Prostitute-loving Televangelist Is No More

[PeterRS]

On my early visits to the USA, I could never understand the appeal of televangelism. If I turned on the television on a Sunday morning, I could not escape channel after channel of seemingly rabid men all but screaming about God - and of course the need to give God money. Many ran their own 'ministries' and most of that cash flowed into their own pockets, one way or another.

One of the most outpoken was Jimmy Swaggart. He was once confronted by a gay man. He then said if ever he was looked at again "like that - I will kill the man and tell God he died!" But like many of them, Swaggart was a total hypocrite lining his own pockets. In 1986 alone, that ministry business made US$146 million.

In 1988 he was discovered in a hotel wth a prostitute. Both alleged they did not have sex (!) He only paid her to pose nude! And if you believe that, then in 1991 police in California caught him with another prostitute in his car. He had been driving on the wrong side of the road. The prostitute said he had not been in full control of the car as he was stuffing pornographic magazines under the seat.

Swaggart died yesterday. His son Donnie, perhaps unsurprisingly, has followed in his footsteps and is also an evangelist. In a radio message he said of his father, "There's been no greater example of a good and faithful servant than my father. No ifs, ands and buts about it. A man who lived his life for the cause of Christ."

And if you believe that . . . .  

[vinapu]

nothing wrong about being prostitute loving. Being televangelists is another matter but that's the problem of those who support him with their own hard earned and easily  stolen money

[TotallyOz]

I grew up listening to him and those like him. Hatred was in their hearts. 

Oral Roberts went into his Prayer Tower and said God said he would die unless he raised 8 million. He did. My aunt was one that sent him money. But, her mother also went into a cave for 5 weeks as the "end of the world" was coming. It didn't. And, they were saved. Praise be! 

[PeterRS]

Wasn't Oral Roberts one of the first who preached - quoting parts of the Bible if I am not mistaken - that God wanted everyone to be rich? He made that ridiculous appeal about requiring cash to save his life when his faith-healing medical centre ran short of funds. He raised almost twice as much as he sought. Funny, though, the medical centre went bust two years later.

Surely the most ridiculous were Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. They were another of the God wants you to be rich brigade. They even opened a Christian-type of Disneyland. They called their ministry PTL (Praise The Lord!) and persuaded a massive amount of gullible viewers to make montly pledges to become PTL partners. Where the money went I cannot recall but they lived a fabulous lifestyle - private jet, 2 Rolls Royces, several homes etc.

Then Tammy Faye had a breakdown and when high on drugs she pranced around naked. Jim was discovered to have had sex outside his marriage and paid off one of the girls with ministry money. What the elders - if there was anyone other than the Bakkers looking after the massive amounts of cash - did not know was that the Ministry was essentially broke. Jim was said to  be secretly gay. He also had a breakdown but was sentenced to serve 8 years in jail. He got probation after 5. Even then, he started a new ministry advocating the end of the world and sellling end of the world products. That anyone actually believed these con men always confused me!

But as a postscript, this sort of get rich evangelism was not confined to the USA. There was a huge scandal in Singapore in 2015 that enveloped the mega-City 'prosperity' Harvest Church with around 30,000 members and its 'pastor' Kong Hee. In an attempt to boost his wife's singing career and gain souls for Christ, the pastor effectively stole US$34 million of Church funds, housed her for a few years in a $28,000 a month Hollywood mansion, financed at considerable cost a recording with David Foster which totally bombed - well, no need to comment futher. But in this case Kong Hee's church did have elders and most had agreed with the plan to spread Christianity through his wife's singing. (To spread Christianity in the USA? How could anyone have been so utterly gullible as to believe that?) End result of the scandal: Kong Hee and five others were jailed for up to 3 years. But the madness did not end. Who took over as pastor of the church? The dud singing wife 'sensation' who had converted no one in the USA to Christianity!

[TotallyOz]

So sad. I loved Jim and Tammy. Very dramatic and as a kid, I related.   

PTL: “Praise The Lord!” or more accurately, “Pass The Loot!”  They built a Christian Disneyland because nothing says “Jesus died for your sins” like an amusement park. 

OMG

[Mavica]

22 minutes ago, TotallyOz said:

So sad. I loved Jim and Tammy. Very dramatic and as a kid, I related.   

PTL: “Praise The Lord!” or more accurately, “Pass The Loot!”  They built a Christian Disneyland because nothing says “Jesus died for your sins” like an amusement park. 

OMG

One of the greatest entertainment shows on television, at the time.  Totally fraudulent, but Tammy Fay, Jim ... the drama!  Her makeup!  I watched it for entertainment value, only.  Drag Queen friends of mine loved Tammy Fay.  Who could tell the difference?  Drag or a real woman?

[TotallyOz]

1 hour ago, Mavica said:

One of the greatest entertainment shows on television, at the time.  Totally fraudulent, but Tammy Fay, Jim ... the drama!  Her makeup!  I watched it for entertainment value, only.  Drag Queen friends of mine loved Tammy Fay.  Who could tell the difference?  Drag or a real woman?

I will say I watched for the tears. She was the best crier on TV. My entire family watched and kept saying, just wait for the tears. LOL. 

Little did I know back then....

[PeterRS]

5 minutes ago, TotallyOz said:

I will say I watched for the tears. She was the best crier on TV. My entire family watched and kept saying, just wait for the tears. LOL. 

Little did I know back then....

Weren't the tears usually followed by Jim suggesting she sing a song to lighten the mood? That usually seeemed to me the reason for the tears in the first place 🤣

[Pete1111]

On 7/1/2025 at 10:16 PM, PeterRS said:

On my early visits to the USA, I could never understand the appeal of televangelism. If I turned on the television on a Sunday morning, I could not escape channel after channel of seemingly rabid men all but screaming about God - and of course the need to give God money. Many ran their own 'ministries' and most of that cash flowed into their own pockets, one way or another.

One of the most outpoken was Jimmy Swaggart. He was once confronted by a gay man. He then said if ever he was looked at again "like that - I will kill the man and tell God he died!" But like many of them, Swaggart was a total hypocrite lining his own pockets. In 1986 alone, that ministry business made US$146 million.

In 1988 he was discovered in a hotel wth a prostitute. Both alleged they did not have sex (!) He only paid her to pose nude! And if you believe that, then in 1991 police in California caught him with another prostitute in his car. He had been driving on the wrong side of the road. The prostitute said he had not been in full control of the car as he was stuffing pornographic magazines under the seat.

Swaggart died yesterday. His son Donnie, perhaps unsurprisingly, has followed in his footsteps and is also an evangelist. In a radio message he said of his father, "There's been no greater example of a good and faithful servant than my father. No ifs, ands and buts about it. A man who lived his life for the cause of Christ."

And if you believe that . . . .  

I once heard someone from Germany describe American Televangelists as celebrities for devout Christians.  Ultimately one might wonder if all televangelists are corrupted by greed. 

Robert Schuller's weekly sermons were viewed by 20 million.  I remember tuning in to his show when I was young, and still exploring my faith.

The Schuller family allegedly paid themselves large salaries while the ministry languished. 

And then there was George Bush Jr's favorite preacher, Ted Haggard.  He allegedly enjoyed doing meth with a gay massage provider.

 

 

IMO Jimmy Swaggart was a scoundrel, a liar, and a fornicator,  and I say that with all due respect.

Good riddance.

[PeterRS]

4 hours ago, Pete1111 said:

Robert Schuller's weekly sermons were viewed by 20 million.  I remember tuning in to his show when I was young, and still exploring my faith.

The Schuller family allegedly paid themselves large salaries while the ministry languished. 

Schuller once tackled a United Airlines flight attendant when flying first class from New York to LA. He put the poor guy in a headlock because he had not served him fruit with his cheese or hung up his garment bag!

But he must be turning in his grave now, but not in repentance for that incident. In 1980 he opened his massive Crystal Cathedral before 3,000 guests who had each paid US$1,500 for the privilege. His weekly "Hour of Power" televised sermons all came from that glittering building. Only, the same as happened with Jim Bakker and his outfit, Schuller's mob had not been minding their cash in an appropriate manner. In fact, they ran out of it. The Ministry declared bankruptcy in 2010. The Crystal Cathedral was eventually sold. Now - and this is the part that must have the mortal remains of Schuller spitting blood from whatever remains of his corpse - it is owned and run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County.

As with most of these other religious con men, Schuller and his fmaily were dismissed from their Ministry. Yet the Lord works in weird and wonderful ways. The Ministry is now run by Schuller's grandson, Robert! And the "Hour of Power" is still broadcast although from much smaller premises. During one service, Robert announced that his wife had been related to Elvis Presley!

And most of these so-called Ministries have tax exempt status. Glory! Hallelujah!

[unicorn]

On 7/8/2025 at 5:24 PM, Pete1111 said:

...The Schuller family allegedly paid themselves large salaries while the ministry languished...

What I don't understand is: to where do the people who send money to these charlatans think the money is going? Do people who describe themselves as Christians honestly not know that the apostles repeatedly quoted Jesus as saying “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”? (Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25), or Luke 6:24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort."

Luke 16:13
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

[unicorn]

I guess that one can always make a fortune telling people things they want to hear. So many people will welcome the message even if all common sense points to chicanery. Just look at those who'll buy sugar lotions to put on their scalp because they want to believe it works, science be damned. 🙄 Of course, one could say the same about religion in general...

[PeterRS]

Televangelism was, i believe, born in the USA and it is in that country where it is most commonly practised. In the USA, Christ and Christianity is thrust down the throats of most citizens, even those who are immigrants, from the moment they get anywhere near school. SInce 1957 the words "In God We Trust" have been written on US currency. I recall one of the better US golf players telling the world in a TV interview after he'd won a tournament that his wife read part of the bible each day to their unborn child! I've heard of mothers playing recordings of Mozart, but never before actually reading from the scriptures! Even the national Anthem has these words -

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust":

Not many remember that the British National Anthem, now usually sung in just two verses used to have six, the words to the last of which are -

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring;
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush!
God save the King!

This was written and being sung long after the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603 (when in the absence of any children by Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots son James VI also became James 1 of England) and the union of the two parliaments in 1707.

But the British do not have the same almost universal attraction to Christianity and certainly it is much more in the background. In the USA I am sure many who go to church and many who believe the televangelist con men do so out of genuine belief in the hereafter and that this will result in a better life after death. Decades ago I dispensed with the idea of heaven, hell and purgatory. I believe these were concepts to keep the masses in check. But a gazillion Americans still fervently believe at least in the existence of a "heaven" where they will once again meet up with their deceeased loved ones.

[PeterRS]

8 hours ago, unicorn said:

I guess that one can always make a fortune telling people things they want to hear. 

So true. And is it not the case that most of those who claim to be Christians and who time after time quote passages from the bible, really know very little else of the totality of what it preaches? Equally, they take as gospel sayings that have come down throough millennia, not written down but spoken from one generation to the next. And we all know when tales are told, that every retelling has a variation, to the point where eventually no one really has much clue about the original.