The Church of Christ and Amway
I have lost count of all the times someone in the COC tried to get me involved in Amway or some other multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme. If it wasn't Amway, it was baskets or scrapbooking supplies or "gourmet" convenience foods or knock-off Tupperware or makeup or jewelry or home decor or some other junk no one needed. At one congregation I attended, there were people who NEVER invited anyone from church to their house unless they were trying to sell them something. It was mostly the women, although a few men were involved, too. I just cringed every time some guy tried to get me to come to a "business meeting" on a Friday night, because I knew I was in for the hard sell on how I could achieve financial independence through Amway. Heck, you practically had to sell Amway in order to be considered a member in good standing. On the basis of my reading, I realize now that this phenomenon is not unique to the COC. It's quite prevalent in many fundamentalist and ...