Mike DiSabatino is a "born again Christian" CPA in Camarillo, California. But just like the guy in the well-known Monty Python chartered accountancy sketch, Mike DiSabatino is bored by simple number-crunching. Aware of his holy gifts and desiring to share them with the world, DiSabatino decided in 2009 to launch a right-wing Christian alternative to Facebook.
Because it’s not like anyone on Facebook ever posts prayers or religion-themed memes.
Sensing this void, the intrepid DiSabatino created PraiseSocial.com. It was filled with posts about the U.S. government’s “war on religion,” the conspiracy to take the word God off our money, and prayer requests. The site was announced with much fanfare:
We are so excited to have launched this site - Praise Social. We are seeking Christians who are seeking on-line fellowship with other believers. Think of the site as an alternative to the secular MySpace and Facebook communities. We have all the same features, and adding more as we implement and test them.
What we bring here is a community of believers that can share in the Lord, at work, at home, during there [sic] spare time, or in times of need... 24/7 PraiseSocial.com is here for Christian fellowship.
Start prayer requests, discuss Christian music, Praise the Lord and read or start your own Blog! Individuals, families and teens are all welcome!
Sign-up now... it is free!
God Bless
Mike
Proverbs 3:5-6 (New International Version)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight
Of course, PraiseSocial took off like a rocket and soon overtook Facebook in traffic and advertising. Wait, no. It bombed miserably and DiSabatino shut it down in 2013 (one can still see it via the
Wayback Machine Internet archive).
To be fair, based on the photo below, he does seem to have the Christ-like power of multiplying food:
It turns out that at the same time CPA Mike DiSabatino was preaching to his social media choir, he was running a scam, taking nude and partially-nude photos of young women (often posing with guns and motorbikes), and propositioning them for dates. If they’d refuse, he’d buy their Internet domain name and attempt to ransom it back at a massive markup.
These are the only examples I can find that are not grotesquely pornographic, but I still felt the need to block out part of one of them:
I found out about the nude modeling/domain extortion scam while looking around online to find out whatever happened to the “PraiseSocial” guy. In preparation for this article, I emailed DiSabatino to ask if there was any truth to the allegations. In reference to the case of one young woman named Emilee Wilson, who had turned him down for a date, DiSabatino admitted that he bought her domain name on his own, without having been asked to do so, and with no permission from the young lady, and then he attempted to sell the $6.99 domain to her for $500.
When she refused, he set up a mocking, derisive website in her name.
Concerned that his scam was about to be blown, this “good Christian” emailed me in a panic: “You twisted my arm...pay me the $200 in fees and it (the domain) is Emilees.”
So now he wants money from me, too (we’ve never met, not even in passing). I’m assuming his CPA business isn’t doing too well, if he’ll beg for $200 from a total stranger.
Once again we see the true character of the modern American right-wing “Christian.” The same guy who was preaching morals and virtue and attacking “Godless liberals” on his Christian Facebook site was taking nude pics of young women and extorting them.
These types of people are defined by their hypocrisy. It would be more funny than scary if there weren’t so many of them in positions of power throughout the country.