Con Artists and Charlatans Can Give Any Religion a Black Eye

[drakonyx]

"Know thyself." You might be surprised to learn that these two words were prominently displayed in the Greek temple at Delphi, home to the famous oracle. Good advice for anyone seeking advice from an oracle. If you don't know yourself going in, you're liable to believe anything an oracle tells you. In today's capitalist society, we might do well to inscribe an additional warning: Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

http://www.theprovocation.net/2011/11/con-artists-and-charlatans-can-give-any.html

[dtexdem]

1. And some religions give their con artists and charlatans a black eye.

;-)

[MarkCharles]

2. Only if people are unable to think for themselves, unable to do their own

reading and research, unable to link rational explanations of cause and effect, only then do people fall for con artists and charlatans. If people were not giving these con artists and charlatans money and praise, and building mega-churches for the cons to deliver their message to thousands of the non-thinking sheep who give them money.

The concept of "religion", itself, which is premised upon "faith" instead of rationality, upon myths instead of the discipline of science, that concept, itself, invites and victimizes only those willing to believe through simply their own wishful thinking.

[edhopper]

3. And what of religions started by

con men and charlatans. Or do we give a pass to any faith simply if it has enough members.

[skepticscott]

4. Organized religion itself

has been squeezing people for money for a very long time over things that don't exist, or that they don't need religion to get. How is the whole enterprise not a con game?

And just FYI, "Know thyself" on a Greek temple actually meant something a little different than the current self awareness/pop psychology take on it.

[MarkCharles]

5. It always kind of amazes me when Christians, Jews, and Muslims all claim that

they "discovered" or "invented" or "spread the word" of a religious-based morality, and that they want to be paid money by those that believe in their "religious-based morality", in the fight against heathens, pagans, atheists and other god-less immoral people on the planet.


Kind of amazing and ironic that they are all lying about the development of a morality, claiming it as their own, and yet they see no problem with such a lie, and want to be paid for spreading such lies.

[Demstud]

6. That's not what "know thyself" meant

but I think it's still good advice ;-) I don't think religions looking bad are the fault of just charlatans and con artists though. Having read the Bible for example, there are some really terrible rules that "God" has handed down over the years. It's impossible to take the bible as the literal word of God, without completely ignoring whole sections or books or warping the original meaning of numerous passages. This makes it easy for people to take certain parts of the Bible to be used as justification for their own bad deeds, and makes the Religion itself a key part of the con, in my opinion.

[MarkCharles]

7. Maybe god was a con artist charlatan god himself, or he was warning folks

about the other con-artist gods out there.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Did this god in the Bible already know that there were other gods out there? If so, why was he the chosen one? Does he spell out why he's better than all the others? He just leaves it at that? Absent of other evidence, why should I believe this god is the best?

[Nihil]

8. He/They are playing by Republican Rules?

> Absent of other evidence, why should I believe this god is the best?

"He who shouts loudest is obviously the best"


> Did this god in the Bible already know that there were other gods out there?

Yes. There are many references to other gods (usually in terms of "that naughty
tribe over there believe in someone else so go kill them for me").


> If so, why was he the chosen one?

History is written by the victors.