Wow. That's really his last name.

The last issue I got of The New Yorker had a story about Creflo A. Dollar, Jr., an Atlanta preacher who espouses "prosperity theology." The Rev. Dollar believes wealth and religion go hand-in-hand. His church, which he runs like a corporation, has thousands of members, and he is on TV every Sunday, not just in Atlanta but pretty much everywhere.

There are several things that strike me about this guy and his church. One is that his name is Dollar. I first heard of him when we lived in Atlanta, and I just assumed that he had chosen that name, because, come on. The second thing is that this guy is filthy rich. Mansion, Bentley, private jet, the whole nine yards. He stresses the importance of tithing and giving as commanded in the Bible, even though I'm sure many of his followers can scarce afford to donate 10 percent of their pre-tax income to help fuel up his jet. He seems to have skipped over that whole part about how rich people can't get into heaven because their camels are too fat. It seems like the ultimate hypocrisy to me. Maybe he thinks that if he takes 10 percent of his "corporation's" profits and, I don't know, FedExes it directly to heaven, he gets to keep the other 90 percent?