Fundie flim-flam artists

First we find out that an awful lot of these bible beaters have their hands in their pants and enjoy porn way too much. Then I posted about the consumer demand in the Bible Belt to let Wal-mart sell liquor in formerly dry counties.

Today we read about the increasing number of fundies -- who bleat endlessly about moral values, of course -- who seem to have their hands in the church cookie jar or are picketing the pockets of parishioners. What an example of Great American Values. (ABC):

Billions of dollars has been stolen in religion-related fraud in recent years, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, a group of state officials who work to protect investors.

Between 1984 and 1989, about $450 million was stolen in religion-related scams, the association says. In its latest count from 1998 to 2001 the toll had risen to $2 billion. Rip-offs have only become more common since.

"The size and the scope of the fraud is getting larger," said Patricia Struck, president of the securities association and administrator of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Securities. "The scammers are getting smarter and the investors don't ask enough questions because of the feeling that they can be safe in church."

Here are some beauts for in the article; clearly the sheeple are thinking about getting rich quick with "God's blessing"...a tiny violin for them:


* Randall W. Harding might have been in the choir at Crossroads Christian Church, but through his investment firm JTL ("Just the Lord", isn't that quaint) he encouranged pastors and their flock to turn over their fundie money -- and bilked them out of $50 million.

* The SEC busted Lambert Vander Tuig of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest Calif., who also made off with $50 million of churchgoers' cash. He ran a real estate scam that also involved salesmen posing as devout Christians who distributed Saddleback pastor Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life for full effect.

* A flim flam parishioner of Daystar Assembly of God Church in Prattville, AL managed to get church folks to invest about $3 million in a real estate scam that involved promises of a new megachurch for them. That case ended up with Daystar losing its building in the debacle.

It's hard to feel sorry for folks who think like this.

"Most folks think 'I'm going to invest in some overseas deal or real estate deal and part of that money is going to the church and I get part. I don't feel like I'm guilty of greed,'" Borg says.

If a skeptical church member openly questions a deal, that person is often castigated for speaking against a fellow Christian.

Ole Anthony of the Trinity Foundation Inc. in Dallas, which investigates fraud and televangelism, partly blames the churches themselves for the problem. Anthony contends that the "prosperity gospel" which teaches that the truly faithful are rewarded with wealth in this life is creeping into mainstream churches.

H/t, Cat.