From the latest issue of ABA, Risk News:

A report from Kansas relates one of the weirdest con artist schemes to come along in a long time, and shows that anybody will believe anything, if they think they can get something easy.

A shop owner and his wife were approached by two men who claimed that gold coins were buried under their business. The con artists even had a machine that supposedly beeped in the presence of gold.

The couple agreed to let the men use a jackhammer to dig in the shop’s basement. A few hours later, the men emerged with a dirty clay box that had a cross on the top and the date 1878 on the bottom. Inside, they found a tattered letter that said $70,000 worth of gold coins was buried a few feet further down.

It got more bizarre. The con artists told the couple that they would have bad luck for four generations if they didn’t do the following: Keep mum about what was dug up; say the rosary together for nine days; build an altar to a heathen god named Fray; and -- key point -- put money in the clay box equal to the value of the gold coins.

The con artists ponied up $25,000 and the couple added $45,000.

Sometime during the period when they were all supposedly saying the rosary before the altar, the con artists switched the cash with cut-up newspapers and fled. When asked by investigators later on how they could be taken in, the couple said the con artists were very polished, smooth talkers who played to their beliefs.

Cr@p, I need to go stop those guys with the jackhammers!!!

"...who played with their beliefs"

what the heck are their beliefs if they do all this silly stuff expecting God to honor "their beliefs"?

what do they think God is: a slot machine in the sky?

Note that this took place in Kansas -- 'nuff said...

There are 2 players on Big Brother (well, just one now) who apparently believe that God is a reality TV fan who will help them win contests.

The couple sounds very deserving of their fate, financially speaking. Greed can kick you in the butt!

...and now that WAmber is gone, there's just Jameka, who is completely retarded!

And to go with what Huge said, what beliefs? I mean really, come on....

No, not a slot machine, an ATM, Pale. An ATM. "You give to him, and he gives back even more." That's the theology of many Christians these days. Hopefully this approach to "serving God" may finally be starting to crumble.

"Spiritual Materialism" is the concept you're going for Bugs.

I've never heard that term, but it fits. It certainly fits. It's almost enough to bring a person to deconvert.

ooh, now wait Bugs, lets not confuse the message with the messenger -

That's a trite cliche cop out, Pale. What does that mean to you?

didn't mean it to be trite -

the message of Christianity does get garbled by human intervention; but that being the case is no reason to doubt the message of why Jesus Christ visited this earth in human form

and therefore, I would hope the confusion of the gospel by wayward humans would not bring someone to "deconvert"

"Spiritual Materialism" also describes the belief that one can 'earn' a heavenly reward by accumulating good deeds/prayers/etc. in this life.

At the risk of making his head explode, I agree with PR, the folly of others shouldn't drive you to abandon your own beliefs. Perhaps it should just make you skeptical of human congregations.

there ya go - see

Barbarian and I can agree on a few things!

but he is way better than me on picking song titles

I agree. Perhaps "deconvert" was too strong of a word, but I chose it for the shock value. Right now I am not so skeptical of human congregations as I am of so-called human Christian leaders. I'm basically allowing myself to question literally everything I've been taught over the years. It's an exercise that's very difficult and messy at times, but I think necessary for me in the long run.