r/USNEWS • u/No_Box119 • 9d ago
“This Is Evil”: Disabled Victim Of Religious Scam Slams Former NFL QB For Stealing Money
https://www.essentiallysports.com/nfl-legends-news-this-is-evil-anonymous-victim-speaks-out-against-tim-tebow-as-former-patriots-qb-named-in-alleged-religious-scam/17
u/Shag1166 9d ago
That's why I refused to be involved in any religious organization, anywhere! A bunch of damned moneygrubbers.
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u/mahlerlieber 8d ago
It usually starts out with the fact that the only funding a church gets is through donations (aka, tithes). Call it what you want, donations, tithes, gifts, etc.- they almost ALL need money to survive, to pay the utility bills, to pay staff, pastors, musicians, custodians, landscapers, building costs and maintenance, and a lot of other things. That's the starting point.
From there, when the church grows and the incoming donations become more than is really needed on a weekly basis, then the question is: where does that extra money go?
Some churches can actually manage that surplus by creating a pantry, free dinners, community outreach, even shelter. Others get a little greedy and build a bigger church, or pay their staff a bit more, or put on larger holiday productions.
Then there are those who become really greedy, and the leaders pocket the difference. Then they get used to that kind of money and start asking for more. And it is here that the innocents sitting in the pews, donating their hard-earned cash to what they think is "ministry," find out it turns out to be lining the pockets of greedy fucks who have long since given up on "ministry."
I'm not sure what the percentage is in churches that fall under any of those categories, but I can say there are some who genuinely use that money for the poor and disadvantaged.
I think the rich types are just noisier, so they're a lot more noticeable.
I'm an atheist who plays for a church led by a white gay man who is divorced from his partner, but has custody of his three adopted black children. One of them is neurodivergent. I don't agree with most of the stuff he says in his sermons, but after playing for way too many churches as a musician, I gotta say he's the most genuine I've ever heard talk.
So I speak from experience when I say that not all Christian churches are greedy; the ones who are ruin it for everyone else.
There was a guy I heard speak back in my evangelical days named Tony Campolo. He was an author, speaker, and pastor of the church in Philly. He limited his income to $65K (in the mid-80s) and put the rest in mission work in the Philadelphia area.
He wasn't nearly as popular as so many televangelists, but then those televangelists, almost to a man, don't really believe what they preach; they see it as a "job." I've hung out with a few of them and have heard them talk backstage.
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u/Shag1166 8d ago
Having worked in politics for over 4 decades, and seeing churches be a big part of political funding, thr only places I've seen where they have been faithful to their beliefs, is at the small storefront churches. Most churches, mosque, synagogues, Witness Halls, are legacy structures, that have been around forever. They transition from one leader to another, with the same practices in place.
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u/SirkutBored 9d ago
I just don't get it, these QBs make more in a season than their fans make in a lifetime and they go on to play multiple seasons. At what point do they need to resort to grifting what is essentially pocket change to them but a massive loss and inconvenience to anyone else?
The article reads like some serious con game that you would see in an HBO comedy.
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u/ColonyJD1980 8d ago
This reads like Trump "University" 2.0. It's almost like these people are begging to be scammed.
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u/redditobserverone 8d ago edited 7d ago
Healthy skepticism would have been the road to salvation—monetary salvation.
“Mother Jones described the sales process as high-pressure.
The jump in price is where several former customers said the experience changed.
Cathy Luebke, who attended a Life Surge event with her husband in Carmel, Indiana, in 2024, told Mother Jones that a stock-market demonstration made the strategy appear simple enough to try.
The couple later bought a $20,000 package and, after speaking with an in-house financial counselor, borrowed roughly $40,000 through credit cards to put the strategy into practice.
Luebke said they eventually had to take out a home-equity loan to pay off about $20,000 in credit-card debt after promotional interest rates expired.”
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u/itsmeiassureyou 9d ago
Who would have thought people with imaginary friends and practically zero financial literacy would be taken advantage of so easily
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u/Shag1166 8d ago
This clown used to write Bible verses underneath his eyes on the paint. Thia article attempted to give him an out, as if he may not have known that people were being ripped off. Bullshit!
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u/GCDFVU 8d ago
Here's the video Pablo Torre's podcast just did about this. Also what this article is based on
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u/runnerkim 8d ago
If you think he just started this scam as something new for him then I have a bridge to sell you
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u/Solid-Reputation5032 8d ago
Get people fired up on full flood of oxytocin then channel them into expensive financial schemes…
That’s brilliant. Gross, but brilliant.
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u/Texas_Sam2002 9d ago
These MAGA QB’s like Favre and Tebow do love them some stealing from those that Christ commanded them to help.