Hope this "ministry" loses its nonprofit status, at the least. Horrifying.
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These scams mostly occur in the Hispanic community. I once worked on a case where 4 Mexican brothers in Monterey County, California, kept undocumented immigrants as slaves on their ranch. The workers were not allowed to leave the ranch for any reason. They had to buy all food and clothing from the brothers’ “store”. The brothers literally had their slaves living in dirt caves they dug out on the property just for that purpose. The people were literally living like dogs. The brothers and others roamed the ranch with loaded firearms exposed for view by the workers and frequently threatened them. When law enforcement finally took action after years of slavery they freed 36 undocumented immigrants, all Mexican. There was virtually no media coverage because these were brown people enslaving other brown people. It was never clear if that was because of racism or political correctness. You would think that slavery in America today would interest the media. Thanks to the NYT for publishing this story.
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This is what all churches do though...
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This happened to me and my husband. It was a program in Pacoima, CA called "Lifeline Outreach". We were homeless and needed help. They separated us, forbid us to talk to each other, and even punished us if we were caught giving each other any eye contact in church.
They brainwashed us and forced us to speak in tongues and took our IDs and family pictures, clothes, EVERYTHING. They made us sign up for government benefits and took all of that too. They used these funds to purchase boxes of candy bars and forced us to go out every weekend and we could not return home or eat until they were all sold. They fed us from food donations and food banks.
When we told them we wanted to leave, they refused to give us our IDs and belongings.
This was the worst time in our lives and I hope someone brings them down.
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The only difference here is that these guys preyed on homeless people. Regular churches run the same scam with better return on investment by enslaving the employed.
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Oh, Good Lord!
Throw the book at them.
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Good thing they aren't Uber.
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Alt Republican Christianity.
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@ Kevin, so you think these Mexican and Mexican-American pastors are all Republicans?
Why is religion tax exempt in this country. Its only products see to be titillating sex scandals, social divisions and corruption.
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This is hardly new in Cal. Particularly in the seventies, cults used psychological entrapment to lock up people as effectively as any physical walls could (giving rise to the proliferation of "deprogramming" centers). And surely everyone remembers Patty Hearst. For part of 1974 I was a Moonie (Unification Church) in Oakland and Berkeley, and can testify firsthand to the effects of food and sleep deprivation, and constant labor, on vulnerable young people alienated from their families of origin.
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Praise the lord and pass the $$ to me says the preachers. Actually small time compared to the BIG guys, Roberson and Falwell etc. They have billions they collect. My favorite was the prayer groups they had delivering 24/7 prayers to God if you sent money to them. Thats really a good business model.
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When state governments stop pandering to "evangelical
ministries" and enforce the laws against lying and abusing
the poor and gullable by steeling their meagre incomes,
perhaps these horror stories will end.
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@samu
Indeed. Separation of church and state. If a church (religious institution in general) wants non-profit/tax exempt status, must adhere to ALL the same conduct as other non-profits, treated no differently, open to scrutiny. I wish we could go a step further, even, and have no state funding go to religiously-affiliated institutions, e.g. Catholic hospitals. It's baffling to me that Catholic hospitals can get e.g. Medicare reimbursement without having complete separation of faith-based and scientific practices (look into this if you don't believe me -- it's appalling).
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/eyeroll. Yet another example of alleged "Christian Values" at work in America. A true black eye to real Christians.
So many Christians are actually people dedicated to helping their fellow humans and being compassionate and loving.
Yet... at the same time... Christianity has been a haven for grifters, exploiters, and greedy self-serving personalities for many centuries.
Sad thing... this sort of hate and exploitation based nonsense is far more common on Churches in America then is generally reported and known. I am glad to see this one pounced on, but there are many others lurking in the shadows of the protections of professing to be "Christian".
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@Chuck
Agreed.
I personally know too many 'Christian' women who seem to think that going to church every week justifies selfishness and conceit.
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This “church” is not a church, it is an organization of human trafficking. I hope the authorities throw “the book” at the leaders and rescue all of the poor people who were so grossly mistreated.
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@R M Garcia
It is ALSO a legally sanctioned Church. Let's not forget that the umbrella of "Christian Values" hides many sins in our nation... and has for centuries.
Watch their primary defense be: "but we were being good Christians by saving these people from themselves, through tough love!!"
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@Chuck
It's true, individuals of this ilk *always* have an excuse - and not just those professing to be 'Christians.'
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Common wisdom says "do not judge a book by its cover" , but it is generally agreed by the majority of people that pre-judging a book by its cover, will help you amke a safer choice of what to read.
A church in a strip mall may be called a church, but is it?
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@hugo
Judging a church by the appearance of its venue is not a good yardstick. The Catholic church (whom I'm picking on in these comments, though certainly not only example) is a MAJOR financial institution, with beautiful huge expensive (untaxed) buildings. It's also embroiled in multiple sex-abuse scandals.
On the other hand, it stands to reason there are wonderful strip-mall churches who have humble settings precisely because they're adhering to principles in the Christian faith: to eschew self-aggrandizement and instead use resources to help people, including the poor.
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@Io Lightning
Agreed.
For several years, there was a Unitarian congregation in the small city in which I reside.
(I'm not sure why it folded. I think perhaps the de facto leader of the congregation took ill.)
Out of curiosity, I went to a few of their services. They were held in a very non-glamorous, somewhat rundown building - a building that was not owned by them.
At about my third or fourth visit, with no collection plate ever having been passed around, I felt guilty for giving no money. I'm quite sure they were renting the space for the services, so the money for that had to come from somewhere.
The leader looked kind of shocked and bewildered when I asked about donating money but agreed to take it.
The services were beautiful. Enlightened guest speakers every week from different ethnicities and walks of life.
Based on my experience, the Unitarians are not about the money.
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"If they resisted or said they would leave, leaders threatened to take away their children..."
Why is is not a federal crime when ICE does this?
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Reminds me of the college admissions scandal. There, the blatantly illegal acts of bribery and misrepresentation highlighted the merely immoral, business-as-usual legacy admissions and "donation" schemes.
The clearly illegal religion scheme described in this article highlights the immoral everyday scheme that finances churches and synagogues, in which church leaders live prosperously by convincing fearful congregants that god wants money and heaven awaits those who give it to the church.
Victor Gonzales and his schemes are not different from standard church practice, just clumsier, and have crossed the line from immoral to illegal.
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@William Romp
Locking people inside and taking their government benefits is not standard church practice.
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@Hope True.. but "grifting" people out of their money and freedoms IS more common in Church settings then many Christians want to admit.
THAT was the point William was making.
Just like Cops need to stop building a blue wall around bad cops and lead the way to highlighting them and condemning them... Christian churches and denominations have the same obligation with church corruption and crime.
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@Chuck
This is a really good point. On the one hand, there's a lot of violent history when two sects of major religions disagree with each other. On the other hand, in a modern age this disagreement can (in theory) be non-violent and socially constructive.
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Prison time please. This is not the church and these are not pastors.
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@curach
Sadly, this IS a church. We need to stop playing "no true Scotsman" and take a look at how these corrupt institutions can thrive in our society -- how to distinguish and rapidly cull corrupt churches from those that are truly helping people.
But yes, I agree with hopes for prison time for the perpetrators.
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A good reason to TAX ALL CHURCHES .
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@Alan
YES yes yes. And if they have activities that are helping people, set those activities in a separately organized fully-regulated non-profit.
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@Alan Spot on, no tax breaks for these guys.
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NYT, please: words matter. Call a “17-year-old Mexican-American woman” what she is: An American teenager. A teenage girl. Held against her will. My God.
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When literally anyone can claim to be a church, of course something like this will happen.
I see new "churches" popping up all the time. In my area they are often associated with a residential, or semi-residential properties - there is always a home attached. I often wonder how many churches are fronts for either money laundering, or exempt havens for people exploiting the system.
Religion and exploitation of it continues to corrupt.
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Reminds me of a scathing George Carlin bit that was so funny and yet so true...."God is all powerful and all knowing but he needs money. He just can't handle money."
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@susan: Here in Houston, the biggest church by far has made its pastor and his wife wealthy and powerful by preaching the "prosperity gospel" - that God will make you successful, but you have to give us your money first. Feeding the hungry doesn't feed the cash flow.
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Criminals often use religion or churches as their tools. If the government would stop enabling this behavior by allowing tax deductible status, they might go somewhere else. We, as a country, encourage the crooks to go down this avenue. (See Falwell Jr. as just one of many examples.)
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@Tricia Good point, but in recent years it seems more and more the other way around: Religion and churches often use criminality as their tools. Money is always the goal, even those churches that don't need to stoop to this level want more and more of it.
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@Tricia
Well said.
Religion is politics. Politics as a practice requires duplicity and manipulation.
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This sounds to me like the Hispanic version of James Warren Jones of Jonestown where the leader could manipulate his followers to work for his benefit.
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Churches, the biggest scam ever. These people should be charged with human trafficking, sex abuse does not have to be a factor for this crime.
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