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Those dumb mother fuckers.
Religion is important, some people really need it they said.
And, chat, this is why blind faith in anything is a bad thing.
There's only so much time in a day and so much "Do Your Own Research" anyone is going to have the background or the social connections to interrogate.
If anything, the folks who tell themselves "I would never fall for this" are the most popular targets for affinity scams.
Court documents alleged Caldwell, using his position at Houston's Windsor Village Church, and a financial advisor sold $3.5 million in worthless pre-revolutionary Chinese bonds to the elderly and other vulnerable investors.
This is why I put "blind" in bold. He was literally caught red handed defrauding the elderly. That is where the blindness of the congregation comes in. They choose to ignore the glaring breach of trust and allow him to retain his position of influence.
That is where the blindness of the congregation comes in.
You're dealing with a survivorship bias. Anyone who saw the fraud and was disgusted by the minister's actions has left already.
So are the remaining people not turning a blind eye to the public documentation of his deceit because they have "faith" that he is the best person to lead them?
You'd have to ask the remaining parishioners. Unfortunately, the modern state of American journalism is to pack a fist full of soundbites in between walls of ads and call it a day.
For all I know, the church has exactly three congregants left - per the included photo - and an anonymously sourced (WHY ARE YOU ANONYMOUSLY SOURCING THIS QUOTE?!) one of them is just blandly "Yeah, we're glad he's back".
I will say that this guy is close personal friends with Emanuel Cleaver, a sitting State House Rep and former Mayor and the cousin of two prominent Black Panthers. So if they're disproportionately skeptical of a prosecution of one of their leaders... idk, maybe there's something ABC13 - a news channel owned and operated by wealthy Houston conservatives and a Florida-Based media mega-corp with some pretty seedy histories of its own - isn't including in its coverage.
But "I can't believe a congregation of Black congregants would question in the infallibility of the US justice system" is, itself, an expression of blind faith that you might want to explore.
The evidence in the case revealed that Smith told investors he would eventually sell the bonds and they would get exponential returns on their investments. Following Smith’s fraudulent pitch, the investors were told to wire funds to Caldwell bank accounts. Caldwell, Smith and others divvied up the proceeds and Caldwell used approximately $900,000 to cover personal loans, mortgages and credit cards and pay other expenses. Smith spent his $1.08 million cut to pay off loans, buy two luxury sport utility vehicles and make a down payment on a vacation property.
I don't think it is an irrational statement to say that any person who pleads guilty to this evidence shouldn't be put in a major position of influence.
But it seems like you have your mind set that blind faith is actually ok sometimes. The alternative was the primary point I was trying to make.
where do you even dig up pre-revolution chinese bonds wtf
We should be treating religion like a mind virus that needs wiping out.
These stupid motherfuckers give truckloads of money to bible thumping parasites instead of their own families and communities, then turn around and blame all their woes on immigrants, LGBTQ+, the left, the right, and even some made up shit like satan.
PS: Also, can anyone explain to me why Satan is the bad guy in that fairytale? He stands up for equal rights for his brethren by starting some angel union or some shit and he and all his homies get eternal punishment for it. Then, instead of rebelling further, he spends all his time revealing and punishing the wicked. That sounds like a stand up guy to me.
Yeah, translations are rough. More importantly, every story has to have a bad guy and the people who put together the Bible were not very creative. Other texts are way more fun with quality and variety of lore (good and bad).
The bible should have had Space Marines in it.
I'm in the wrong field. Should have been a pastor.
Want to make a ton of money fast? Start a religion.
Stop giving out my secrets, L. Ron.
Lol. These people would draw and quarter Jesus if he came back to life and continued preaching his own teachings.
Pharisees, pharisees everywhere
Before leaving to prison, the pastor gathered all members of his church, whipped out his Neuralyzer and flashed the fuckers. He came back from a "vacation". That's it. No one knows.
If only. Instead, people really are this stupid and gullible.
Wait till the good pastor discovers crypto.
I had a friend my first year in college who was black, gay, Republican and a fundamentalist christian. He gave most of what little money he had to the televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker - and this was after the sex and financial shenanigans that brought down their empire were exposed. And it's not like he didn't believe the truth of the scandals. He did believe it and was still that fucking eager to give them his money anyway. I just can't understand the people that support these frauds.
Oof. Also Tammy Faye wound up awesome after she left Jim. She became a voice of progressive Christianity (most famously hugging a gay man with AIDS on TV in the height of the fear) and stopped her embezzlement.
Jim on the other hand sells drums of survivalist food through his preaching to this day
For many people, in-group is the only thing that matters.
this post was submitted on 06 Aug 2025
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