Give Him Your Money So You Can Be Debt-Free

Did you know Benny Hinn is still around? (Don’t remember which televangelist he is? He’s this one.)

His latest act involves helping you get out of debt! (What a nice guy!)

How will he make this happen?

All you have to do is pray. And give him money, of course, as a “seed.”

It’s time to break free from the bondage you have been under. But it will take a sacrificial gift to trigger your debt cancellation harvest. Pray and give what God is directing you to give sacrificially.

…

It’s time to step out in faith. It’s time to say, “My debt is canceled!” In fact, I want you to write those words on a card or piece of paper and keep it in view. In big, bold words write, “My debt is canceled!” Put a copy on your bathroom mirror, your office, refrigerator, and wallet!

Then as an act of faith sow bountifully, knowing that God will give you a bountiful harvest. Be bold. Be strong. Be courageous. Be determined.

That’s a long way of saying: empty your savings account and transfer the money to Hinn.

He must be the religious version of Bernie Madoff.

What gets me is how these schemes always work… ask and ye shall receive. Apparently, a three-second appeal for money by Oral Roberts resulted in a $10,000,000 windfall for Hinn a couple decades ago. (How did all that money disappear?!)

Sadly, I’m worried this special “May 25 Debt Cancellation Day of Prayer” (Really? Really.) will work. Gullible people will lose their hard-earned money and Hinn will have successfully scammed another slate of victims.

(via The J-Walk Blog)

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DeafAtheist

Seems that by “your” he really means MY.
Infinitemonkey

I heard him talking on a TV in the break room at one of my jobs, and I asked one of my coworkers “When did god become an extortionist?” He was talking about if you put a seed of $1000, then god would “bless” a trial in your favor. REally, that, to me, sounds like extortion.

BTW, every time I hear him, I think of that dead british comedian who ended every show in a chase scene-you know, Benny Hill.
PrimeNumbers

Hinn should be tried, and hopefully convicted for his crimes. He’s a fraud, living a lavish lifestyle off the backs of the poor.
miller

There was a really funny article in the last issue of Skeptic about Benny Hinn. Apparently, if you take his free offer of Miracle Spring Water, and then neglect to give him his seed, he starts sending you ominous curses and threats by phone and by mail.

“I saw you walking with one of your loved ones, and I heard you say 4 words…PLANTED, WATER, LEAF and GREEN. […] and I heard Satan talking to two evil spirits…his henchmen…”

The letter goes on about how Satan’s henchmen will ruin your life and your finances unless you give Popoff the seed. Comedy gold.
David D.G.

Those unfortunate rubes would be better off spending that “seed” money on lottery tickets. At least then there’d be a slight chance of a payoff.

~David D.G.
Porky Pine

This is nothing new. He’s been doing this for awhile. The same people who fall for this are the same ones who fall for psychics.
John Larberg

Time for grandma to sign away her social security check. Seriously, how is this scheme legal? It’s the same with those people who sell cancer curing bracelets.
dfledermaus

Which crook are we talking about, Benny Hinn or Peter Popoff?
miller

Oh yeah, sorry, I was referring to Peter Popoff, not Benny Hinn. Wrong guy!
Epistaxis

Even better, incur a larger debt in order to give the money to him. It’s something from nothing – a miracle!
Erp

Benny Hinn is pushing “prosperity gospel” (prosperity for him but that isn’t stated). A lot of other Christians including conservative ones have a very low opinion of it and him.
Holy Prepuce!

Some time ago I wrote about the striking similarity between Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network telethon and those “No Money Down” real estate infomercials.

The plot lines are nearly identical: an impoverished protagonist makes a small investment (or “seed” in the CBN lingo), and through some mysterious process (the details of which are never very clear), winds up rolling in dough. The visual elements are interchangeable–well-coiffed white people in big houses with oversized furniture, interspersed with cutaways of expensive cars driving along the ocean. Of course, the paths to riches being sold are different–I leave it to the reader to predict whether slipping Jehovah a sawbuck for some Karaoke bookings has greater prospects for success than hitting up complete strangers for seller-financing–but the central concepts are the same.
llewelly

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Gulfstream SP
zoo

Oh god, really? I haven’t heard anything of him in quite a while, not since he moved out of his place that was way too close to mine.

How has he not done something to get him banned from that or something?
Ashley Moltzan

hmmm interesting this came up…i was flicking through tv channels not too long ago and came across an infomerical with the same concept on a church station. it is so scary and sickening
Sam

And people wonder why there is such a low opinion of most religions by atheist… It’s acts like these combined with a number of other things that finally drove me away from religion. Take the creation “museum” 27 million dollar cost. I can think of 500 different projects that are far more deserving then that such as the Salvation Army.
The Unbrainwashed

I’m sorry but I love this guy. He’s developed an ingenious way of getting rich. And I have no sympathy for the fools that fall for this. If they’re that stupid, they almost deserve to get ripped off.
Noadi

That’s rather cold. A lot of the people who fall for this are elderly folk who often aren’t as sharp as they used to be. There are whole scam industries that target just the elderly. Obviously Hinn is out for anyone gullible but I bet if you broke it down the numbers would skew to the elderly, poor, and low level of education. This guy is a totally immoral bastard who if he wasn’t hiding behind religion would probably be behind bars right now (and should be).
The Unbrainwashed

Obviously Hinn is out for anyone gullible but I bet if you broke it down the numbers would skew to the elderly, poor, and low level of education.

Look I don’t care how little education you have or how old you are, this is the most absurd scam ever. It’s so incredibly obvious even to most devout Christians. “Send me your money and you’ll get rich!!”

At least Kevin Trudeau sends you a book. Oh wait, does Benny Hinn send a miracle towel or miracle water?

Come on. You have to be almost mentally retarded to fall for this crap. Yes, we should probably protect those that are vulnerable. But these people are willing engaging in this charade.
hoverFrog

He makes no claims. He doesn’t say “send me money and you will get rich”. He says “send me money, make an effort to hold a positive outlook on life and things are likely to improve”. This is the same as any life coach or time management consultant offers except they offer a structure and a plan and Hinn offers one bit of advice, to write down your hopes.

If he combined the magic sky pixie stuff with some genuine advice on managing time and money then it wouldn’t be so bad. He’s not even doing that which makes him a crook conning the gullible out of money with nothing to offer in return except false hope.

That’s religion for you.
Bill

Years ago when I was a wires-and-pliers guy, I had a part-time Sunday-morning job engineering at an AM radio station. One of the tapes I played was from Reverend Ike. His show was primarily testimonals like, “I prayed real hard and, the next morning, I found in my driveway a Cadillac!” “A Cadillac,” said Reverend Ike, “that’s what rich people drive!”

Even though I needed the money, I quit after about three weeks because it made me feel unclean.
Cypress Green

Apparently, a three-second appeal for money by Oral Roberts resulted in a $10,000,000 windfall for Hinn a couple decades ago.

It never occurred to me until now, but maybe in a case like this he didn’t get all that money. Maybe he got a lot less but he wants to prove to his greedy, naive followers that God will give you TONS of money if you ask.
What’s he gonna say, “I got $3000 donated today! From a bunch of poor folk! Halleluiah!”
I mean, he’s obviously already lying about God handing out cash and about the “miracle” of atheists donating, so why not about the 10 mill?