Unfortunately the Protestant faith isn't under the umbrella of the Catholic Church.
I have a lot of respect for what the Catholic Church preaches (not in all cases, but the general message is one of empathy and compassion). But these guys are pure evil.
I mean....one of the major reasons the Protestant Reformation happened is because the Catholic Church was doing what Copeland and his ilk are doing but on a much larger scale. To fund crusades, too!
Anyway, Copeland is a horrible, horrible, horrible person who preys on the weak and vulnerable. It's disgusting.
A little background on tithing since people are confused - tithing was an practice outlined in the Old Testament that essentially worked like a tax. It was used to support the Levites (essentially the civil and religious administration class of Israel who were not allowed to own property) and the poor. There were multiple tithes in different years for different things. It certainly bears no resemblance to what Copeland is asking for.
There is regular debate within Christian circles today as to whether the tithing principle (i.e. 10% of income) still applies to giving to church. I would argue it does not since we are no longer in a theocratic state. However, the principle of being generous with our money is obviously encouraged, and that can be done by giving to the poor, missions and supporting the administration of a local church. Again, such giving as outlined in the New Testament and practiced by the early church as outlined in the book of Acts looks
nothing like what Copeland does.
The prosperity gospel is a cancer and is sadly America's biggest contribution to global Christianity in the last 40 years. It does even more damage in third world countries. Makes me angry even thinking about it.
