Gullible was a baby chicken...

Not quite sure exactly what that saying means, but I remember Reid Boyer (our old youth pastor at WBC) used to say that to my friend Hillary because she would believe just about anything. I am bothered by the fact that so many people these days are extremely gullible and then want to punish someone else for their stupidity. I'm sorry if I step on anyone's toes here, but I am a bit of a skeptic and anyone who knows me well knows that I just don't believe things just because someone else tells me (most of the time) - I usually have to prove it to myself!! Here are two incidents, I've heard of recently, where I feel that people should have used their brains a little more and done some research.
In 1987, Oral Roberts, a well respected Evangelical Speaker stood in front of a sold out crowd of followers and proclaimed that GOD told him that he needed to get 10 MILLION dollars or that he (GOD) would strike him dead. That's not even the sad part of it - the sad part was that he was able to raise this astronomical amount in a very short time. He did not mention what he would be raising the money for, just to save his life. Does this strike anyone else as odd?? I mean, I totally believe that God is more than able to strike someone dead if he felt the urge, but I also believe that MY GOD is a tender, loving and fair God. I just can't buy into the idea that God would come down and tell someone to raise 10 million dollars just because and then threaten them with DEATH if they did not follow through.
More recently, I heard a couple of weeks ago about a couple in Monroe, Louisiana who claimed that the wife was a member of the CIA and could arrange for satellites in space to take a full body scan to detect disease, tumors, cancer or any other illness. You had to pay a fee, but of course the fee was reduced if you went through her as she could offer a "discount". If the body scan revealed any illness, she would arrange for Secret Service agents to come in while the person was sleeping and administer medication to cure them. This story is too bogus for me to make up. The couple was able to raise close to a million dollars in a matter of months which says to me that some of the people who were paying for these services possibly had a good bit of money, as I'm sure the couple didn't not accept IOU's. And with money, one is to assume that there was some level of education involved. When I heard this, I had to laugh out loud. Who could be so gullible to believe that something like this could take place? I know we have made great strides in Medicine over the last 20 years, but for Satellites to diagnose something and the CIA and Secret Service to take the time out of their schedules filled with protecting our country to administer medication to the people of Monroe (sorry if you know anyone who lives there) - I just can't buy into that. But what upsets me the most about this particular case was that the couple who ran the scam have been placed in jail for an undisclosed amount of time. I know they should be punished for what they did, but I'm shocked that they were able to find that many people able to pay for their "services". Those people have no one to blame but themselves.
Again, I'm sorry if I've offended anyone here. That is not my intention. My plea to you, DO NOT buy into random claims for a "quick fix" for your problems. Very few things in life come easy and fast - the best things in life are the things you have to work for!!!!