I wish, just once, please, that the masses would stop equating church attendance with workable morality.
This story highlights that just because you go to church, it doesn't mean you're not likely to try and rip off some skint backpackers for A$574,000 by the simple application of fraud.
I quote:
"He was a religious person; he went to church twice a week," the newsagent, Michael Pavellis, told a Sydney court yesterday. "I know it sounds strange after what has happened, but he was an active member of the church band. He was a well-liked person."
He's also a fucking thief. The two are not mutually exclusive. Religious people are just as capable as averyone else of being liars, cheats, murderers and all round assholes*. Get used to it.
*some may say they're more likely to be assholes, but that's for another post. ciao.
Update 3/5/07: SMH has a followup here, including a picture of the thieving little god-botherer.