It’s so insidious.
When I was a kid and I saw the televangelists saying all THE OPPOSITE stuff I heard in church and Sunday School (Methodist), and everybody was clapping and cheering, I thought “THIS IS A BIG JOKE. EVERYBODY IS IN ON IT”.
I believed it was all just a show for entertainment – and yes they were entertaining.
I assumed everybody got paid a little to be in the audience.
Wasn’t until – embarrassed to say – in my early 20s, maybe 21 years old, before I met my first person who believed that stuff for real in person.
I laughed thinking they were joking with the stuff they were saying.
They weren’t joking. It was an eye-opener.