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Botany

(70,291 posts)
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:34 AM Apr 2013

Joel Osteen is a con man (my thoughts)

I just got in and turned on my TV and saw Joel Osteen ..... the man
is very good, very slick, and a total con man .... send me your money
and when you die God has an extra comfy couch for you in heaven.

I wonder if he even believes the stuff he is selling?

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Joel Osteen is a con man (my thoughts) (Original Post) Botany Apr 2013 OP
of course he is Skittles Apr 2013 #1
I saw him and his wife in a commericial earlier tonight... Tx4obama Apr 2013 #2
Probably, but not absoultely. rrneck Apr 2013 #3
Yes, he's a con man. Got a sweetheart deal to rent out the Summit Manifestor_of_Light Apr 2013 #4
He probably doesn't believe a word of it Warpy Apr 2013 #5
Not only that but he's repulsive as well. Wwagsthedog Apr 2013 #6
All Religion is a Con Heather MC Apr 2013 #7
God's Angry Man Berlum Apr 2013 #13
They are not all like that. hrmjustin Apr 2013 #24
Well, somebody had to take over for Robert Tilton when he went to prison. BlueStreak Apr 2013 #8
The Farting Preacher is in the pokey? Warpy Apr 2013 #10
Actually, it seems that he somehow avoided prison. My bad. BlueStreak Apr 2013 #11
He did do an 8 year stretch for fraud Warpy Apr 2013 #18
Praise God!! Sabayan tawkababan!! longship Apr 2013 #27
"Prey TV looks like Pay TV to me, it's just a curse on the human race." ~ Pete Townshend. . . Journeyman Apr 2013 #9
So are all of those big-time "preachers". Zoeisright Apr 2013 #12
Another Armageddon T. Thunderbird. hobbit709 Apr 2013 #14
It's like Phil Collins said... eShirl Apr 2013 #15
If "God" is all-powerful, why does he need money? Ikonoklast Apr 2013 #16
He's actually really bad with money. JNelson6563 Apr 2013 #20
He needs it for a starship. Dr. Strange Apr 2013 #21
:-) Gidney N Cloyd Apr 2013 #33
Televangelists are uniformly awful, but prosperity gospel hucksters are really something else. Brickbat Apr 2013 #17
flim flam men & women have made tons of money selling god. spanone Apr 2013 #19
Even bigger lie: if you donate to me, God will make you rich Taverner Apr 2013 #22
Notice the Prosperity Gospel thing got really popular Nevernose Apr 2013 #28
The truth behind the Prosperity Gospel: Only the con artist/preacher gets rich meow2u3 Apr 2013 #29
I don't like the man myself. hrmjustin Apr 2013 #23
So is Hagee and the rest of the slimy bunch. No they don't believe the sh*t they're selling. SammyWinstonJack Apr 2013 #25
He sure believes in the money coming in the door from all the suckers out there. CanonRay Apr 2013 #26
are you sure you saw Osteen? hfojvt Apr 2013 #30
When the organization is inherited, it's a family business and not a church Zen Democrat Apr 2013 #31
Elmer Gantry w/o the fire and brimstone. no_hypocrisy Apr 2013 #32

Skittles

(152,965 posts)
1. of course he is
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:36 AM
Apr 2013

no, he does not believe what he is selling; he is simply a master at making idiots believe he believes

Tx4obama

(36,974 posts)
2. I saw him and his wife in a commericial earlier tonight...
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:37 AM
Apr 2013

... and I said: That guy and and wife are crooks in it for the money!

And now I see your post here, what a coincidence

 

Manifestor_of_Light

(21,046 posts)
4. Yes, he's a con man. Got a sweetheart deal to rent out the Summit
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:39 AM
Apr 2013

His dad would snarl on commercials saying, "Come to the Oasis of Love!"

I'm more qualified to be a Christian minister than he is. Which is not saying a whole lot.

I don't think he donates any money to charity, or has established any charities. I know he takes in a LOT of money in donations every day. And lives in a $2 million house.


Warpy

(110,913 posts)
5. He probably doesn't believe a word of it
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:41 AM
Apr 2013

It's as much a business to him as it is to Pat Robertson and the rest of the televagelist pompadour squad.

I don't give any of them the benefit of a doubt. Sincere people don't make millions off poor folks trying to buy their way out of hell.

For future reference:

The whole film is elsewhere on You Tube. Pivotal moment, "Glory gee to beezus!" as he's counting the loot.
 

Heather MC

(8,084 posts)
7. All Religion is a Con
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 12:45 AM
Apr 2013

There may have been some Sincerity back in the 1st CENTURY. But once money got involved, God became a prop, All Religions uses, for suckers to fill the collection plates.

At least Gene Scott counted the money on camera


Live Well, Think Free

Berlum

(7,044 posts)
13. God's Angry Man
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 05:36 AM
Apr 2013

"God's Angry Man" is a 1981 documentary film about Gene Scott, directed by Werner Herzog. The film was produced for television.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Angry_Man

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
18. He did do an 8 year stretch for fraud
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 03:54 PM
Apr 2013

but he's been out and farting away for some time.

He's just gotten better at dancing at the edge of illegality while he swims in the swamp of utterly unethical behavior.

longship

(40,416 posts)
27. Praise God!! Sabayan tawkababan!!
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:45 PM
Apr 2013

Gotta love the glossolalia, always a good sign of a fraud who knows they're deceiving.

Another of my favorites fraudsters is Bennie Hinn, who has to be aware of his scam of defrauding people by pretending to heal them.

Pious fraud! As if religion itself wasn't bad enough.

JNelson6563

(28,151 posts)
20. He's actually really bad with money.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:19 PM
Apr 2013

Bible-god seems to have a burn-rate of cash that exceeds anything mere mortals could achieve.

Julie

Brickbat

(19,339 posts)
17. Televangelists are uniformly awful, but prosperity gospel hucksters are really something else.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 08:13 AM
Apr 2013

The perfect storm of magical thinking for profit.

Nevernose

(13,081 posts)
28. Notice the Prosperity Gospel thing got really popular
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:49 PM
Apr 2013

At about the same time The Secret was hitting the mainstream. Although that prosperity thing has been around for decades, they seem to be cut from the same cloth.

meow2u3

(24,745 posts)
29. The truth behind the Prosperity Gospel: Only the con artist/preacher gets rich
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:59 PM
Apr 2013

Of course, he gets rich by conning unsuspecting followers out of their hard-earned money by making outrageous claims that the more money they give him, the closer to God they get. We all know it's one of the oldest scams in the book.

 

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts)
23. I don't like the man myself.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:28 PM
Apr 2013

He preaches a prosperity Gospel and I find that completely different what Jesus Christ is about.

SammyWinstonJack

(44,129 posts)
25. So is Hagee and the rest of the slimy bunch. No they don't believe the sh*t they're selling.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:33 PM
Apr 2013

Too bad their flock does, though.

CanonRay

(14,038 posts)
26. He sure believes in the money coming in the door from all the suckers out there.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:39 PM
Apr 2013

Religious cons have a long history in this country, see Gantry, Elmer ca 1920's

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
30. are you sure you saw Osteen?
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 05:05 PM
Apr 2013

Because I can't imagine him preaching a "send me your money and when you die God has an extra comfy couch ..."

I don't think he spends much time talking about heaven.

He's more on the order of "follow your dreams, don't let other people discourage you, God has a wonderful plan for your life".

I have watched a number of his shows. For a while there when I channel surfed I would stop and watch when I saw his show. At first I didn't like him. He seemed like a smug preppy rich guy and said something about it being bad to "criticize President Bush". But then I sorta liked his positive message when I listened to it some more. Nothing wrong with encouraging people.

But after a while I got tired of it. The problem is that Osteen preaches that "God has something great in store for you". As if we ALL are going to be President of the University or do big important things. I am not saying that people shouldn't necessarily have big dreams but the fact of the matter is that not everybody is gonna be President of a University or of a Bank or start their own publishing company or write the next Harry Potter series. In fact, MOST people are not gonna attain those heights.

Yet Osteen seems to preach that unless you do reach those heights, then you are a failure. You haven't done anything GREAT. But Martin Luther King preached, as Jesus preached that everybody CAN be great, but not by the traditional definition of greatness - doing an important, high status job. No, the Christian path to greatness is through service. Thus the University President's gardener,for example, can be great if that person serves society. He doesn't have to get an important high status job to be great, he can be great right where he is.

Zen Democrat

(5,901 posts)
31. When the organization is inherited, it's a family business and not a church
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 05:44 PM
Apr 2013

Oral Roberts - his slimy son
Jerry Falwell - his 2 sons
Billy Graham - Freaky Franklin
John Osteen - Joel

Just to mention a few.

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