Gaia
17th August 2015, 20:53
People say that the one thing they really hate is being lied to, but in practice it seems like there's nothing they love more providing that the lie is something they want to hear. Many people seem to feel that it makes you a cynic if you make an effort to develop a sense of when you're being lied to. How many? Enough, apparently.
I assume that these are the same people who listen to Donald Trump's Billy Mays-inspired sales pitch and think, "Hmm, authenticity" How can people fall for this?
A significant part of the prosperity gospel con is that god will let you in on the con. The obvious wealth of these types of guys isn't putting people off because these people are seeing in the mega rich pastors a potential version of themselves in the future after they do all the right stuff and believe in god enough (like the pastors did and do)
It's the same thing that makes MLM work: The people running the scam convince the people they're fleecing that if they're not successful, well, clearly they're not trying hard enough. And considering a lot of these people have some intense religious conviction coming into it, the "you'll be rich" part is the carrot and the "make god happy" part is the stick so they have both angles covered.
Compare that to, for instance, the state lottery commission or Amway products, which have no way to punish you (or to convince you that you will be punished) for not playing.
In which John Oliver expounds on how televangelists raise income for necessities such as a private jet or two, his faux-penpal correspondence with such a televangelist, how easy it is to set up a church for tax-exemption purposes and, with the assistance of Sister Wanda Jo Oliver, this inevitably happens...
Listening to this reminded me of some old Monty Python sketch for some reason. :)
7y1xJAVZxXg
I assume that these are the same people who listen to Donald Trump's Billy Mays-inspired sales pitch and think, "Hmm, authenticity" How can people fall for this?
A significant part of the prosperity gospel con is that god will let you in on the con. The obvious wealth of these types of guys isn't putting people off because these people are seeing in the mega rich pastors a potential version of themselves in the future after they do all the right stuff and believe in god enough (like the pastors did and do)
It's the same thing that makes MLM work: The people running the scam convince the people they're fleecing that if they're not successful, well, clearly they're not trying hard enough. And considering a lot of these people have some intense religious conviction coming into it, the "you'll be rich" part is the carrot and the "make god happy" part is the stick so they have both angles covered.
Compare that to, for instance, the state lottery commission or Amway products, which have no way to punish you (or to convince you that you will be punished) for not playing.
In which John Oliver expounds on how televangelists raise income for necessities such as a private jet or two, his faux-penpal correspondence with such a televangelist, how easy it is to set up a church for tax-exemption purposes and, with the assistance of Sister Wanda Jo Oliver, this inevitably happens...
Listening to this reminded me of some old Monty Python sketch for some reason. :)
7y1xJAVZxXg