Pious fraud

A pious fraud is a term used by skeptics for people who perform fraud in religion (for example, a pious fraud fakes miracles or psychic surgery) because of a sincere belief that the end justifies the means in religious matters.

Related Topics:
Skeptics - Fraud - Religion - Miracle - Psychic surgery

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The Oxford English Dictionary reports the phrase was first used in English in 1678. Edward Gibbon was particularly fond of the phrase, using it often in his monumental and controversial work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in which he criticized the likelihood of some of the martyrs and miracles of the early Christian church.

Related Topics:
Oxford English Dictionary - 1678 - Edward Gibbon - The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Martyr - Miracle - Christian

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William Howells wrote about shamans that they know that their tricks are imposition but that all who studied them agree that they really believe in their power to deal with spirits. According to Howells, their main purpose is an honest one and they believe that this justifies the means of hoodwinking his followers in minor technical matters.

Related Topics:
Shaman - Spirit

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