there’s a lot going on in this article, but this part in particular is… uhh … a really special form of religious virtue…
I wish had no scruples because then I could sell people angels for $1,000
I love how the most devout Christians are always always complete shitheads
Given the shitheads who’d actually buy that crap, I’d say this is one group of people to scam the shit out of without fear of compromising one’s scruples.
The people who buy that crap are victims. Uneducated by the state and propagandized into eternal fear by the media and religion.
They’re going to send their money off to scammers anyway. Might as well redirect it somewhere were it won’t be used by straight up evil people doing straight up evil shit.
I’m also not sure how much I believe in their “victim” status. I was raised in a conservative Southern Baptist household in Mississippi, and I figured out that stuff was bullshit after a few Sunday School sessions.
I figured out that church was bullshit at a young age too. I was raised in West Virginia in shitty schools. We were still victims, even though we had the luck of being born perceptive enough to limit our victimization. Imagine if all the wasted hours we spent in school and church, we were learning instead.
I had a science teacher in fifth grade who was a preacher as well. When we got to evolution all he had to say was “If we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys, ever think about that?” He refused to teach the material. We skipped it.
Ugh, I had a biology teacher who was very similar. We briefly went through what the textbook had to say on evolution, then spent the next week or so watching stupid videos of this nutjob ranting about how current species with symbiotic relationships couldn’t have evolved separately or some drivel. Knowing what I know now about my rights as a student in a public school, I wish I could go back just for the opportunity to tell him I’d be doing my own independent study time in the library during his class periods while he was showing his blatantly illegal proselytizing propaganda.
It’s not just “no scruples”. Lots of people run these scams. Only a few of them succeed.
Easy to forget that Bush and Reagan also had these Faith Based Initiative and religious themed cabinet positions. And they were also primarily about funneling state money to religious demagogues. And then Clinton/Obama kept them around because they didn’t want to offend the religious extremists.
The large network of Crisis Intervention Centers that effectively exist to abuse young people with poor grades, substance abuse issues, and non-conforming gender/sexual preferences were all originally bankrolled by Reagan/Bush Era pilot programs and church kickbacks.
Also I remember Bush saying he talked to god and was chosen by god and blah blah blah
Only a matter of time until he declares himself Holy Roman Emperor. And silly me was under the impression, he’s trying to emulate an entirely different era of German history.
Leaning into grifting. Like always. He is just dipping into the Christian side of the grift.
