The prosperity gospel is an old wolf in new sheep's clothing. It's essentially the same nonsense that Jesus dealt with when the Pharisees argued that the blind and lame were being punished by God (and, by implication, that they themselves were God's favored). It's reared its head throughout history under different guises and in nearly every religion and culture, including slavery in the pre-Civil War U.S. and the caste system in India. And let's not forget how literally the Catholic Church has, at times, taken the notion that our hierarchy are "princes."

What it all boils down to is that people like living comfortably but they don't like being reminded that other people pay for their comfort. If you can con yourself into believing that God wants you to be rich but is fine with your neighbor being poor, then presto -- the good life with no guilt!