The Modern Televangelist

There should be a special place in hell for those that have taken something meant be as meaningful as a higher power and faith to monetize for their own gain; especially when they regularly seem to shun the opportunities to act morally. Modern religion already suffers from perversions of individual factions, yet televangelist are collectively a special group of despicable. In the age of mental health discussion we now have another group of people following the exact model.

As society finally catches up on the importance mental health it unfortunately opens an avenue for people to try and make money. This isn't isolated as social media has exploded with those trying to take advantage of the perception of 'charity' for attention instead of anyone's actual benefit. Social media provides the ability to reach an interaction directly and personally in a way no other media could before. This brings the 'influencer' so close that it's so much easier to pull the wool over their audience's eyes.

COVID changed so many things for the world as so many people really struggled with the isolation, on top of the lack of stability of what was the old world. This loneliness created even more desire for some sort of a connection, and the ability to connect with almost anyone via the internet put social media front and center to fill that vacuum. The subsequent TikTok explosion was right place, right time to fill that need for connection.

While the internet is a toilet of information, it does have trends that follow what people talk about, are concerned about and want to know. As people struggled with mental health issues on a mass scale those talking points came front and center. Because of our own suffering, being able to relate in that isolation hit the fast track for what people wanted to consume. However, the internet lacks regulation and oversight and it's only a matter of time before someone locks onto what people want and use it for their benefit.

Our modern televangelist now market themselves as the experts, the messiahs on these struggles so many deal with. There are no qualifications and instead can just come down to the flash or glitzy looking demonstration to stand in place of substance, instead of actually just being flash. The ring lights, graphics and editing make it look good that very little knowledge needs to be more than surface level to convince an audience that it's anything other than a similar person as you with some video skills.

Let me be clear, there should be no qualms with someone sharing their story or experiences. You have a platform and can do good by being the first to share your struggles and how you got help, but that's not what our new televangelists do. They aren't relating as people, they're speaking as 'experts.' Instead of stories it's a presentation to market themselves as someone to be followed; to be sought out for what they have to say. That is the key to their monetization, when really they are like the person taking piano lessons and just regurgitating to those one or more lessons behind them.

This is not only deplorable, but has become an area of major concern. One of the biggest consequences of the mental health conversation running rampant on social media is the epidemic of self-diagnosis. While it isn't just mental health, this is by far the most dangerous as those needing real help can avoid real solutions while listening to these non-experts. It also becomes convoluted by those listening to someone not qualified to 'lead' the conversation who may not have actually experienced what they've self-diagnosed themselves with. That's also not pointing out the negatives of detractors using this to decide the issues aren't really that big of a deal.

But, of course, the accountability operates in that safe gray area of being blameless because people decide what to listen to for themselves; or they're just trying to help and a few delusional 'testimonies' are enough to validate what they're doing. The reality is, a truly selfless good deed may not be possible, it is easy to evaluate who they really are because the decision was about content. It's not about what will help but instead of what an audience will consume.