>> JOHN OLIVER RAISED AWARENESS ON AN ISSUE THAT WE MIGHT HAVE
ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT, BUT WE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY
OF IT.
TELEVANGELISTS ARE RIPPING PEOPLE OFF, AND THEY ARE
GETTING AWAY WITH IT LEGALLY.
HE GAVE LOTS OF GREAT EXAMPLES
DURING HIS SEGMENT ON THIS TOPIC, AND HE DID A GREAT JOB OF
MAKING ME LOOK INTO THIS A LITTLE FURTHER AND REALIZING
JUST HOW MUCH MONEY TELEVANGELISTS
TAKE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE DESPERATE.
PEOPLE WHO WANT AN
ANSWER IN LIFE, PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE SAVED.
PEOPLE WHO ARE
GOING THROUGH A TRAGIC TIME IN LIFE, WHETHER IT IS WITH THEIR
FAMILIES OR FINANCIALLY, AND TELEVANGELISTS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
THEM.
MIKE MURDOCK IS TELEVANGELIST WHO SHAMELESSLY
BRAGGED TO HIS CONGREGATION ABOUT PURCHASING NOT ONE, BUT
TWO PRIVATE JETS WITH STATE CASH.
AND KENNETH COPELAND, A
TELEVANGELIST WHO CALLED HIS PRIVATE JET A ìPREACHING MACHINE,î
THAT HE USES ONLY FOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES, YET WAS REVEALED TO
USE IT TO FLY TO LUXURY SKI RESORTS AND BIG GAME HUNTING TRIPS TO
INDIA TO HUNT EXOTIC ANIMALS."
THIS IS SOMETHING YOU CAN EXPECT
TO HAPPEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN WHEN YOU DONATE MONEY TO THESE
TELEVANGELISTS.
THEY SAY THEY NEED THAT MONEY, IT IS SEED
MONEY.
YOU GIVE IT TO THEM AND THEY USE IT TO DO MISSIONARY
WORK, WHICH THEY RARELY DO, AND THEN GOD WILL GIVE YOU
MONEY AND LUCK TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR PROBLEMS.
THEY PREY ON THE POWERLESS.
>> IT IS CALLED THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL.
DON'T WORRY, JESUS
WANTS YOU TO BE RICH, EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS IN THE BIBLE THAT YOU
SHOULD GIVE UP ALL YOUR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS AND FOLLOW JESUS.
CAN YOU IMAGINE, JESUS RETURNS AND YOU GO TO PICK HIM UP IN
YOUR PRIVATE JET.
IT'S OKAY, THIS IS A PREACHING MACHINE.
JESUS IS LIKE, "YOU GOT A PREACHING
MACHINE?
THAT'S BAD ASS."
I DON'T LIVE IN THIS BUBBLE, SO I
CANNOT BELIEVE IT, I AM SHOCKED BY HOW MUCH SUCKERS PEOPLE
ARE.
IT COMES AS A SURPRISE TO YOU THAT HE WENT TO A LUXURY SKI
RESORT WITH HIS PRIVATE JET?
WHAT DID YOU THINK HE WAS REALLY
GOING TO DO WITH IT?
PREACH TO THE RICH, HELP THE POOR?
>> I FEEL BAD CRITICIZING PEOPLE WHO FALL VICTIM TO THIS.
THE
REALITY IS, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THEIR STORIES ARE, OR WHAT THEY
ARE GOING THROUGH IN THEIR LIVES.
SOMETIMES THEY MIGHT
EXHAUST ALL OPTIONS, THEY MIGHT BE COMPLETELY LONELY IN DEALING
WITH THE TRAGEDY THEY ARE DEALING WITH.
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
HERE IS THIS GREAT SPEAKER WHO
IS MAKING WHAT HE IS SAYING SOUND SO TEMPTING.
PEOPLE WILL BE
IN DEBT, BUT A PREACHER WILL TELL THEM, YOU NEED TO GIVE US THAT
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS, WHICH YOU CAN SOMEHOW GET LUCK OR PROSPERITY FROM.
>> IT IS THE OLDEST TRICK IN THE BLOG.
GIVE ME $1000 TODAY AND
TOMORROW I'LL GIVE YOU $10,000.
LOW AND BEHOLD YOU DON'T EVER
GET THAT $10,000.
THIS IS THE LONGEST OF ALL LONG CONS,
RELIGION.
LETíS LOOK AT IT IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER RELIGIONS.
SOME MUSLIM PREACHERS CONVINCE YOU
TO GIVE UP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.
THEY SAY, STRAP ON A BOMB AND GO
OVER THERE.
THESE GUYS, THEY LOSE THEIR MONEY, BUT
AT LEAST THEY ARE NOT
BLOWING OTHER PEOPLE UP. 72 VIRGINS IN HEAVEN, HOW COULD YOU
POSSIBLY BELIEVE THAT?
MY FAVORITE IS THAT SALMAN RUSHDIE
TELLS A STORY ABOUT HOW THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A
MISINTERPRETATION.
THAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEVENTY-TWO
DATES, AS IN THE FRUIT.
IMAGINE THE LOOK ON MOHAMMED ATTA'S FACE.
PEOPLE BELIEVE IN THIS INSANITY.
THESE PEOPLE, UNFORTUNATELY ARE BEING ROBBED BLIND.
>> GLORIA COPELAND IS ANOTHER ONE OF THESE TELEVANGELISTS.
SHE'S THE WIFE OF A FAMOUS TELEVANGELIST, AND I WANTED
TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THE STUFF SHE TELLS PEOPLE.
SHE SAYS, "WE KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU ñ YOU GOT CANCER.
THE
BAD NEWS IS WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT EXCEPT GIVE YOU THIS
POISON THAT WILL MAKE YOU SICKER."
SHE'S TRYING TO MAKE
IT SEEM LIKE CHEMOTHERAPY IS A BAD IDEA.
"NOW, WHICH YOU WANT
TO DO, DO YOU WANT TO DO THAT, OR DO YOU WANT TO SIT HERE ON
SATURDAY MORNING, THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD, AND LET FAITH COME
INTO YOUR HEART AND BE HEALED?
HALLELUJAH."
YOU ARE NOT JUST
MESSING WITH PEOPLE'S FINANCIAL LIVES, YOU ARE MESSING WITH
THEIR HEALTH.
THEY DO THIS UNDER THE GUISE OF RELIGION,
UNDER THE GUISE OF, WE CARE ABOUT YOU AND WANT TO HELP YOU.
THEY ARE PREYING ON THE
HELPLESS, THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE WORST HEALTH ISSUES AND THE
WORST FINANCIAL ISSUES.
AND REMEMBER, THEY GET TO LIVE THEIR LIVES WITHOUT ANY TAX ISSUES.
ANY MONEY THEY GET IS TAX-EXEMPT, BECAUSE IT IS A
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION.
>> BY THE WAY, WHAT HAPPENED TO BONNIE PARKER?
SHE DIED, SHE
KEPT PRAYING, SHE DIDN'T GET ANY MEDICAL TREATMENT.
THEY TOOK
HER MONEY RIGHT BEFORE SHE DIED,
SO I GUESS IT WAS A WIN FOR THEM.
HER DAUGHTER FOUND THE
LETTERS, TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT, BLESS HER HEART,
AND JOHN OLIVER DID A GREAT THING AND WENT AND INVESTIGATED
THESE GUYS.
HE STARTED SENDING LETTERS, SAYING THAT HE FOUND
OUT ABOUT THESE GUYS, AND THEY SAID GREAT ñ
>> GIVE US THE MONEY ñ
>> SO THEY SAID, HERE'S A DOLLAR, SEND IT BACK WITH NINE
MORE DOLLARS.
THEY ARE EARNING HIS TRUST, AND INVARIABLY ENOUGH
OF THOSE PEOPLE SEND BACK THE
TEN DOLLARS.
ALL THESE WEIRD INCREMENTS THAT THEY KEEP ASKING
FOR.
THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, HE SAYS HE IS TWENTY-SIX LETTERS
DEEP, AND THEY HAVE ALREADY
REMOVED HIM OF $319.
BITE THE BULLET TIME, GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE, GOD
IS COMING TO HELP YOU.
YOU ARE GOING TO GET REALLY RICH.
JESUS, LITERALLY.
AND HOW SICK DO YOU HAVE TO BE, WHERE YOU THINK,
THE PEOPLE WHO ARE MOST DESPERATE ARE THE ONES I SHOULD
PRAY ON THE MOST.
THEY WILL BE
THE EASIEST MARKS.
CREFLO DOLLAR,
$65 MILLION FOR A JET, HE WAS ASKING FOR THAT.
A PRIVATE JET IS A LOT OF MONEY.
$65 MILLION.
>> THE PART THAT DRIVES ME CRAZY IS THAT HE TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS THAT
HE NEEDED THAT $65 MILLION JET IN ORDER TO DO MISSIONARY WORK,
BUT AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THAT JET CANNOT ACTUALLY
CARRY SUPPLIES TO COUNTRIES WHERE PEOPLE NEED THEM.
HE JUST WANTED A PRIVATE JET SO HE COULD DO HIS THING.
>> HE GOT A LOT OF HEAT FOR THAT IN THE PRESS, SO HE BACKED DOWN,
AND THEN WHEN THE PRESS WASN'T LOOKING HE WENT BACK AND SAID,
GIVE ME MY MONEY.
COPELAND CALLS HIS MISSION PARSONAGE, SO
HE LIVES TAX-FREE.
SO WHAT DID JOHN OLIVER DO?
HE SET UP HIS
OWN CHURCH.
GOD BLESS HIM, WE CAN ALL DO IT, IT IS
PREPOSTEROUS.
IT IS INCREDIBLY SIMPLE TO SET UP YOUR CHURCH,
AND THEN YOU ARE TAX-FREE.
SHOULD WE SET UP THE YOUNG TURKS CHURCH?
>> THE "DO YOU RELIGION" ñ
>> OUR HIGH PRIESTESS, ANA KASPARIAN.