Account Closures Spark Worry for Religious Groups in Banks Cancellations
Read time: 3 minutes 40 seconds
Big Tech has been censoring Christian voices for years now, but the early signs of financial cancellations are beginning to make their way into the mainstream.
With the successful throttling of certain voices, including a president of the United States, companies aligned with leftist values have tested the waters of closing or fining customer’s financial accounts.
Sometimes the bank or financial institution may not even give a reason for an account closure. This was the case for the 501(c)4 non-profit, The National Committee for Religious Freedom, that had their Chase Bank accounts closed without warning.
Sam Brownback, former U.S. Ambassador, senator, governor and NCRF chairman is at a loss as to why his multi-faith organization’s accounts were closed, after having a “very positive” experience opening the account with Chase.
In the current political, social and ideological climate, when something appears off and people do a little bit of digging into the matter, there can be more beneath the surface than originally thought.
This is what occurred for NCRF when they reached out repeatedly to Chase as to why their accounts had been shuttered.
Initially, there was no reason given. But when NCRF Executive Director Justin Murff contacted Chase, he was told the decision to close the accounts came from the “corporate level.”
Yet the runaround and oddities did not end there for NCRF.
After being told that Chase employees were “prohibited from providing any explanations,” the bank gave a response that left the NCRF befuddled. The bank claimed that NCRF had failed to submit documentation for the account within a 60-day timeframe. The problem: the account had only been open for 20 days.
The steps to follow provide by a Chase employee are filled with red flags for any organization, much less a political and religious organization like the NCRF. Murff explained to the Christian Post that the list of demands, to only consider reopening the account, consisted of “providing a list of donors who have given more than 10% of NCRF’s operating budget, a list of candidates NCRF intends to support and the criteria which NCRF uses to decide whom it supports politically.”
These attempts at controlling the financial freedoms of mainly conservative figures and organizations are not new, however, as Chase was caught doing this in 2021. The news broke that Michael Flynn’s credit card account was being cancelled because “continuing the relationship creates possible reputational risk to our company.”
Chase quickly backtracked after the widespread attention this received and insisted, they “made an error and apologized for any inconvenience caused.”
Around the same time, Wells Fargo also made a “business decision” to close the account of Lauren Witzke, who was at the time the Republican candidate for the Senate election in Delaware.
Companies like PayPal are using organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, known for targeting Christian and conservative groups and individuals, and basing their actions off of accounts flagged by the SPLC.
Most recently, PayPal made the error of announcing they would fine accounts $2,500 for spreading “misinformation.” The backlash to this was so severe, they immediately called the announcement itself misinformation and would not be implementing it. This did not stop their stock from tanking 6% following the announcement.
The continual financial harassment from major corporations has many, especially Christians, worried about what the future holds.
As prophesied in the Bible, and what many are focusing on, is the day when “the two Beasts” from Revelation 13 will appear. According to these Scriptures, there will be a mark of some kind placed on a person’s right hand or forehead that is required to buy or sell products.
This “mark of the Beast” will also represent an allegiance to the beast and an enemy of Jesus upon His return (Rev. 20:4).
These incidents of stifling a political or religious person or group’s ability to use financial systems are designed to coerce those with certain beliefs to fall in line and abandon their principles for easing pressure from societal institutions.
As the quote attributed to Robert B. Cialdini says, “Freedoms once granted will not be relinquished without a fight.” Thankfully, even in the face of institutional oppression, there is always freedom found in Jesus Christ.
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James Lasher is a Copy Editor for Charisma Media.
