the tale of two rex humbards

it’s madonna and her kabbalah and tom cruise/john travolta/kirstie alley and their scientology, it’s radical muslims convincing young people to be suicide bombers for their god, it’s fundamentalist preachers like humbard. the leaders of these types of groups want one or both of two things: wealth and power. that’s it. that really IS it. and you know what? most of them are wickedly smart too. they know EXACTLY how to go about getting both of those things from certain segments of the public. how? it’s easy. we all have a little hole inside of ourselves. something that is missing. something that is NOT there. something lacking. something needing FILLING. And they are ALL right there ready to fill up our little holes to the brim. Ready to embrace us even if we’ve sinned – as LONG as we pledge our allegiance and/or our possessions to THEM. they find that speck inside of us that needs a caress. that needs a bit of reassurance. that needs coddling. THEY FIND IT AND THEY EXPLOIT IT. (note: some of us are stronger than others and recognize a good con when we see one - some of us can't see shite)

this is a long article but WELL WORTH THE READ:

Jesus for Sale
Meet the real Rex Humbard, the father of televised religious fraud.
By Denise Grollmus

It was the moment Rex Humbard had been waiting for — his final day of judgment, the moment he'd come face to face with the Lord he'd so passionately invoked for more than 60 years.
Since 1953, Humbard had appeared on television sets throughout the world, reaching more than 25 million viewers on over 2,000 stations in 92 languages. Always sporting a perfectly tailored three-piece suit and a well-coiffed do, he challenged faithful viewers, with his gap-toothed southern drawl, to consider their own day of divine scrutiny. How would they secure their place in heaven? ..........

......................Then, in the winter of 1953, Humbard had an epiphany.
He watched a crowd of Christmas shoppers gather around O'Neil's department-store window downtown. As they stood in the freezing cold, streetcars rattling loudly behind them, their eyes remained fixed on the flickering television screen. Humbard grasped the medium's power.
"To other people, television is a marvelous invention because it carries big news events, sports, and entertainment," he wrote. "To me, television is a gift from God, given to us so that we can use it to obey His great commandment to go forth into all of the world and preach the gospel."
That's when Humbard gave birth to televangelism. ............