Wealth & Money Quote by Matthew Fox

Fox’s line lands like a doctrinal mic drop: if the brand of Christianity on offer looks like extortion, he refuses the label. The provocation isn’t just theological; it’s rhetorical jujitsu. By conceding the contested identity term - “They call themselves Christians” - and then yanking it back with “count me out,” he exposes how “Christian” functions as a cultural credential as much as a faith claim. The quote’s engine is boundary-drawing: Fox isn’t debating scripture verse by verse, he’s contesting who gets to speak for the tradition in public life.

The subtext is an accusation about power. “Fear and greed” is a moral diagnosis, but it also names a business model: leverage anxiety (hell, damnation, social collapse), then monetize the relief. When Fox says “give them your money otherwise you’re going to hell,” he’s pointing at transactional salvation - religion flattened into a paywall. That’s why the phrase hits; it reframes fundamentalism less as zealous conviction than as an economy of coercion.

Contextually, Fox comes out of a progressive Christian lineage that treats spirituality as expansive and justice-facing, and he’s long been in conflict with institutional gatekeepers. His target is the modern fusion of fundamentalist certainty with fundraising, media, and political influence, where “belief” becomes a loyalty test and donations become proof of belonging. The intent is to reclaim Jesus as an antidote to that machinery: not a mascot for moral panic, but a figure incompatible with it.