Broke College Student Gets Coerced To Give $300 Towards Pastor’s Gift, Makes The Church Regret It
There’s a line between devoting yourself and being exploited, and you don’t always notice — at least not immediately — if you cross it.
Reddit user Eveofmilady realized this in college. The student belonged to a church that presented itself as a sanctuary of faith, and as an active member of the media team, she thought she was contributing to a higher purpose.
But the pastor’s greed pushed her to the edge, demanding not just her time and dedication but even her last dollars. Luckily, as Eveofmilady explained in her post on the subreddit ‘Malicious Compliance,’ when his minions started going after her livelihood, she began to see what was happening.
There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of organized religion
Image credits: Tabitha Mort (not the actual photo)
This woman’s church even tried to extort her
Image credits: Brett Jordan (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Christin Hume (not the actual photo)
Image credits: eveofmilady
Image credits: Stephen Radford (not the actual photo)
It’s not easy leaving a cult
We sometimes judge those who become involved in a cult, almost as if their involvement and the subsequent repercussions are entirely their own fault.
But it’s important to approach this topic with empathy, recognizing that individuals may find themselves drawn to such groups for a variety of complex reasons.
For example, California Institute of Technology psychologist Jon-Patrik Pedersen, in attempting to explain why people are drawn to cults, has argued that it’s our desire for comfort in the face of fear and uncertainty, that leads us to seek outlets that can soothe our anxieties. Something a “broke college kid with a minimum wage part-time job” might have plenty of.
In and of itself, the urge to quiet internal demons is not a negative trait. On the contrary, it’s an effective adaptation that allows us to cope with the stressors, big and small, that regularly bombard us.
So the fact that Eveofmilady had ended up in such a place shouldn’t be used against her. Plus, it probably wasn’t easy to leave, either.
Psychiatrist Mark Banschick has pointed out that cult leaders employ mind- and behavioral-control techniques focused on severing followers’ connections to the outside world.
These methods can deepen members’ existing emotional insecurities while encouraging them to become completely reliant on their cult for all their emotional and even physical needs. The resulting isolation can become so overwhelming and feel so insurmountable that followers attach themselves to their “saviors.”
Luckily, this story has a happy ending.
Image credits: Luan Cabral (not the actual photo)
So people were glad to learn that the original poster (OP) got out
Some also shared their own similar experiences
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I hate this so much for her (?). My husband and I are looking into another church. They aren’t like Pastor Corruption here but they also aren’t serving the poor or improving their community. I’ve been part of churches that have and those are the churches that I wish were more abundant. They care about their neighbors and are there for the people in their congregations. The leadership has often taken a low paycheck and, in one case, no paycheck at all (even after 15 years). There’s something insidious and evil about churches like the one OP described. I hope they get prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I'd say skip the church altogether. You don't need an invisible magic sky man to be a good person or to meet good people.
Load More Replies...
Cults love dumb people they can take advantage of. OP should have known better to begin with. Organized religion is just another word for cult, it should all be abolished. You want to pray? Do it in your own home. Whatever your deity of choice is, they can hear you from there and it's free. Organized religion is the biggest malicious scam in human history.
Exactly... I was brainwashed by my religious parents and it took years to break free of the backwards thinking they forced on me. Religions are for controlling the masses by damning them and begging for money. That's all they are good for. Wanna have faith, have faith. But organized religion will destroy this world.
Load More Replies...
Religion's worst feature: it can be (and often is) used to justify cruel and irrational behavior.
People who exploit others for their own gain are referred to in the Bible as Pharasees. Jesus went off on them, calling them out on their shady practices. These people are not above taking money from anyone: widows, low-income, even children. OP handled her situation like a boss. If more parishioners would call out this form of extortion, more of those money houses posing as houses of worship would close. They are a cancer in the body of Christ and a blot on the true Church.
You know using that terminology is quite antisemitic as the Pharisee movement is what today we call Orthodox Jews. In fact the Romans spoke highly of the Pharisee leadership for their honest in business and finance (see Pliny, Philo, etc). The reason the early church writings, written years after Jesus by people who never met him, speak so damning of the Pharisees comes from the 2nd Century Jewish revolt against Rome, and the early Christians were split on supporting it. Its a complex history, but the Pharisee's never went away, still exist, and that term used that way is very antisemitic.
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Before any of you pull the oh this is all Christians claim, not all pastors are like this. People who act like this are taunting the Christian name. Please don’t generalize this.
Due to my religious history, I've been around dozens of pastors... 90% of them are as described in this article. Manipulative, greedy, etc. They may be good orators, but they are horrible human beings, caring only for the trappings of their office.
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I had a tenant who was trying to clean up her debt after a divorce and wanted to buy her own condo. Her church scammed her out of all her money she had from the sale of her house. She ended up renting and move to low-income assisted apartments.
I think OP opened their eyes and don't belong to any church now.
Load More Replies... I hate this so much for her (?). My husband and I are looking into another church. They aren’t like Pastor Corruption here but they also aren’t serving the poor or improving their community. I’ve been part of churches that have and those are the churches that I wish were more abundant. They care about their neighbors and are there for the people in their congregations. The leadership has often taken a low paycheck and, in one case, no paycheck at all (even after 15 years). There’s something insidious and evil about churches like the one OP described. I hope they get prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I'd say skip the church altogether. You don't need an invisible magic sky man to be a good person or to meet good people.
Load More Replies... Cults love dumb people they can take advantage of. OP should have known better to begin with. Organized religion is just another word for cult, it should all be abolished. You want to pray? Do it in your own home. Whatever your deity of choice is, they can hear you from there and it's free. Organized religion is the biggest malicious scam in human history.
Exactly... I was brainwashed by my religious parents and it took years to break free of the backwards thinking they forced on me. Religions are for controlling the masses by damning them and begging for money. That's all they are good for. Wanna have faith, have faith. But organized religion will destroy this world.
Load More Replies... Religion's worst feature: it can be (and often is) used to justify cruel and irrational behavior.
People who exploit others for their own gain are referred to in the Bible as Pharasees. Jesus went off on them, calling them out on their shady practices. These people are not above taking money from anyone: widows, low-income, even children. OP handled her situation like a boss. If more parishioners would call out this form of extortion, more of those money houses posing as houses of worship would close. They are a cancer in the body of Christ and a blot on the true Church.
You know using that terminology is quite antisemitic as the Pharisee movement is what today we call Orthodox Jews. In fact the Romans spoke highly of the Pharisee leadership for their honest in business and finance (see Pliny, Philo, etc). The reason the early church writings, written years after Jesus by people who never met him, speak so damning of the Pharisees comes from the 2nd Century Jewish revolt against Rome, and the early Christians were split on supporting it. Its a complex history, but the Pharisee's never went away, still exist, and that term used that way is very antisemitic.
Load More Replies... Before any of you pull the oh this is all Christians claim, not all pastors are like this. People who act like this are taunting the Christian name. Please don’t generalize this.
Due to my religious history, I've been around dozens of pastors... 90% of them are as described in this article. Manipulative, greedy, etc. They may be good orators, but they are horrible human beings, caring only for the trappings of their office.
Load More Replies... I had a tenant who was trying to clean up her debt after a divorce and wanted to buy her own condo. Her church scammed her out of all her money she had from the sale of her house. She ended up renting and move to low-income assisted apartments.
I think OP opened their eyes and don't belong to any church now.
Load More Replies...
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