Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance.
–Samuel Butler
Grifting in the name of religion is as old as the hills upon which monuments to long-forgotten Gods have been erected. Exposing the grift seems to have no effect because they are quickly reinvented or resurrected in a different guise.
Sometimes, the old con endures because “faith in the supernatural is a desperate wager made by man at the lowest ebb of his fortunes”, according to George Santayana. For this reason alone, there is a never-ending supply of pliable victims. There seems to be little risk and great opportunity for enterprising scammers.
While it may take years for a religious scam artist to set up the grift, some quickly glide into profitable territory. But there is no quicker way to become immorally successful than through a presidential endorsement. One such beneficiary is Paula White, an unhinged televangelist who Donald Trump, who is supremely morally degenerate himself, appointed as a Senior Advisor to the newly created White House Faith Office.
White’s path to political office was littered with failed evangelical ministries, brief success, an inconclusive Senate Finance Committee investigation of her Without Walls International Church ministry over financial impropriety, an alleged affair with fellow televangelist Benny Hinn, whose “faith healing” practices have been divulged as fraudulent, and three marriages. Throughout most of her evangelical career, though, she remained committed to milking the prosperity gospel, a type of religious Ponzi scheme that promises no direct returns but vague material and heavenly rewards for being stupidly generous.
Paula first came to the attention of Donald Trump, a noted fellow practitioner of the con, in 2002, but only started serving as one of his spiritual advisors in 2016. What that actually means is anyone’s guess since Trump has demonstrated neither the capacity for empathy nor spirituality. In 2019, during Trump’s first term of office, she was appointed as an advisor to the White House’s Centre for Faith and Opportunity Initiative, which has since been replaced with the White House Faith Office in his second term.
Both these religious bodies have been criticized for violating the US Constitution’s Establishment Clause, which advocates for the separation of church and state. Needless to say, religion has often been abused to solicit votes, and Trump is a notorious serial offender. Paula White supported Trump in his 2020 reelection campaign and threatened Christians with the wrath of God if they didn’t vote for him.
Following Trump’s election loss, White appeared in a theatrically maniacal prayer service on Facebook Live, “speaking in tongues” and calling for “reinforcements from angels.” Her feverish attempts at praying Trump back into office failed as spectacularly as his attempted insurrection and coup. Unsurprisingly, she was widely ridiculed.
However, since being appointed to high office, Paula has been emboldened to take her grift to new heights. Paula recently asked her followers ( I use the term generously) to give her $133 each.This particular scam revolves around the act of “seeding.” Introduced in 1947 by Pastor Oral Roberts, the prosperity gospel, otherwise known as the “health and wealth gospel” or seed-faith gospel” involves giving money to the church in order to receive a seven-fold blessing or other material return from God.
The plea for money is linked vaguely to some biblical text, in this case Proverbs 133 from the bible and sold with what philosopher Daniel Dennet called a deepity which is phrase which sounds profound, but in reality is just bullshit. Paula’s deepity for this particular instance of grifting the $133 is as follows:
… but God can’t use you. He doesn’t use Spectators. He uses Participators.. People who say ‘yes, I partner with you God, and through you I’m being raised up for such a time as this…
Her lastest grift, however, is her most ambitious yet. She’s now offering an Easter Special preposterously endorsed by Exodus 23 in the bible where for a measly $1000 (or more) God will apparently do the following in return:
- Assign an angel to you
- Be an enemy to your enemies
- Give you prosperity
- Take sickness away
- Give you long life
- Cause increase for you
- (give you) a special year of blessing
Oh, and there’s also a Waterford Crystal cross thrown in for good measure, in case you might be wavering to commit. In case none of the Pasover Blessings materialize, however, she has been careful to add the clause ” You’re not doing this to get something but you’re doing it in honour of God realizing what you receive.“
Predictably, no clarity is provided about the promises. Some obvious questions remain unanswered. Does each person get their own angel, or do they have to share? What if one of your enemies also donates money? Will God then be an enemy to both of you? How long will the extension on your life be? Does one need to renew the subscription after one year?
I don’t need to convince most readers what an obvious fraud this woman is. There are unfortunately far too many people who in an act of desperation, fall victim to these type of people every day. The most alarming element of this whole fraud scheme though, is that Paula now enjoys government protection… from the very top.
lenny unencumbered 