www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1847053,00.html

"Says Anthea Butler, an expert in pentecostalism at the University of Rochester in New York state, "The pastor's not gonna say 'go down to Wachovia and get a loan' but I have heard, 'even if you have a poor credit rating God can still bless you — if you put some faith out there [that is, make a big donation to the church], you'll get that house, or that car or that apartment.'" Adds J. Lee Grady, editor of the magazine Charisma, "It definitely goes on, that a preacher might say, 'if you give this offering, God will give you a house. And if they did get the house, people did think that it was an answer to prayer, when in fact it was really bad banking policy." If so, the situation offers a look at how an native-born faith built partially on American econoic optimism entered into a toxic symbiosis with a pathological market."

This is just one of the problems with the false hope that these kind of churches sell.  In this example, the "victims" give a hefty donation to their church and then pray real hard that the returns from their holy investment are worth it.  Then they go through the next few weeks or months expecting something for their good deeds.  This is when they are in "sucker" mode and can be taken for anything.  They can be sold bad loans, or they could be offered a "High paying job-no experience needed" scam, or any number of other scams.

Religion is a problem, and this particular kind of religion is going to be especially dangerous in the coming years as the economy slows and people become more desperate.  When people stop seeing returns for their donations, they are going to lash out.  And the preachers probably already have a backup plan to blame this on someone else when it all falls apart.