I agree with Eli that there is potential danger here. This might be considered one of the down sides to the Interwebz. It's great if you really seek as large a variety of Internet cuisine as you can handle. Not so great if the bubble of things and perspectives you know about becomes ever smaller...often without you realizing that it is changing. The Internet itself with its various search engines and content providers is, on one level, a form of Artificial Intelligence (AI). I think it helpful to think of this as one of the first "skirmishes" between AI and human (your) intellect. You should remember that the smaller your bubble becomes, the dumber you become about things in general. You should also remember that, although there is some degree of AI involved here, it is all still driven by the various commercial, political and social agendas of humans. Enjoy...and take note.
This second video is called Miracles For Sale and deals with "faith healers". This is who Derren Brown is. You should note, as Derren does in the video, that this is NOT intended as an attack on religion or on faith, that the guy chosen to be the faith healer is himself a Christian, and that they receive a good amount of help from other Christians. The point is, to expose the scammers. I admire the intent, though I personally think it will do little good since, as even this video points out, the "scammed ones" come right back for more even after they are aware the "healer" in question is a fake and a fraud and has served prison time for it. Two examples spring to mind; the infamous Peter Popoff (be sure to get your miracle spring water!) who Randi exposed long ago, is at it again, and everyone has at least heard of "Jim and Tammy".
Tammy died, Jim Bakker got out of prison, got himself a new wife, a new church (and more importantly, a new TV show) and is busily building his scamming empire all over gain, with help from many of the same people who gave more money than they could afford the first time around with Heritage USA. One of those people was yours truly. When I was a Christian I gave money to the PTL Club, Pat Robertson's 700 Club, Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. I believed in God and I trusted these people. I thought they had gifts of the spirit and were doing God's work. I have no money to give anymore and even if I did, I would never give a dime to any religious charity. Alas, not so with most people. Consider this comment from a recent photo site about Heritage:
"I always loved the Bakkers, and just wonder how Heritage USA, might have turned out if the jealous people that wanted to take Jim and Tammy down would not have got their way. I am sure that a lot of money was wasted, but I see that a lot was spent, just think what this kind of building would do for our economy today. I send in a lot of my dollars and didn't care what was done with them [emphasis added], because I did get a blessing from the programs."Source. Guess which of the scammers I mentioned is no longer scamming...Jerry Falwell. Why? He's dead, his last televised sermon being four Mother's Days ago. How sad that a nice looking man with a wonderful speaking voice had such delusions in his mind.
Miracles for Sale
If a person has been thrown into a river and is drowning and you rescue them...only to have them fling themselves back into the river at the first opportunity, how long would you keep rescuing them? Is it not apparent that such a person has some kind of mental problems? Would you punish the one who threw them in to start with? Do such drowning people have a "right to believe whatever they want" as long as it hurts no one? Does scamming hurt anyone? Would you support concerted efforts to educate such people and treat them for their mental problems? Even involuntarily?
Our biblical text for the day is Matthew 7:15-20.
15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
How much truth is here? What of the people who think that thorns and thistles DO have grapes and figs?
TRB
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