The Salt Lake Tribune published an article today on whether religious people make particularly easy targets for scam artists. The article concludes that they do because “a swindler who professes the same faith, or belongs to the same congregation, has an easy time of earning trust, however misplaced. Duped investors, meanwhile, also hesitate to suspect or report on one of their own.”
The author also quotes a professor from Notre Dame named David E. Campbell, co-author of the new book “American Grace: How Religion Unites and Divides Us,” who concludes that religious people tend to be more trusting of others. In an interview, Campbell said “the strong social networks found in some faith communities, such as ‘the tight bonds among Mormons,’ seems to make them especially vulnerable to fraud.”
Just more confirmation of what I have been saying in this blog from day one.
© 2010 Mark W. Pugsley, all rights reserved.
Oh, motion seconded. You tell me that I will complain when a bishops asks me if “anyone tried to make advances on me?” No. Naturally, I would ask the one requesting that information for clarification on the question. But, oh, my God, if it is a bishop asking me, I am thinking, “here is God’s messenger speaking with you and be careful how you probe questions”.
I personally have been involved in a sick way to worship where I believed that everything from the LDS Church came from God and ultimately did not question in time some bizarre ways in which God was dealing with me and several others in my community.