Twenty-three counts of embezzlement and one count of fraud. Praise the Lord (PTL) televangelist Jim Bakker was charged with these crimes in the late 1980s and given a sentence of 45 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Since the program began in 1974, Bakker, along with PTL's former No. 2 administrator, Richard Dortch, and Bakker aides David and James Taggart, embezzled approximately $158 million dollars from PTL ministries. Bakker was also found to have been involved in an affair with church secretary, Jessica Hahn, in 1980. In an attempt to keep her quite about their interactions, Bakker paid Hahn approximately $265,000. This is not a random occurrence in a single church ministry; there are many others that are just as familiar and wide-known.
In 1988, Jimmy Swaggart of the Jimmy Swaggart Telecast was reported to have been involved with a prostitute. There is much hypocrisy to the situation because of his public scorn against fellow preacher Marvin Gorman. When Gorman hired a private detective who took incriminating photographs of Swaggart taking a prostitute into a hotel with him that were shown to the Assemblies of God leadership, Swaggart caused many of his supporters to withdraw their sponsorship.
The United States divorce rate is twenty-five percent; this number represents all of the adults who are currently divorced or who ever have been divorced. Among various denominations, the divorce rate ranges from twenty-one to thirty-four percent. Some denominations, such as Mormons (24%) and Catholics (21%), have a divorce rate that is lower than the national rate. While others, such as Non-denominational Christians (34%) and Baptists (29%), have divorce rates that are higher than the national rate. Of the divorces among born-again couples, ninety percent occur after they have been saved.
Many people assume that because a person goes to church, their lives are perfect, without flaw or imperfection. Yet “perfect churchgoers” have their faults too. There are those who have alcohol problems and drug problems, those who have abusiveness issues, and those who have fidelity troubles. Sometimes even the leaders of church ministries are flawed. Being a churchgoer does not mean that you are perfect, it means you’re forgiven if you truly believe.
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3 comments:
I'm glad to see that you started with a dynamic example and worked your way to the conclusion using those examples. You also must surely have done at least some research to get the facts. YAY, for you! I do think it would be a great idea to work on the paragraph following Jimmy Swaggart. Your stats are impressive, but that paragraph doesn't really deal with anyone famous, as your two previous paragraphs did. It's just a suggestion, but one more example of a famous IMPERFECT evangelist, or the like, would better follow the two previous examples.
your essay provided alot of information i didnt know but i didnt really understand the topic in general like was it all tied in together in some way. nice conclusion
Just so you know . . . there was some sort of problem on your blog. Two of the most sincere, conscientious students I have could not comment last week on your blog; indeed, they found it blank. I'm glad to see work there is continuing. Since you have not turned in your paper it is NOT too late to receive comments. Life isn't fair; sometimes we give more than we get. I still think this will balance out on the comments. This is the last time you (or anyone else) can hand in a paper late because "someone didn't comment" on your paper. It's really a lame excuse. If you really WANT comments, you could go to other people whom you know/respect and ask them to read your paper. Your objection & demeanor surprised me.
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