8: Envy - Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker vs. Jerry Falwell Pt 1

Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker broke into television in the heyday, when no medium could rival the Christian ripoff off of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. Their televangelist show thrived at appealing to the sensibilities of bible belt stay at home wives with kids. The ratings soared and so did the ministry donations leaving Jim and Tammy in control of more money than they'd ever even thought of... but they knew just how to spend it. They went as far as breaking ground on a half baked attempt at a Christian Disneyland before envy got the best of an opportunistic rival in the ministry game: Jerry Falwell; and he was seeking to banish them from God's stage forever. Sex, Drugs, and millions of stolen dollars are at the heart of this sordid Evangelical story. And it wasn't just the predatory sexual encounter he had with 19 year old Jessica Hahn that landed him in jail, it was a forensic accounting look into his fraudulent use of viewers donations. You'd think he'd spend his life repenting but no no, Jim Bakker is still to this day grifti-ng his way into vulnerable people's pockets selling end of times kits and Coronavirus cures.

SOURCES-
PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Evangelical Empire -Book by John H. Wigger
Rightwingwatch.org
Wiki
Youtube
Charlotte Observer
Eyes of Tammy Faye Documentary
New York Times


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