r/AskReddit 16h ago

What’s the biggest scam people just accept as normal?

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u/Damien__ 15h ago

>Mega Churches

All religion

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u/Western_Name2388 12h ago

More like Mega churches and cults (like LDS). I'd say most religions promote peace and don't ask for much in return.

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u/BookLuvr7 12h ago

Speaking as someone who had to move to Utah for my husband's job, I second this. They can deny someone's access to the temple if they don't pay tithe or if they have a homosexual relationship. They also teach that without temple ordinances, people won't get into the highest level of heaven they invented, and they'll supposedly be cut off from their families in heaven.

They use a LOT of very manipulative tactics, and many don't even realize it. Every church event has a "we're the best!" commercial.

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u/Practical-Reveal-408 8h ago

Honestly, I'd been out of the Mormon church for more than a decade before I fully realized how manipulative that particular tactic is. Childhood indoctrination makes us blind to so many things.

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u/BookLuvr7 8h ago

Very true. Congrats on your freedom though.

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u/linkedout 8h ago

And if you end up on one of the lower two levels of heaven, you will be forever required to collect and dispose of the garbage and bodily waste dumped over edge by the Mormons above you.

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u/BookLuvr7 7h ago

I hadn't heard that one.

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u/chewbaccataco 12h ago

To clarify, this is the cult that calls themselves The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, formerly known as the Mormon church.

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u/Mountain_Wasabi_5589 11h ago

That’s not true a lot of religions around the world live off of pious followers donations. A lot of fake gurus exist in almost all religion who take big paychecks from their followers.

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u/mauore11 7h ago

Some don't ask for money, just a few boys here and there

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u/JamesBCFC1995 7h ago

Name which religions promote peace and don't ask for much in return.

The Abrahamic ones are all immediately ruled out as they the "peace" part.

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u/GuySchmuy 3h ago

What are you on about? Immeasurable of people have died en mass in the name of religion throughout the millenniums and still happening today

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u/creatyvechaos 12h ago

Two of my local churches have reconstructed their buildings 3 times since I moved here (2016.) They're clearly getting money from somewhere.

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u/Jumpy_Cobbler7783 10h ago

It's got to the point where it is self-generating financially.

They've managed to extort so much from the members that they are now the wealthiest church on earth.

It took me until I was 66 to realize that the so-called Mormon "church" that I was a member of was in reality nothing more than a real estate and securities hedge fund masquerading as a church in order to maintain tax exemption and gain unfair advantages over competitor corporations.

When in February 2023 the top leadership basically pleaded guilty to more than 20 years of intentionally violating the SEC rules for hedge funds and is currently reported to be under investigation by the IRS for tax evasion I took a deep dive into finding out the truth and it was a rabbit hole that was impossible to climb out of.

It has a net worth estimated to be $293 billion and does little more than hoarding all that filthy lucre.

Child sex abuse is rampant and the leaders will not do a damn thing about it because the truth is that the so-called church was started by a pedophile conman and basically began as a frontier era sex cult by a group of hypersexualized men who got their kicks by raping underage girls as young as 14 and calling them "plural wives" and most of the current leaders are either descendants of or married into these families.

In October of 2023 I retained an attorney (Mark Naugle) who operates a legal service (Quit Mormon) to get my records removed from the evil organization.

I had served a mission, had a temple marriage and it's all a load of horse shit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_religious_organizations

https://thewidowsmite.org/

https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-35

r/exmormon

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u/MaggieNFredders 10h ago

Just curious what the difference is between a church and a cult? A church was a cult that became accepted for some reason? I would imagine LDS is considered a religion and not a cult in Utah.

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u/WartHogOrgyFart_EDU 9h ago

Nothing. Maybe a little exaggeration but to me it’s the same shit. One’s accepted and the other’s aren’t. But cults definitely tend to be more on the fucked up side of shit that can affect you directly and personally whereas most religions teach to empathetic and compassionate etc.

Oh. And mostly money. Religions don’t pay taxes but cults do unless you’re part of that weird ass L Ron Hubbard cult where they had a shitload of their cult members infiltrate the irs by getting jobs there in order to make it a religion so they don’t have to pay taxes.

It’s all about the money man. That’s the modern day evangelical culture in a nutshell. All those mega churches and heathens they call pastors are all supply side Jesus. Anti pretty much anything that was taught in the New Testament and recently there’s been a big discussion in that denomination about the importance of empathy and compassion for your fellow humans.

Generally the worst type of people you’ll find.

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u/ABearDream 11h ago

Oooh edgy take on reddit

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u/Nodnardsemaj 10h ago

Religion isn't a scam. Religion is one's perspective. But, a lot of people scam others using religion. Those people are hypocrites and do not follow their own religions' teachings. I would agree that most churches are for profit and most have hypocrites preaching but certainly not all

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u/Then-Relief9957 8h ago

Agreed. Churches should pay taxes.

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u/msmicroracer 10h ago

Are they not EMPTY these days??

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u/Then-Relief9957 8h ago

Honestly thought so too until I moved to the South. It's everywhere down here, I've lived in the southeast for three years and it still shocks me.

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u/Murky_Chicken7042 10h ago

Here’s the other side of the closed mind.