Wealth & Money Quote by J. Irwin Miller

Miller’s line works because it refuses to treat televangelism as mere tacky entertainment; he frames it as a moral and economic crime with a pedigree. By putting “money from the poor” up front, he makes the transaction the scandal, not the doctrine. The poor aren’t just mistaken believers here; they’re targets in a rigged exchange where faith is converted into a revenue stream for the already comfortable. “Extract” is surgical: it implies pressure, manipulation, a practiced technique that leaves the donor weaker.

Then comes the rhetorical gut-punch: the Renaissance popes. That comparison isn’t random history-nerd flexing. It’s a culturally loaded shorthand for gilded corruption sold under sacred branding, the kind that helped trigger the Reformation. Miller is saying: we’ve seen this movie before, and it ends with public rupture. The phrase “style” signals conspicuous consumption, while “indulge in shameful acts” leaves the allegations broad enough to cover sexual hypocrisy, private decadence, and the general arrogance of untouchable power. The ambiguity is strategic; it invites the reader’s imagination to fill in the most damning examples.

Context matters: as a mid-century American businessman, Miller is speaking from inside the establishment, not as a fringe scold. That gives the critique a particular bite: he’s not attacking religion as such, but calling out a modern, mass-media clergy that adopted the logic of salesmanship. His subtext is that capitalism doesn’t just corrupt politics; it can monetize salvation itself, with the poor financing the spectacle.