Scam Religion: Difference between revisions

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== Film ==
== Film ==


* In ''[[Leap of Faith (Film)|Leap of Faith]]'', [[Steve Martin]]'s character is a self-confessed [[Con Man]] who sees religion simply as a way to scam the people who attend his revival meetings. However, he's forced to rethink his views on religion when {{spoiler|the people's faith starts resulting in actual miracles.}}
* In ''[[Leap of Faith (film)|Leap of Faith]]'', [[Steve Martin]]'s character is a self-confessed [[Con Man]] who sees religion simply as a way to scam the people who attend his revival meetings. However, he's forced to rethink his views on religion when {{spoiler|the people's faith starts resulting in actual miracles.}}


== Literature ==
== Literature ==
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** Ironically, though Fosterism was founded by scam artists looking to get paid (and laid) by gullible people, their Supreme Bishops {{spoiler|become archangels when they die. Or perhaps resume archangelic identities they had prior to being born on Earth. It's not that clear.}}
** Ironically, though Fosterism was founded by scam artists looking to get paid (and laid) by gullible people, their Supreme Bishops {{spoiler|become archangels when they die. Or perhaps resume archangelic identities they had prior to being born on Earth. It's not that clear.}}
* Bokononism in ''[[Cats Cradle|Cat's Cradle]]''. Quite openly.
* Bokononism in ''[[Cats Cradle|Cat's Cradle]]''. Quite openly.
* Hillman Hunter of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (Franchise)/And Another Thing|And Another Thing]]'' has one of these and is shocked when the apocalypse he's been preaching not only happens, but his cult is let off the planet in time, which (at least superficially) is just as he predicted.
* Hillman Hunter of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/And Another Thing|And Another Thing]]'' has one of these and is shocked when the apocalypse he's been preaching not only happens, but his cult is let off the planet in time, which (at least superficially) is just as he predicted.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Virgin Missing Adventures|Missing Adventures]] novel ''The Crystal Bucephalus'', the Lazarus Intent was deliberately founded by a [[Con Man]] as a source of suckers who would bail him out when he finally got himself into real trouble.
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Virgin Missing Adventures|Missing Adventures]] novel ''The Crystal Bucephalus'', the Lazarus Intent was deliberately founded by a [[Con Man]] as a source of suckers who would bail him out when he finally got himself into real trouble.
* The book ''Leaving Fishers'' by Margaret Peterson Haddix is about a girl who joins a cult called Fishers of Men. Among the many other things wrong with it, one thing she finds out at the end {{spoiler|when she de-converts}} is that the head of the cult is using their donations to support a lavish lifestyle, while making it out as though he can barely afford things. {{spoiler|The main character admits to having given the cult her college savings...}}
* The book ''Leaving Fishers'' by Margaret Peterson Haddix is about a girl who joins a cult called Fishers of Men. Among the many other things wrong with it, one thing she finds out at the end {{spoiler|when she de-converts}} is that the head of the cult is using their donations to support a lavish lifestyle, while making it out as though he can barely afford things. {{spoiler|The main character admits to having given the cult her college savings...}}
* In ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]'', Moses exposes the polytheism of Egypt as a scam religion by calling down ten plagues. Each plague is directed against one major Egyptian deity, but each time the polytheistic priesthood is unable to stop the plagues - thus proving that the God of Moses is the true God.
* In ''[[The Bible]]'', Moses exposes the polytheism of Egypt as a scam religion by calling down ten plagues. Each plague is directed against one major Egyptian deity, but each time the polytheistic priesthood is unable to stop the plagues - thus proving that the God of Moses is the true God.
* Fighting a scam religion forms the main plots of books eight and nine of ''[[Rangers Apprentice]].''
* Fighting a scam religion forms the main plots of books eight and nine of ''[[Ranger's Apprentice]].''


== Live Action TV ==
== Live Action TV ==
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* ''[[Law and Order]]'' ''[[Special Victims Unit]]'' the SVU team take on a cult leader, who brainwashes women into his cult by making them his wives so he can get access to their bank accounts.
* ''[[Law and Order]]'' ''[[Special Victims Unit]]'' the SVU team take on a cult leader, who brainwashes women into his cult by making them his wives so he can get access to their bank accounts.
** If it's the same case I'm thinking of, said cult leader also brainwashed married women ''and'' their husbands into becoming part of the cult. Then he'd secretly kill off the husbands and convince the wives that the guys had abandoned them, thus mindcontrolling the women even more.
** If it's the same case I'm thinking of, said cult leader also brainwashed married women ''and'' their husbands into becoming part of the cult. Then he'd secretly kill off the husbands and convince the wives that the guys had abandoned them, thus mindcontrolling the women even more.
* [[Stargate SG 1]] dealt with destroying many of these, from the parasitic Goa'uld, to the demigodlike Ori, and even a few fringe cults, like the time an SG team member went crazy/rogue and declared himself a god.
* [[Stargate SG-1]] dealt with destroying many of these, from the parasitic Goa'uld, to the demigodlike Ori, and even a few fringe cults, like the time an SG team member went crazy/rogue and declared himself a god.


== Radio ==
== Radio ==
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* ''[[Dragonlance]]'' had the Seekers, who used the void left after the gods abandoned the world in the wake of the Cataclysm to seize power by peddling false religion.
* ''[[Dragonlance]]'' had the Seekers, who used the void left after the gods abandoned the world in the wake of the Cataclysm to seize power by peddling false religion.
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' features the Church of the Living God, a [[Cult]] run by a man in [[God Guise]] who employs mages disguised as priests to enforce his will.
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' features the Church of the Living God, a [[Cult]] run by a man in [[God Guise]] who employs mages disguised as priests to enforce his will.
* ''[[Battle Tech]]'''s pre-schism ComStar (and after the split, Word of Blake) has aspects of this. Heavily shrouded in mysticism towards outsiders and definitely capable of inspiring religious fervor in its own members as well, ComStar is ''fundamentally'' just an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] hoarding technological know-how and waiting for the Successor States to bomb themselves so far back into the Stone Age that they can step in and take over for the ostensible good of all mankind. (They're not above stirring the pot themselves if it looks like things might actually settle down or quietly eliminating outsiders who might be on the verge of making scientific breakthroughs, either -- since they just so happen to control most interstellar communication under the guise of neutrality, they tend to be ''very'' well informed.) Interestingly, this is by many accounts not what ComStar's founder ever intended, for all that many members of the organization are prone to dropping supposed pearls of his wisdom into conversations at every opportunity; it's only under his ''successor'' that things rapidly started to take on a religious bent.
* ''[[BattleTech]]'''s pre-schism ComStar (and after the split, Word of Blake) has aspects of this. Heavily shrouded in mysticism towards outsiders and definitely capable of inspiring religious fervor in its own members as well, ComStar is ''fundamentally'' just an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] hoarding technological know-how and waiting for the Successor States to bomb themselves so far back into the Stone Age that they can step in and take over for the ostensible good of all mankind. (They're not above stirring the pot themselves if it looks like things might actually settle down or quietly eliminating outsiders who might be on the verge of making scientific breakthroughs, either -- since they just so happen to control most interstellar communication under the guise of neutrality, they tend to be ''very'' well informed.) Interestingly, this is by many accounts not what ComStar's founder ever intended, for all that many members of the organization are prone to dropping supposed pearls of his wisdom into conversations at every opportunity; it's only under his ''successor'' that things rapidly started to take on a religious bent.


== Theatre ==
== Theatre ==
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* ''[[Fall From Heaven]]'' has a spirit magic user in the backstory who regularly did this.
* ''[[Fall From Heaven]]'' has a spirit magic user in the backstory who regularly did this.
* ''[[Fable|Fable II]]'' features [[Fun With Acronyms|T.O.B.Y.]], the Temple of Business and Yodeling, also known as the Temple of Benevolent Yokels. A quest in Bloodstone involves you running errands for the founder, Toby, but you eventually find out it's just a front for Toby to find suckers he can con into buying useless crap or running errands for him.
* ''[[Fable|Fable II]]'' features [[Fun with Acronyms|T.O.B.Y.]], the Temple of Business and Yodeling, also known as the Temple of Benevolent Yokels. A quest in Bloodstone involves you running errands for the founder, Toby, but you eventually find out it's just a front for Toby to find suckers he can con into buying useless crap or running errands for him.
** And hookers. Don't forget the hookers.
** And hookers. Don't forget the hookers.
** In the first game, the backstory reveals that both Avo the God of Good and Skorm the God of Evil are fakes invented by an enterprising merchant as a way of collecting money from the donations of followers. The scam works because their temples are built over places of very strong naturally occuring magical energy, so the power itself is real, even though the deities themselves are not.
** In the first game, the backstory reveals that both Avo the God of Good and Skorm the God of Evil are fakes invented by an enterprising merchant as a way of collecting money from the donations of followers. The scam works because their temples are built over places of very strong naturally occuring magical energy, so the power itself is real, even though the deities themselves are not.
* ''[[Deus Ex Invisible War (Video Game)|Deus Ex Invisible War]]'' has the order, a front for the illuminati created for the sole purpose of unifying all religion. Aside from the leader herself everyone thinks it's the real deal, even the leader's second-in-command.
* ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War|Deus Ex Invisible War]]'' has the order, a front for the illuminati created for the sole purpose of unifying all religion. Aside from the leader herself everyone thinks it's the real deal, even the leader's second-in-command.
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' has Pastor Richards, who is raising money for a Salvation Statue to save himself and his followers from the apocalypse. He admits on the radio his plan to use the statue money to build a mansion in Hawaii.
* ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'' has Pastor Richards, who is raising money for a Salvation Statue to save himself and his followers from the apocalypse. He admits on the radio his plan to use the statue money to build a mansion in Hawaii.
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has the Church of Yevon. It teaches that Sin was a divine punishment for using machina, that machina weapons are evil, that Sin will go away with enough prayer and repentance, and that the Final Summoning can free the world from Sin. While it's true from one point of view that machina brought about Sin (Bevelle won the war because of their superior weaponry, and Yu Yevon created Sin as his revenge), they are not inherently evil and Sin is not divine; the church uses this lie to keep the populace under control (no advanced weaponry = harder to overthrow the church). Sin will not go away with any amount of prayer or repentance, and the Final Summoning is actually how Sin is reborn; this lie is used to give the people false hope and keep them ignorant of the true state of things. It's made very clear that the Maesters are fully aware of the continued lies they spread.
* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' has the Church of Yevon. It teaches that Sin was a divine punishment for using machina, that machina weapons are evil, that Sin will go away with enough prayer and repentance, and that the Final Summoning can free the world from Sin. While it's true from one point of view that machina brought about Sin (Bevelle won the war because of their superior weaponry, and Yu Yevon created Sin as his revenge), they are not inherently evil and Sin is not divine; the church uses this lie to keep the populace under control (no advanced weaponry = harder to overthrow the church). Sin will not go away with any amount of prayer or repentance, and the Final Summoning is actually how Sin is reborn; this lie is used to give the people false hope and keep them ignorant of the true state of things. It's made very clear that the Maesters are fully aware of the continued lies they spread.
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* ''[[South Park]]'' has portrayed both Scientology and Mormonism is this way. Ironically, other episodes have shown that Mormons are the only people who get into Heaven, [[Spoof Aesop|so it's not taking itself that seriously]].
* ''[[South Park]]'' has portrayed both Scientology and Mormonism is this way. Ironically, other episodes have shown that Mormons are the only people who get into Heaven, [[Spoof Aesop|so it's not taking itself that seriously]].
** That said, the episode about Mormonism was pretty much entirely "Woah, Mormonism is a load of bull -- but Mormons are the sweetest people on Earth, so who cares?"
** That said, the episode about Mormonism was pretty much entirely "Woah, Mormonism is a load of bull -- but Mormons are the sweetest people on Earth, so who cares?"
* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (Animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' once had Gadget half-heartedly attempt to join a soda-worshiping cult of mice. The evil second-in-command of the cult was using all the belongings new members gave up and keeping them.
* ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (animation)|Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers]]'' once had Gadget half-heartedly attempt to join a soda-worshiping cult of mice. The evil second-in-command of the cult was using all the belongings new members gave up and keeping them.
* Sympathetic example: in the ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' episode ''The Painted Lady'', {{spoiler|Katara}} starts one of her own. As she helps some villagers, they mistake her for their local deity--and instead of [[Unwanted False Faith|trying to clear up the mistake]], she chooses to make the most of it, turning herself into a false deity for them to worship. Of course, the villagers are outraged when they find out that she has deceived them, but they quickly forgive her since they realize that the help she gave them was genuine rather than part of some manipulative plot. {{spoiler|After the whole thing is over, it turns out that the Painted Lady actually does exist--and she is pleased with Katara's deeds}}.
* Sympathetic example: in the ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' episode ''The Painted Lady'', {{spoiler|Katara}} starts one of her own. As she helps some villagers, they mistake her for their local deity--and instead of [[Unwanted False Faith|trying to clear up the mistake]], she chooses to make the most of it, turning herself into a false deity for them to worship. Of course, the villagers are outraged when they find out that she has deceived them, but they quickly forgive her since they realize that the help she gave them was genuine rather than part of some manipulative plot. {{spoiler|After the whole thing is over, it turns out that the Painted Lady actually does exist--and she is pleased with Katara's deeds}}.
* In ''[[Prince of Egypt]]'', this is how the Egyptian mythology is portrayed. The High Priests replicate Moses' stick-to-snake miracle, but it's all about creative lighting, ominous statues and chanting, sleight-of-hand tricks and big helping of showmanship. While Rameses is impressed, he fails to notice that Moses' snake devours the priests' snakes during the [[Villain Song]]. The priests are later exposed when they prove to be utterly useless against the Abrahamic God's ten plagues.
* In ''[[Prince of Egypt]]'', this is how the Egyptian mythology is portrayed. The High Priests replicate Moses' stick-to-snake miracle, but it's all about creative lighting, ominous statues and chanting, sleight-of-hand tricks and big helping of showmanship. While Rameses is impressed, he fails to notice that Moses' snake devours the priests' snakes during the [[Villain Song]]. The priests are later exposed when they prove to be utterly useless against the Abrahamic God's ten plagues.


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