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I'm currently reading a great "True Crime(s)" book called Forgiven: The Rise And Fall of Jim and Tammy Bakker and the PTL Ministry.
I stopped counting the crimes this sociopath committed during his dictatorial reign, and I'm just halfway thru the book! Originally, he wanted to be an actor! Well, I must say, he and Tammy both, put on some Oscar-winning performances at PTL over the years!
The last book I read on televangelists, was Jimmy Schwaggert and his icy, steely-spined, cold-hearted, madly ambitious lesbian wife!
I'm continually amazed at how these greedy televangelists escape prosecution early on. Someone can steal $100 from a convenience store and off to prison they go, and these classes of criminals can steal millions and still go on and on undetected, smelling like roses!
Astoundingly, Jim Bakker only served 4-5 years for all his robberies/fraud, and this criminal is back in business again in Missouri!
The concept of not practicing what one preaches to the extreme. Jim and some others have the charisma and platform to influence others and it gives them more cover to do wrong behind closed doors. Anyone who watches many of these shows and is not a devout follower know some are frauds. Benny Hinn, With his "miracle" healing and I saw one once where there was a solution to money problems via "Divine transfers." In a nutshell, be righteous and God will deposit thousands into your bank account. Just send some money first. Multiply this by thousands of people and it's a gold mine. While not fully illegal, it's a pile of horses**t and taking advantage.
We excuse a lot of bad and anti social behavior in the name of religious liberty in this country. What else can we do? Just ensure that our public school system equips students with critical thinking skills.
These religions tend to hate the educational system for that very reason, especially science and most likely math is not far behind.
Also, people - each of us - have a low spot in life and if we are found that way others can more easily take advantage of us. We do not dedicate much time or money to improving the availability of mental health facilities in this country, leading to all sorts of problems.
Interesting books...will look into reading them, as I despise these crooks!
I lived in Charlotte at the time Jim and Tammy were at the height of their whinny, tearful, begging and overly-dramatic PTL shows.
One radio station became a master of satire regarding everything they did or said... and called J&T's PTL club
Pass The Loot (PTL) Club
Quote:
Originally Posted by tijlover
I'm currently reading a great "True Crime(s)" book called Forgiven: The Rise And Fall of Jim and Tammy Bakker and the PTL Ministry.
I stopped counting the crimes this sociopath committed during his dictatorial reign, and I'm just halfway thru the book! Originally, he wanted to be an actor! Well, I must say, he and Tammy both, put on some Oscar-winning performances at PTL over the years!
The last book I read on televangelists, was Jimmy Schwaggert and his icy, steely-spined, cold-hearted, madly ambitious lesbian wife!
I'm continually amazed at how these greedy televangelists escape prosecution early on. Someone can steal $100 from a convenience store and off to prison they go, and these classes of criminals can steal millions and still go on and on undetected, smelling like roses!
Astoundingly, Jim Bakker only served 4-5 years for all his robberies/fraud, and this criminal is back in business again in Missouri!
White collar con artists are almost always let off the hook more easily in the courts. But I sure wouldn't want to be a religious crook facing the afterlife court.
I think he missed his calling. He should have been a politican.
Politics these days seems much like religion in that different sects have formed and claim to be the only true way. The winner is the one that is best at demonizing their opponent. They have the power to make the rules and of course they are exempt from following them.
i have to say, growing up, we watched jim and tammy and i found them to be quite different from the norm. even in those days. in fact, especially in those days.
tammy faye was the first evangelical christian to reach out to victims of AIDS, far before it was de rigeur to do so. there were always people of all sorts of races on that show, she even had pregnant unwed teens on there helping her to bake and all sorts of stuff. it was definitely different from jimmy swaggart and his ilk. they were funny and they were entertaining. they didn't give you this exclusionary vibe the way my own church did, the way most evangelical christians did if you were the slightest bit different. they were pretty cool in my book.
i know its not a popular opinion, and i not a christian (at least, not that sort!) and i despise hypocrisy- but i really think that they did some good in the world. now all that people remember of them is the fraud. and i really believe they meant and intended good in the beginning. and ol tammy, well, she was a mess. i would have loved to have hung out with her. seriously. she was just a drag queen in disguise. she was alot of fun.
Of course they did some good. Most crooks need some bait to keep the marks on the hook. I don't trust organized religion, or any organization when it gets too big. It seems that big organizations and money attract unsavory people. There is a need for special oversight of religious organizations, how they spend their money and how they treat their people.
Things like what happened to the Catholics would be averted if there were a group that was mandated to inspect religious charities and institutions. Even after all that scandal there is still no such group, and like the banking scandal, there is still no imprisonment of these criminals.
I can't believe there is still a spot on television for reruns of their show...
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Originally, he wanted to be an actor! Well, I must say, he and Tammy both, put on some Oscar-winning performances at PTL over the years!
