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Good. Televangelists are #2 on my list of "Things I hate about my religion"
It looks like the government is going to come down on them pretty hard.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3456977.shtml
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(CBS) This story was written and reported by Laura Strickler of the CBS News Investigative Unit.
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CBS News has learned Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is investigating six prominent televangelist ministries for possible financial misconduct.
Letters were sent Monday to the ministries demanding that financial statements and records be turned over to the committee by December 6th.
According to Grassley's office, the Iowa Republican is trying to determine whether or not these ministries are improperly using their tax-exempt status as churches to shield lavish lifestyles.
The six ministries identified as being under investigation by the committee are led by: Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Three of the six - Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar - also sit on the Board of Regents for the Oral Roberts University.
A spokesperson for Joyce Meyer Ministries provided CBS News with an IRS letter to the ministry dated October 10, 2007, that stated: "We determined that you continue to qualify as an organization exempt from Federal income tax." The letter could not be independently verified in time for this story. The ministry also pointed to audited financial statements for the last three years that are posted on the organization's Web site.
In a statement, Benny Hinn's spokesperson, Ronn Torossian, said the ministry was in the process of determining the best course of action in response to the Senate investigation. "World Healing Center Church complies with the laws that govern church and non-profit organizations and will continue to do so," Torossian wrote.
In a statement to CBS News, Creflo Dollar called his ministry an "open book" and said he would comply with any "valid request" from Grassley. But he noted that the inquiry raised questions that could "affect the privacy of every community church in America."
The other three ministries did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News on Monday.
Because they have tax status as churches, the ministries do not have to file IRS 990 forms like other non-profit organizations - leaving much financial information largely behind closed doors.
The letters sent Monday were the culmination of a long investigation fueled in part by complaints from Ole Anthony, a crusader against religious fraud who operates the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which describes itself as a watchdog monitoring religious media, fraud and abuse. "We've been working with them for two years," Anthony told CBS News. "We have furnished them with enough information to fill a small Volkswagen."
Anthony said after twenty years of working with media organizations to expose televangelists, he saw little reform. He says that's why he turned to another tactic, going straight to Grassley. He is confident that Grassley's inquiry will be different, "What we hope is that this will lead to reform in religious nonprofits."
The structure of many televangelist organizations - in which the leadership is often concentrated in one person or one family - has itself been the target of criticism. "Churches like these are ruled as a dictatorship," says Rod Pitzer, who directs research at Ministry Watch in North Carolina, which provides advice for donors to Christian organizations.
Pitzer welcomes the Senate committee investigation. Ministries lacking accountability, he says, "give a black eye to churches and Christians who are trying to do things in the right manner."
By Laura Strickler © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Good. Televangelists are #2 on my list of "Things I hate about my religion"
I'm torn, here.
S of the earth or not, some of that is hilarious to watch.
copeland and hinn are snakes. i'm surprised they've taken this long to get them.
Cornerstone Chubster ain't missing any meals, either.
The need to go after the Oral Roberts University.
, they need to bring down the entire Pat Robertson empire.
Have you ever been to the ORU campus? It's both fascinating and creepy.
GIANT bronze statue of praying hands, wonderfully tacky 1970's architechture, and the infamous prayer tower. Weird place.
I agree. , I hate televangelists. It's why I find myself apologizing (albeit jokingly) for being Christian.
Didn't Hinn already get tagged once before?
I'd like to go . . . dressed as Satan.
I'm not sure, but I hope they nail him this time around.
i consider joel osteen the single person that i hate most in this world.
I had to laugh when his wife threw some kind of snit and got the whole family tossed of of their flight to their ski vacation in Colorado one year.
you mean you can buy your way in to heaven???
super-church here i come!
i laughed too. if they get a private plane, i hope it crashes.
Pat Robertson definitely needs to be brought down.
It amazes me how much money people give to these evangelists.
Same here, hey people GOD DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY
...I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
It's not that they want to, they're being conned into doing it.
These sorry sack of mother ers prey on people that only have faith left in their lives. People who are stuck in a position in life. People who have tried every thing else and they left with just their faith.
It's these people that the suckers prey upon, because they know that the victims would give anything up to be closer to their god/faith.
televangelists. All those mother ers should be in jail for ripping off the poor and the desperate.
And the elderly.
they talk about "harvest" all the time. I called them and said I wanted a HUGE harvest and then proceeded to ask them for agricultural advise. they hung up on me???
God Does Not Need Money, He Only Wants Your Soul........don't You Losers(dumb Asses Send Them Money) Understand That?????
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