A senator’s high-profile investigation of spending by televangelists wrapped up after more than three years today with no penalties for the pastors who refused to cooperate and no definitive findings of wrongdoing.
…Grassley’s staff said in the report that they did not issue subpoenas to further the investigation because witnesses feared retaliation if they spoke out publicly and the Finance Committee did not have the time or resources to enforce the subpoenas.
Besides Without Walls, the other ministries that refused to provide full information are:
— Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas;
— Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International and Creflo Dollar Ministries of College Park, Ga.;
— Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church and Bishop Eddie Long Ministries of Lithonia, Ga.; Long was recently sued by four young men who claim he coerced them into sexual relationships. The bishop has denied the allegations.
Meyer released a statement today affirming her pledge of financial transparency. Hinn said in a statement that his ministry’s experience with the Finance Committee “has caused us to renew our commitment to always honor our partners’ sacrificial giving.”
Representatives for the other ministries did not immediately respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment.
Grassley said he hoped the review would lead to an update in tax rules governing religious groups so abuses don’t occur.
Sigh. Televangelists will continue to target, harass and demand from vulnerable people, this exoneration is just a licence for them to inflict more of their virulent hubris with impunity on the viewing public. Accountability is for the rest of us, not the media mafia that is religious programming and networks.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R) is moving from the Senate Finance Committee to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Grassley news release and documentation A friend in finance in the US has told me to ignore the media stories and read the reports. I’ll do that, after I catch some much needed zzzz;s but I’m not hopeful I have the financial smarts to catch nuances.
“they did not issue subpoenas to further the investigation because witnesses feared retaliation if they spoke out publicly and the Finance Committee did not have the time or resources to enforce the subpoenas.”
What??? That’s it? Grassley, you got us champions of justice all excited for nothing? What the hell was this whole exercise for then? To exonerate the religious god fathers once and for all? That sets a very bad precedent. That people feared retaliation SHOULD BE ENOUGH to set off alarm bells that something mafia-like is going on in these elite chrisitian circles.
The words of these televangelists pledging to be more transparent doesn’t mean shit! They are not going to change one iota. Their grandiose lifestyle and tax free ministries are going to continue business as usual. And stupid people are going to continue to gobble them up and believe their theological lies about sowing into “god’s work” even as they take the last bite of their last bit of food in the cupboard.
If the finance committee doesn’t have enough MONEY to continue its investigation into the financial abuses of pastors and churches, maybe it’s because the mega church ministries need to start being taxed and pay their dues! DUH!
My guess as to the kibosh of the investigation is that there was some political/religious bullying going on here. America, as the saying goes, is one nation under god, founded and established under the principles of the Christian faith. Christianity is after all, what keeps the moral fabric of the nation together for the most part, right? And if some of the most forefront leaders of the faith, leaders who have won the confidence of the American people and brought hope in times of crisis, are then brought into disrepute by the highest level of government, well, what would that do to the team spirit of the people? The investigation was an exercise in futility from the beginning and could never have been followed through as long as the majority of people in America see Jesus as the god of the land and “his representatives”, the wealthy televangelists, as his stewards.
I’m not sure that it’s completely over. There is a staff memo on Grassley’s site that contains a number of recommendations as well as more detail surrounding the process. A bit of an interesting read…
http://grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=30359
The Senate Finance site doesn’t do much justice compared to the actual memo. I can appreciate how busy the committee is with other affairs, but I must agree 100% with Marina in that if they were to investigate those ministries, they would find major tax evasions and fraudulently obtained assets which would more than fund the entire process. Hell, it may even be enough to feed a few poor people who gave everything they had to those criminals.
The report reads,
“Because the ministries are incorporated as houses of worship, they are exempt from filing the financial disclosures the federal government requires of other non-profits.”
So not only are they tax exempt, they are exempt from having to follow the rules of the tax exempt.
But here’s the thing – the report goes on to suggest for these and like ministries to undergo SELF REFORM/CORRECTION to ensure that these church leaders are not abusing the tax exempt status of their organization, for their own personal enrichment. Anyone else see what’s wrong with this picture? First the churches refuse to participate in a federal investigation of accountability, get the seal of approval to carry on even though there is ample evidence to warrant further investigation, and then are coddled and encouraged to BRING THEMSELVES into compliance with the IRS at their own discretion? Gee, why didn’t Conrad Black get that same treatment? Oh yeah, he’ s not a friggin CHURCH!
What’s more, not only did these ministries get a green light to carry on, the staff review went oddly way off track to make one big recommendation – for Congress to do away with the federal tax law ban on partisan political activity by non-profit groups. That would allow all non-profit groups holding a 501(c)(3) tax exemption to intervene in partisan elections, no longer forced to use their revenues for charitable purposes. Can you imagine what that would do to the democratic process if that “non-electioneering” law for churches was scrapped? Theocracy USA here we come!
By the way, I really had high hopes for Senator Grassley and his senate finance committee investigation into the financial misuses by these non-compliant ministries, as it would definitely send a signal to our nation’s churches and charities in Canada. Sadly, I was disillusioned by the smoke screen thrown by Grassley to give churches more benefits. Just found out that Grassley is a member of “The Family”. Pretty much says it all.
Looks like a deal was made and Grassley cowered to the deal. Corruption. The true followers of Christ must continue looking up.
Continue looking up? At what? The problem is down here. Looking up has never helped the problem of religious leaders doing evil things to the innocent or the willfully blind. Read a history book some time.
To the wealthy clergyman, you Christians are their sustenance, their source; like a parasite to a host. They feed off of you and pick your bones clean. Without guilt or remorse, they amplify your faith while diminishing your bank account, leaving you penniless, destitute and eventually many times, a ward of the secular state. Without you, without your belief system, they are nothing and can do nothing at all. Yet you hang on.
And you say “we need to continue looking up”. Don’t you get it? These rich evangelists living in the lap of luxury know something that every one of their exploited devotees, as well as their adversaries in the rest of the Christian community don’t seem to get – The bible god, as every other god mentioned in ancient literature, is a man made MYTH. Despite what they profess, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar & Kenneth Copeland are as unbelieving in your god as I am! That should be obvious. However, in the same way and with the same conviction as you believe the bible to be “god’s” word, many Christians believe these men are god’s anointed. Just like you’re blind faith in Jesus, they’ve bought into the ministries of these con men, hook line and sinker. These guys are using the very same credulity and ignorance that holds ALL people of religion captive, to fleece the REALLY credulous!
If people weren’t so darn gullible and so wanting to believe in a god who will magically make everything better in their life, this particular white collar crime wouldn’t be a problem. You can keep looking up as long as you want, at your make-believe happy place in the sky, but the bottom line is it isn’t going to change a damn thing to stop these crooks from robbing from people of faith and leaving the secular world to clean up the mess and deal with the devastation. How are you any different than the suckers that are supporting these ministers, when what you believe by faith is just as ridiculous?
What WILL stop them? I am so tired of hearing the same old complacent b.s. from christians who say, “god will take care of it, he’s in control”! Wake up. That’s exactly what these crooks want you to believe. They want you to do nothing except pray while they do their preying! They have free reign! But that is not what the New Testament pattern for rooting out the heretics shows. By doing nothing and saying nothing, not only have you as a Christian become the victim, you are also an accomplice! IF there ever was a bible god, and that is a big “if”, every believer would have blood on his or her hands for witnessing the crime and doing nothing about it.
We who do not believe in your god or your bible are blameless because the responsibility to uphold the truth of your god and your gospel does not rest on OUR shoulders. It rests on your “god’s” shoulders and as his children; it rests on all who say that J.C. is their lord and saviour. And if you truly believe in a judgment day some day, if you truly believe what you confess by faith, then you as a Christian who knows that these false prophets and deceivers are leading many other believers astray and bringing dishonour to your god/religion, must speak out and point the finger at the charlatan posing as the man of god, and allow god to deal with him/her publicly for all to see, as we see happening in the bible. Read Acts.
Having said that, it would appear that many professing Christians do not believe what god has to say in his written word. In essence they are ignoring what he has said and are making god out to be what they want him to be, according to the doctrines of the leaders they follow – Hinn, Creflo, Copeland. And god doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, I would venture to say that many of you reading this would concur that it is better for these believers to get it wrong in some ways about god, even if they are contributing to heresy and crime, than to deny the existence of god altogether. In other words, it’s better than being an atheist. In that case, you are also calling Jesus/god a liar.
Ever wonder why god no longer deals with rogue Christians, especially leaders, the way he did in the New Testament? You should. I did. What do you think you would read in the bible if one of his “priests” or “ministers of the gospel” were caught sexually molesting a little child? What do you think the god in the bible would have done? In the NT holy men were raised up to spot the guilty deceivers, the impostors, and these holy men called them on it publicly so that all the church would see and know that god truly would not be mocked or misrepresented. It brought the fear of god into the hearts of the people as he demonstrated that he really was all knowing and all-powerful and you didn’t want to mess with him. This doesn’t happen anymore in the REAL world, only in the story book, and this should make everyone who sees the gross misconduct, corruption, the exploitation and misuse of Jesus’ teachings to stop and wonder why their god does not intervene in the way the bible portrays him in times passed. It should make people realize that the bible is a fable. After all the investigation done by an organization like Trinity to get rid of these Jesus posers, all the evidence collected and made public and yet your god still didn’t see fit to take them out of the system. Like I said, I guess god doesn’t mind any more. He’s softened up a bit in his old age.
So, Christian, don’t expect the secular world to clean up a mess that your bible CLEARLY admonishes YOU with the power of YOUR GOD to clean up – in this life. The lack of a visibly demonstrable power to uphold “truth” from lies, coupled with the apathy and complacency of those who at the same time adamantly claim to follow Christ, is more than enough evidence for me to conclude that your religious claims are merely superficial.
Marina
Dr. Scott Johnson (see Contending For Truth. Com) continuously exposes these charlatans in his various online teachings (Osteen, Hinn, Copelands, Bentley, Popoff, TBN, ad nauseum), as does Joseph Chambers (at Pawcreek Ministries), Texe Marrs (at Power of Prophecy), Justin Peters, the late David J Meyer (see Last Trumpet Ministries. Com)….to name just a few, so there are at least SOME preachers or watchmen out there attempting to expose these frauds. They’re not all blind to the truth and they haven’t all suspended critical thinking for fear of making waves and upsetting the flock.
In fact, one of the reasons Dr. Scott Johnson left the tax exempt church system altogther was because of what they WEREN’T preaching, admonishing and exposing, more so than what they were discussing. He was fed up with a watered down gospel (a la Joel ”I don’t know” Osteen) that tickled your ears but convicted and exposed nothing, with a tax free status and lavish lifestyle on top of it (Scott Johnson, Texe Marrs and the late David J Meyer’s ministry— do not receive a tax exempt status, I might add—I don’t know about the others).
If you visit his online teachings, you will see that he dares to go where so few preachers are willing, tackling the most controversial subjects and then some. Most others aren’t willing to discuss such things in their churches because they’d lose their tax exempt status plus a ton of revenue from offending so many with the unbridled truth, even at the expense of hatred and persecution.
God’s true remnant people DO still exist, though admittedly, it’s getting harder and harder to find them (especially via tv) because so many have been corrupted by apostate doctrine, lying signs and wonders and the love of $$$$$$ but they aren’t ALL like that and it’s unfair to tarnish them all with the same brush.
God WILL judge us ALL some day….including the snake oil hucksters. Just because He isn’t beating them over the head with a baseball bat each time they mess up in their false prophecies and false claims of healings, doesn’t mean punishment will escape them on the other side of death. Their day of reckoning will come…..perhaps many years from now…..but it WILL come some day, make no mistake about it.
For a devout atheist who has renounced her faith in Christianity 100 %, you sure are passionate about a system you’re not even a part of anymore. Why not just move on with your life and find another outlet for your rage (such as kick boxing or marathon running) ?
I could understand a born again Christian being angry about such injustices within the church system (such as Scott Johnson) but for an ex-Christian who wants nothing more to do with God, the Church or the Bible, you sure are zealous about Something and Someone you claim not to believe in.
I can see that you’ve been hurt by the Church and for that I’m truly sorry but at some point, you just have to move on with life and find another outlet for your rage. I’m angry at the same injustices too but have not become bitter because I know it’s not God’s fault and that the wicked will be brought to justice some day. The end.
Jackie, I think you’ve missed a key point Marina made and that is that your “god” is doing NOTHING about this scenario and is completely guilty of being an accomplice by his complacency.
Secondly, I think another thing you missed is the reason Marina is so passionate about this issue is because it’s BIG BUSINESS that is completely tax free and who is left to pay for the shit these people cause? You guessed it, us non-believers. Do you have any idea the burden these white-collar criminals place on our society with the fallout of their victims? How much has it cost our social system to provide welfare and counselling to the victims? Why should it be our expense when the assholes who caused it get off scott-free? We end up paying for your belief system that we want nothing to do with. Do you really think that’s fair?
Also, on a side note, when we ran our church, it was not run as a charity or tax-exempt because we wouldn’t sell our voices to the government either. We were doing and preaching the exact things you admonish Johnson for. Yes, within what you describe as the still-existent remnant, we were there and probably more-so than most and that was just another stepping stone in our leaving Christianity. Just a little more on our background in case you’re interested.
Tim ~ I haven’t seen a burden of victims placed upon our society. Where are the treatment programs, 12-step systems, etc. for people who have been duped by televangelists? Where are the 800 numbers with counselors standing by? Televangelists aren’t the cause of welfare and counselling needs in America. What a ridiculous thing to say.
And your rant about, let’s see, I’ll quote it: “Why should it be our expense when the assholes who caused it get off scott-free? We end up paying for your belief system that we want nothing to do with. Do you really think that’s fair?” Isn’t that what Christians say about certain issues such as abortion and teaching homosexuality in the schools? I hope you believe that Christians should be exempt from paying for anything that is against their belief system and they want nothing to do with. Do you really think that’s fair?
Joyce, let’s just look at those the church isn’t helping out… When people like Hinn, Copeland, Dollar, Long, etc., are worth millions or billions, why are there still people starving on the streets? That being said, let me bring you to my reality… We did counsel people who were victimized by these crooks and trust me, there are far more than you think. The problem is that the people are so victimized that you never hear about them within your circles because they are taught to simply shut up and not complain about their circumstances. They are so intimidated, they will not say anything. This is evident within the staff notes I linked to above and those people weren’t even victims, they were simply staffers. If you don’t believe there are thousands of victims, you really need to get your head out of the sand and do your homework.
Secondly, I don’t like my money going to support things I don’t necessarily agree with, such as abortion or homosexual education, but I do believe in equal rights. The problem is that there are no equal rights when it comes to religion. They have the right to discriminate based on whatever they feel is appropriate and not only that, they can campaign against it using tax-free dollars. How is that fair? How is it fair that I pay for the maintenance of the infrastructure supplying the churches in our community when they don’t contribute a single dime towards it? You really don’t want to get me started on what the cost of religion is and the tens of billions of untaxed dollars involved. It is the most corrupt business that exists in the world today. Also, if you want to get into the education debate concerning me funding religious or faith-based education, I dare you to bring it on. You see, I’m one of those most ungodly people that believes education should be a public institution and religion should be taught in the home and I’m also one who believes in removing god, prayer and religious symbols from all our publicly funded institutions such as parliament, court houses and publicly funded education facilities, not to mention our national anthem.
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg and unless you want to completely embarrass yourself by showing your total ignorance to a secular society, I suggest you do your homework and when you have something of value to contribute that can be backed by facts, not hopeful ignorance, then come back and we can discuss it like educated and informed adults.
Joyce. Your ignorance of the devastation left in the wake of American style televangelism is astounding. Go to a library. Read a book. Google it. There is no reason to dignify your stupid statement with an answer until you do. And while your at it, educate yourself on what the cost to civilization Christianity overall has incurred since it began.
And by the way Joyce, as a Christian, it should come as no surprise to you to know that you are not of this world; you are a citizen of heaven. You are a foreigner here, a visitor. This world is not your home. The NT clearly teaches this. Therefore, you have forfeited your right to tell the world how to live. You are subject to the law of the land to which you visit. And that includes paying taxes to the worldly government as required even if you don’t agree with the way it is spent.
Or, Joyce, are you calling your god a liar?