Wow, didn't know anyone had responded all these months later!
But you know, I still stand by everything I said about Semple McPherson. She was a kook.
archer1949 says "If you read her writings and the contemporary accounts, you will see that she was a very thoughtful and sincere believer."
It's beyond question that the absolute best con men (and women) are the ones who actually believe the gospel they preach, and by "gospel" in this case I mean just about anything they try to sell us, and NOT just religion. Most of these sleazeball televangelists (or self-help gurus, or whatever) wouldn't be as successful as they are if they didn't actually convince themselves—somewhere along the line—that they believed in not only the product, but the IMPORTANCE of the THE IMAGE they were peddling to the people, and the otherworldy powers they possessed to pull it off (like Aimee's "Faith Healing," still one of the most common con jobs of all, and so easily pulled off!), It's not about belief in Christianity—as anyone can believe in any religion without being TOLD to or, better yet, not at all—but the firm belief that it was THEIR MISSION to sell it to the great unwashed and that they were/are somebow imbued with special power to make it happen. Once they get a taste of the euphoria that comes with whipping their followers into a frenzy (supposedly easier in those days, but nothing's really changed), and the money that soon follows to build a better mission, and more often a better life for themselves without actually doing hard labour, it's simply too lucrative to stop.
And audiences for this crap weren't totally stupid. Gullible, but not stupid. Then as now, they needed the CONVICTION of the person selling them on the concept, to bolster their own conviction in the concept. Otherwise, they'd have moved on to the next flim-flam artist who told them what they already believed.
What Semple-McPherson was selling was as it always has been and always will be: the IMAGE of the "chosen" do-gooder cleaning up the sins of a country whose sins never really needed cleaning up, and continue NOT to need cleaning up. It's all subjective. One man's dirty sin is another man's harmless pleasure. And I'm not talking about murder, drug abuse, alcoholism or any other extreme form of vice, I'm talking about the kind of stuff Aimee and her ilk were so outspoken against: ALL levels of vice for which they, naturally, set the acceptable limits (which was usually none), but then usually crossed when everyone's heads were turned.
Meanwhile....
She spoke in tongues. Which is really just self-delusion manifesting itself in a hyper circumstances
She FAKED HER OWN DEATH, then FAKED HER OWN KIDNAPPING, in order to cover up her horizontal mambo sessions. After all, she was only human, but didn't want any of her followers knowing that she had a crazy appetite for sex just like anyone else, so she LIED, LIED and LIED some more.
She violated the rules of her own church by marrying again (third time, was it?). Personally, I don't care how many times people marry, then or now, but when you publicly set RULES about it for your sheep, you should probably try to live up to them yourself.
Finally, she kills herself with an overdose of barbies.
And these are just the defining moments. So many others, so little time.
She shoulda died of Malaria in Hong Kong. Woulda saved us all a lot of pointless debate about the ridiculous things the voices in her head (and nowhere else) to her to perpetuate to the world.
I'm also embarrassed that she was actually a Canadian by birth.
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