John Oliver starts a church to preach against televangelists and their shady 'prosperity gospel'

John Oliver preaches against televangelists
(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

On Sunday's Last Week Tonight, John Oliver took on the preachers and the sinners — or, more precisely, the TV preachers who prey on their congregants to finance their lavish lifestyles, and the IRS that is legally bound to let them. "There are roughly 350,000 congregations in the United States, and many of them do great work: Feeding the hungry, clothing the poor," Oliver explained, lest you think he is anti-religion. "But this is not a story about them — this is about the churches who exploit people's faith for monetary gain."

Televangelists were a big deal in the 1980s, until many of them were publicly disgraced, but "though you may not realize it, televangelism is thriving in this country," Oliver said. You may have heard of Creflo Dollar's congregation-funding drive for a new $65 million private jet, but that's apparently a common request for televangelists. And it's only the tip of the iceberg.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.