Fleecing the flock
In When Jesus is used to steal from his flock, Bernd Debusmann Jr discusses elder fraud, the scamming of trusting, elderly Christians by snake oil salesmen. It's a variant on affinity fraud
, in which individuals are targeted, based on religious, ethnic, or professional associations.
In court, many of Gallagher's victims spoke of that psychological toll. Among them was Susan Pippi, a 74-year-old who, with her husband, lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the scheme. "I don't trust anybody anymore," she said in a statement released by Tarrant County prosecutors. "Except for God and my family."
Bernd Debusmann Jr, When Jesus is used to steal from his flock, BBC News
In Pippi's case, she fell victim to a financial guru
, who advertised his services on Christian radio. That she still trusts God, when God did nothing to protect her, and actually brought her into contact with Gallagher, is either touching or sad. I'm not sure which.
There's a fine line to be trod between trusting
and gullible
. As the bandit leader, Calvera, said in The Magnificent Seven: If God didn't want them sheared, He would not have made them sheep.