Last Week Tonight: Religion, UFOs

He's my pet, uh, ummm, he's my man-chicken. Sometimes I pet him! (John Oliver/HBO)

UFOs: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

(LastWeekTonight) April 25, 2024: John Oliver explains why we need honest inquiry into UFO (vimana, UAPs, ET) sightings and why those inquiries should be data-driven, fact-based, and – crucially – boring AF.

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John Oliver invents a new religion

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Mrs. Wanda Jo Oliver (SNL's Rachel Dratch)

The host of Last Week Tonight created a religion. It was a joke, but it was done on purpose. Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption is now a legally recognized parody religion in the United States established by the brilliant comedian and satirist John Oliver.

It was first announced on August 16, 2015, in an episode on televangelism from his TV program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

With John's mom as the Virgin Mary, our Lady of

The Church's purpose is to spotlight and criticize tele-vangelists, such as Christian hypocrites Kenneth Copeland, Joel "Prosperity Gospel" Osteen, and Robert Tilton, whom Oliver argues use TV broadcasts of Protestant Christian Sunday church services for private gain.

It sounds better than Pastfarianism's Flying Spaghetti Monster god, which is a real religion, too.

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If it's good for my taxes, it's good for God.

Oliver also established Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption to draw attention to the tax-exempt status given to churches.

During his show on September 13, 2015, Oliver announced that the church had received "thousands of dollars" and a variety of other items from viewers and announced that the Church would be shutting down.

The segments and later spinoff segments featured the comedian Rachel Dratch as Oliver's fictional TV wife, Wanda Jo. All donations were given to Doctors Without Borders.

HSN: The Prosperity Gospel (Mr. Show)

Psychic schmykick, Terri Caputo conducts a cold read, and John Oliver mocks it.

(Mr. Show with Bob and David) Bob "Better Call Saul" Odenkirk and standup comedian David Cross explore an idea: If it's okay for Christian hypocrites to act all down home and Southern to rake in millions on their start up Christian broadcasting networks, how would the world react if Anton La Vey's daughter, Taylor "Zeena" Swift, supported by America's freedom of religion ideal, were to set up a "Hail Satan Network"?

Oliver created two spinoffs of the Church in later segments. In April 2018, he founded Our Lady of Choosing Choice, which owned a van labeled "Vanned Parenthood" (a reference to Planned Parenthood), for a segment about crisis pregnancy centers.

I made TV funnier than The Daily Show.

In June 2021, Oliver set up a church in Florida called Our Lady of Perpetual Health, which owned the health care sharing ministry "JohnnyCare," satirizing the lack of regulations on such ministries. More: Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption

• John Oliver, Last Week Tonight (HBO); Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly