COMMENT | I met a pastor who was renting a room in a friend’s house when I visited California a few months ago. He originated from Berlin, Germany, and has been living in the United States for a few years.

Bumping into each other quite often throughout my stay there, we both shared many conversations over coffee.

On one occasion, we spoke about our interests and the things we enjoyed doing in our personal time. This was when he told me about his ‘side business’ – selling DVDs online. According to him, making copies from original DVDs and selling them online for a lower price is an easy way to make money.

Surprised to learn about a pastor selling pirate DVDs online, I became intrigued of him. I asked him what attracted him to the religious path, to which he said he was never raised with a strong Christian foundation.

Apparently, he decided to become a religious man quite late in life, upon finding out that it was one of the easiest ways to get a visa to work in the United States.

I smiled, listening to his explanation. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about people misusing religion for their own benefit...