The Destiny Cult

Okay they are not quite a cult, but I have to say I find little positive about the Destiny Church.

The Sunday Star-Times has a good article on them. The quick summary is:

* founder Brian Tamaki is raking in millions of dollars
* parishioners are pressued to give 10% of their income to him/the church (and may are form low income families)
* new members are asked to sign a contract agreeing to the tithe
* All 20 Destiney churches have a cluase giving Tamaki “absolute power of veto” over any decision they make
* elderly members get phoned up asking why their tithe has changed from week to week
* Tamaki is the de facto leader of the Destiney political party, which makes Christian Heritage look moderate

Hmmn, perhaps cult is not such a bad word after all.

UPDATE 28 AUGUST 2004: Okay with 260 comments posted, I have now closed this post for further comments. The debate has been very amusing.