Last Week Tonight's John Oliver Starts His Own Tax-Exempt Televangelism Business

The twenty-minute clip explores the concept of “seed faith,” wherein televangelists suggest that sending them donations is like planting seeds which you’ll eventually sow, as in “send us $1000 and eventually your credit card debt will just disappear!” Oliver rightfully compares that to seeking the secret of weight loss inside an economy-size bucket of peanut M&Ms. Staffers at the show got into a seven-month correspondence with televangelist Robert Tilton, who sent piles piles of letters, begging for money and promising blessings upon blessings in exchange.

Which is how John Oliver came to establish his own church, to demonstrate the thorough absurdity of the IRS providing tax exemptions to these “preachers” as they siphon money from the faithful and the desperate.