Jim Bakker & "Pass the Loot"

 Jim Bakker, the disgraced former televangelist has died at 86. Jim and his wife Tammy Faye were the grinning, weeping cofounders of the PTL Club (Praise the Lord) television "ministry," raking in millions of dollars from gullible viewers to finance their personal excesses. Theirs was an upbeat Christian message in some respects, except for the tearful pleas for money. The gullibility of their fans astounded me, and I was surprised from time to time to talk with parishioners who thought they were great.

A sex scandal finally brought down Jim although the Ponzi Scheme with a halo which financed their personal excesses and theme park, once the third largest in the US, were a big part of their fall. After Bakker was released from prison he carried on with shady dealings, almost literally becoming a snake oil salesman. 

According to a Washington Post piece this morning: 

Wealth and the outward trappings of worldly success were a major component of the Bakkers’ appeal, as critics quipped that the true meaning of PTL was “Pass the Loot.” 

In the 1980s, the Bakkers’ salaries and bonuses soared well past $1 million a year. They had homes near Charlotte and in Florida, Tennessee and Palm Springs, California. Their bathroom fixtures were gold-plated, and even the doghouses — and their son’s tree house — were air-conditioned. Tammy Faye Bakker sold a line of makeup and owned as many as a dozen mink coats. She often talked about her shopping sprees on “The PTL Club” and in interviews.

What comes to mind today is how their disastrous slide from sincere faith to unbridled greed reflects the seep of "health and wealth" into the American psyche, including religion. So many people seem to  worship sports stars and celebrities making obscene amounts of money to divert attention away from what really matters. Politicians have become grifters, including you-know-who, and voters seem either inured to this or actually approve. Mega-church pastors align themselves with power and accumulate personal wealth. 

Lots of these religious scam artists make bold claims about wonderful revivals, with converts turning toward Christ and reestablishing a Christian nation. We might pray for an awakening across the border and in our own nation so that "pass the loot" is not the mantra for authentic living.