Fabricated illness and fake healing –  Why are we so gullible?

A pastor falsely claims to have cancer

Author’s note: Shortly before publication of this essay, I heard yet another story of someone who pretended to have cancer and deceived many people in the process. A separate essay will be required to do justice to that story, but  this episode of the True Crime Daily podcast details the story of a woman who falsely claimed to have cancer and was finally exposed after receiving over $100,000 in donations.

I recently read an essay about a pastor who pretended to have cancer. This man pretended to have cancer for two years, and even wrote a song for patients with cancer. Even members of his family, including his wife, were fooled. It turns out he eventually confessed that he didn’t have cancer and he had made up the story to cover up his addiction to internet pornography.  If you want more details, you can read the story at this link.

I’m not sure how making up a story about having a terminal illness in any way addresses the issue of an addiction. My guess is that he likely had other mental health issues, in addition to his addiction. A larger issue is the fact that he obviously did not feel safe admitting his addiction and seeking help within his church community. What are the lessons from this story?

The need for critical thinking

On one hand, this story reminds me of the need for critical thinking. When I wrote the first draft of this essay, I didn’t have any information about the man who made up the story about having cancer beyond what I read in the essay linked above.   I couldn’t help thinking about how people in the faith community are often so gullible and often get led down “rabbit holes” whereas if they had simply asked the right questions, this may have been avoided. Since writing the first draft, I have listened to a video account of the same story in which the commentator states that he actually did have physical symptoms – including nausea and hair loss. Her conclusion was that his symptoms may have developed as a result of the stress he was experiencing due to having to keep up with such a big lie. If this account is accurate, maybe his story was so convincing that it wouldn’t be fair to suggest that gullibility of those around him played a role. According to reports, he even went as far as making up letters from the doctor, giving updates about his treatment.   The extent to which people will go to sustain a web of lies is actually very scary, as the following story also demonstrates.

Surgery without a scar?

I am reminded of an incident that occurred when I attended an all-girls boarding school where gullibility was clearly an issue. One of the students had a prolonged absence from school, reportedly due to a serious illness. She eventually returned to school with an impressive story about how God had miraculously healed her.

I never spoke to her directly but remember being told that she had undergone a major surgical operation. I heard from other students that when she was asked why there was no surgical scar at the site of operation, she said something like, “God was so wonderful, they used someone else’s skin to cover it up!”  

It doesn’t take medical training to know that skin grafting performed by even the most meticulous plastic surgeon will still leave a scar. But somehow, this young lady managed to deceive people into thinking that she had experienced some sort of miracle. At some point, someone at the school asked the right questions and exposed her web of lies.

I believe she was eventually expelled from the school, but not before the principal made her walk around the campus exposing the part of her body that she claimed had been operated on, so everyone could see that there was no surgical scar.

This student had been a very active member of the Christian fellowship, and so was well respected and that made it easy for her to deceive people. However, considering how unrealistic parts of her story were, if someone had asked her some critical questions earlier, she may have been stopped before the story got so convoluted. I can’t help wondering what would have made her resort to making up such a story in the first place. Looking back all these years later, my sense is that she likely had underlying mental health issues that were undiagnosed and therefore untreated.

People with mental health problems require professional help

Both of these stories highlight the need for churches and other faith communities to acknowledge the fact that mental health issues are real and to encourage their members who are struggling with mental health problems and addictions to seek professional help.

Unfortunately, there are many faith communities where people are discouraged from seeking professional help for mental health issues. I believe both laypersons and clergy should have some basic understanding of mental health issues. Very often, religious and spiritual leaders are dealing with mental health issues of their own and this can lead to abuse of their followers, sometimes with fatal consequences. The tragedies that ended the cults led by Jim Jones and David Koresh are only a few examples of what can happen when people follow a leader without questioning. Faith should not preclude us from exercising our ability to think critically and ask rational questions. If something doesn’t seem right, it’s OK to ask questions. You just might be saving your own or someone else’s life.