Some More News - Some More News: How The Right Sold Christianity

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

Hi. Christianity is big business in the U.S. Here's how megachurch pastors and televangelists enrich themselves while often further embedding themselves in right-wing politics. Get the world's news at https://ground.news/SMN to compare coverage and see through biased coverage. Subscribe for 50% off unlimited access – their biggest discount – through our link. Watch Part 1, How (And Why) The Right Stole Christianity: https://youtu.be/wHdjjXQHxzs Hosted by Cody Johnston Executive Producer - Katy Stoll Directed by Will Gordh Written by Erik Barnes Edited by Michael Swaim Produced by Jonathan Harris Associate Producer - Quincy Tucker Post-Production Supervisor - John Conway Researcher - Marco Siler-Gonzales Graphics by Clint DeNisco Head Writer - David Christopher Bell SimpliSafe is extending its massive Black Friday deal for our viewers. This week only, you can take 50% off any new system with a select professional monitoring plan Head to https://simplisafe.com/morenews to claim your discount and make sure your home is safe. Check out at https://shopify.com/morenews ALL LOWERCASE and learn how to create the best retail experiences without complexity. Stop getting lost in countless finance apps and try Found for free at https://found.com/morenews Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Piermont Bank, Member FDIC. Found's core features are free. They also offer an optional paid product, Found Plus.

Deck the halls of Cody's showdy, time to have some booze, hear some more news, Donald Trump is the president. Fuuuuuuuuck. Hi everybody! Hey there! Happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, Harry's Zakuanza, yummy time yule, delightful December ween, and a belly full blood feast of the wintering werewolf to you all. And Merry Christmas, almost forgot that one. It's legal to say it again. We all remember Christmas, right?

It's that one pagan holiday, Saturnalia, about the birth of Rudolph, or when the first elf decided to become a snitch, or Fat Snowman Week, or something. I don't remember. But I sure hope Santa saw my wish list and I get a private jet underneath the tree this year. You're not the only one who deserves to fly,

Kringle, you festive freak. Where was I? Christmas. Anyway, some group decided to partner it with this one guy's birthday. You know when a guy at work does like a St. Patrick's Day, but also their birthday get together at a bar every year. It's like that.

And in the United States, Jesus's birthday celebration is about something very special, precious and sacred. Buying stuff, got them. That's not a hot take. It's like the standpoint of every grumpy character in a Christmas movie, but it's also pretty true. The grumps are right. We usually are, and we hate it.

By one estimate, consumer spending in America is nearing the $1 trillion mark just during the holidays. It just never stops growing, like that mold in my shower, or my desire to shower whenever I see the mold. But to be effed and be and ho-ho-hoed, the Christian religion itself does get its own boost this season as well. While overall church attendance is lowering

in the United States, a 2023 survey showed that one in five Americans still plan to attend church during the holiday, even if they don't regularly go. It's like when the Home Alone Kid goes to the church in that movie where he gets home alone, a very merry burglings. Every year, people gravitate toward their local church,

maybe sing some carols, watch that donkey show they do. Just a small and intimate moment to reflect on the teachings of Jesus Christ. If you're a sucker, because here's some festive news, this is Ain't Your Granddaddy's Church Any No More. ["Mulch in all the eventuallys is the Lord"] Wow, okay, I would absolutely take mushrooms and go to that. I shall see his back on. Wow, okay, I would absolutely take mushrooms and go to that.

I'd get prophecies up the ass. That is footage from Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of thousands of mega churches in the United States and one of the over 200 mega churches in Texas alone. As you can see in that clip, mega churches are doing pretty well in this country. They have Cirque du Soleil money now, which the French call,

Argent. And with that Argent, Christianity too can run like a well-oiled machine, but their oil is probably anointed. Along with mega churches, there are of course multiple production companies devoted to films like God's Not Dead and Left Behind and that Dennis Quaid airplane film that, get this, exists.

We're not talking about faith or even the official church, but rather the American Christianity industry that happens to include specific sects and celebrities. And wouldn't you know it, this industry goes hand in hand with right-wing politics. We did a video about that, like and subscribe. And so for example, while you may have tuned out those God's Not Dead movies,

they keep making them. There's like five of them right now. They're like the Purge movies. We must maintain a wall of separation between church and state. Religion has no place in the public square. Once they bankrupt our country, they will have complete control. Where did we go wrong, Lord? We need someone who can light a fire in the voters. A preacher. He helped them with education hearings. I've been hired to manage your campaign for Congress.

I'm not a politician. If you don't take on this fight, we could lose everything. Topical! So how did this happen? Not those movies specifically, that was Sorbo money. We've talked about how Christianity became entangled in the right, but now it's time to talk about

how it was sold to everyone else. Uncover the truth, like the Da Vinci code for PR campaigns or whatever conclave is. Let's get conclaved. Hard. General Dr. Reverend Cody's, how the rat sold Christianity. I probably don't need to keep making disclaimers,

but we're not talking about your local pastor putting out a collection plate to pay for a heating unit that doesn't give him bloody noses. Churches are tax exempt because they are traditionally seen as these humble and altruistic institutions doing good for the community, like a church in Disney's Robin Hood. But what's of course fascinating

is that a small town church more or less has the exact same tax status as people like this. You know, I've owned three different jets in my life and I used them and just burning them up for the Lord Jesus Christ. Televangelist Jesse Duplantis says God himself told him it's time for an upgrade. He said, I want you to believe me for a Falcon seven X. So I said, okay. A Falcon seven jet like this one to preach to more people around the world. And he's asking his followers for the 54 million dollars. I really believe that if Jesus was physically on the earth today, he wouldn't be riding a donkey. Okay, hold on.

Now, just because I'm anti-boar, that doesn't automatically mean I'm pro donkey. But that seems like an odd slam against Jesus's preferred mode of transportation. Also, in Minecraft, donkeys can get 15 inventory slots. Also, that church in Robin Hood happily takes the mouse's last farthing, so they were scum too. But you get the point. There is a wildly vast chasm between a church asking their local congregation to help with upkeep and mega church evangelists asking millions of viewers to

fund his fourth, yes, fourth private jet. The world of televangelism and prosperity gospel has been exposed time and time again. There are so many of them, all of whom seem to want nothing more than a damn jet. I mean, I get it. Come on, Santa. It seems like an obvious dodge, but to some extent,

the concept of prosperity gospel does sound appealing on the surface. People like being wealthy, and we live in a country where having wealth is seen as a fundamental principle. It's almost seen as a moral victory. We're guaranteed the pursuit of happiness. And we've equated that with having lots of money.

And so for some, getting rich is an affirmation that God is on your side. You have been rewarded for your devotion. Scratch those lotto tickets and finally got paid. This probably explains why a 2022 life way research poll showed that 76% of American Protestants believed that God wanted them to prosper financially With 52% of them believing that if they give enough money to the church and to charity that God will bless them in return Because altruism is only good if we get stuff back. That's why there's an I in the word.

Quid pro distempo. It probably comes as no surprise that prosperity gospel is literally an American product, much like jazz, pro wrestling, and me. While the origins of the movement began in the late 1800s under the guise of new thought, it was popularized by Reverend Oral Roberts. If that name sounds weirdly familiar,

here's a shout out to all my millennial stop motion animation fans. Starting the late 1940s, Oral began preaching intent revivals and held faith healing sessions inspired by the verse in 3 John 2, quote, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayst prosper and be in health,

even as thy soul prospereth. Compared to churches that focus on quiet spirituality or loud hellfire and damnation of the soul, you can see how money God had an immediate appeal. Using this more positive leaning message, Roberts became one of the first televangelists in the country with his show, song, and book titled, Something Good is Going to Happen to You.

Very few sentences sound both positive yet haunting at the same time, but it's unsurprising that a guy named Oral found that sweet spot. And something good did happen to Ol' Throaty, as he became wealthier and healthier thanks to his followers donating their seed offerings to him in exchange for blessing packs. Those included fabric imprinted with Robert's right hand, and anointing oils that would provide a financial blessing or money harvest in exchange for their good faith.

Essentially, he was selling Christianity loot boxes. And that was just one of many grifts he was scrutinized for at the time. For example, he claimed that God would take him home, kill him, if his followers didn't cough up $8 million to keep his failing City of Faith Medical Center from shutting down. Keep in mind that while he was asking for this money,

Robert still wore expensive jewelry and Italian silk suits that he had airbrushed out of publicity photos of himself. Not to mention that, of course, he owned a private jet that he could have easily sold to help funding. Anyway, that hospital was shut down in 1989. But while the hospital and Roberts himself are no longer with us,

Oral Roberts University has been going strong as a puritanical private college forbidding alcohol consumption, premarital sex, homosexuality, and something called social dancing among other mandates. Pretty absurd rules for a place named after mouth stuff. Oh, they also ban worthless checks.

After all, this university is about money. God, God, but also money. Equally, together as pals, social dancing with each other. You can't spell gold without God. Of course, you take the L. Anyway, there have since been more and more preachers getting in on this. You know them, Jim Baker, Joel Osteen, Jerry Falwell,

that guy who looks like a Halloween mask. And of course, there are also critics within the Christian community, including one could argue, Jesus. You know the guy. There are some Bible passages that contradict this movement that you can read in your own time if you're interested. In three, two, one, boomshaka Bible.

You get all that? Cool, I don't care. Because while there are arguments you can make about the appeal of prosperity gospel, there's really no denying that it's a big, terrible scam on vulnerable people. My version though of ministry was certainly attached to the health and wealth gospel, which isn't really a gospel at all,

but the idea that we use that term, that if you follow Jesus and believe in him by faith, and just give your life to him, that he will make everything better. We kind of sell that idea, and you'd create these tears of the more you give to God, the more he'll give to you,

which is dangerous because it's attached to some biblical principles. Who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and to whom much has been given much is required, and if you're faithful in little you'll be faithful in many. I mean, you have some principles, but in the end to sell this guarantee that if you give enough or if you believe enough that God will, and then you start naming things that everybody wants, pretty dangerous theological view of God,

because if he doesn't do that, does that mean you don't have enough faith? Does that mean he doesn't love you? Does that mean that you're not as good as someone else and God doesn't see you as highly as he does them? Well, then you better sacrifice more. That was Costie Hinn, nephew of Benny Hinn, a millionaire faith healer

that spouted the prosperity gospel and was investigated by the feds and, at one point, say it with me now, owned a private jet. I am begging you all to please be more creative and original with your money. Make a theme park or something. A fun theme park. As you can see, this emotional manipulation of making people believe that being poor or sick is due to some kind of moral failing instead of complex problems with societal systems

or just fucking biological science is, dare I say, evil. And furthering that manipulation to get these sick or impoverished people to shell out whatever money they have as an act of faith and desperation is, dare I sayer, eviler. Perhaps even the evil-er-ist. It is the worst kind of grift, telling people that it's their fault that they are disadvantaged and then conning them to support the ultra wealthy

as a way to miraculously solve their problems. It's also, if you haven't noticed, what American conservatism is, what a coincidence, what a coincidence that the American invented prosperity gospel is both a convenient way to make capitalism a morally good concept and that the people perpetuating it are,

for one, very corrupt. And two, coincidentally, big supporters of the Republican party that spent the last 50 plus years entwining themselves with Christianity, a party that specifically pushes the idea of government deregulation and religious freedom, which are the two main ways these evangelist leaders can get stupid rich.

And this is why this affects everyone. Even if you don't totally feel 100% empathetic towards these believers for whatever reason, this is going to make your life worse. In 2007, Richard Roberts, Oral Roberts' son and president of Oral Roberts University was ousted due to a lawsuit and scandal involving misappropriation of funds to bankroll his lavish

lifestyle. This included remodeling his home 11 times and requiring university employees to do his daughter's homework. Also allegations that his wife did stuff with underage teen boys that I'm pretty sure goes against Oral Roberts University's code of conduct. A lot of social dancing, if you catch my drift. But among all of those terrible things, the most notable is that Roberts used university money

and students to help fund and stump for a local mayoral campaign for a Republican candidate, which given the university's tax exempt status, is illegal, at least for now. for a Republican candidate, which given the university's tax exempt status, is illegal, at least for now. Let's see what Trump does, Cody says, about everything in America. And speaking of that, geez, you know this all obviously reminds me of,

the method of blatant con men preying on vulnerable people by hijacking a pre-existing dogma and twisting it to serve a cult-like leader. Did you guess? Did you guess who this reminds me of? Did you? Did you guess? The latest venture in the long list

of Trump approved goods for just $10,000, as you heard there, an American flag guitar with his signature could be yours. Did you guess it? Now we're going to get back to the actual episode in a minute, but I just have to talk about these fucking guitars for a second.

So first of all, these God bless America guitars with an airbrushed eagle decal on them are highly suspected to be, you guessed it, made in China. They're less Paul style guitars, but the neck is bolted on. There's very little information about the manufacturer, but just that it's from a veteran owned company, no name of the company. Like for all we know, the veteran is just what Trump

is calling himself in this case. But regardless, these guitars have either Make America Great Again, or Donald J. Trump written across the fretboard instead of actual inlays, which are typically on guitars to indicate specific locations on the neck of the guitar. Like maybe there are dots there on the other part of the neck, you can see in them,

but like that's, it's just, it's the, it's the bad guitar already. They're there for a reason, they're very helpful. Bad idea for a guitar. In terms of the electric version, the pickups, which pick up the vibrations of the guitar and help convert it into the crunchy rock you love, are not real ones.

I assume they were also made in China because they're just called Trump Buckers, which is a play on a type of pickup, the humbucker. But pickups are made by manufacturers. You can track down the manufacturer and the quality of the pickup, But not on this mystery guitar shop by trumpguitars.com. No, they sell guitars made with Trumpbuckers. And the strings they use are Trumpbenders for the electric and Magatone for the acoustic. I don't know those strings. Nobody knows those strings.

What does this guitar sound like? The only other information on the website is a disclaimer about how they have no affiliation with Gibson guitars. That disclaimer was recently added because the mystery company that makes this, I have to assume, worst guitar anyone's ever built, got hit with a cease and desist from Gibson guitars on account of them using the world famous Gibson guitar shape and design.

Or as a Fox News affiliate referred to them, Nashville based guitar company. This cease and desist is probably related to why the website took down most photos of the guitar and the remaining ones show a different shape than the original guitar that was advertised. What is up with this guitar? Which guitar will you get if you order one? Do they have to make completely new guitars now? Are they going to have enough Trumpbuckers to do so? I want to play one of these terrible guitars so badly, but I will absolutely not pay, I assume, Donald Trump $1,500 to do it. I assume Donald Trump $1,500 to do it.

And obviously we didn't need to focus so much on this guitar. We easily could have just mentioned the Trump Bibles that the scam president wants to scam people with. You know, those God bless the USA Bibles created by God bless the USA songwriter, Lee Greenwood. The Bibles we've mentioned before that are also made in China. They were made for three dollars each and sold for 60 dollars each. The Bibles with extra stuff about America

in them, including the Pledge of Allegiance to a country in your Bible. We could have mentioned all of that instead, but we chose the guitar. Because in fact, somebody did decide to buy this guitar for rock and roll research. YouTuber Taylor Danley purchased this guitar, or whichever guitar they have to make now, and he noticed this. So after buying this overpriced sketchy guitar in the name of science

and potentially ruining Christmas for my kids, I noticed that the charge came from a company called God Bless the USA Bible. Huh, that's weird. I bought a guitar. That is weird. If the guitar is ever redesigned and then made and then shipped, I look forward to hearing all about how it's, you know, a scam. A scam from our frequently scamming scam president, and also apparently Lee Greenwood, which aside from the obviously absurd, God bless the USA made in China and we love God,

but also we pledge allegiance to the United States of America stuff. It's also funny because it's like, bro, you're a musician, make a good guitar, pretend like you're not selling a scam. Anyway, it's easy to be in awe of Trump's sudden cult status and grift empire. How in just a few years,

he was able to make a large part of the country ignore obvious reality and stick their dicks in this scam blender. Buying his stupid products, pretending he has a tan, acting like he's going to save America with tariffs. Saying this. And the Bible is my favorite book.

But when you look at the slow burn of evangelism working literally in tandem with the Republican party, you realize that MAGA had a preexisting system in place. It was paint by numbers. And it's the final stage to this decades long hijacking of Christianity, because faith, especially blind faith, is easy to betray. And not to get all edge,

Laura Hugh Grant and Heretic on you, but it can be used to control people. And so no better method for a political machine than tying their ideology to faith. That's kind of why we want to separate church and state. And so after the break, we're going to really show those similarities and talk about the obvious grifts and scams

that both televangelists and Trump often use and where it's all heading. To hell I bet. Have some ads. Ads be with you. Did you hear? Joe Biden, who I guess is a president, pardoned his son Hunter.

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I hated them, but also please buy the stuff, obviously. Anyway, we were talking about prosperity gospel and its impact on American culture and how it pretty perfectly reflects MAGA politics and a lot of Trump's grifts. It's almost beat for beat with a lot of these evangelists. For example, a lot of them were TV personalities just like Trump.

Back in the 70s, Jim Baker and his then wife, Tammy Faye, hosted the widely distributed Christian talk show, The PTL Club. PTL stood for praise the Lord or people that love and oddly not pesky tax loophole. The show had millions of viewers who made monthly pledges and purchased products directly advertised on the program to help support it. And that's always the starting pitch and it's often a legitimate one. Things cost money to make. Like and subscribe to our

patreon.com slash some more news, etc. And so forth. Whether you're a politician or a public access show, you need money that doesn't come from corporations, in theory. And while a lot of underfunded groups might perpetually need to sling those totes, televangelists are totes abusing that dynamic. The bakers were asking people for money while their business was making over $100 million a year.

They not only got donations in the form of checks, but reportedly also got mink coats, diamonds, and deeds to houses. They built a damn theme park and a fun one. But after several drug and sex scandals, plus one divorce and a splash of prison time, Jim still managed to grift his followers for cash, but for a much different

reason. We're in an SOS time. That means save our stations. I want you, when you order this thousand dollar, to do it in faith, to sow that thousand dollar seed in faith, believing that this is part of your seed into the kingdom of God. You're doing something for the kingdom of God. Do whatever you want to do with it. Hang it on the wall. That'd be a great wall hanging. But what else do they get with it Nana? Lay it over your bills because healing of your finances. Put your wallet in there, your credit cards, all the bills, you know, house, the mortgage.

That is a miracle blanket that Jim is selling to pay for a lawsuit where his church pushed a fake COVID cure. Essentially, he's doing a grift to pay for the consequences of another grift, in that case, a grift that potentially got people killed. You might notice that doing a grifting to pay for grift consequences is exactly what Donald Trump has done. People may forget, but Trump started his political career humbly refusing to take major donations.

Now he's selling Bibles and taking Elon Musk's money, which I assume he calls X dollars. By the way, Jim Baker is a big fan of Trump, something I didn't need to actually tell you. In fact, just assume that everyone I talk about in this episode supported Donald Trump. Even the long dead ones. They're all fans.

Probably because Trump is doing the exact same grift. Put out a book or TV show, ask for money, get caught scamming, and then ask for money to pay for the lawsuit due to getting caught. In every case, they frame this legal trouble as an attack, either from Satan or in Trump's case, the deep state or the left, this vague all-encompassing force

that's both all-powerful and weak. It's not that they are scam artists, you see, they are victims. Also, they love starting their own big quotes. Schools! Don't they just love doing that? We mentioned Oral Roberts University, but there's also Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, a school that also got wrapped up in scandals. Falwell also got his start in entertainment with the old time gospel hour. He got rich off of books such as Achieving Your

Dreams by Building Your Faith, and most notably for this video, Falwell brings us to another similarity between prosperity gospel and republican values designed specifically to bolster the wealthy, and that is the concept of personal responsibility. As we've been saying, prosperity gospel is hinged on the idea that God is rewarding the most faithful with wealth. And so naturally, that means that poor people just aren't praying hard enough, doesn't it? Kind of makes you think of capitalism and that whole bootstraps mentality, probably because it's the exact same idea that poor people are in no way victims of systemic issues,

but rather poor because of a personal failing. But with evangelism, that failing can be anything they want it to be. Remember 9-11? You better. You're supposed to. You're not ever supposed to forget 9-11. Well, according to Jerry Falwell, that happened because of the gays and abortions. It's silly, right? For most people, even conservatives, blaming 9-11 on gay people is just such a clear scapegoat.

It's absurd. It would be like blaming every bad movie and TV show on gay people. Oh wait, conservatives do that too. It's almost like these are very similar worldviews. Interesting. Evangelists do this across the board, sometimes to extremely cruel results, because the entire grift only works if God and Satan are directly responsible for everything. Remember Pat Robertson?

Robertson. Who cares? Fuck him. He was the 9-11 of people. He had a show called The 700 Club, where people would call in to ask him for terrible advice. And here's what he said to a grieving woman asking him why her sister died despite her prayers. We don't know what's in people's hearts. You pray for people and some people enjoy their sickness. Some people have got unconfessed resentment

towards somebody else. We don't know what's in their heart. Yeah, lady, your sister probably wanted to be sick and had sin in her heart. So that's why she let God kill her to take her home. I mean, what other answer could he give there? He can't tell her that her prayers didn't work or that donations to him are a scam. So it must be her evil dead sister's fault.

Similarly, when talking about increasing wealth inequality or poverty or crumbling infrastructure, the GOP certainly can't point to corporations or deregulation as the cause. So they have to make up new reasons, often kicking the responsibility to some marginalized group like immigrants And speaking of exactly that here's a fun clip of Pat Robertson explaining why there was an earthquake in Haiti, Christy Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and the people might not want to talk about it

They were under the heel of the French You know Napoleon the third or whatever and I want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. It's a true story. True story? Wait, he said devil? That's not, it's close. There was a devil, kind of, but it wasn't the deal they made. You know what, go on. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor,

that island of Hispanoia is one island. It's cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. As an aside, I kind of want to get a lady to silently nod and nervously go, Mm-hmm, to everything I say. Seems fun.

But yeah, if you're curious, the reason Haiti is so fucked up while the Dominican Republic is less fucked up isn't because of Satan. It's because of a history of colonialism that targeted Haiti specifically as well as geographical considerations and also, you know, the United States. If you're wondering why Haiti has issues, there are answers to that question. We did several videos about it. The problem is that some people don't like those answers because of who they incriminate. So they'd rather talk about Satan or eating cats. Super Coolies President Now, again. God, okay. This Haiti thing is just such a perfect one-to-one

example of how both prosperity gospel and conservatism use personal responsibility as a way to deflect from real problems while supporting false solutions. And they have been doing this dance for a long time to incredible success and they're still doing it. There are hundreds of wealthy prosperity evangelists that are still alive, some you might not even know about. Joyce Meyer preached her way from Oral Roberts University to become a multimillionaire by selling the prosperity gospel. Oh, hey, it's like a pyramid scheme.

You go to their school and then you start your own. Here she is scolding those who'd question why she'd ask for money from poor people. Elijah was a great prophet, and he lived by a brook where he was being supernaturally fed during a famine and the brook dried up and God sent him to a poor, depressed, seemingly suicidal widow. And you know what Elijah said to her?

Give me something to eat and something to drink. And she said, I've only got enough oil and enough meal, enough in the jar for one meal for me and my son, and then we're going to eat it and die. And you know what that? That didn't have televisions, but if they would have had, he would have been a televangelist. Okay, that's not only gross, but per the Bible, Elijah was also poor as turds. Did she not read that book?

He didn't even have a donkey to ride on, much less a private jet like Joyce. Another prosperity preacher, Bishop T.D. Jakes, is so well-known and wealthy that Wells Fargo partnered with him as a PR move to pivot from a scandal involving black borrowers. T.D. has a very unique brand of televangelism in that he uses the manosphere to try and grift young men.

If Adam had not allowed Eve to pour into him, sin would have never come into the world. Sin came into the world because Adam broke the order. When Adam started eating out of his wife's hand, sin came in because the divine order was broken. Thousands are going to manpower. This year, God is mending men. Men are coming to manpower. This year, God is mending men. Men are coming to manpower to get answers.

My goodness, using the Manosphere to push a secret ideology and grift people, you say? Boy, that sounds familiar. It's like these religious grifters are talking to the right-wing grifters. It's almost like that. Anyway, you probably know the rest of these jerks. As I mentioned,

there's Oral Roberts University graduate Joel Osteen, that guy who closed off his 16,000-seat mega church to Hurricane Harvey victims. Then there's of course Kenneth Copeland, the Dick Tracy villain seen here clearly and calmly discussing his very normal demon aversion on Inside Edition. You kind of caught me off guard here, okay?" Again getting back to the comment, you said that you don't like to fly commercial because you don't want to get into a tube with a bunch of demons. Do you really believe that human beings are demons? No, I do not. And don't you ever say I did.

Copeland is worth noting for going pretty goblin mask off, even though the goblin mask is clearly still on his face, when it comes to political support of Trump. He spoke at his rallies and even used his network to provide overnight election coverage like CNN and Fox News. There's also a lot of hip cooler grifters popping up to replace the old guard. One example of these mega churches is Hillsong. Pre-pandemic, you might have heard of Hillsong as the celebrity church with attendees like Justin Bieber, the Kardashians, and maybe, maybe not Chris Pratt. Dude is such a chameleon, it's hard to even tell what he looks like in public, you know? Is it Chris Pratt or is it a Mario? Hillsong touts the prosperity gospel in several locations and

pays other prosperity preachers like T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer to speak to their congregations. It got so big that it made a partnership with Facebook in spite of its homophobic stances and former association with gay conversion therapy. Boy, I think I think Facebook might be bad. While Hillsong's attendance took a hit amidst all sorts of sex scandals, it still slings services every Sunday. And while the wealth of the church and its pastors has been criticized, none of its money handling has been accused of an actual crime.

Well not in America anyway. Out of those who still attend houses of worship, megachurches are popular and still on the rise, collecting large sums of money with some of them advocating and funding harmful movements like a gay conversion therapy or scandalous camps for troubled youth that are riddled with abuse. They really, really hate kids, don't they?

These mega churches not only further fuse together a voting block for the GOP, but they provide a platform for it as well. And based on the results of our recent presidential election, they show up. In more ways than one, this tactic of evangelism and corporate churches and prosperity gospel has not only worked for specific grifters, but also for pushing a political agenda. These churches are winning elections for the right, on top of the fact that Donald Trump has successfully harnessed the same tactics

for his own MAGA following. I feel like we just breezed past this because Cody had to talk about guitars for an hour, but he sold his own Bibles. The rapist real estate crime guy sold Bibles, a book he absolutely has never read and does not care about. That's why our country is going haywire. We've lost religion in our country.

All Americans need a Bible in their home and I have many. It's my favorite book. It's a lot of people's favorite book. It's not Harry Potter, you dip, but as shocked as we may be that this guy, who again, clearly hasn't read the Bible, can get away with this, we really shouldn't be.

Trump is just one of many people in a giant industry that's paved this road for decades before him. The infrastructure was always here. Televangelism was a $2 billion industry back in the 80s. Belief in divine healing, prosperity gospel, these are popular ideas in America. There were a lot of people ready to transfer their faith to an all powerful political leader promising to save the country.

Frankly, it's a wonder a politician didn't do this earlier. All you need is absolutely no morals and a bloodlust for power. So no, it's not unbelievable that Trump can thrive when people like Jerry Falwell could also thrive. What is unbelievable is that these so-called pastors can make billions while clearly pushing a political agenda, even speaking at rallies,

and somehow claim to be a church with all the benefits that brings. What about tax-exempt status? How can you have theme park money and somehow be tax exempt? Oh right, yet another Republican value there, isn't it? The idea that rich people shouldn't pay taxes and that it's actually good and smart when they avoid it. Anyway, let's get into all of those questions, but first kindly and generously give to the show in exchange for your donation. I shall anoint you with fruitful QR codes from our holy sponsors.

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Okay, welcome back my precious flock. We were talking about the Christianity industry, not to be confused with industrial Christianity, which I assume is a music genre that uses a lot of synth harp. To be specific, we were talking about the prosperity gospel grift and how similar it is to the depressingly effective grift of president,

Donald, president, Trump, the president. And finally, we wondered aloud how mega churches and other evangelists manage to have a tax exempt status while pushing grifts and supporting right wing politics. Now it's time to finish that thought. So, hey, why are churches tax exempt in the first place? Well, it's a combination of reasons. Per our first amendment, the separation of church and state

makes it difficult for organizations such as the IRS to scrutinize houses of reasons. Per our first amendment, the separation of church and state makes it difficult for organizations such as the IRS to scrutinize houses of worship, as it can be argued that it would interfere with their operations or show some outward partiality. It also doesn't help that churches have been traditionally tax exempt since freaking Constantine, not the movie, not the show, the first one.

Second one, Constantine, The thing that we're referencing. So yeah, this idea of churches being tax-free has existed for nearly as long as Christianity itself has. The other obvious reason is that churches are essentially seen as nonprofit charities in the eyes of the government, because traditionally, that's what they have been. That's the deal we've always made with them.

They stay out of politics and are non-partial places of refuge for the poor, an occasional daredevil, and perhaps people who need shelter during a hurricane. And in exchange, they don't have to pay taxes, except at least in this beard's opinion, that deal has been broken. Politics aside, they aren't charities anymore. Unless the ones in need are one dude,

and the help provided is a private jet. Most of these alleged charities look exactly like the home shopping network. So how do they get away with it? They cheat, of course. Of course, that's what they do. The way these megach mega churches and prosperity preachers make money isn't dissimilar to the tax loopholes that philanthropic foundations take advantage of. They even have similar financial trickery and scandals,

such as when a documentary crew accused Pat Robertson's operation blessings of being a front for African diamond mining. But the bigger tactic is much simpler. While preachers can't make money through the church, they can certainly make money as private citizens hawking whatever books or products that happen to be aligned with their church.

Joel Osteen humbly takes no salary as the head of a megachurch that regularly hosts around 45,000 people a week. But he can tell those 45,000 people to buy his new $30 book. And they do. And he makes millions because of that. He can even list it on the church's website. And this is how we have an absolute clown parade of bizarre church merch

or church for short. Weird ass items like breast cancer socks, inspirational laptop cases, drink coasters for some reason, but also videos, seminars and products that use prosperity gospel teachings to help with other problems within parenting, sex, marriage, dieting, physical health in general, financial management, very important,

stress and anxiety management, addiction, masculinity, sleep, cognitive behavioral therapy. The list goes on and on, including using the church to shill a marketing app for entrepreneurs. See, Good Soil teaches the importance of branding when you're trying to reach a larger audience. Ladies, all that can help you is right here at your fingertips.

Oh, I need to download this app. I will stress that none of the prosperity preachers have any vetted secular wisdom to address any of these issues. They're not money managers or lawyers or doctors. They're like Nepo babies using their God connection to sell false solutions. They've just taken the concept of faith and are treating it like a catch-all for every problem. You might realize this is just an extension

of the self-help industry, isn't it? It's goop, it's the secret, it's the onions Alex Jones' brain pills. No different from weirdos like Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz, It's goop, it's the secret, it's the onions Alex Jones' brain pills. No different from weirdos like Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz, while somehow having fewer credentials than those two. But hey, that doesn't stop many of them from getting the Oprah Winfrey endorsement.

What salvation? Look under your chair. And again, much like self-help, this creates a convenient situation where any failure is not on the practice, but the practitioner. And if you don't succeed, you have to invest even more into that practice.

It's important to emphasize that this mentality particularly preys on the poor and disenfranchised. You might also notice that there's another word for this practice. It's called a cult. Like again, not trying to be an edgelord Hugh Grant here. I'm not saying that all religion is a cult. I'm saying that this version of it absolutely is that.

They are tax exempt cults. You probably already knew that, but it's not just that they're cults, but corporate run cults, supersized American cults. Joel Osteen's church rakes in nearly $90 million a year. And that's small compared to some of the others. Life.church reported donations totaling over $250 million in 2023,

with a net profit of over 60 million. Profit for whom or what exactly? To secure the coveted dot church address? Does Jesus have a Venmo? More likely, much like every corporation and cult, they are using that money to expand out. Several mega churches have created multi-site ministries to spread their brand, sorry,

their message to several franchises, campuses. They're essentially Walmarts to the point that mega churches will literally push or buy out smaller churches that can't possibly compete. Or rather, they're more like Hobby Lobby because a bunch of their money goes to hurting LGBTQ people such as funding gay conversion therapy groups

and other evil stuff. As for the political endorsements, unless it's an outright scandal, it's often the same reason they can sell shit, even though Kenneth Copeland Ministries cannot endorse Trump. Kenneth Copeland himself can still endorse Trump personally and invite vocal Trump supporters to speak to his ministry

and advocate policies that happen to coincide with Trump's platform from his pulpit. It's like any other celebrity or corporation supporting a politician, because they're rich enough to legally abuse this system. And more importantly, they're rich enough to prop up and push Republican politicians that will back them up.

People like Chief Justice John Roberts and Christians in key positions of power, like House Speaker Mike Johnson. This is how several of these churches end up facing fewer consequences when they're caught taking multi-million dollar federal PPP loans, get away with questionable at best purchases

from their charitable foundations, and make indirect, yet still illegal contributions to politicians that help their cause. Aha, because of course, the bridge that connects church and state was capitalism all along. Seems obvious when you say it out loud. They have been working together for a very long time

to sell Americans this capitalist version of Christianity that cherry picks the teachings of the Bible to act like rich people are actually good, and that being poor is a personal failing. That camel, oh, it can easily pass through the eye of the needle, actually, and it's totally normal to hawk cheap wares in the name of God.

He loves that. And that if people support the ultra rich, they themselves will eventually, just you wait, prosper. And so in doing this, they have been secretly selling Americans on the concept of Trump at the same time. Even if they didn't know they were doing it, the ultimate stooge that will worm into the government,

deregulate everything for them, get rid of the pesky IRS, and enhance plutocratic wealth by making Christian nationalism as its official religion while establishing Project 2025 as both its Bible and constitution. U.S. Amen! U.S. Amen! If you're wondering what to actually do about this, besides not support it,

it is conveniently what we should be doing because of all the, let's call them shenanigans, the next four years will unveil. And even more conveniently, it actually aligns perfectly with the traditional portrayal of the humble and charitable churches, helping bandit foxes in their quest to create an entirely new type of fetish

for decades to come. We have to support each other, support charitable causes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's a cop-out, but like, if you are a Christian, maybe it's good to support actual small churches in your area. Also, as a rule, don't buy any product associated with Jesus, not even ironically,

not even when we make warm bow Bibles. Literally avoid all of it, because there's no telling where the proceeds go. If these mega churches are like Walmart, then we have to defy them the same way. Legally speaking, I'm not saying you should shoplift from a megachurch. And in fact, I'm not really sure what that would look like.

I guess you pocket those crackers they have, slurp up the holy water, you like stick your lips in there, slurp it up. What I'm trying to say is that going back to why people gravitate towards cults and looping in the spirit of the holidays, all an individual can do is support people around them who are particularly vulnerable and might turn toward these grifters. It's not unlike the Manosphere in that these are lost people who need alternatives. Like, I'm not gonna do it, but if you're Christian and have the means to create your own Bible group,

that would be a nice thing to do. Or heck, start your own religion, a better one, with pirates and Minecraft, and everyone has to worship your dog. And sure, you might make some money doing it, but that's okay because the money is going to you and you're pretty cool. And then you take some of that money,

and I swear to you, you buy me that fucking private jet or I will shit. So happy holidays. I will shit. Not anymore, though, because I just did. Happy poopmas. Happy poopmas. That's the end of the episode, so get out of here. But wait, first, like and subscribe.

We'd really appreciate it if you could help us out here at the channel. And also, you can check out and support us on patreon.com slash some more news. We've got a podcast called Even More News that you can listen to at the podcast store or you can watch it on YouTube with the visuals of us yelling about the news. You can also listen to this show as a podcast if you prefer that method. If you're like tired of my stupid face, then go listen to it. I won't talk like this. We've got merch at a merch store. Check out that. There's a Warmbow stuff. There's other stuff too. And there are no Warmbow Bibles yet. But that's the end of the things I'm supposed to say here, so get out of here. But first, like and subscribe!

For years, Tim Ballard has been championed as a modern-day superhero. The first time I saw one of the kids from the video and it like changed my life. He was the face of Operation Underground Railroad, a movement that inspired hope around the world by rescuing children from human traffickers. However, Ballard's crusade to save innocent lives has always hidden a darker secret. Well, I think he's a pathological liar. Beneath the accolades and the applause, a dark storm has been brewing.

I mean, I can't find a time that he's told the truth about anything. Shocking allegations of sexual misconduct have surfaced, casting a shadow over his once unquestioned reputation. I am host Sarah James McLaughlin, and in this new season of The Opportunist, we explore the rise and the fall of Tim Ballard. Join us this October for Tim Ballard Unmasking a Hero.

Subscribe to a new season of The Opportunist now, wherever you get your podcasts.