This segment is hilarious and it covers the sleazedom that is televangelism. They appear to have a lucrative business model, though they evidently had to sell their soul to engage in said. [video=youtube;7y1xJAVZxXg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1xJAVZxXg[/video] Posting for the laughs.
Religion in general is a money making scheme. Jesus Christ preached against the rich and only wore earthly clothing. But if you look at the Catholic Church and the Vatican they're way beyond anything that Jesus Christ would of dreamed or taught. They all where nice wardrobes with jewelry and gold. The pope is held up in a clear box like a false idol and worshiped. Jesus never preached for that. These people in the video above is garbage. Preying on people's dreams and faith for personal monetary gain.
Well, I wouldn't say all religions are a "money making scheme." Many do a lot of good for folks, provide a sense of community, and help people lead better lives. That said, the televangelists in that video and elsewhere are abject scum who prey on the weakest among us. Having read the New Testament more times than I can recall, I'm pretty sure Jesus of Nazareth would not be hip to this kind of nonsense.
You are correct. There are people out there that do go out of their way to help others in need, in the name of Jesus Christ. I am not against those individuals. Those people are excluded from my earlier statement. Feeding the poor, building new houses for them, and so forth. All worthy causes, and I commend them for that.
The sad part of this is that they are preying on the dreams and wishes of people around the world for monetary gain. To see them on camera for the world to see and to gloat and boast themselves as having so much wealth is unbelievable and amazing that others don't see them for what they really are. Do they really think that the lord needs 2 private jets to go on vacation?
I am a Christian and I have to say that many televangelists simply make us look bad. They cruise around in expensive cars and don't help their fellow man. They use Jesus as a crutch for a personal economic increase.
John Oliver did start the segment by saying there are plenty of churches in the US that do a lot of good work, and that is true. However, these televangelists (and the fact that most x-tian contemporary music is garbage) certainly makes Christians look bad. I don't blame people for thinking the American church is mostly a joke. I've had a very hard time finding decent churches in the US. Too many are focused either on being SJWs, or preach to people with children. (I'm pretty sure Pual said people who come to the faith while single should stay single...in fact, I know he did.)
Most preachers not just televangelists are out only to make money from the people they preach to. Preaching, to them, is like a business. But the people who allow themselves to be fooled are also to blame for encouraging the charlatans to keep doing what they do — collect more money from them.
Most is definitely an unfair assessment. This is not necessarily true. That's also like saying all Christians are the same guys that picket funerals for soldiers.