Question

Describe a time that you encountered an unethical speaker (preferably in a public situation, but a small group or interpersonal situation will suffice). How was the speaker speaking unethically? What tipped you off that they were speaking unethically? What could they have done differently to avoid being unethical?

Answer 1

One of the times I encountered an unethical public speaker was when I visited church due to a request made by my friend. I visited the church just because I was down emotionally and wanted to seek some help and I thought going to church would help. The speaker there was a famous preacher in the City and he was talking about miracles. Although I was skeptical about it, I decided to sit through it and observe. The speaker claimed to heal individuals and make people fall when he prayed for them as an act of the Holy Spirit.

How I found out it was unethical or dishonest was waiting for my turn. Since I was feeling down, I wanted prayer from the Pastor and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. However, the speaker kept pushing me in an attempt to make me fall and I didn't budge because it was new to me. The only question I had in my mind was why was I being pushed backward by the speaker. This convinced me that the whole thing was a sham and the speaker was being unethical while making false claims.

The one thing the speaker could do to avoid being unethical was by being honest and not trick desperate and gullible people. He could have just prayed without the theatrics and it would have still been reassuring instead of tricking people that there was a supernatural force behind them.