Dispatch

The Most-Read Articles of 2009

8. “Did Christianity Cause the Crash?” by Hanna Rosin (December 2009)
In a Pew study published shortly before the meltdown, 73 percent of Latino respondents agreed with the following statement: “God will grant financial success to all believers who have enough faith.” Intrigued, Hanna Rosin set out to investigate the economic crisis through the lens of religion. She discovered a small but powerful fringe of Christian pastors who equated divine approbation with financial miracles, urging their parishioners to take out subprime mortgages and risky loans. As one pastor’s wife told Rosin months after the crash, “If the Lord is telling you to ‘take that first step and I will provide,’ then you have to believe.”