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[–] newoldwave 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

If people are dumb enough to send their money, then that's their problem.

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[–] SilentMaster [S] 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

Yes, there is that. But American protects me against lead in my paint and asbestos in my ceiling, I would hope that it could protect those likely to give more than they can afford for false promises.

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[–] Partoghimeos 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

There have been good televangelists out there. Fulton Sheen had a show sixty years ago with a good following and he never used it for scamming viewers. He used the show as a medium for teaching the faith and he did a great job of it. Episodes of his show are still aired occasionally late at night on EWTN. Most modern protestant televangelists are only in it for monetary gain, but there are probably still a few honest guys out there.

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[–] SilentMaster [S] 1 point 0 points (+1|-1) ago 

That's awesome to hear. While I am an atheist, I totally respect their rights to preach their doctrines in any way they so choose. TV is an amazing tool and I fully support everyone's rights to spread ideas whether they are good or bad, true or false. But using it to lie for monetary gain is fucking despicable.

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[–] GropeForLuna 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago  (edited ago)

To be honest, Zoloft (and other antidepressants) weren't the best example you could have given because they are less than honest about the effects of their drug, to put it mildly.

But to answer your question, I guess it's purely for historical reasons. Certain religions have been accepted for so long, and to many people, that in itself gives it credibility. Crazy, I know. This is one of the reasons that the books of Scientology and the like need to be totally debunked, so that in hundreds of years they are not in a similar position to more traditional religions, who have this "historical credibility".

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[–] SilentMaster [S] 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago 

Yeah, I've all but given up on our generation. Hopefully in a few hundred years society will have figured this shit out. We'll see.

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[–] BillCo 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

1) Freedom of speech 2) Freedom of religion 3) Lots of people are stupid enough to fall for this crap, it's like a Darwin award for money.

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[–] SilentMaster [S] ago 

Are religions allowed to murder their congregations? Then they shouldn't be able to fleece them either.

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[–] lord_nougat ago 

Why the hell not? Fleecing rubes should be encouraged!

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[–] SilentMaster [S] 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

I don't know, maybe I'm having a momentary episode of weakness. Obviously this shit doesn't affect me. Even when I was going to church on Sundays we were not sending money off to mega-churches. Honestly I think we were donating about $5 a week to the offering plate. That is not 10% of my salary, so I was looking after number 1 in no uncertain terms. However, watching the John Oliver piece just made me made and think there should be something in place to protect the rubes. Maybe the current system is actually the best one after all.

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[–] lord_nougat 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Wow, back in my going to church days, I'd throw some change in, or maybe a dollar. That was over 30 years ago though, maybe money was worth more back then.