Scam Religion: Difference between revisions

* <s>Scientology?</s> Nothing to see here. There's Fosterism in ''[[Stranger in Aa Strange Land]]''.

** 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.}}

* 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—anddeity — 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}}.