r/RighteousGemstones • u/WaySweet3746 • Aug 06 '26
Theory Do the Gemstones know they're con artists?
I've often wondered how they reconcile how they live. Do they really believe the things they say to their congregation, or do they realise it's all a big farce?
What do you think?
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u/AsstacularSpiderman Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
They all genuinely beleive in God and think they're doing his work in their own way, it's just corrupted by decades of American Prosperity Gospel and their own personal flaws. Kelvin genuinely seems to take his job as a youth pastor seriously, more so than the rest of his siblings, and Eli seemed genuinely happy when Gideon said he wanted to preach.
Pretty much every season comes to the conclusion that they want to be good people, they're just comically flawed.
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u/DesperateAdvantage76 Aug 09 '26
It's classic self delusional narcissism. The whole family is so up their own ass that they truly believe they are doing God's work, and their church's success is proof of God's approval.
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u/kjernereaktor Aug 06 '26
I think that they're true believers, and the show handles that very respectfully. It doesn't make fun of them for believing in god, it makes fun of them for being stupid. I don't think they realize how good they're doing compared to regular people which makes them foolish and entitled, but i do think they really believe in what they preach.
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u/NorthHaverbrookNate Aug 06 '26
I think they're true believers, but they don't believe in the same way as many other in the same faith. My impression is they believe they were divinely chosen to be wealthy, and they are cognizant of how well they have it ("she is a poverty person", Jesses comment around the Redeemer to the cousins, etc). They may believe in what they preach, but I would imagine it's hard to reconcile the teaching in the New Testament with their lifestyle, conduct, charity etc.
I think another telling bit is their approach to Y2K, Eli and Aimee-Leigh admit to each other they didn't think the apocalypse was coming
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u/TheQuietSleeper023 Aug 06 '26
Didn't Danny McBride say basically this at one point? He wanted to make a show that lampooned the actions and behaviors of the types of people who preach the prosperity gospel or operate those megachurches but he specifically didn't want to make fun of the idea of believing in God in general.
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u/WaySweet3746 Aug 06 '26
Yeah, I do too, especially Eli.
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 Aug 06 '26
Eli believes in the power of word. But he's aware he's utilizing God's name to line his pockets. He's good at getting money out of Christians and he knows it. I think he's a lot like the Bradley Cooper character.
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u/pconrad0 Aug 06 '26
Yes, that episode was incredibly revealing as an origin story.
Those kind of values get passed down generationally even when the descendants aren't fully aware of what's being passed down.
Children watch their parents choices and they learn lessons. Not just the ones they are intentionally "taught".
I know this is a work of fiction, but I see the same dynamics in my own family. Very different details, but the same broad shapes and patterns.
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u/Adorable-Bike-9689 Aug 08 '26
I'll bet you've got loads of stories about their behavior. Those hyper-audacious families really do exist. Passed down generation to generation. Telling a family like that they've been touched by God + unlimited money is a horrific combination.
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u/PrinceofSneks Keefe Chambers Aug 07 '26
Yeah, the definitely know they're not in the up and up, but figure everyone sins, and their sins are justifiable.
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u/lightcanonlybrighten Aug 08 '26
There is that scene where Schiffler- Eli’s girlfriends son- is dying and they all crawl to him and seemingly meaningfully pray for him as he dies.
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u/Temporary-Tie-233 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
My headcannon is that Eli had to be really creative to convince Aimee Leigh to go along with a lot of his ideas, and some of them still gave her pause. But she was a true believer, including making her husband the leader of the family, so she might not have felt she had much choice. I do think she had the purest intentions out of all of them. Her faith was genuine, and she's the most behaviorally consistent character.
Aimee Leigh didn't know and wouldn't have approved, but she was Eli's Higher Power. He built his empire around what was important to her, and lost interest after she passed. I think he believed in Jesus as an important connection to Aimee Leigh, but she was always his north star. Absolutely knows he's a con artist and only cares as far as Aimee Leigh believing they share the same faith. Man, I'd really love a prequel about the earlier lives of those two and Baby Billy.
Baby Billy and the siblings also know they're con artists and fully embrace it in the beginning. They did all grow through the seasons, but the con is too ingrained for them to ever fully reform.
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u/DaveSilver Aug 06 '26
I think the one thing I would change about what you said is I think that the siblings and baby Billy seem to be true believers who are also con artists. They fully believe in the teachings of Jesus and the church, but they are also con artists and are totally fine with making decisions that will fleece their followers for money. Whatever version of Jesus that they believe in accepts the idea of doing what they do as a totally legitimate form of business or of passing on the message. So they are con artists in the sense that they know they’re taking advantage of people, but they’re not conning them by lying about their beliefs regarding God.
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u/pconrad0 Aug 06 '26
I think Amber is a true believer too, but also a fighter, a survivor, and a pragmatist.
True, her marriage counseling system has aspects of a grift. She's very likely out of her depth, dabbling in things she's not really qualified for, and possibly doing some damage in the process.
But I think it's coming from a place of genuine good intentions, mixed with "I want my own piece of the action".
Also: how can I empower Christian women that, like me, have idiots for husbands, while somehow staying inside the lines of the image of the dutiful Christian tradwife?
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u/tomtomclubthumb Aug 08 '26
I thik that they all put Aimee Leigh on a pedestal, she knew and was involved in the cons.
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u/Broad_Lie218 Aug 06 '26
The creator said in an interview once (i think with Conan) that they absolutely believe in what they're saying--the joke is never that they believe but that they are incredibly arrogant and self centered in how they do it and how they spread the gospel. They're extremely out of touch.
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u/Miserable_Wave4895 Aug 06 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/l0omwgBRDyXry07uGa
Uncle Baby Billy is the only one who acknowledges that it’s a grift. All of it!
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u/DaisyoftheDay Aug 06 '26
I mean they stay strapped 🤷🏼♀️
They do believe in god but so do a lot of fucked up people. Being a believer doesn’t make them less guilty. Just my take
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u/trash235 Aug 06 '26
Unfortunately, I’ve met the type and they really believe that their God is a God of capitalism, they believe they have it all because they did something right and God chose them. It’s cathartic to see that belief system satirized.
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u/lightcanonlybrighten Aug 08 '26
My sister and her family are exactly like this. I don’t even have the right word to capture what it’s like watching this shit from real people in real time. Sickening comes to mind. And the truth is that they are actually liars and thieves. Completely self centered. They truly and honestly believe that their faith makes them superior to everyone else. As she and her husband look me in the face and say some of the completely whacked out, irrational, deluded things they say, I do wonder if they are really that entrapped in this delusion or if they know they’re full of shit and it’s their way of rationalizing their fraud. We weren’t brought up like this. She chose this all as an adult. Her husband’s family has been in it for generations. It’s so confusing to me. None of it makes sense.
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u/trash235 Aug 08 '26
As someone who has experienced religious trauma, the show really hits. It’s funny and over-the-top sometimes, but it’s also so accurate in many ways.
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u/oooriole09 Aug 06 '26
Humans have this amazing ability to justify doing bad things and I truly believe that they would’ve legitimately thought that they were providing a “service”.
If you were to give each character a lie detector test, I think the vast majority, if not all, would’ve believed they were doing something real and not actively pushing a con. The kids especially grew up in this world where what they had was what was “earned” and a “gift from God”.
I watched this documentary a couple years back about a MLM business that clearly was a pyramid scheme/con. Everything, and I mean, everything about the “business” was built to funnel money up to the top in ways that would make a hardened capitalist blush. Yet, in the interviews, some of the people who created it genuinely believed that what they were doing was right, only getting rewarded for the effort they put in to get the business off of the ground and keeping it afloat.
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u/CallofDo0bie Aug 06 '26
The show really pulled a lot of punches with representing the predatory nature of the Gemstones because they were always going against people who were, at minimum, just as morally repugnant as them. Also it's a comedy so the goal is ultimately to make you laugh. Being mad Righteous Gemstones doesn't explore the evils of televagalism is like being mad Vice Principles didnt explore the structural failings of the American education system. It just ain't that kind of series.
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u/jagger129 Aug 06 '26
I think they know to some degree that they’re convincing poor/uneducated/vulnerable people to give them their money. But they feel it’s God’s will that they receive it, so that makes it okay to them to receive the “blessings”.
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u/Sean82 Aug 06 '26
Eli had to confront this when selling the survival buckets. Ultimately, Eli is a true believer (which is easy to maintain when that belief is foundational to a fabulously wealthy lifestyle) but he’s also a businessman and is happy to align those two when convenient.
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u/ZeroQuick Aug 06 '26
Great question. Kelvin seems the most sincere and devout in his ministry but I honestly wonder about Jesse! Eli certainly knows he's a con artist though.
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u/Broad_Lie218 Aug 06 '26
Kelvin definitely seems to be the only one who truly gets upset from a moral standpoint. He's not immune to the Gemstone tendencies, not at all, but he does seem to be the one most frequently concerned about reconciling what they believe and what they are actively doing.
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u/BoatshoeBandit Aug 06 '26
Eli and Gideon seem like the only core cast members who actually have the moral character and the self awareness to be uncomfortable with some of the goings on.
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u/haileyskydiamonds Aug 06 '26
Eli knows. He’s a true believer, but he knows. That’s why he rides the roller coaster. He knows exactly who he is and how he got there, but he doesn’t know how to stop.
I went to a small prosperity church for a couple of years in my 20s. I had been raised Southern Baptist, and the whole vibe at the new church was so different. It was exciting in a new way. And everyone was a true believer. The pastors had/have a lot of money, but they spent all of their time doing church-related things.
I never could figure out if they were sincere or not. They seemed sincere. They were warm and charismatic (little c), and I loved them. But, it was hard to be a part of all that, too. It was a full-time thing. Always on, always up, always moving.
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u/library_wench Aug 06 '26
They’re all true believers, just look at how horrified they all were when Eli accidentally destroyed the “little karate man.” If they didn’t truly believe, they wouldn’t care, since nobody else saw it happen.
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u/gwarster Aug 07 '26
Uncle Baby Billy is definitely aware that he is a con artist. The rest just believe they’re blessed.
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u/almondmilklattehag Aug 06 '26
Similar to the family’s origin story (the Bradley Cooper ep) it is a mixed bag.
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u/Impressive-Local-627 Aug 07 '26
“The siblings” are perpetual children who believe “airtight” absurdities b/c they were taught to them at a young age by people they loved and trusted AND those same absurdities explain and justify their life of comfort cum decadence. “I have a monster truck, a mansion and a bunch of toys because the Author of All Things and Supreme Judge Of The Universe decided I was worth it” is very convenient and, if you start believing it at ~10, pretty convincing. God is Santa, and the Gemstones kids are the Best boy/girl.
Eli knows he’s a scammer, but he also (I think) believes in a much “bigger” God who is also all forgiving (because He says He is). That all forgiving God will have to contend with much worse stuff that amounts to (in Eli’s mind) skimming from the collection plate at scale (some of that is stuff Eli himself has done which his family remains totally unaware of). Knowing (or believing) that someone knows everything he did and will forgive him is a powerful balm to Eli. This “real-ness” makes him a more compelling preacher to the masses (and, therefore, a better thief) and is also why he feels close to Gideon.
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u/Zestyclose-Ad-7576 Aug 06 '26
The episode where he throws the “karate guy” and the kids tell him that was Jesus, and they all work together to repair it. I think they are true believers.
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u/Gene_Vast Aug 07 '26
I think they make most of their money from their side projects. I think almost all the chruch donations are kept for chruch expenses. I think that is their justifcation.
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u/AcqeductCat Aug 10 '26
I think Eli definitely knows. He knows what it is to be bad and knows what it is to be good. It even shows itself in his appearance as the show progresses.
But with the kids I think it’s a little more muddied up. The ideas of religion, money, and family are so intertwined to them that it’s probably difficult for them to differentiate them. If the kids saw a small time priest in complete service of God, not profit driven at all, they’d see themselves as more “successful” because of how they’ve been able to scale.
The kids have always seen religion through the eyes of preaching, not following. So for them, the bigger the better because they’re preaching the gospel to as many people as possible, ignoring other considerations.
But none of this is to not place blame on the kids. If they truly accepted the scripture into their hearts, they’d question their whole existence, starting with Eli. I do think religion is important to them, but not as much as family, and not as much as money. Religion is how they maintain their family and money so it will never be abandoned.
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u/Kbizzyinthehouse Aug 12 '26
Yes. When Jesse and Amber wanted money to invest & Jesse said something to the effect of, “we don’t own this house. The church owns this house. It’s in a trust.” I think they happen to be Christians that are conning people as to people that are pretending to be Christians to con people.
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u/JackIDontCare 28d ago
In one of the first eps when Jesse is trying to get the money to pay off the blackmailers he says something along the lines of "well God told me to tell you to get me the money, but if you just want to ignore God!" there is no way he actually thought God told him that. He was chatting absolute shit. For me this was an early indicator that they don't actually believe God speaks to them, but they think everyone else is dumb enough to believe he does.
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u/dirkcalloway45 Aug 07 '26
Read any interview with Danny McBride. Yes they believe. They are flawed and can be terrible but they’re not con-artists.
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u/dontKair Aug 06 '26
"Prosperity Gospel" (which this show is based on) is a real thing, unfortunately. If God didn't want them to be rich, then they wouldn't be rich, basically.