 people or get on TV with millions watching and talk about one of the most taboo subjects out there-- God. Thats my analysis. You didn't earn it all yourself you know. Luck, parents, the right teachers, and natural endowments that were given to you took you there. You didn't will yourself into existence and to where you are
You are really bad at this. I attribute a great deal of my success to my family & friends, to hard work and to luck. I don't like Joel because I don't like sola scriptura, ahistorical analysis of this world (religion included). Your goal of reducing disagreeing opinions to psychological faults of your detractors is, once again, condescending.
And I'm not necessarily anti-God or anti-religion. I'm anti-wolves-in-sheeps-clothing.
So help me understand then. You don't like Joel because you know what he is without providing proof of wrong doing-- except that he is religious, and you view this as being naive, stupid, or wolfish (to take advantage of stupid people like me). Is that right? He is a wolf and I am condescending.. [does a McConahey pause, touches lip and raises finger in the air]
Reducing disagreeing opinions to psychological faults of their detractors is what people do-- they just don't say it. Thats why the religious are stupid and atheists are self righteous elitist assholes. Unless you are Gondi. You would have to be a real monster not to like Gondi, Mother Teresa, or the Dalai Lama. Those are cool because its all about perception and popularity and not stepping on any toes. I mean Christians say you have to believe in Jesus and thats just bullshit right? Now I think we are getting somewhere. Its okay to be a Christian as long as you keep your mouth shut. Mother Teressa was a doer so she is cool. Joel talks so he is a wolf. You know what? I know a secret [draws a fish in the sand]
You do understand what condescension means, right? I'm outright calling Joel Olsteen a manipulative fraud, there is no subtlety or need to condescend.
I've never claimed the religious are stupid, nor atheists to be elitist assholes. You are the one throwing around ad hominem attacks or hoping to subtly imply psychological failures on the part of your detractors. I vociferously disagree with you regarding Olsteen. I don't necessarily think you are selfish or greedy or stupid because you like Olsteen. None of that analysis is required to have this conversation.
Further, you are not very good at e-analyzing people. You've missed me on every attempt you've made so far. First you assumed I was poor, then you assumed I was a "Self-made" arrogant elitist, now you are subtly assuming I'm an atheist (and you are wrong again).
I don't like Olsteen because he is a smiling, glad-handed salesman. He sells a prosperity message that I find wholly inconsistent with the recorded works of Jesus' life. To understand Jesus, it would be best to understand the history of his people, the development of the Bible, the development of his Church and keep all of that in mind when trying to elucidate the message being presented.
Why does Christ say this:
"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
And this:
"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
If you accept Jesus but your idea of Jesus is incorrect, what have you accepted?
Further, at what point in your philosophical journey did you determine a God was needed? Why did you then determine the Judeo-Christian God was the correct one?
Why not read the Bhagavad Gita? Or A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life? What is it about Joel Olsteen's message that is so resounding? Why do you believe Joel is the one who will lead you closer to Christ's true message?
You don't think Gandhi, Mother Teresa or Dalai Lama stepped on toes? They've become universal icons precisely because they stepped on toes and allowed their actions to speak louder than their words. And when you say the Dalai Lama, I presume you are referencing the 14th Dalai Lama, the one incarnate now.
Fully-lived religion, assuming it doesn't become terroristic in nature, is an honorable thing. People attempting to live consistently within a moral framework is laudable from my view. It's the piecemeal approach to religion that I find wholly inconsonant with Christ's message or any religion. Believing Jesus in word and believing Jesus in deed are two very distinct things and I have little interest in hearing someone parrot a bunch of scripture verses and tell me God just wants me to be happy.
Your second reply insinuating we'd be interested in giving you a death similar to Christ or Socrates is overblown. You haven't earned those so you needn't worry.