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About 9,000 people, undeterred by recession and a U.S. Senate investigation, attended the recent Southwest Believers convention to hear the prosperity gospel.
For five days, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland told their followers that giving to Kenneth Copeland Ministries would increase their own wealth, The New York Times reported. While the couple made few references to hard times, Kenneth Copeland did suggest they are no excuse for not giving.
"Fear will make you stingy," he said.
A Senate committee is investigating the Copelands and similar preachers like Creflo Dollar of Georgia, who joined the couple for the convention. The investigation may lead to legislation on prosperity ministries, which critics say take advantage of religious tax exemptions.
To those listening to them, the outward signs of the Copelands' material wealth seem to signify they are blessed by God.
"If God did it for them, he will do it for us," said Edwige Ndoudi, a Canadian who attended the convention with her husband and three children.
Jonathon Walton, a professor at the University of California-Riverside, was there as a researcher, not a follower. He called the Copelands "spiritual pickpockets."
"To dismiss and ignore the harsh realities of this economic crisis is beyond irresponsible, to the point of reprehensible," he told the Times.
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