When Does Faith Become a Performance?

This behavior is particularly dangerous because it exploits a desire for goodness in others. People want to believe in those who seem devout. They project their own spiritual ideals onto the performer, and the pretender is all too happy to accept this unearned trust. This creates a deeply imbalanced and fragile relationship, where one party is operating on a false premise, and the other is being set up for disappointment and betrayal.