They’ll Believe Anything

That “closed world” that refuses to know anything about the real world can be sold any idea if it comes from an acceptable source. Peter Popoff found that out even before he became a big media personality. He sold booklets that confirmed the worst fears of those who tremble at the words “demon” or “Satan.” Some titles: “Demons at Your Doorstep,” “Calamities, Catastrophies [sic] and Chaos,” and “Six Things Satan Uses to Rob You of God’s Abundant Blessings.” From the first booklet, we learn the answer to that age-old question, “What Is Collagen?”:Doctors and clinics specializing in abortion have discovered a bonanza. In addition to the millions rolling in as medical fees, there is another gold mine. I will begin explaining with this question: Have you ever wondered what happens to the aborted fetus? Perhaps it is flushed down a toilet or burned in a furnace? Oh no, they take that fetus ... put it into a plastic bag and weigh it. Why weigh it? Because certain cosmetic companies pay around $5,500 per pound for that fetus! Why do they buy the fetus? For collagen. Collagen is the newest “miracle” ingredient in expensive skin creams that diminish wrinkles and purportedly maintain firmness.... What is collagen? Brace yourself. They take that tender, unborn baby—which often already had a heartbeat and had been breathing—they grind that tiny being in a processor and whip it into a cream. That’s collagen. Yes, demons are at our doorsteps, even in our homes—their products even in our bodies!

As I relate such matters in these pages, it is difficult to realize that I’m not writing fantasy fiction. But it is clear that much of what I report, and what is believed by those who are duped by the charlatans, sounds like National Lampoon material. Popoff’s insane story of the collagen conspiracy is a total invention.

The Popoff Camp Answers by Mail

On July 17, 1986, Popoff sent a letter to those who had written to inquire about accusations I’d made and the major news stories that developed about the Popoff radio device. It said, in partThe so-called Great [sic] Randi, a magician and avowed atheist, is trying to discredit anything and everything that is supernatural. He is attacking every charismatic ministry in this country. Most of his so-called charges are out right [sic] lies.... He says I carry fifty wheelchairs around the country and fake miracles.... I have never faked a miracle. I have never carried a wheelchair into my crusades. That is the absolute truth.... Randi has defamed my wife and prayer partner Elizabeth. ... Yes, Elizabeth loves to greet you and shake hands with you at our crusades. But, I only pray for those whom the Holy Spirit prompts me to minister unto.... But the carnal mind cannot understand these things because they must be spiritually discerned.

That calls for a brief discussion. Popoff’s statement puts all sorts of words in my mouth and intentions in my mind that never even occurred to me. The wheelchairs were 30 in number, not 50, and they were carried by W. V. Grant, not Popoff. His statement “I have never carried a wheelchair into my crusades” is clever. Note that he does not say that he never rented a wheelchair and sat someone in it. If I have defamed Elizabeth merely by describing her participation in the deception and quoting a small part of what she said in some four and a half hours of recordings we have of her transmissions, so be it. As for the statement quoted above, that he will “only pray for those whom the Holy Spirit prompts [him] to minister unto,” it seems passing strange that, as mentioned previously, we found that the names of all those Peter was “prompted” to minister unto by the Holy Spirit were relayed to him by Elizabeth. Quite a coincidence. Finally, there must be a great number of dense, carnal minds out there in the real world who fail, along with me, to understand Popoff’s explanation.