Top 20 Most Shocking Religious Scandals Ever 

Which of these scandals left your proverbial jaw on the floor? Let us know in the comments. For more content like this, click here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iL390qxRhqg.html

Just because you go to church every Sunday doesn’t make you a good person.

The fact that Peter Popoff is STILL out here peddling his spring water and people are STILL buying it is beyond me….

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15

My grandmother was one of the people who gave away their money to Tilton. She was a widow and fighting cancer at the time. People who use religion to take advantage of others, are the worst.

My grandfather had the best saying: Everyone loves talking about the halos above their heads, but no one talks about the devil horns holding it up there.

Thank you so much for exposing these evil greedy people that are using God to profit for themselves and to hurt others. SHAMELESS!!!

NEVER give money to a televangelist. They don't need it, for one. And it won't guarantee your entry into heaven. It's sad that people actually believe that.

As a Christian I’m shocked and disgusted these people claim to know God and still do these horrible, appalling, shameful and evil acts

My husbands grandmother would give her whole check every month. It was insane and his mother who was living with her couldn't stop her. Very sad

I am genuinely speechless that you left out Native Americans and First Nations children in this list. These children were ripped from their families and were abused by missionaries with sexual, manual, physical and mental abuse, occurring mostly in church-run schools. The federal governments not only took away their culture and identities by cutting their hair, refusing to let them speak their native language, and changing their name to an English name, all in the name of "Christianizing" them. Theses schools run by missionaries that were funded by the federal governments, lasted from the 17th century to being mostly shut down in 2007 with roughly 9,500 attending. The abuses of the children were only discovered in the late 20th century. There are still hundreds of deceased children that have yet to be discovered. Those who have been are just now being returned to their Tribes for burial. These children were taken from their families, land, and culture. They were forced to assimilate. They were abused and died. This went on by the hands of missionaries funded by the federal governments for 200+ years. Their bodies are just now, in the past couple of years, being returned for burial. Like I said, I am genuinely speechless this was not included.

As a Muslim man, I’m embarrassed by this. It’s sickening that people use religion to take advantage of people. Very sad.

Just because you're a pastor doesn't mean you aren't a sinner!!!😩😫🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤭

As a churchgoer, I am absolutely appalled at the audacity that these priests, pastors and ministers have. Thinking they could use religion as an excuse to take advantage of people, financially, sexually abuse minors and think they can get away with it. Are they stupid? Like everybody else, religious figures need to understand that actions have consequences.

More shocking to me than these videos, is that there are so many people that still follow and respect these monsters.

We need an updated version of this. There are so many newer religious scandals to choose from.

You know, the Bible warned against the phoney crowd. Seriously, when did Jesus ever say: "I'll heal you but only if your faith is great and you give me money." These larger-than-life televangelists really unsettle me. Even considering how some cults always seem to require money to 'belong'. I sincerely believe that one of the greatest blasphemies is using the name of God for your own gain. It's shocking.

The fact Robert Tilton still isn't behind bars is irritating

the greatest irony in this video is because another Houston based television minister actually day one opened his church doors during hurricane Harvey. Dr. Ed Young of Second Baptist Church immediately responded opening up three campuses as shelters and the other two would open if needed.

One reason Swaggert fell so hard was because he publicly and viciously attacked Jim Bakker. Bakker was Jimmy's fiercest rival. The hypocrisy was palpable!

When Peter Popoff made his comeback, he did it on BET which is just sad and bizarre

This is why I’m not religious. People hide behind the Bible and their own interpretations of what the Bible says. You don’t need a religion to know right from wrong.

Quite a few of these scandals occured in 1987, which was a big year for those events.

As a former resident of the city of Lynchburg, I'm surprised that the scandal involving Jerry Falwell Jr and Liberty University isnt mentioned at all.

They are all wolves in sheep’s clothing. I shouldn’t be surprised! Thanks for this info!

And this is why people distrust Christianity as a whole.

Even though those scammers and con men are despicable, at some point, people should take responsibility for being SO STUPID!

I’m a Christian. I used to watch Robert Tilton’s show to see if I could find any evidence he had any kind of ministry (feeding the hungry, helping the homeless, etc.) at all. He didn’t. Just continuously yelled for you to send all your money to him.

The fact that many of these people are still successful, proves the old adage ‘A sucker is born every day’.

A good friend of mine worked for Robert Tilton, doing sound. He and his coworker were putting in a new sound system, with fixing the mics, and such. People were not allowed to approach Tilton, without an appointment, no contact whatsoever. There was a thing going on to purchase several new van/bus vehicles, at a special price, and no one, including Tilton, was not suppose to be making a dime on it, which was stressed. One day, with the brand new mics still on, Tilton and the men involved in the purchase, ignoring my friend trying to tell them about the live mics still on them, kept walking away and talking. Both my friend and his coworker heard Tilton and then talking about how they were making all this money off the vehicle purchase. Obvious fraud,lies, etc. So my friend went to Tilton's office and told him he needed to speak to him about an urgent matter. He told him what they'd heard over the mics, and asked Tilton if he had anything to say about it. He didn't, and stood his ground,my friend pointing out what he'd heard,etc, still nothing, trying merely to sidestep and make BS excuses. No repentance, nothing. So my friend quit and left. IDK if anything further came of it, but I wasn't surprised. I'd warned my parents over years, about certain evangelist who I felt were deceiving people and had terrible sinful secrets themselves, but my parents refused to listen. Two of them were Jimmy Swagger and Jim Bakker. When they were exposed, I wasn't the least bit surprised. I didn't have any personal information on these guys, just a feeling in my heart and spirit, as to what was basically going on. I've often had to tell people, I told you so , unfortunately.

I was a Catholic who was raised by two generations of Catholics in my family, I went to a parochial grade school 1through 8, and served as an altar boy from fth grade though high school , I graduated from a Jesuit college and law school. In my teens I had the privilege of serving daily Mass with a priest on our trip through Europe including Masses at St, Peters on the main altar and two others, St. Peter's in Chains, the Duomo in Florence, St Marks in Venice, the Cathedral in Pisa, the Cathedral in Monaco and Several Masses in Notre Dame in Paris and in the Chuch of St. Catherine the Incorruptable to whom the Virgin Mary appeared and for whom Catherine created a medal in Her Honor. For years my faith was unwaivering until the scandals involving children and what is more horrific is the cover-up. This was not by a few, but many priests and their superoirs KNEW IT and just moved them to other parishes. My own parishes in two different towns separated by 40 miles each had a priest who was a child molester. I no longer support the church. I will not donate money to subsidize child abuse or the people that condone it. There are some sins that cannot be forgiven

It blows my mind how gullible some people are!

I remember Robert Tilton…he would always come on after weekday morning cartoons…that’s how I knew it was time to change the channel😂😂😂

How is Ravi not on this list? That rocked me harder than just about anything ever has. Really helped to cement my resolve against trusting ANY high profile Christian figures.

Yes! This video NEEDS TO be 'required viewing' in late high school. Thank you as always, WM!

Unless I missed it what wasn't Jim Jones mention & the mass suicide in Guyana.

I always believed that religion is the best money game in this world

The fact that its top 20 and not top 10 speaks volumes.

When you do a sequel,be sure you include Josh Duggar and Bridget and Chridtian Zeigler!!😮😅

Mother Teresa made me so damned mad. She was supposed to be so good and such a role model and there she was abusing the sick and poor for the "good of the church". It's amazing how she got great medical care while her patients laid dying in filth.

I'm disgusted at the Catholic church for not taking responsibility. Babies were used in medical tests without consent and 796 bodies of babies were discovered in a mass grave, some at the site of a disused septic tank. Disgusting. Makes me so angry. Those nuns came two my great grandmothers house when her husband died saying she can't look after her children by herself, good woman chased those witches from her porch with a frying pan in her hand.

Pastor Gino Jennings warns everybody for years but many of us would pay no attention of him. Thank you. Your video backed up all of Pastor Gino Jennings' claims.😊

My father used to try and force me to go to Church as a kid. Put my foot down when I was a teenager and never looked back. People/ scandals like this only solidify my choice. I’m not trying to insult anybody that does go frequently or anything but I believe you should believe in yourself first and foremost

Many years ago, I was flipping channels, and I came across Robert Tipton. I watched for a few minutes. I started laughing. At that instant, Tipton opened his eyes, looked at the camera, and said, "Someone's laughing at me!" I was startled. Comedian Ron White had a similar experience. I could relate! 😆

One religious scandal that’s always overlooked is the Duplessis Orphans. Those unfortunate souls deserve to have their story told

I have the strangest memory of Peter Popoff. I was watching Martin, and on came an ad for his Miracle Spring Water. That was the first time I’ve seen it and it’s one of the creepiest commercials I’ve ever seen

I argue that Canadas residental school saga shouldve been on the list... those schools were run by churches of different faiths and tried to assimilate Native youth into white culture

Was raised in a religious home, and it tore my family apart. Now none of us kids will deal with organized religion

"There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over." "Heavenly Bank Account" - Frank Zappa.

In this day and age, it is a mystery to me how people can still fall for the BS that is organized religion, let alone these scandals.

"There is a sucker born every minute" ~,, P.T. Barnum ~

Missed the residential schools in Canada. They’ve been finding huge mass graves at former residential schools in Canada

I honestly wonder how that circumcision ritual can NOT be called child abuse. I was utterly horrified to learn that a grown man is allowed or even expected to do that to a baby. It is sick and disgusting in the extreme, and no sane, loving parent would ever allow ANY adult to do that to their child! I do not care how ancient, revered, etc. this kind of thing is. It should be OUTLAWED forever!

None of these scandals surprise me. The egos of these people always escape into the media. Also, Carlton Pierson was an honest man. He suffered for it also.

‘Airlines’ don’t fly my schedule.’ 🤣🤣🤣 And people gives money to those clowns flying private! 😂

It’s sad that even though they were caught and lost most of their audience. There are still some that stands by them 🙄

Religion does far more harm than good. History proves this.

I worked for a contractor in a bank vault opening Tilton's prayer letters to pull money, checks, wedding bands, etc. We were told to throw the prayer cloths and little packets of powdered milk in the 50-gallon drum next to the table. The stacks of money from just me each day were astounding. Any jewelry was discarded as it would cost too much to convert to cash. My fingers bled from the dryness and reaching into each letter (the machine automatically cut the top off, which is why powdered milk often went everywhere). I lasted a week and only that long because I needed rent money and time to find another contracting agency. They told me they would never place me again, and I told them I would never work for them again. For years they tried to walk it back, but I eventually got into tech and moved out of Oklahoma.

In regards to the so called "Prosperity Gospel", no amount of money can save a person's soul. Anyone who tries to preach differently is not acting out of goodwill or faith in God. Salvation comes from God alone, not a checkbook.

Kenneth Copeland, "Send us your month's this mortgage payment. God will repay you."

Robert Tilton will always be most remembered as "The Farting Preacher." 🤣

About 20 years ago I saw a movie based on the experiences of some of the girls imprisoned in the Magdalene laundries. It was so horrific and even more so when I realized that these girls were my age, the movie taking place in the late 60s, exactly when I was in high school. One girls was in a catholic orphanage when a priest noticed her on the playground and decided that she was too pretty for her own good and she was forced to work in the laundry for several years before she was able to escape. At the end there was a paragraph saying that the movie was based on true experiences and that once these young women were taken into a laundry many spent the rest of their lives there. And that the last one had closed in the mid 90s just a few years before the movie was made. On the way out people in front of me me were complaining about "more catholic" bashing but later I saw a documentary with some of the women whose lives were portrayed in the movie and they seemed very believable.

And all of THIS is why religions are failing. Not disbelief in God, but a total lack of faith in religions.

Jim and Tammy Baker. I was vacationing in the Orlando area at the time when the Bakers moved their TV ministry to Orlando. There were billboards which stated "Jim and Tammy, Go to Miami." I learned about where exactly where they had relocated and I just had to go see. It was a mostly abandoned strip mall which was overgrown with weeds, along with a small satellite dish. The phrase that immediately came to mind was "How the mighty have fallen."

I'll never forget Oral Robert's telling his congregation that Jesus told him that if he didn't raise 1,000,000.00 by a certain time, that He (Jesus) would take him (Oral Roberts) home. He didn't and He didn't. Go figure. Not only that, but I caught my 86 year old, on fixed income, Barely-making-ends-meet mother, writing a check for 100.00 to his ministry at this time. Talk about pissed off!

Im a Christian who doesn't trust TV evangelists.

Jim Bakker now makes millions from selling dooms day nachos in a bucket.

This is one of the few WatchMojo lists that I can agree with.

There are many of these I didn't know about. At the time, I was shocked by Jimmy Swaggart. The scandal that was more recent and shocked me was about Ravi Zacharias.

Swaggart makes a speech and not only is forgiven, but has his own channel where people are sending him thousands of dollars. And his wife and cronies are damning Democrats and singing the praises of Donald Trump. That's the worst.

Trust me when you are outside of the walls of religion it's easy to see through all the B.S in this world of ours.

Peter Popoff with that damn waterrrr! 😂😂😂😂😂 I laughed hard every single time I seen the commercial. I’m like bruh u do know we can see u right? 😂

"The Eyes of Tammy Faye" was put together well! Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain were excellent in their roles!

Jim Bakker is still up to his old tricks.

My grandmother used to say, “The doctrines of some of these churches are too strict for a person to live by.”

So the top 20 has 1 Jewish, 1 Mormon, and 18 Christian scandals? Gotta admit, I'm a bit disappointed none of the scandalous Hindu "godmen" and cults were featured. Some of them did get convicted and sent to prison. Others fled before they were arrested. Pretty much for the same reasons-money, sex, power, megalomania.

It always fascinates me just how people fall for these fake preachers.

Thank you for sharing

Whenever I see any of these frauds claiming they have a hot line to God I always remember, " Beware of false prophet's".

I grew up in church. Don't go anymore. The vast majority of my peers have similar stories. God is real, but it's hard to find God in a church.

It sucks when people gives a group of people a bad name.

I was abused by a boy scout leader. A great man the church said

The only thing shocking about this, is people being shocked by this.

1. Religion in general. Every religion has fools blindly following.

Anyone else find the fact that Carlton Pearson was kicked from his church for saying "maybe there is no hell and we all get our chance at redemption... that sounds a lot more Christian than saying gay people or unbaptised babies will go to hell".

I live about 20 minutes from Earl Paulk's old church. It's called Greater Travelers Rest now. Several movies and tv shows have been filmed there. The street it on, Flat Shoals Pkwy, had just been renamed for Earl Paulk Pkwy, right before the sonphew story broke. They snatched his name right back off that street.

Is no one honest anymore?! I'm saddened by Mother Teresa.

" Donate, please! So we can save the word of God." No one, not one sheep questioned his request.

Preacher, Televangelist, A Conartist by any other name is still a Conartist.

The Jimmy Swaggart Scandal inspired a song by Ozzy Osbourne. That song is called Miracle Man.

I'm convinced "Depart from me I never knew you" rings a bell.

There should be a sound-clip of Ozzy Osbourne saying "You're busted!" over all of these

Horrible people using Religion and God for their own fortune and desires. They used people who trusted them. Truly evil.

What is worrying is how many people follow them and hang onto their every word.

John MacArthur publicly rebuked a woman who was seeking a separation from her husband despite the woman saying that the man had been abusive to her and the children and doing truly sick things with kids. The husband is now spending life in jail and MacArthur and his disciples refuse to say he did anything wrong

Being spiritual and believing in god can be a wonderful thing. Being religious and belonging to a church can be an evil thing. At this point in time it sure seems like most churches are out for themselves. 😐

This is why they are called sheep. They are fleeced by their so-called religious leaders

This just proves how gullible people can get when it comes to death and life. The man on a stick has the power...

How anyone could still believe in religion is beyond me. 🙄

There are many naive people out there looking for something thats not there😢