c. 2000 Religion News Service

(Tom Ehrich is a writer and computer consultant, managing large-scale database implementations. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C.)

(UNDATED) Every day, I can count on 10 messages that assume I am in a greedy mood. First come the spam e-mails. “Do you want to get rich?” “I won’t waste your time _ do you want to earn $10,000 a month at your computer?” “Tired of your job?”

If I were to read far enough, I’d learn that the secrets of the greed universe can be mine if I just send a check. But I don’t read that far. I just wonder who sold the spammers my name _ my Internet service provider, some vendor whose product I downloaded? Who parlayed greed into gain at my expense?

Next come the credit-card solicitations and their assumption that I want to spend, say, $10,000 more than I earn. Predatory behavior like this makes the rest of banking _ sober, dark-suited, high-minded _ seem like posing. Do banks allow the credit-card hucksters to share space with the trust department?

Dinner hour brings the vacation-home scams and long-distance scams. The eternal dream: something for nothing.

I realize it’s nothing personal. Mass mailings are based on percentages, not personal assessment. If you send out 1 million messages and 1 percent respond _ well, I suppose it beats real work.

What galls me is the assumption that I, too, am greedy. To breathe is to grasp, they seem to believe. They want to make money with little effort, so they assume I want the same. They want to be clever, rather than diligent or productive, so they assume I want the same. They want to turn human weakness to their advantage, so they assume I want the same.

It’s a form of projection. They look in a mirror _ and see me. It’s like the former business associate who dealt with his own money-lust and finagling by accusing the people around him of cheating. It’s like the anti-gay crusader who turns out to fear his own homosexual tendencies. It’s like the lust-driven teen-ager who decides her date really “wants it.”

We project onto others what we see in ourselves, especially what we loathe in ourselves. It’s easier than self-examination and repentance. It’s tidier than getting to know other people.

Sorting through projection is perhaps the most difficult dimension of faith.

In faith communities, as in other human ventures, people watch each other and make assumptions. They treat their perceptions as fact. The angry see others as angry. The manipulative feel surrounded by manipulators.

People project onto their pastors the unresolved issues of their own lives, especially issues with authority and parents. They monitor leaders closely, looking for signs of that which they loathe in themselves.

Believers take projection even further in their perceptions of God. They create warlike myths to justify their lust for war. They portray God as their champion and hear God calling for slaughter. The downtrodden see God as liberator. The landless hear God promising them land. Rulers see God as a partner in mastery. Bigots see God as a bigot.

Studying Scripture is a confrontation with projections, ancient and modern. Did God put women one-down, or was that a primitive society’s projection onto God? Does God reject sexual diversity, or is that our fear speaking? Does God view the “Holy Land” as holy, or is that an ancient fabric woven to legitimize ownership? Does God want our gold and vaulted ceilings, or is that our pride?

A man lost in greed came to Jesus and asked a question. It seemed the right question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” But when Jesus looked deeper, it turned out the man simply wanted another prize. He didn’t want to rethink his life. Like the credit-card issuer who feigns interest in my welfare but wants nothing more than easy business, the man wanted something for nothing.

He projected onto Jesus the very shallowness he had in himself. That’s why Jesus responded so harshly, rejecting his glad-hand approach, cutting quickly to the chase, loving him enough to speak unexpected truth: “Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.”

Projection is a strong web, however. In the end, the man walked away “shocked” and “grieving.” God didn’t play the game his way.

DEA END EHRICH