The idea that satan curses the faithful with poverty is a pernicious fallacy. For the very idea that material wealth is the sign that God has blessed you is actually a sign of spiritual materialism.
Indeed, in some cases, wearing a silver cross is such a sign. It shows that a person of faith has sacrificed time to afford a valuable trinket rather than performing acts of repentance.
How foolish! Were a religious person truly aligned to God, he would remember Jesus' saying "Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God."
This is why I, as a Buddhist, will not convert to Christianity. Far too many financially success Christians have attributed their new-found wealth to being blessed by God. They forget that a repentant attitude is caused them to stop sinning. By making beneficial choices motivated by their faith, they actually profited, because those choices gained respect with their peers.
As long as the attitude of Christians is reflected in the philosophy of material wealth being a blessing from God, their spiritual materialism will blind them to repentance. Furthermore, they may fear poverty so much as to be influenced by satan to oppress the poor, be it through taking advantage of them or worse, teaching them that the road to riches is by attributing it all to the work of God.
Any Christian who believes that satan is the author of poverty might also believe that, satan being the enemy, it is right to let the poor in need suffer. This belief contradicts Jesus' attitude of the poor, and also shows that popular Christian preachers with a large flock may actually be wolves in sheep's clothing.
If I as a Buddhist know this, then it's amazing how large that block of wood in the eyes of the faithful actually is.
For even in Buddhism, much value is placed in repentance as its helps the Buddhist to make choices which benefit all sentient beings.
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