Oral Roberts died today at age 91, from pneumonia complications. Atheist bitch that I am, my first thought was “good.”
That’s probably enough to get me sent to hell, according to some folks’ beliefs, but it’s debatable, since I don’t believe in hell.
I grew up in Oklahoma, where Oral pulled all his shenanigans, along with pulling the wool over the eyes of the illiterate and gullible. I have an extremely low opinion of faith healers, believing as I do that they are all charlatans out to fleece their own flocks. They tell their congregations exactly what they want the congregations to hear and believe, and the congregations oblige. I’m at a loss, frankly, to understand the willingness of these people to give over themselves, their lives, and their money to such preachers. Roberts would stoop to anything to get the money he wanted for his church and university, and at one point back in the ’80s actually told parishioners that if they didn’t ante up more money, he’d be called to heaven.
These evangelists always come across as pretenders, bad actors with a big dollop of sleaze, literally crying to their congregations about sin and redemption while at the same time passing the collection plate. They’re in it for the money. They aren’t healers; they’re charlatans, con men, and bad actors, working really hard to separate parishioners from their cash.
That Roberts actually built his own university to suck in more gullible young people and crank out more li’l Orals to spread the word really saddens me.
There’s a lot of talk these days about hoaxes, and this one has been flourishing under our noses for years. I wish I could believe Roberts’ death will be the end of it, but it won’t be. His son is following in his footsteps. That whole ORU set-up generates far too much income to just walk away from it.
“These evangelists always come across as pretenders, bad actors with a big dollop of sleeze, crying to their congregations about sin and redemption while at the same time passing the collection plate” – ok, if you see it and I see it – what makes it invisible to these people? So sad they are taken for all they have. Uneducated? Gullible? Desperate to fit in somewhere? It is sad. Whenever someone asks for your money, there should be a red flag, right away. Some might even be seniors, it’s ESPECIALLY disgusting when someone plays on the older folks, makes me sick and mad!
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You nailed a lot of the reasons. It especially angers me when the victims are sick or crippled, in desperate need of real MEDICAL help, and they are duped into this crap instead.
So, you were a member of Let Oral Roberts Die (LORD), too?
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Apparently. And I didn’t even know it.
BTW, how come his son didn’t lay on some hands or something to save him?
I feel as if I must apologize on behalf of all preachers. What he did was wrong but please don’t judge every preacher (I am one) by the actions of this asshole. Some of us find true hope in helping lead and shepherd people rather manipulate or abuse them.
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No apologies necessary. Luckily for all of us, there aren’t that many Roberts-quality assholes out there.
Nice job saying what I’ve been thinking..
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Thanks. I guess I’m gambling that speaking ill of the dead won’t send me straight to a hell I don’t believe in.