I don’t intend to make this post about “nah nah nah nah nah your religion did a bad thing” but I must admit that I get a feeling of schadenfreude when I read stories like the one reported by CBC concerning a kitchener couple who used Christianity to bilk people out of money as part of a Ponzi scheme. I feel sorry for those 160 people who were victimized and it is odd that some included police officers and teachers so the schadenfreude isn’t because of what happened to them or even that Christians did bad things; the schadenfreude is because atheists are often seen as immoral and a group that should not be trusted while Christians are seen as morally superior because….you know, God. So maybe I do have a bit of schadenfreude for those that were bilked because they trusted these people despite the fact that it was a clear Ponzi scheme simply because these sociopaths touted themselves as Christians, prayed before meetings and as CBC reports, “used a faith-based approach to get investors to part with their cash.” According to the CBC, victims even said things like, “he was Christian, of course I would believe him”.
I wonder if atheists would be just as successful ripping off other atheists playing on our trust of one another. I don’t really think so. This type of “good Christian” bias is a deep cultural one. One we need to get over for all kinds of reasons!
What is the difference between a Ponzi scam and religion?
Not much so it is easy to see why they were fooled, no skepticism.
Hmmm if I ever decide to do a Ponzi scam I should go for the religious!!