Corrosive “Christianity” in the form of Greg Laurie and the “mega (but MAGA) churches”

If a ruler harken to lies all his servants are wicked.
—Proverbs 29:12
Whom would Jesus bomb?
—a popular bumper sticker

By Phill Courtney
It was 2004—the second year of George W. Bush’s war on Iraq—and I was spending another Friday night on a corner at University Ave. and Iowa Blvd. in Riverside (where I lived at the time), not too far from my former college (U.C Riverside), protesting a war that was both illegal and immoral.
Illegal because the U.N. charter is clear: one country cannot attack another that hasn’t or isn’t about to attack yours, and immoral because fabricated claims had justified an attack that was then still slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis, most of whom did not and never had supported their dictator, Saddam Hussien, and his crimes.
One memorable member of our peace group was an older woman from Puerto Rico and was perhaps (at the risk of invoking a stereotype, but it was true) one of our most fiery and outspoken members opposing this war and George W Bush. Although she was from the Christian community, she was now disgusted by how many fundamental and evangelical Christians were supporting the war.
Counted amongst those supporters, was a man who preached in what’s now referred to as a “mega-church,” with this one being right there in Riverside, and through his multi-media ministry dominance, had become one of the most famous men in the area to call himself a Christian. Yes, I’m referring to Greg Laurie, of the Harvest Church—famous for their crusades which often drew thousands to Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
In fact, our member had been to Harvest on a number of occasions; had heard what Laurie was preaching about this “righteous war;” and perhaps, knowing I’m a writer, had urged me to attend there at least once to hear, first-hand, the messages he was spreading.
To paraphrase it as best as I can from memory, here, in essence is what she said: Go, Phill. You should hear what this so-called Christian is saying. And he doesn’t even live in Riverside. He has a million-dollar mansion in Newport Beach and bodyguards to protect him.
So, after both her urging and yet another experience I had near our protest corner, I decided I’d go. The other incident had happened not far from the corner when I’d encountered two young men, who, it turned out, were members of Harvest, and had come by to spread the word of salvation through Jesus.
“I’ll tell you what,” I told them. “I’ll come to your church if you’ll spend at least one night at the peace rally on that corner right over there,” I said, pointing. “We’re there every Friday night at six. Why don’t you come by and join us? Then I’ll go to Harvest.”
Well, one of them said, quickly begging off: usually on Friday nights they were involved as youth leaders for some of the younger members of the church, but—they’d think about it—and while I wasn’t holding my breath, I did give them several Fridays to “make good on their part of the deal,” but—they never did. Nevertheless, I decided that I would.
So, one Sunday morning, I headed over to join a rather impressive turnout at a church which can accommodate flocks of up to 5,000 at a pop (and often does), after successfully tapping into some of the secrets of the “Christian youth market,” beginning in the early 1970’s, with rock music to lure in the youngsters; a Starbucks-like coffee bar; and a complimentary lunch afterwards. What more could one ask to satisfy the “weaknesses of the flesh”?
After parking in the large lot, I entered the foyer, walked by the coffee bar, then trudged up the stairs to the balcony where I found one of the few remaining empty sections near the back wall, then settled in for the music. After that interlude, Laurie bounced onto the stage wearing a buttoned-down tan shirt, which was square cut below, and not tucked in. Laurie was and still is a virtual personification of today’s “no ties” church.
So, here’s what I remember most about that morning. Before Laurie launched into his free-flowing sermon (which, basically, I don’t remember), he mentioned that he’d been invited to give the opening invocation during an upcoming day at the Republican National Convention in Madison Square Garden that August, which would soon give its “seal of approval” to George W. and his vice president, Dick Cheney, by then deep into the depths of their administration’s criminal invasion of Iraq.
Then, and much to my somewhat shocked surprise, as soon as Laurie shared that information with his congregants, the entire room (with at least one exception) burst into a spontaneous and thunderous ovation, which lasted for some time. I was stunned to say the least.
Then Lauire followed that up with a further comment which stunned me even more. Of course, to paraphrase him over twenty years later, he also said with a smirk that he would have gone to the Democratic Convention too, but, pausing dramatically, he wasn’t invited; a comment which then elicited yet more applause and cheers, mixed with a fair amount of knowing laughter.
At a time when religious institutions were not allowed to endorse candidates for office without the danger of losing their tax-exempt status (a restriction since lifted by the Trump administration), Laurie had found an extremely smooth means of dodging that restriction in the way he had worded his convention invitation. He hadn’t said he was giving W. his support, but he’d left us with little doubt as to where he stood, and for that, I’ll give him some credit—for cleverness, anyway.
After the sermon, I walked by the coffee bar to the outside area where I took one of the complimentary plastic boxed lunches (hey, what can I say?—they were free), ate, then left, but not before I’d spotted one of the young men I’d invited to the peace protest corner several weeks earlier, and reminded him of my invitation. Well, he said, leaving the door slightly ajar, so far, too many Friday commitments. He’d have to see.
Which raises this important question then about the fundamentalist and evangelical Christian communities in America (still does), and their relationship to the latest American war: why hadn’t the millions who profess to follow a man who preached peace, found the time to pour into the streets protesting our latest war? As far as I can remember, no “Bible-believing” Christians could be found on our peace corner except for one Baptist minister; his wife; and occasionally their sons. Once again, the question was: where were the Christians?
When it came to Laurie, the answer was clear: based on what I’d heard that morning, he wasn’t opposing the war from the pulpit (or, for that matter, from a street corner) because he supported it, which isn’t surprising when it’s noted that one of his spiritual inspirations was apparently America’s most famous “Bible-based” Christian preacher: Billy Graham, who, by that time, had never met, and in the future would never meet an American war he didn’t like and couldn’t bless.
Fast forward from 2004 to 2026. On Sunday, March 1st, 2026, a day after Trump began his internationally and domestically illegal attack on Iran in conjunction with Israel (some say at the behest and insistence of Israel and Netanyahu), Laurie was at it again, and it was there for everyone to see (and hear) on YouTube.
That morning when Laurie announced the successful “decapitation” of the Iranian ruler (or, as Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who’s another “good Christian” and always wears a sparkling crucifix on her chest, put it in a tone that seemed almost giddy: Trump had cut off “the head of the snake”—along with, it might be added, basically his entire family, including his granddaughter), Laurie said it like a color commentator during the final game-winning touchdown in a football game, and, just like I’d heard in 2004 about his appearance at the Republican convention, the congregation burst into enthusiastic applause.
Yes, they applauded. This huge room of “Good Christians” burst into applause when they heard that an 86-year-old man and his family had been obliterated. Again, I’ll give Laurie credit for this: steadfast consistency. Over the years he’s proven to be a reliable warmonger and a supporter of any war as long as it’s ours.
Meanwhile, that same morning, I had gone to a Science of Mind church in another city to join a friend who attends there. The Science of Mind theology (or philosophy, depending on one’s point of view), first presented in book form just over 100 year ago by founder Ernest Holmes, is the only church I’ve joined as an official member (when I was 39), because it’s a teaching that supports both science and believes that everyone has their own mind and should use it—therefore the name.
Consequently, taking into consideration those principles and what happens in other “faith-based” places of worship, Science of Mind is a rather “niche” market when it comes to religion. In other words: we don’t fill Angel Stadium, and while we do have members who think literal angels are real, there’s a place for those of us who think science is, and not the supernatural.
Another reason I stick with Science of Mind is because it has been (at least recently) an opponent of American wars (and wars in general), and I was pleased to discover that the minister at the other church (as well as the one at my home church in Redlands) came out that Sunday in full-throated opposition to Trump’s supposedly pre-emptive war on Iran waged to “protect us.”
Then, on Thursday, March 12th I was the representative of my Science of Mind center (where I’m a board member) at the meeting of RAIC (the Redlands Area Interfaith Council) where some 20 people from various faith-paths in Redlands had gathered for their monthly meeting, and because I was emotionally raw and churning about what was going on with the war and its widespread support by fundamentalist and evangelical Christians in both the Trump administration and with many Christians nationwide (although by no-means a general consensus), I stood up and made a passionate statement towards the end of the meeting.
Although I did not mention Laurie by name, I alluded to a mega-church in Riverside (letting them fill in the blank) and how I’d heard that applause on YouTube, saying that even if you think an elderly man (admittedly an odious elderly man who’d recently had thousands of his protesting citizens slain in the streets) and his “collaterally damaged” family needed to be executed (which I believe most of RAIC did not), you should never applaud the death of any human being if you claim to “believe” in a man who was also executed 2,000 years ago and his messages of non-violence.
In conclusion I mentioned that I knew full well that my church is not considered “Christian” by many Christian churches (for one: we view Jesus and his life as portrayed in the Gospels not as the great “exception,” because he, and he alone was God and how can anyone else even hope to approach that standard? but as the great “example” who called us all to follow in his footsteps), but, I said, if what I’d seen at that mega-church in Riverside is part of what Christianity’s about today, you can count me out!
I sat down to silence, so if the RAIC members did approve of what I’d said, they did not show it outwardly, and the only one to indicate even the slightest support was a Baha’i woman sitting to my right who nodded briefly. Her support was perhaps telling in light of this war on Iran because the Iranian man who’d founded the Baha’i faith there in 1844, advocating the universality of all religions, was executed six years later by the Islamic clergy for advocating such a “heresy.”
Sadly, while the Baha’is continue to face some Muslim persecution in Iran, it was perhaps a sign of hope that day at RAIC when I later approached the Muslim man conducting the meeting and he shared his support for what I’d said.
However, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at the lack of other support. Way back in 1991, I’d discovered how difficult it is to stick one’s head above the herd and make clear your opposition to another American war. That year only Phill Courtney and one other English teacher at Perris High School out of a staff totaling well over 100, were willing to openly speak out against the U.S. bombing of Iraq. Yes, a two-man support group that continues today.
As for Laurie—here’s what seems to be going on. Although I can’t confirm it, and while I’ve seen no documented evidence to support it, the circumstantial evidence seems to indicate this: Laurie long-ago embraced a form of what’s called Christian Nationalism which manifests itself in unquestioning confirmation of this country’s government (as long as it’s Republican, and Christian, that is) and that whatever it does must also be “blessed by God.”
Beyond that mindset, Laurie seems to also espouse many of the Apocalyptic messages in the Gospels as set forth primarily in the Book of Revelation, and how this war on Iran is showing Christians like Laurie “the hand of God” in action working through Trump to expunge (or, preferably, if they can) convert unbelievers (particularly Muslims) and how this is the war that may “hasten” the Second Coming of Jesus. Hence, perhaps, that applause heard throughout Harvest.
Of course, we’ve been here many times before with countless dates set for the “Second Coming,” which (in case you haven’t noticed) have all proven incorrect—and, no matter how many times it’s happened, hasn’t helped to put the kibosh on all the prognosticators, including Hal Lindsey and his multi-million-dollar selling series of books (The Late, Great Planet Earth, etc.) in the ‘70s and ‘80, whose predictions did not, as the Bible says, help pave the way for the “end of times,” but did help his bank account.
Meanwhile, although I, of course, can’t see into his heart and his true motivations, the same seems to be true of Laurie. After his 1952 birth in Long Beach, he had a rather chaotic upbringing with an unstable, single mother who’d married seven times and was not religious, but he soon found a way out of that mess through his own style of Christianity. His selling points of impending doom, combined with another “way out” of that rather inauspicious origin story came through the greatest “product” of all: eternal life for believers, which has proven quite lucrative.
Towards the end of one internet post by a Laurie-friendly site, with its accounts of, yes, the often-beneficial help his church has given many people, it seems that going hand-in-hand with that help, is the “help” Harvest has also given Laurie, since his worth approaches some $20 million today.
Now, whether he truly believes in all that he preaches (with those terrors of the “many-headed beast”), or has simply found his brand of preaching a path to a comfortable life-style (although, to his credit, and unlike several other mega-preachers, he’s wisely avoided those “offensive optics” of private jets), or perhaps it’s a combination of the two, I’ll leave that between Laurie and his God.
Of course, Laurie has also accumulated his own collection of carping critics within the ranks of Christianity itself (as fame tends to do), with many seeing him as just another persuasive “prosperity” preacher espousing his own form of false Christianity—along with other multi-millionaire mega-ministers like Joel Osteen—with plenty of hits on YouTube explaining Laurie’s abundant apostasies.
But this has always been the case with Christianity (and plenty of other religions, too), who have repeatedly rounded up the firing squads in a circle, with literally hundreds of separate churches each preaching their own version of the “one and only truth.”
Laurie also made the news recently with a decidedly secular scandal at Harvest involving one of his right-hand men, who apparently groomed young, rootless boys from eastern Europe, luring them in with promises of a place to stay and guidance in the future, only to find themselves trapped in cycles of physical and emotional abuse.
No, Laurie is not accused of direct participation in those alleged crimes himself, but the pending lawsuit has implicated him in a cover-up. In other words; his own version of the Catholics’ pedophile priest atrocities. But this column is not about that, and I do support “innocent until proven guilty,” so I’ll make no “call” on what Laurie did or did not do, and instead just say this for now: “the truth will out.”
However, I will also say this about what I do know first-hand to be “the truth” because I witnessed it both in person and via video: that this self-proclaimed “biblically, faith-based Christian”—this “believer” in “The Prince of Peace”—is totally “out” in one sense: he’s a supporter of America’s illegal and immoral wars, and is not a follower of the Jesus I see in the Gospels.
It’s the Jesus who renounced materialism and the acquisition of precious “treasures on Earth”—it’s the Jesus who renounced those who “live by the sword,” and kill by the sword (which today are called Tomahawk missiles), and would weep to see people celebrating any execution—it’s the Jesus who instead spread the message to love our neighbors and our enemies and not blow them to bits, followed by enthusiastic applause.
As for the many attempts to find the “real” Jesus in general, it’s basically impossible because we don’t have any contemporary, historical records of his life, only what are obviously literary “constructs” written decades later by converts, and while there are scholars who even doubt he actually existed, what does come through in the Gospels is a man who admirably (and fatally) did take some righteous stands against the religious hypocrites and authorities of his time and would undoubtedly renounce America’s military machine and endless wars today.
Finally, I suspect that if this Jesus was able to “return again,” he would weep on the steps of America’s many mega (and MAGA) churches, who have helped not just once, but twice to put a ruler who harkens “to lies” back on the throne. Jesus, out on the steps because the security guards have escorted this scruffy and smelly “radical, left lunatic” out through the doors.
However, despite all the deep despair some of us are experiencing today, remember this: we can always help push those doors back open again, as I hope I have here.
Phill Courtney has been a high school English teacher (which is one reason he’s not a millionaire today), and twice a candidate for Congress with the Green party. He’s also been a member of the Redlands Center for the Realization of Spirit since 2017, and a follower of Science of Mind since the early 1980s. His email is: pjcourtney1311@gmail.com