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Televangelists Who Were Worse Than You Realized · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: Do as they say, not as they do, because the
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  Speaker 1: sim zis televangelists committed were just about beyond forgivable. Back
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  Speaker 1: in the seventies and eighties, Jimmy Swaggert was one of
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  Speaker 1: the most influential evangelical preachers in America. He was producing
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  Speaker 1: shows nearly every day and broadcasting on hundreds of channels
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  Speaker 1: across the world.
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  Speaker 2: When he talked, the people in his community listened.
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  Speaker 1: When he exposed fellow TV preacher Marvin Gorman for having
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  Speaker 1: extramarital affairs, Gorman lost his job, but the rival preacher
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  Speaker 1: got his revenge, having Swigert followed and photographed with the
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  Speaker 1: sex worker. The blackmail saw Gorman reinstated and Swigert taken
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  Speaker 1: off the air for a while. Swigert re entered the
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  Speaker 1: spotlight with an infamous nineteen eighty eight speech where he
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  Speaker 1: cried buckets of tears and asked for forgiveness. I have
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  Speaker 1: sinned against you, my Lord. They seemed to be crocodile tears,
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  Speaker 1: though just three years later he got caught again and
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  Speaker 1: lost everything. He later callwed his way back to head
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  Speaker 1: up his ministry and once again host a TV show.
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  Speaker 1: In June twenty twenty five, he had a heart attack
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  Speaker 1: and was in critical condition as of the making of
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  Speaker 1: this video. Since nineteen seventy nine, Kenneth Copeland has headlined
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  Speaker 1: The Believer's Voice of Victory, first a weekly then a
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  Speaker 1: daily TV program syndicated to stations across the US. He's
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  Speaker 1: collected millions in donations. In twenty eighteen, Copeland purchased a
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  Speaker 1: very expensive golf Stream five jet from entertainment mogul Tyler Perry,
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  Speaker 1: making his total number of luxury private planes three. Copeland
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  Speaker 1: Is repeatedly claimed the jets are a job requirement. How
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  Speaker 1: much money did you pay for Tyler Perry's gulf Stream
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  Speaker 1: Jet for example.
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  Speaker 2: Well, for example, that's really none of your business.
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  Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, Copeland said in an interview with televangelist
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  Speaker 1: Jesse Duplantis that it was agitating his spirits when he'd
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  Speaker 1: get on a commercial plane and he'd be hit with
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  Speaker 1: numerous requests from strangers asking him to pray for them.
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  Speaker 1: Copeland said, you can't manage that today this dope filled world.
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  Speaker 2: Get in and get in a long tube with a
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  Speaker 2: bunch of demons.
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  Speaker 1: R Copeland doesn't just use his fleet of jets for work, though,
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  Speaker 1: he also reportedly uses them to ferry himself around his.
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  Speaker 2: Various vacation properties.
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  Speaker 1: Marcus Lamb founded the day Star Television Network, the second
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  Speaker 1: largest Christian TV network on Earth. His story was a
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  Speaker 1: familiar one. He became a devout member of the church
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  Speaker 1: at a young age and started preaching as a teenager.
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  Speaker 1: His whole life was all about spreading the good word,
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  Speaker 1: but several of his employees threatened to spread some pretty
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  Speaker 1: bad news about him, leading Lamb into a corner. During
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  Speaker 1: his stunning sermon in twenty ten, Lamb admitted to having
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  Speaker 1: an affair a few years earlier. According to him, three
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  Speaker 1: women who had previously worked for him and threatened to
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  Speaker 1: go public if they weren't paid seven and a half
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  Speaker 1: million dollars with little other recourse. Lamb repented, asked his
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  Speaker 1: congregation for forgiveness, and went on the Doctor Phil Show.
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  Speaker 1: His wife stuck with him even after he was sued
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  Speaker 1: for allegedly abusing employees during mandated quiet time.
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  Speaker 2: Author F.
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  Speaker 1: Scott Fitzgerald famously noted that there are no second acts
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  Speaker 1: in American lives, but he never encountered Jim Baker. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, Jim and his then wife Tammy Fay
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  Speaker 1: Baker co founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network, home of their program,
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  Speaker 1: The PTL Club.
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  Speaker 2: PTL stood for Praise.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord, of course, the Baker soon began construction on
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  Speaker 1: Heritage USA, a Christian theme park with water slides, a
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  Speaker 1: five hundred room hotel, and big tax exemptions. An IRS
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  Speaker 1: investigation found that the Bakers redrected one point three million
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  Speaker 1: dollars to personal accounts. That didn't actually take him down,
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  Speaker 1: but CNN reports about an alleged hush money payment of
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy nine thousand dollars to cover up
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  Speaker 1: the sexual assault of his secretary sent him tumbling. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, Baker was convicted on twenty nine counts,
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  Speaker 1: including mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. He was sentenced
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  Speaker 1: to forty five years in prison. Baker only served a
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  Speaker 1: few of those years, though, getting parole in nineteen ninety four,
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  Speaker 1: and wasn't long before he was back on TV. He's
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  Speaker 1: been hosting The Jim Bakers Show since two thousand and three.
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  Speaker 1: In June twenty twenty one, he settled a lawsuit with
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  Speaker 1: the state of Missouri over his claims that Colonial silver
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  Speaker 1: could cure COVID nineteen, pat Robertson helped invent televangelism. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty he created America's first Christian TV outlets, which
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  Speaker 1: evolved into the Christian Broadcasting Network. Robertson hosted that channel's
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  Speaker 1: flagship religious program, The Seven Hundred Club, for decades, using
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  Speaker 1: its proceeds to start a university in his notoriety to
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  Speaker 1: even run for president in nineteen eighty eight, with the
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  Speaker 1: Seven Hundred Club as his pulpit. Robertson made many controversy
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  Speaker 1: your remarks over the years. Among the things that Robertson
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  Speaker 1: said were possessed by demons or invited demonic spirits into
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  Speaker 1: one's homes were images of Buddha, sleepover seances, yoga, horoscopes,
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  Speaker 1: adopting children from overseas, psychics, and the Twilight Books. He
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  Speaker 1: also claimed that democrats, encouraged by gay people, wanted to
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  Speaker 1: put Christians in concentration camps. He argued that a stroke
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  Speaker 1: suffered by Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel at
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  Speaker 1: the time, was a literal act of God. In his
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one book The New World Order, he claimed
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  Speaker 1: that the United States was run by a number of
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  Speaker 1: secret organizations tied to Satan, including Jewish banking families. In
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  Speaker 1: twenty twelve, Liberian president Charles Taylor was convicted on numerous
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  Speaker 1: war crimes, including terrorism and forcing children to be soldiers.
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  Speaker 1: During Taylor's trial, Robertson urged the US government to support Taylor,
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  Speaker 1: with whom he had a deal to mind for gold.
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  Speaker 1: Joel Ostein Ministries broadcast weekly services from Lakewood Church in
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  Speaker 1: Houston on fifty six broadcast stations, as well as multiple
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  Speaker 1: cable channels. Ostein is the author of seven best selling
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  Speaker 1: books and hosts a satellite radio show, all of which
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  Speaker 1: drives traffic to his sixteen one thousand plus seat megachurch,
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  Speaker 1: a converted sports arena. Ostein's specific version of prosperity gospel
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  Speaker 1: has made him especially prosperous well. The network reported to
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  Speaker 1: be around fifty million dollars. I don't think God has
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  Speaker 1: any problem with you being blessed. In twenty seventeen, Ostein
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  Speaker 1: was widely criticized for what many saw as him turning
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  Speaker 1: his back on his community as Hurricane Harvey bombarded the
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  Speaker 1: Houston area with heavy rains and flooding that put the
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  Speaker 1: lives of many locals in jeopardy, Ostein didn't open the
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  Speaker 1: massive Lakewood Church property as a safe haven, shelter or
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  Speaker 1: refugee center. The church announced on its social media accounts
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  Speaker 1: that the facility was uninhabitable because of flooding. The photographs
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  Speaker 1: posted by locals suggested that wasn't exactly true. After being
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  Speaker 1: called out, Ostein opened up the church for flood relief
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  Speaker 1: and set up a donation center. After starting the Orlando
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  Speaker 1: Christian Center megachurch in nineteen eighty three and holding faith
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  Speaker 1: healing services there, Minister Benny Hin took what he dubbed
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  Speaker 1: his miracle healing services on the road. By nineteen ninety,
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  Speaker 1: he debuted This Is Your Day, a daily TV show
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  Speaker 1: on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, where it aired for years.
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  Speaker 1: In two thousand and five, Christian watchdog organization Ministry Watch
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  Speaker 1: issued a donor alert urging against giving money to Hint's ministries.
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  Speaker 1: The reasons, according to the organization, were that Hin lived
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  Speaker 1: a lavish lifestyle with funds intended for charitable purposes, and
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  Speaker 1: had self serving prosperity theology messages. The alert also said
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  Speaker 1: Hin lacked any oversight on his spending. Two years later,
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  Speaker 1: the federal government looked into hints finances. Iowa Senator Chuck
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  Speaker 1: Grassley launched an investigation into the financial makeup of megachurches,
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  Speaker 1: searching for signs of exploitation of the institution's tax exempt status,
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  Speaker 1: and by that time had it. The World Healing Center
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  Speaker 1: Church and Benny Hin Ministries was among those investigated, though
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  Speaker 1: he had first refused to participate in twenty eleven, he
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  Speaker 1: was cleared of wrongdoing. In May twenty eighteen, televangelist Jesse
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  Speaker 1: Duplantis put out a call to action.
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  Speaker 2: His old jets, one.
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  Speaker 1: Of three was wearing outs, and he just knew his
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  Speaker 1: followers would help him. He just needed a few million
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  Speaker 1: dollars to buy a humble new Falcon seven X passenger jet.
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  Speaker 1: According to Duplantis, God personally told him that he wants
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  Speaker 1: him flying in that particular plane, presumably because the Good
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  Speaker 1: Lord would never expect his closest files to fly southwest.
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  Speaker 2: As I was going home, the Lord real quickly he
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  Speaker 2: suggests it do you like your plane?
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  Speaker 1: And he afore mentioned conversation with Kenneth Copeland. The plant
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  Speaker 1: has said that he was told directly by God that
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  Speaker 1: being satisfied with the plane he had, would be letting
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  Speaker 1: his faith stagnate, so he had to get a new one.
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  Speaker 1: If you've ever wondered why American politics and evangelicalism had
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  Speaker 1: become so intertwined over the past few decades, look no
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  Speaker 1: further than Jerry Folwell. In the nineteen seventies, he founded
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  Speaker 1: the Moral Majority Political Action Committee, shortly after an all
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  Speaker 1: white Christian academy that he founded was threatened with losing
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  Speaker 1: its tax exempt status because of school desegregation laws. You
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  Speaker 1: could argue that Fallwell also helped start the culture wars.
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  Speaker 1: He sued Hustler magazine for forty five million dollars because
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  Speaker 1: they ran a parody piece making fun of him, and
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  Speaker 1: he took the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
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  Speaker 2: He lost.
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  Speaker 1: He stated that a gay friendly church was a Satanic
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  Speaker 1: cult and that its inevitable annihilation would cause the celebration
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  Speaker 1: in heaven. Fallwell likewise said the September eleventh attacks happened
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  Speaker 1: because God was angry at America's acceptance of, among others,
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  Speaker 1: the abortionists and the feminists, and the gays, the lesbians.
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  Speaker 2: He called the attacks probably what we deserve.
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  Speaker 1: He even accused of purple Tellytubby of being gay. Ted
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  Speaker 1: Haggart served for three years as the president of the
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  Speaker 1: National Association of Evangelicals. He seemed to have everything, including
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  Speaker 1: a loving wife and five adoring children, but then he
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  Speaker 1: got caught having meth fueled hookups with a male sex worker,
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  Speaker 1: causing everything to come tumbling down. It was he Escort
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  Speaker 1: himself who told the press about Haggart's salliances. Haggart's responses
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  Speaker 1: to the accusations varied over the next few months, running
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  Speaker 1: the gamut from total denial to finally complete admission. Haggart
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  Speaker 1: wound up disgraced and ejected from his church. He was
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  Speaker 1: poised for a comeback in two thousand and nine when
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  Speaker 1: HBO produced a documentary on his return to the righteous path,
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  Speaker 1: but more allegations popped up. In twenty twelve, he was
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  Speaker 1: on an episode of Celebrity Wife Swamp where he switched
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  Speaker 1: spouses with actor Gary Busey. Married couple Tony and Susan
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  Speaker 1: Alamo started a small ministry just outside Hollywood in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty nine. By the mid seventies, they were broadcasting their
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  Speaker 1: gospel and living in a fourteen thousand square foot mansion
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  Speaker 1: in Arkansas on a compound staffed by their follow They
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  Speaker 1: were paid five dollars.
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  Speaker 2: A week and given food when they behaved.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators discovered that followers also worked in a sweatshop producing
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  Speaker 1: high end denim jackets at the Alamos sold for hundreds
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  Speaker 1: of dollars.
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  Speaker 2: And Susan died in nineteen eighty two.
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  Speaker 1: Tony out her body on display for six months, with
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  Speaker 1: his congregants performing a constant vigil over it so she
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  Speaker 1: would come back to life. The government started taking action
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  Speaker 1: in the early nineties, and Tony found himself on the
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  Speaker 1: wrong side of the law. He'd been operating his businesses
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  Speaker 1: as tax free nonprofits, which.
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  Speaker 2: The IRS shut down.
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  Speaker 1: He stole his wife's body from the compound after it
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  Speaker 1: was shut down. Tony was eventually convicted on ten counts
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  Speaker 1: of transporting miners across state lines.
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  Speaker 2: He died in prison.
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  Speaker 1: Fans of Robert Tilton know him as the host of
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  Speaker 1: Success in Life, Early Freak. Runners of YouTube know him
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  Speaker 1: as the farting preacher. Pretty much everyone else knows him
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  Speaker 1: as a huge fraud. Tilton's message was clear from the start.
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  Speaker 1: Poverty is the result of sin, and you could avoid
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  Speaker 1: it by sending money. And you need to make a
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  Speaker 1: bow of faith of one thousand dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Oh Bob, couldn't you say twenty five? No.
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  Speaker 1: His ministry became so popular that he attracted between eight
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  Speaker 1: and ten thousand worshippers to his megachurch every week, and
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  Speaker 1: his broadcasts brought in scores of letters with personal requests
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  Speaker 1: for prayer along with donations. During an undercover investigation, ABC
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  Speaker 1: discovered that prayer letters sent to Tilton's television ministry were
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  Speaker 1: sent straight to the bank, where their donations were marked
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  Speaker 1: and their prayers were thrown in the trash. Tilton denied
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  Speaker 1: all that, saying he prayed so hard over the letters
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  Speaker 1: that the ink leaked into his bloodstream. He claimed that
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  Speaker 1: was why he needed plastic surgery paid for by all
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  Speaker 1: those donations. With his grinning California charm and charismatic preaching,
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  Speaker 1: Peter Popoff was a man to see in the eighties
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  Speaker 1: for revival services and lightning fast faith healing. Attendees of
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  Speaker 1: his sermons were amazed when he'd call out strangers by name,
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  Speaker 1: knowing exactly what afflicted them through the divine province of God.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, it was all clever trickery. Popoff's wife, Elizabeth,
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  Speaker 1: had previously gotten personal information from people in the audience
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  Speaker 1: and then fed it to her husband. Electronically prestigious debunker
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  Speaker 1: James Randy, exposed the ruse on national television, and yet
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  Speaker 1: that wasn't the end of pop Off. He kept ongoing
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  Speaker 1: and started making infomercials selling his patented miracle Manna and
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  Speaker 1: Miracle spring water. Pop Off claims are guaranteed cures for
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  Speaker 1: basically everything. Mike Warrnkey was a pretty big deal back
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  Speaker 1: in the day. He lived a good life as a
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  Speaker 1: minister and Christian comedian, traveling the world spreading his message
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  Speaker 1: that the devil is coming for you and you'd better
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  Speaker 1: be ready to fight him. How did he know, because
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  Speaker 1: he falsely claimed he used to be a Satanic preacher
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  Speaker 1: with a cult that made blood sacrifices. Among his other
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  Speaker 1: supposed accomplishments were his doctorate in philosophy, his two bachelor's degrees,
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  Speaker 1: and a very number of wounds he suffered in Vietnam,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely none of which was true. What makes Warrenkey's case
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  Speaker 1: all the more fascinating is that he was actually outed
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  Speaker 1: as a fraud by a Christian publication, Cornerstone Magazine, in
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  Speaker 1: an expose in nineteen ninety one. As is often the case,
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  Speaker 1: the response was split. Some are angry at Warrankey for
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  Speaker 1: his deception. Others were upset at the magazine for calling
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  Speaker 1: out a man who was bringing the word of God
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  Speaker 1: to the people. A Christian post piece from late twenty
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  Speaker 1: nineteen outlined some of Ernest Angeley's financial struggles. His Boeing
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  Speaker 1: seven forty seven jets had reportedly been on blocks for
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  Speaker 1: two years since Angela couldn't afford the six figure repairs
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  Speaker 1: that it needed. A lot of that had to do
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  Speaker 1: with the minister's various legal troubles and fall from grace.
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  Speaker 1: According to Forbes, one man who began working for Angeley
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  Speaker 1: at eighteen claimed that he would regularly be called to
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  Speaker 1: the preacher's house for special anointings that were essentially abuse sessions.
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  Speaker 1: Angelie has previously been accused of operating a colt where
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  Speaker 1: followers were taught that enough prayer could heal HIV. Though
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  Speaker 1: angel he vehemently preached that homosexuality was a sin, he
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  Speaker 1: also reportedly closely inspected the privates of male parishioners after
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  Speaker 1: encouraging them to get vasectomies. Paul and Jan Crouch started
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  Speaker 1: a media empire, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, by buying up
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  Speaker 1: television stations across the country. The Los Angeles Times noted
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  Speaker 1: that more than forty years later, their media empire as
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  Speaker 1: an estimated value of seven hundred and fifty million dollars.
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  Speaker 1: The couple's granddaughter, Britney Copper, has raised allegations that Paul
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  Speaker 1: and Jan have essentially used the network as their personal
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  Speaker 1: bank account. Copper says the couple has done everything in
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  Speaker 1: their power to avoid paying taxes, including having their chauffeurs
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  Speaker 1: ordained as ministers. Copper, who once served as the network's
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  Speaker 1: financed director, told The New York Times her job was
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  Speaker 1: quote to find ways to label extravagant personal spending as
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  Speaker 1: ministry expenses. It's worth noting that Copper may have had
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  Speaker 1: an axe to grind, given that she was fired, which
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  Speaker 1: is not the only one to raise allegations either. In
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  Speaker 1: twenty twelve, another of the Crouch's granddaughter sued claiming that
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  Speaker 1: she had been sexually assaulted by a TBN employee when
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  Speaker 1: she was thirteen. She alleged that Jan had turned a
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  Speaker 1: blind eye and blamed her for the attack. Oral Roberts
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  Speaker 1: career as a public preacher began in nineteen forty seven
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  Speaker 1: with revival style tent services where he purportedly healed followers.
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  Speaker 1: Taking his talents to TV in nineteen fifty four. He'd
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  Speaker 1: eventually become the top grossing televangelist by the nineteen eighties,
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  Speaker 1: promising viewers that they'd get wealthy if they sent him offerings.
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  Speaker 1: His five hundred million dollar Oral Roberts University Complex, which
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  Speaker 1: includes the university hospital and medical school, opened in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: sixty five and still stands in Oklahoma. In the late
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, Roberts reported that his relationship with a higher
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  Speaker 1: power was in significant jeopardy and that as viewers needed
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  Speaker 1: to help him get.
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  Speaker 2: Out of a high stakes situation.
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  Speaker 1: In his Eastern Message in nineteen eighty nine, Roberts claimed
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  Speaker 1: that God told him he did to come up with
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  Speaker 1: eight million dollars in sacred donations by the close of
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  Speaker 1: the year. If not, Roberts said, God would kill him.
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  Speaker 1: I knew what sickness was, and I knew what healing
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  Speaker 1: was called I'd been healed. In January nineteen eighty seven,
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  Speaker 1: Roberts repeated the tactic, announcing on his television show that
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  Speaker 1: God would end his life if he didn't get that
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  Speaker 1: eight million dollars in by March thirtieth. By the deadline,
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  Speaker 1: Roberts adherents had sent him more than an off money
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  Speaker 1: to evidently save his life. He didn't die until two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and nine. Harold Camping co created Family Radio in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight, broadcasting religious music and fielding listeners Bible
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  Speaker 1: questions on the air. Family Radio grew into a network
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  Speaker 1: of radio stations and cable TV projects, and Camping became
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  Speaker 1: publicly concerned with end Time's prophecy. He claimed that close
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  Speaker 1: biblical analysis revealed the date to the rapture, and that
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  Speaker 1: the world as we know it would end on either
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  Speaker 1: September fourth, nineteen ninety four, September sixth, nineteen ninety four,
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  Speaker 1: or May twenty first, twenty eleven. By the time Camping
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  Speaker 1: died in twenty thirteen, he'd incorrectly predicted armageddon about thirteen times,
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  Speaker 1: and in the right up to each day. He collected
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  Speaker 1: tens of millions of dollars from his most staunched supporters.
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  Speaker 1: Many of Camping's followers handed over their entire estates and
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  Speaker 1: emptied their bank accounts to help him spread the news.
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  Speaker 1: An ex employee told Vice there were a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people who sold their houses who gave up their life savings,
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  Speaker 1: and Harold thought it was funny. He would come into
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  Speaker 1: my office and say, So and So called me. They're broke,
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  Speaker 1: but I'm not giving their money back. Todd Bentley devoted
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  Speaker 1: his life to religion at the age of eighteen following
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  Speaker 1: a drug overdose and an assault conviction. Claiming to be
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  Speaker 1: a faith healer, Bentley became a preacher and took over
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  Speaker 1: the Canada based Fresh Fire Ministry. By two thousand and eight,
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  Speaker 1: he was speaking at megachurches, performing faith healing rituals, and
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: appearing on the God TV Christian broadcasting network. In July
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, Nightline ran a story debunking Bentley's
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: faith healing powers. That same year, Bentley split from his
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: wife following an emotional affair with one of his employees.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Bentley continued to preach until Minister Stephen Powell levied some
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: serious allegations against him in twenty nineteen. Powell wrote on
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Facebook that Bentley was a sex addict who engaged in
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: numerous affairs with both men and women, including interns and
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: students on leadership. Following a thorough investigation, a ministerial oversight
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: board discredited Bentley, stating that there were credible accusations of
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: a steady pattern of ungodly.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: And i moral behavior.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Father John Carrapi hosted multiple primetime talk shows and documentaries
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: bearing his name on the Eternal Word Television Network. A
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: member of the religious Order the Society of Our Lady
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: of the Most Holy Trinity, Corrapi also published well received books,
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: released religious DVDs and albums, and spoke out about faith
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: from a Catholic perspective. After receiving a letter from an
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: unidentified woman who was known to have been close with
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: Father Krapi, the Priest's Order launched an investigation in twenty
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: eleven into allegations that he behaved inappropriately on numerous occasions.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: After pouring through Karapi's emails and interviewing individuals involved, the
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Order determined that the priest was living with a woman
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: with whom he was also in a romantic relationship it
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: met during her tenure as a sex worker. Krapi had
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: also apparently overused drugs and alcohol, exchanged explicit texts with
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: another woman, and owned over a million dollars worth of
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: real estate, cars and sports vehicles. For so many of
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: us new Father Karrapi, this y is both a shock
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: and a puzzlement. Catholic priests takes sacred vows of chastity, celibacy,
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: and poverty, and are also expected to avoid activities deemed
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: outwardly sinful, like recreational drug use. The order of Banned
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Garoppi from any and all.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Further priestly activities.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: One of the most prolific evangelists in the world, Joyce
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Meyer has written one hundred and fifty books while also
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: operating numerous humanitarian programs and appearing daily on Enjoying Everyday Life.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: The syndicated televangelism program is broadcast in more than one
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: hundred languages every day of the year, and it dates
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: back to nineteen ninety three. Meyer's reputation is fairly clean,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: although she was associated with a horrific series of crimes.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: In two thousand and nine, her personal bodyguard, Christopher Coleman,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: was carrying on an extramarital affair and wanted to be
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: with his mistress, so he killed his spouse and their
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: two young sons. He then sent phony death threats to
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: his company email address to plant the idea that his
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: family was killed as an act of hostility against Meyer
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: and her operations. Coleman was convicted in the killing and
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: sentenced to life in prison without parole. The family of
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Coleman's wife filed a wrongful death lawsuit against joe yis
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Meyer Ministries, alleging that it didn't do enough to stop
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Coleman from committing his crimes.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: The case was thrown out of court.