Absolutely, we should pity the victims. More than that, though, we should be working to educate people.
These scams work by the nature of religious faith. Some of these people are indoctrinated from birth that religious authority is infallible. They truly believe that these people have a direct line with a divine being. It's easy to see how the poor and uneducated could be victimized by someone willing to abuse this faith. Further, these people actively target the sick and the poor. If you watched John Oliver's segment, you saw the wife of one of these preachers telling crowds that coming to church and giving God all your money was far better treatment for cancer than receiving chemo - a message that received amens and joyous applause. The people in her audience truly believe what she's saying, and it's unlikely that they can be reasoned out of this belief.
I don't know what the solution is, but turning a cold shoulder and blaming the victim for their own circumstances seems, to me, a bit heartless, and completely at odds with the philosophy of humanism.
Absolutely, we should pity the victims. More than that, though, we should be working to educate people.
These scams work by the nature of religious faith. Some of these people are indoctrinated from birth that religious authority is infallible. They truly believe that these people have a direct line with a divine being. It's easy to see how the poor and uneducated could be victimized by someone willing to abuse this faith. Further, these people actively target the sick and the poor. If you watched John Oliver's segment, you saw the wife of one of these preachers telling crowds that coming to church and giving God all your money was far better treatment for cancer than receiving chemo - a message that received amens and joyous applause. The people in her audience truly believe what she's saying, and it's unlikely that they can be reasoned out of this belief.
I don't know what the solution is, but turning a cold shoulder and blaming the victim for their own circumstances seems, to me, a bit heartless, and completely at odds with the philosophy of humanism.