I think it is a little disingenuous to refer to folk like Jesus and Sai Baba as 'con artists' without any qualifications, especially to compare them to run-of-the-mill televangelist 'healers'.
From what can be understood, it appears as though the instances of healings and miracles are 'genuine' in as much as the folk involved 'know' that something special has taken place. The sick people who get better seem to be real sick people who actually do get betterby what means we cannot necessarily be certain. Cars filled with water seem to actually run to the next townby what means we cannot necessarily be certain. And so on.
Are some of the 'miracles' simply tricks? Likely. Are the others some sort of coincidental luck? Certainly seems to be the best explanation. But by and large the miracles don't seem to involve any conspiracies of the type you've mentioned. Such operations really require more secrecy than can be sustained given the type and publicity of many of the miraclesthough, admittedly, this might explain why Sai Baba, for example, seems to reserve the more complex miracles for more private occasions while the public 'miracles' are less impressive.
Nevertheless, I think your take on the matter is too simplistic. There's more to these things than a magician with his stage hands out to make a buck. David Blaine isn't out telling folk to love their neighbor and give to the poor. The miracles are certainly meant to draw a crowd, but it doesn't seem to be just for the sake of the miracle-workers' fame; instead, the miracle-workers try to draw people in so they can spread their message to a bigger crowdthe attractive miracles serve a bigger purpose: bring people to the message and convince them of its veracity. Even Sai Baba admits, somewhat arrogantly, that his 'miracles' aren't to be regarded as the meaning of his message:
quote:
Wikipedia on Sathya Sai Baba:
Sathya Sai Baba says of "miracles", "those who profess to have understood me, the scholars, the yogis, the pundits, the jnanis, all of them are aware only of the least important, the casual external manifestation of an infinitesimal part of that power, namely, the "miracles"! This has been the case in all ages. People may be very near (physically) to the Avathar, but they live out their lives unaware of their fortune; they exaggerate the role of miracles, which are as trivial, when compared to my glory and majesty, as a mosquito is in size and strength to the elephant upon which it squats. Therefore, when you speak about these 'miracles,' I laugh within myself out of pity that you allow yourself so easily to lose the precious awareness of my reality."
Combine this with the fact that a lot of your information seems entirely pulled from your ass and the point you're trying to make all but vanishes. Miracle-workers like Jesus and Sai Baba aren't the type of 'con artists' you're making them out to be.
Jon
Edited by Jon, : grammar
Edited by Jon, : grammar... again
Love your enemies!