Work with me on this. I know it’s been a few years, but when Jim Baker got nabbed for all the things he wasted the money of his viewers on, everyone sympathized with all those “old people trying to do good” by unwittingly financing it all. I didn’t feel bad, not one damn bit. I say, every dollar that he pissed away on air conditioned doghouses or whatever is a dollar that he didn’t use to influence politicians to foist off his religion on innnocent schoolchildren, gays, atheists, the sexually adventurous or the merely different.
Don’t gimme any of that crap about the innocence or naivete of his viewers. They heard his sermons and believed his message. When he blathered on about the persecution of Christians, the homosexual menace, the ungodliness of atheists, they all nodded and they reached for their checkbooks. Tough shit if they got taken for a ride. Remember, they can vote, too…and typically, the elderly do (voter turnout in the US is heavily skewed toward older voters). Don’t think for a minute that the bullshit of the current Bush administration is unrelated to the antics of the latest crop of televangelists. As I see it, he got indicted and they just filled the void. Same horse, different color…
If sweet little Grammy sends Jim $100 becuase she thinks it going to be used to be rid of the evil Gays or Athiest; well then as stupid as that sounds, that’s what it needs to be used for.
Do I feel saorry for them? Mmm, not really except for those who thought their money was being used to feed hungry children…etc…
Do I care? Hell yes I care. I sure as hell don’t want to give guys like this carte blanche.
A couple of years back, I went over to my grandmother’s house for tea. As we were stacking the cups, she said, “Oh, I almost forgot to ask you. Would you like to buy a Jew?”
“Buy a WHAT?” I asked.
“A Jew. You know, the folks who don’t eat pork.”
“I know what a Jew is, grandma. The question is why I would buy one?”
“Well, I guess you’re not really buying a Jew,” she amended. “There has been some horrioble persecutions done to Jews in one of those little countries that used to be Russia, and my church is collecting money to buy airfare to get them to Israel. $100 buys one of them and $300 buys an entire family.”
I gave her some money, thinking it was a pretty worthy cause. Hubby thought it was probably a scam since we heard nothing more about it. To this day, I don’t know, but I hope the money did help some people instead of lining the preacher’s pockets.
My grandma has probably given hundreds of thousands over the years to various preachers for their causes. (She also gives to children’s hospitals and the Shriners.) She’s not one of those who goes hungry to do it, so I can’t really make much of an objection, even if I have suspicions a preacher isn’t on the up-and-up. It makes her feel good to think she’s doing some good in the world, and hey, it’s her money.
Absolutely I care if preachers fleece their flocks.
You see, I am a Christian. That means that I try to have compassion for the poor and needy. On this message board, it also means that I get accused on a regular basis of being stupid, naive, brainwashed or needing an emotional crutch. I get very tired of these sorts of accusations. Any time that a televangelist or a minister of a local church takes money intended for worthy causes and misuses it or takes advantage of the weak, the sick, the needy, it is evidence in favor of religion being a blight on society. Even critical observations about branches of Christianity which believe things greatly different from my own beliefs can be hard for me to tolerate since at some level it feels like a swipe is being taken at my faith.
Look, schadenfreude is only natural. And if I read that somebody at Planned Parenthood or PETA or Earth First was stealing money that had been donated by idealistic left-wingers, part of me would smirk (“Serves 'em right, the dumb bastards”), but that would vanish quickly. I’d still care, and I’d still want the thieves brought to justice.
Whatever cause you choose to donate money to, you have a right to know that the money is being spent on that cause, not to line the pockets of a scam artist.
As to your question, yes, I care. I would prefer that people not be persuaded to donate money on false pretenses regardless of the context. As a Christian, I am particularly dismayed when faith is used to bilk people.
As to the rant that accompanied your question: do you know anything about Jim Bakker? You spelled his name wrong. He didn’t preach against homosexuality; his ministry, such as it was, attempted to be inclusive. As to his “blathering on” about the “ungodliness of atheists”, that would seem to be a tautology, if in fact he did blather on about it. Or are you claiming that atheists are godly? I’m not a defender of Bakker, or any other televison evangelist, but you seem to be using him as a symbol for all without knowing much about him.
After the tsunami a couple years ago, I remember people from Red Cross on Spanish TV saying “please don’t earmark donations: if you give us money we can use it wherever is needed - and of course right now the top priority is the tsunami area - but if you give it with a note that says ‘for the tsunami’ and we get a hurricane somewhere, we can’t use ‘your’ money for the hurricane people and we have to show that your specific euro was specifically used for the tsunami”
At my church, the budget is gone over annually with the entire congregation invited to participate. Dates & times are given (at night/weekends) and there is more than one meeting. Biggest problem we have is like voting, kinda: getting enough of the members to turn out and listen, and VOTE on on the budget, as well as hearing where the money is going.
I tend to be more suspicious of those churches which do not do this. Not to say they are ripping people off, but why on earth would you want to donate your hard earned money if you have absolutely no idea where it’s going?
I mean, even if it is a televangelist type church, you can request a report on their finances. If such is not available, I’d be suspicious.
To address your question, yes I care, but I also believe the congregation has some responsibility, too.
Showing how different people’s milage may vary-- at the church that my brother attends, if you want to see what they are doing with their money–better put some of your money in the box. (They have a box at the rear of the sanctuary–they do not pass an offering plate.)
Still, it was kind of amusing when, shortly after the Tsunami, I was there and the minister talked about how they would be collecting donations for Tsunami victems just as soon as they figured out which organization would take care of spiritual needs as well as physical needs. In contrast, at the church I usually attend, all one needed to do was write a check to the church, with UMCOR or UMCOR-Tsunami on the memo line, and there already was an organization in place to administer the money. Administration costs coming out of the church’s operating budget. (UMCOR is the United Methodist Committee On Relief. Given that my brother does not attend a Methodist church or a church belonging to any other denomination, it is not suprising that they weren’t donating to UMCOR. Still, it shows that there can be advantages to being part of a major denomination–despite all the administrative headaches which can ensue.)
I don’t care whether it’s a preacher “fleecing his flock,” an astrologer taking money from people to perform pseudoscientific mysticism, or a robber holding someone up at gunpoint. It’s theft, and I have a problem with it.
By golly, when my Congressman says he’ll influence that vote for $10,000, he had bloody well better influence it!
Been happening for centuries. A lot is used now to pay lawsuits for priests buggering kids. These hypocrites collect pennies from the flocks and live like kings.
I’d obviously have a serious problem if I found out my church was using money in other ways than intended. I don’t have a problem with, “We’re going to use some of the money we were collecting for the new organ to donate to the victims of the latest disaster.”
Also, I can see how a church might collect funds for a disaster relief, but not immediately know where they wanted to allocate those funds. Sometimes, money donated a bit later can do a lot of good. The church might want to research various organizations and see where some of the needs are a couple months down the road.
My church collected both money and food/clothing for Katrina refugees. The food and clothing could immediately be given to those who came to the Dallas area. The money is being used to rebuild the region and assist families with long term needs.
;j