A Texas radio host given 3 life sentences for scamming his Christian listeners out of millions

Something something “let he who is without sin cast the first stone…”

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Awwwww yeah. Let’s get some woes of the Pharisees up in this beeyotch!
jesus-transparent

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Something feels weird about the punishment.

Weird that a fraudster preacher got punished at all.

Weird that a fraudster got a harsh sentence.

Weird that probably a non-preacher may have gotten a lighter sentence.

The message from the judge seems to be that Christianity is sacred. And also this was egregious enough that he could not look the other way.

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He was dumb enough to do this in a way that fell afoul of security laws. As it turns out, there is a difference between “Send me money and God will reward you!” and “Send me money and I will reward you.” And the difference is a long prison sentence. My prediction is that he will be pardoned by the next Republican president, because he represents that nexus of wealthy privilege and religiosity that they are incapable of ignoring.

Edited to add: Like going bankrupt running a casino, going to jail as a preacher requires a special kind of stupid and or hubris.

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“Blessed are the Chumps, for there is one born every minute”
Barnum 5-7.

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Whenever you see a business using Bible verses or other religious dog whistles, treat it as a giant red flashing GRIFTERS AHEAD sign.

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I do not claim to know who is a Christian and who is not, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing is not a sheep, and likewise this person is a scammer and not a prophet. It is not a Judge’s job to be cleaning up the image of Christianity or any religion, but pretending to have authority from God to cheat old and easily-led people out of their homes is foul, and he has been sentenced appropriately.

And now for the others!

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I get the frustration but that’s entirely antithetical to the concept of religious freedom.

Do you think there’s any chance at all that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been able to obtain a preaching license from the State of Alabama in 1954 if such a requirement existed?

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This is what frustrates me the most, because there seems to be a lopsided amount of concern about the grifters who are not in Congress (who generally get away with a lot of crimes).

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You know people seem to be assuming he was a preacher, but he wasn’t so far as I can tell.

" A white-haired octogenarian who signed off with “See you in church on Sunday” and penned a book called “Jesus Christ, Money Master,” Gallagher paid for his airtime on three stations, using it to promote his services. He promised “retirement income you’ll never outlive” to those considering investing with him."

While it may be normal for a certain type of preacher to cajole or shame the flock into tithing more than they they can reasonably manage, and it may be typical of cult leaders to pressure initiates into surrendering their life savings, more people are resistant to that because in both of those cases the person at least isn’t representing themselves as a financial advisor who can manage your retirement funds.

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You make a valid point but weaponized religious freedom scares me with its power and intent so frequently used to further the causes hate. Dr. King used his pulpit well in the service of people. I suspect people of his strength and caliber would find a means to deliver their wisdom without pulpit.

What makes you think that people who used the pulpit as a tool against state-sponsored oppression would have an easier time under a licensing requirement than people who used the pulpit as a cynical capitalist enterprise?

Who would issue these licenses, and how would we ensure that they themselves were not a force for evil?

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I’d settle for "stealing or intimidating money out of people is illegal, whether or not you claim that God wants you to make them do it.

Jim Bakker wasn’t just telling people to buy him another private plane, he was telling them that God wanted him to have a private plane and denying him his plane was going against the will of God.

Dr. King was not doing that.

So it’s not so much “let’s license Religious preachers”, so much as “hey, you know those things which are already illegal? Why should they be less illegal if someone uses religion as an excuse?”

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Ok, You completely talked me out of the idea. I’ll just let it go by saying I personally distrust preachers. My bias at times leads me to express ideas that aren’t reasonable. This was such a case…
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It already is illegal. That’s why this man is going to jail.

The problem isn’t that preachers need to be licensed, it’s that too many of them are allowed to get away with breaking existing laws.

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And that’s the thing that seems to keep coming up: “You can’t charge me, this is a legitimate religious practice!”

And I’d call the extortion of labour something that needs to be addressed as much, or more, than the extortion of money.

But all too often, they get away with it. All they have to do is say the magic words “We’re a religion, you can’t touch us”, and they do. (cough Thetans cough.)

If NXIVM had called itself a Religion instead of a “Self Help Movement”, they’d probably still be doing it.

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It’s a pretty fine line between Warren Jeffs and R. Kelly

Not really, no.

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