Over the last couple of years, I have written mainly about fraud and double talk in religious settings. Deception about history shouldn’t happen in the church but it does; spin from church leaders shouldn’t happen but it does.
Academic fraud shouldn’t happen but it does. This NYTs article provides a glimpse inside the fiasco in the University of Minnesota’s medical research program.
The author says an honor code isn’t enough; I agree. An independently funded body won’t solve every problem since it would be populated by people, but it would probably help.
Recommended reading.
Category: Professional issues
Was the Germanwings Flight 9525 Pilot a Muslim Convert?
With very little help from me, one of our fantastic psychology majors at Grove City College, Megan Hurst, here examines how social psychology principles may shed some light on the persistence of rumors that the pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 was a recent Muslim convert.
Social Psychology in the News: Was the Germanwings Flight 9525 pilot a Muslim convert?
Last week, the world was gripped by the story of Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Germanwings Flight 9525, who intentionally crashed his plane into the French Alps instantaneously killing all passengers on the flight. This tragic event has left the world wondering why this young pilot deliberately activated a descent into the Alps.
Word associate the phrase “mysterious plane crash.” For many people, this phrase could produce thoughts like “9/11,” or “terrorism;” however for others, suspicion of Islam comes up. In the aftermath of the crash, advocacy websites, social networks, and blogs, such as The Gateway Pundit, capitalized on this availability heuristic and began writing posts about Lubitz’ alleged recent conversion to Islam, complete with a link to a Facebook page with an Arabic cover photo supposedly created by Lubitz. The availability heuristic can be described as a mental shortcut that relies on the examples and information that quickly pop into one’s mind when basing judgments on a specific topic, concept, or event. However, in this case, the evidence does not support the initial attribution some made about Islam as a factor. For instance, the Facebook page used to suggest Lubitz was Muslim was obviously set up by someone besides Lubitz since status changes have been added after his death.
Because anti-Muslim internet sources have speculated about Lubitz’ religious orientation based on a discredited Facebook page, people may subsequently incorporate this misinformation into their memory of the event and believe that it was always “known” that Lubitz had been a Muslim. The misinformation effect can occur when misleading information is presented after an event and becomes incorporated into one’s memory of that event. One popular conservative pundit, National Review’s Andy McCarthy, tweeted out the Gateway Pundit’s “report” initially as credible evidence. He later backed away and said “we will need to wait and see.” Even if McCarthy later acknowledges that there is no evidence that Lubitz converted to Islam, the presentation of the conversion rumors may contaminate how his readers’ recall the event.
In fact, no other clues have been found which suggest he had converted to Islam. Of course this lack of evidence has not stopped speculation that Lubitz was a Muslim. Another social psychology concept, belief perseverance, may be at work. Belief perseverance is a tendency to persist with one’s held beliefs despite the fact that evidence disconfirms those beliefs. People may be unwilling to admit that the original belief may not be true. Even after it was revealed that the Facebook page was fake and put up post-crash, some readers may still hold onto the original belief that Lubitz was a recent Muslim convert.
Beliefs often persevere due to the operation of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one’s preconceived beliefs. Many people will seek out and read blogs, like the anti-Muslim German PI-News, which affirms their pre-existing beliefs. These sources have reported speculation about the Islamic faith being involved in the tragedy which their readers may be disposed to accept. Unfortunately, belief perseverance and confirmation bias work together to create a sense of certainty which is unwarranted by the evidence. People often stick to their original beliefs and choose to discard useful facts and opinions that don’t closely match their preconceptions. Some go so far as to actively discount evidence which disconfirms their previously held beliefs by denigrating mainstream sources as being biased or part of a cover up.
Most of the time reputable news outlets present their findings in ways that can be evaluated or cross-checked. For instance, media sources have addressed issue surrounding Lubitz’ health. The prosecutor in the case has been cited andspecifically indicated that no evidence has been found which point to “political or religious factors.” According to some reports, Lubitz suffered from mental and medical illnesses. One optometrist had seen Lubitz and considered him unfit to fly; Lubitz reportedly told another doctor that he was too stressed from work. A torn up medical leave slip and antidepressants were also found in the pilot’s apartment. Even with this evidence, it is not clear yet what points are relevant.
Hopefully, being aware of these cognitive factors can help us form judgments based in evidence and relatively free from bias.
-Megan Hurst & Warren Throckmorton
Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris Claims to Hold a Doctorate of Literature
Robert Morris has built a megachurch in Southlake Texas which has been rated as the third largest church in America. Given that significant accomplishment, it seems that self-inflation would be unnecessary. However, in his upcoming book published by the Thomas Nelson imprint of HarperCollins Christian, Morris includes a version of his bio which includes a description of a “doctorate of literature” he claims he holds. See below from the upcoming book, Truly Free:
I wrote the church and Thomas Nelson to ask if this “doctorate of literature” was an earned doctorate. Repeated requests were not answered. This “doctorate” is most likely to be an honorary doctorate of letters given to Morris by the small Bible school housed in his church — The King’s University. Morris is currently the chair of the board of the school.
An earlier 2011 bio described Morris’ doctorate as a “doctor of letters” awarded by TKU. This would have been about a year after TKU’s board awarded it to him.
This description of the doctor of letters is closer to the reasons why such honorary degrees are given. However, this bio is still misleading. According to Morris, his main work, The Blessed Life, was ghostwritten. He told his Gateway audience in January of this year that a member of Gateway (David Holland), wrote the book based on on recordings which Morris made in a hotel room. He said the ghostwriter helped him with several books. As it turns out, Morris was given an honorary doctorate for writing books he didn’t actually write.
I understand that many celebrities don’t write their own books, but it is misleading to consider those celebrities to be accomplished writers. They may have good ideas and have enough money to afford to pay a good writer but those books aren’t representative of the author’s writing ability when the listed author didn’t write them.
So in his new book published by Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins Christian (as well as the bio on the church website), Morris claims to hold a doctorate of literature when in fact, he was given an honorary doctorate from his own school for books he didn’t write.
When it was discovered that Mark Driscoll’s book Real Marriage achieved New York Times best seller status via a marketing scheme, Driscoll stopped using “NYTs best selling author” as a description. That was a commendable move. Of course, the proper thing to do for both publisher and author is to present an accurate description to the public.
The ongoing story of Christian authors embellishing their reputations demonstrates the importance Christian leaders place on peripheral persuasion. Perceived expertise is one of several powerful factors operating via the peripheral route to persuasion. Persuasion theory posits two primary routes to persuasion — central and peripheral. In central route strategies, the persuader offers facts and figures with accuracy being important. An assumption is made that the audience is motivated to carefully consider arguments for and against a proposition.
However, in peripheral route strategies, the assumption is that the audience isn’t highly invested in the process but will nonetheless make a decision or render an opinion. Peripheral route tactics influence people to say yes or make a decision for reasons other than the merits of the case. In the situation above, the publisher and author have embellished credentials to communicate expertise in the service of selling books. There may be more personal motives but the effect is that audience members who are motivated by perceived expertise will attribute expertise to Morris due to the embellishments.
Unfortunately, it appears these kind of tactics are embedded features of evangelical and conservative expressions of Christianity.
UPDATE: Just found this article by Phil Cooke on honorary degrees. Bottom line: One should not refer to the degree as if it was earned, or use Dr. in reference to oneself unless one has an earned doctorate.
New Jersey Judge Says Gay Cure Claim is Fraud
Recognizing the position of all mental health organizations, a New Jersey judge said yesterday it is consumer fraud to claim homosexuality is a disease which can be cured.
Judge Peter Barsio, Jr. wrote:
It is a misrepresentation in violation of the CFA (Consumer Fraud Act), in advertising or selling conversion therapy services to describe homosexuality, not as being a normal variation of human sexuality, but as being a mental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent.
Reparative therapists hold that attractions to the same sex represent a disordered state due to deficits in parenting. These theories have been discredited long ago but reparative therapists have held on to them. Given that therapists offer a service to consumers, consumer protection law has been used in the New Jersey case against JONAH to address the fraudulent claims.
JONAH claims not to offer therapy but I suspect testimony will establish that they do (or at least did). I know that JONAH historically has promoted reparative therapy which has parental fault at the center of the causal narrative. I have seen many families torn up over the reparative theory.
Former Chief Financial Officer at Turning Point Claims David Jeremiah Used Questionable Methods to Secure a Spot on Best Seller Lists
George C. Hale once worked for David Jeremiah at Shadow Mountain Community Church and Turning Point Ministry. Hale resigned in 2009 because he had misgivings about the way Jeremiah handled his book marketing and sales. From Hale, I have obtained an open letter to David Jeremiah and Turning Point Ministry. As he discloses in the letter below, Hale has approached David Jeremiah and Jeremiah’s agent, Sealy Yates, about the best-seller methodology. For several weeks, I have periodically reached out to Turning Point and Sealy Yates with no acknowledgement of my contacts. Hale believes that Turning Point employees who speak to the press about the book selling scheme will be fired.
From what has been previously disclosed, there is reason to believe Hale when he discusses the methods Jeremiah has used to attempt to secure a spot on the New York Times best-seller list. In a recent Christianity Today story, a link to an archived webpage belonging to San Diego based ResultSource indicated that Jeremiah was a client of the company for his book Captured by Grace. Captured by Grace did indeed make it onto various best-seller lists. Jeremiah has had at least six books reached the New York Times best seller list since 2007, including the 2014 book Agents of the Apocalypse: A Riveting Look at the Key Players of the End Times.
From my conversations with Hale, it appears that Kevin Small at ResultSource provided tips on how to make the New York Times list. However, it is not clear whether or not Jeremiah formerly used Small’s services for more than Captured by Grace. In contrast to the Mars Hill Church/Mark Driscoll contract, the Turning Point method does not appear to rely on church money to buy books, but rather solicits donations for a book in advance of the publication date. Turning Point’s Paul Joiner was touted by Kevin Small to Mars Hill Church as having special expertise in setting up such websites. ResultSource or a Turning Point team then buys the books at retail price from sources used by the New York Times in the count to form the best seller list. When donations were strong, Turning Point bought more books than necessary to cover the “orders” and gave them away.
According to Hale, the purchases did not benefit Turning Point. Hale believes that the ministry would have benefited by first purchasing the books at a vastly reduced price (which according to Hale, Turning Point did before 2007), and then offering them to listeners for a larger donation. When books are purchased at the author’s discount price, the author does not receive royalties. However, by purchasing the books at retail price, the ministry missed out on the markup but David Jeremiah obtained royalties and obtained a place on the best-seller lists. Hale told me that he doesn’t see how being on the best-seller list benefited the ministry.
Below is the letter from George Hale:
I worked for David Jeremiah for seven years. Five years as the CFO and the COO of Shadow Mountain Ministries and two years as the CFO and acting Chief Development Officer of Turning Point Ministries. David and I had a rocky beginning but ultimately a great working relationship. I tell people that David fired me three times and I quit two times, and that was within the first month. This is not far from the truth. I am a no nonsense business person who believes that confronting issues is positive and productive. I have very little gray area in my life. Things are mostly black or white for me. This comes in part from being a CPA and a successful Bank President during the rough and tumble years of the “80’s and “90’s. Having been a Navy Seal probably adds to my approach to issues and people. David is not comfortable with my manner and he is no doubt right, most of the time. I have learned much from him. One important thing is that people are more important than solving problems.
I began my employment at Turning Point during July 2007. During August of 2007 Turning Point began promoting David Jeremiah’s Book “Captured by Grace” for pre-publication purchase for a donation of $25 or more. I believe that approximately 100,000 books were pre-purchased (I could be wrong on this number but I think it is close) for an average donation of $25 during the months of August and September 2007. When the book was released in October, Turning Point used the money donated for the book to purchase copies of the book from retail booksellers such as Amazon and Borders. Turning Point then sent the book to those who had donated and requested the book. These purchases where timed to get the book listed as a “best-seller.” It worked.
After this occurred I voiced my concern as to the ethics of such action to David Jeremiah. I was also concerned because Turning Point could have purchased the same books directly from the publisher for approximately $10 each instead of the $25 each paid to the book retailers. David assured me that his agent and attorney, Sealy Yates had opined that the transactions were honest and ethical.
This same action was repeated during August, September and October 2008 with the same results. I again requested that Turning Point not repeat such transactions as I could not discern any benefit to Turning Point for purchasing the books at retail verses purchasing the books wholesale from the publisher. I thought the transaction to be unethical. David told me that he would take my advice under consideration.
During August 2009 David Jeremiah said that he wanted to promote his new book for pre-publication purchase but for a donation of any amount. He had not yet made a decision as to the method that Turning Point would use to purchase the books to be sent to those who would request them.
During September 2009 David Jeremiah told me that he had decided to use the money received by Turning Point from those requesting his book to purchase the books at retail from booksellers and not purchase the books from the publisher at a lower amount. He acknowledged that he was aware that this was disappointing to me.
Turning Point had received an average donation of $35 per book instead of $25 dollars during this 2009 campaign. Therefore, if my memory is correct, Turning Point had received approximately $3.5 million dollars for the approximately 100,000 books pre-sold. I thought that the added donation over and above the $25 purchase price of the book was meant to benefit Turning Point and was not to be used to purchase additional books at retail. This did not happen. This thought, together with my prior opinion that the entire method was unethical and did not benefit Turning Point, led me to immediately resign my position with Turning Point which I did September 15, 2009.
I have only spoken about these events in a very limited way since that date. Primarily talking with David Jeremiah and Sealy Yates to encourage them to cease such activity which they tell me has continued since I left Turning Point. They do not agree with my position and have stated that they see nothing unethical, immoral or illegal about how Turning Point promotes David’s books and gets them identified as “best-selling” books by the various listing agents such as the New York Times. We have agreed to disagree on this topic and have otherwise remained friends.
Let me add that I very much admire David Jeremiah and believe him to be one of the best Bible teachers in the world today. I helped craft the vision for Turning Point of delivering “the unchanging Word to an ever-changing world”. I believe and support this vision. I believe that David is blessed and chosen by God for this purpose.
That said, when Mark Driscoll was exposed in early 2014 for attempting in a small way to do what David had successfully done for the past seven years and it was also exposed that Sealy, ResultSource and possibly others associated with David Jeremiah may have assisted Mark Driscoll, I became very concerned that this cancer was spreading. I thought that it may have gained acceptability in part based upon the success of David Jeremiah.
When David Jeremiah spoke openly with World Magazine during June 2014 about his method of promoting his books I felt that he had placed this subject into the public domain for discussion.
The final events which led to my now talking were when LifeWay removed Mark Driscoll’s books from its book stores while prominently promoting David Jeremiah as a “best-selling” author, and when Mars Hills Church failed partly because of this book publication deceptive practice. I feel that now is the time for the public to voice its opinion. Is this practice OK as Sealy Yates and David Jeremiah proclaim or is it deceptive and unethical as I believe?;
I have taken my stand.
What do you believe?
In His service,
George Hale
I have placed links in Hale’s letter where important to help readers get more information. In this scenario, it appears that some deception could be involved if donations in amounts higher than the retail price of a single book are used to buy other books as if they were the subject of an individual purchase. More importantly, the ministry’s resources and staff serve to promote the book and run the fulfillment of the sales at ministry expense. By paying retail price, the book royalties go to the author and the sales count toward the best-seller lists.
As noted, I have contacted Turning Point numerous times and await their comment about Hale’s claims.