Despicable human beings.

If organized religions practiced much more self-policing like this World article and exposed the cretins, my respect for them would increase dramatically.

Really? People believe this guy is a divine instrument of God?

Oh, for FUCK'S SAKE. That video just sent my blood pressure through the roof, eatdonuts! Damn. I'm going to post that over at the original article, if you don't mind.

Great, now I have a new person to hate. There aren't many people that I truly hate, but once they get on my hate list, it's awfully hard, if not impossible to be removed.

Oh no, sorry! Didn't mean to further anger, just add to the thread.

Post at will.

You definitely added to the thread, eatdonuts. This guy is even more horrible than I'd realized at first. Yeesh. I was yelling at him, not you! :)

(And thanks, link posted.)

While it is true that most statistics are made up on the spot, it is also true that 97.3 percent of human beings deserve to be shoved feet-first into a woodchipper.

Years ago, in the 80s, my family used to watch Robert Tilton's show on TV just to mock him. It was hard to believe anyone was taking his "make a vow!" thing and speaking-in-tongues "humana, jigashalamara" show seriously - it was too ridiculous.

Then he started getting bigger and bigger, and was finally exposed as a total fraud. We watched an episode of 60 Minutes where all these hurt and sick people had sent him ungodly amounts of money, wrapped in letters pleading for help. 60 Minutes went through the Dumpster outside of Tilton World HQ and read some of the ones they'd thrown out -- I'll never forget one, scrawled on yellow legal paper, that read "please heal my husband eyes." I choked up when I saw that. It's not in me to hate the people ignorant enough to believe this stuff - humans are stressed and credulous and sometimes not that bright, no fault of their own. But it is so heinous to callously take advantage of that credulousness and real pain for monetary gain. It's extremely evil, the worst in humanity.

(Wikipedia informs me it was ABC Primetime, not 60 Minutes).

and p.s. - those who like to see evil money-grubbing evangelists using religion as a means of personal gain get BUSTED, you would be interested in reading this New Yorker profile of Ole Anthony. He's an interesting dude.

Here is a statement about his Trinity Foundation, which does watchdogging on televangelism:

TELEVANGELIST INVESTIGATIONS

An early skepticism about the way religious programming is bought and sold prompted Trinity to conduct a controversial research project on the audience demographics and ratings of religious broadcasting. By the time scandals rocked the religious television industry in the 1980s, Trinity was already monitoring religious programming and reporting abuses of the public trust. In the 1990s Trinity Foundation became the leading "watchdog" of religious media, conducting investigations and providing information used to expose fraud and abuses committed in the name of God.

The foundation regularly provides assistance to print and electronic journalists investigating suspected fraud or other abuses of the public trust by members of the religious media. The foundation maintains a private investigative license with the State of Texas and frequently provides undercover operatives to news programs like PrimeTime Live, 60 Minutes, Dateline, CNN Special Reports, 20/20, British Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Inside Edition, among many others. We have also worked with The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Economist, London Independent, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News & World Report, and The Dallas Morning News.

Foundation representatives have testified for Congressional hearings examining abuses by America's television evangelists. The foundation has also provided investigative reports to various agencies of state and federal government.

Victim's Helpline: The foundation sponsors and staffs America's only nationwide toll-free help line (1-800-229-VICTIM) for people who believe they or a loved one has been victimized by a televangelist.

Media Archive: Trinity Foundation maintains a nationally recognized video archive of televangelism broadcasts, a print-media clip-file and extensive direct-mail files on approximately 300 televangelists. Information requests are met regularly from local, regional, national and worldwide media outlets.

It's not in me to hate the people ignorant enough to believe this stuff

I'm with you, there.

Many years ago, the "faith healer" Benny Hinn was appearing here in Atlanta at an arena that used to stand adjacent to the building where I work. (That arena being the Omni, for those of you who know Atlanta. That also tells you how long ago it was.) The arena doors weren't even set to open until 7 or so that evening, but when I left work around 4 pm the area around our building was a MASS of people, crowding up to and in between the buildings, waiting to get in. I had to cut across this area to get to the train station, and bodies were literally packed together on the sidewalks so tightly that I could barely get through.

I'll never forget all of those old people with their crutches and walkers, and people with an obviously sick family member, and worst of all, the one or two families I saw with Down Syndrome children. Being packed into the crowd of them like that almost overwhelmed me; I felt so much anger and impotence over the fact that they were being lied to, taken advantage of, and possibly endangered, but there was nothing I could do or say to convince them of that fact. It was a horrible feeling.

They start earlier these days.

It's when I read stuff like this that I wish I believed in Hell.

I fucking hate Benny Hinn with the passion of a thousand supernova suns.

My grandfather gave so much to that douche, and when he died my grandmother wrote "deceased-return to sender" on the latest donation envelope and returned it.

They started sending them addressed to MRS. Grandfather's Name instead.

Ugh.

It was a horrible feeling.

That is a horrible, sad story, BP

Sometimes I work evenings. We have a patient that stays until closing and watches some faith healer. It's enough to make your skin crawl.

I cannot believe that disgusting creature kicked that man in the stomach. What in the world?

I have spotted the repugant & disgraceful Peter Popoff late night on Channel 10. I thought Hillsong were bad. It's an absolute travesty that this shit gets broadcast on television. Shame on you, Channel 10.

Gosh, that's so incredibly sad. Organized religion and/or superstition can be so harmful.