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The PTL Club (PTL stands for "Praise The Lord" or "People That Love"), later called The Jim and Tammy Show, and in its last days PTL Today and Heritage Today, was a Christian television program first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, which ran from 1974 to 1989. The PTL Club, which adopted a talk-show format, was the flagship television program of the Bakkers' PTL Satellite Network. It was one of the first Christian broadcasts in the U.S. to deal with subjects such as AIDS/HIV and homosexuality.

History [link]

The program began as a local TV broadcast in a converted Charlotte, North Carolina furniture store, hosted by Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy Faye Bakker. In February 1974, Bakker and his staff built what became known as the PTL Television Network (later named The Inspirational Network), a worldwide Christian satellite cable television network. In a Tonight Show-type format, the program featured many well-known ministers and Christian recording artists. The program was later broadcast from Bakker's Heritage Village ministry headquarters and complex on Park Road in Charlotte, and was later moved to studios constructed at the ministry's new 2500 mixed use family theme park and resort in Fort Mill, South Carolina known as Heritage USA.

Due to his involvement in highly publicized financial and sexual scandals, Bakker resigned on March 19, 1987 turning the cable network, the Heritage USA complex and all ministry assets over to fellow televangelist Jerry Falwell. Falwell became CEO of parent company, Heritage Village Church & Missionary Fellowship, Inc. and assumed control of the network and its flagship program. Falwell's involvement was deemed newsworthy as the PTL ministries were a part of the Assemblies of God denomination and Falwell was a Baptist. Ministry supporters questioned Falwell's intentions and speculated that he was solely interested in maintaining control of the lucrative cable television empire owned by PTL to use to broadcast his own ministry programmming from his Lynchburg, Virginia headquarters.

One commentator noted that "Bakker arranged for Falwell to take over PTL in March in an effort to avoid what he called a 'hostile takeover' of the television ministry by people threatening to expose a sexual encounter he admitted to having seven years earlier with church secretary Jessica Hahn."^[1] According to Hahn, on the afternoon of December 6, 1980, when she was a 21 year-old church secretary, Bakker and another preacher, John Wesley Fletcher drugged her and raped for "about 15 minutes". Hahn stated she overheard Bakker say afterward to another PTL staffer, "Did you get her too?"^[2]

Bakker was ultimately indicted by a federal grand jury for directing millions of dollars of church funds to personal use. Much of the nation^{[citation needed]} watched the court case to see the outcome of the 165 million dollars in donations.^[3][4]

The PTL Club continued as a television program for considerable time after this, first with Falwell as its host and PTL personality Doug Oldham as co-host. Falwell later brought in Christian singer Gary McSpadden as the show's co-host along with PTL musical talent Ron Aldridge. The show was renamed PTL Today, then in an effort to distance the show from the PTL name, Heritage Today. Aldridge continued as co-host along side another PTL singer, Brenda Davis after Falwell suddenly resigned from the now bankrupt PTL ministry and McSpadden and Oldham subsequently left the show out of support for Falwell's decision to resign his position with the ministry.

Under Falwell's leadership, the ministry filed for bankruptcy and after disagreements with the bankruptcy judge and PTL's donors, Falwell and his team abruptly resigned. With Falwell's resignation, Sam Johnson, a member of the PTL ministry team, assumed leadership and incorporated a new entity known as Heritage Ministries to run the television program and associated ministry functions. With Heritage USA and the PTL assets now tied up in bankruptcy reorganization, the new ministry and the television program were forced to move from their longtime Heritage USA broadcast studios to newly purchased property on Nations Ford Road in Charlotte that was named Heritage Place.

The program remained on the air as late as September 1988 when Johnson faced problems with the IRS.^[5]

In 1989, the network was purchased out of bankruptcy by evangelist Morris Cerullo. It is now known as INSP from broadcast facilities in Charlotte with headquarters in nearby Indian Land, South Carolina.

On August 23, 1991, after the second and final day of his re-sentencing hearing, the court reduced Bakker's original 45-year sentence to 18 years—five of which he actually served before being released.

In February 2009, Atlanta, Georgia area investment banker Ben Dyer announced his intention to auction off over 15,000 videotaped episodes of The PTL Club on March 27, 2009.^[6] The programs were purchased by a friend of Jim Bakker's.

See also[link]

• Heritage USA
• Jim Bakker
• Tammy Faye Bakker

References[link]

External links[link]

• The PTL Club at the Internet Movie Database

James Orsen "Jim" Bakker (born January 2, 1940, pronounced "Baker") is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, convicted felon, and a former host (with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker) of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program.

A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about his imprisonment and divorce. He later remarried and returned to televangelism.

Early life[link]

Bakker was born in Muskegon, Michigan, the son of Raleigh Bakker and Furnia Lynette "Furn" Irwin.^[1][2] Bakker attended North Central University, a Bible college affiliated with the Assemblies of God, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where in 1960 he met fellow student Tammy Faye LaValley.^[3] He worked in a restaurant inside a department store in Minneapolis, and she had a job in a boutique for a time.

On April 1, 1961, Bakker and Tammy Faye were married. They left the Bible college to become evangelists. They had two children, Tammy Sue "Sissy" Bakker Chapman (born March 2, 1970) and Jamie Charles "Jay" Bakker (born December 18, 1975).

Career[link]

In 1966, the Bakkers began working at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, which at the time barely reached an audience of thousands. The Bakkers greatly contributed to the growth of the network, and their success with a variety show format (including interviews and puppets) helped make The 700 Club one of the longest-running and most successful televangelism programs.^[4]:6 The "Jim and Tammy Show" was broadcast for a few years from their Portsmouth, Virginia, studio. It was aimed at young children. The Bakkers then left for California in the early 1970s.

Teaming with their former youth pastors Paul and Jan Crouch, the Bakkers created the "Praise the Lord" show for the Crouches' and Bakker's new Trinity Broadcasting Network in California. While that relationship lasted only about a year, this time the Bakkers retained the rights to use the initials PTL and traveled east to Charlotte, North Carolina, to begin their own show, The PTL Club. Their show grew quickly until it was carried by close to a hundred stations, with average viewers numbering over twelve million, and the Bakkers had established their own network, The PTL Television Network (also known as PTL-The Inspirational Network). They attributed much of their success to decisions early on to accept all denominations and to refuse no one regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or criminal record.

By the early 1980s, the Bakkers had built Heritage USA in Fort Mill, South Carolina, (south of Charlotte), then the third most successful theme park in the US, and a satellite system to distribute their network 24 hours a day across the country. Contributions requested from viewers were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to go to expanding the theme park and mission of PTL.^[5] In justifying his use of the mass media, Bakker responded to inquiries by likening his use of television to Jesus's use of the amphitheater of the time. "I believe that if Jesus were alive today he would be on TV", Bakker said.

In their success, the Bakkers took conspicuous consumption to an unusual level for a non-profit organization. According to Frances FitzGerald in an April 1987 New Yorker article, "They epitomized the excesses of the 1980s; the greed, the love of glitz, and the shamelessness; which in their case was so pure as to almost amount to a kind of innocence". Detractors often said that PTL stood for Pass The Loot.

Scandals[link]

PTL's fund raising activities between 1984–1987 underwent scrutiny by The Charlotte Observer newspaper, eventually leading to criminal charges against Jim Bakker. From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 "lifetime memberships", which entitled buyers to a three-night stay annually at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. According to the prosecution at Bakker's later fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships had been sold, but only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. Bakker "sold" more "exclusive partnerships" than could be accommodated, while raising more than twice the money needed to build the actual hotel. A good deal of the money went into Heritage USA's operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself. A $279,000 payoff for the silence of Jessica Hahn, a staff secretary at the church, was paid with PTL's funds to Hahn through Bakker associate Roe Messner, who later married Tammy Fay Bakker.^[6] Bakker, who apparently made all of the financial decisions for the PTL organization, allegedly kept two sets of books to conceal the accounting irregularities. Reporters from The Charlotte Observer, led by Charles Shepard, investigated and published a series of articles regarding the PTL organization's finances.^[7]

On March 19, 1987, following the revelation of a payoff to Hahn to keep secret her allegation that Bakker and another minister had raped her, Bakker resigned from PTL.^[6] Bakker acknowledges he met Hahn at a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida, but denies raping her. Following Bakker's resignation as PTL head, he was succeeded in late March, 1987, by Jerry Falwell.^[8] Later that summer, as donations sharply declined in the wake of Bakker's resignation and the end of the Bakkers' popular PTL Club TV show, Falwell raised $20 million to help keep the Heritage USA Theme Park solvent, including a well-publicized waterslide plunge there.^[9] Falwell called Bakker a liar, an embezzler, a sexual deviant, and "the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".^[10] In 1988, Falwell said that the Bakker scandal had "strengthened broadcast evangelism and made Christianity stronger, more mature and more committed".^[11] Bakker's son, Jay, wrote in 2001 that the Bakkers felt betrayed by Falwell, who they thought, at the time of Bakker's resignation, intended to help in Bakker's eventual restoration as head of the PTL ministry organization.^[4]:33–37

Legal problems[link]

Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.^[6][12] In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and Judge Robert Potter sentenced him to 45 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine.^[4]:52[13]

He served time in the Federal Medical Center, Rochester, in Rochester, Minnesota, sharing a cell with activist Lyndon LaRouche and skydiver Roger Nelson.^[14]

In February 1991, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Bakker's conviction on the fraud and conspiracy charges, but voided Bakker's 45-year sentence, as well as the $500,000 fine, and ordered that a new sentencing hearing be held.^[13][15]

Jim and Tammy Bakker were divorced on March 13, 1992. On November 16, 1992, a sentence reduction hearing was held and Bakker's sentence was reduced to eight years.^[4]:104

In August 1993, Bakker was transferred to a minimum security federal prison in Jesup, Georgia, and was subsequently granted parole in July 1994, after serving almost five years of his sentence.^{[4]:116, 130} Bakker's son, Jay, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the parole board on his father's behalf, urging leniency.^{[4]:106–115}

His Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) number was 07407-058, and he was released from BOP custody on December 1, 1994.^[16]

On July 23, 1996, a North Carolina jury threw out a class action suit brought on behalf of more than 160,000 onetime supporters who contributed as much as $7,000 each to Bakker's coffers in the 1980s.

The Charlotte Observer reported that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) still holds Bakker and Roe Messner, Tammy Faye's husband from 1993 until her death in 2007, liable for personal income taxes owed from the 1980s when they were building the PTL empire, taxes assessed after the IRS revoked the PTL ministry's nonprofit status. Tammy Faye Messner's new husband said that the original tax amount was about $500,000, with penalties and interest accounting for the rest. Notices stating the IRS liens list still identify "James O. and Tamara F. Bakker" as owing $6,000,000, liens on which Jim Bakker still pays.

Philosophy[link]

Bakker has renounced his past teachings on prosperity theology, saying they were wrong. In his 1996 book, I Was Wrong, he admitted that the first time he actually read the Bible all the way through was while he was in prison, and that it made him realize he had taken certain passages out of context — passages which he had used as "proof texts" to back up his prosperity teachings. He wrote:

The more I studied the Bible, however, I had to admit that the prosperity message did not line up with the tenor of Scripture. My heart was crushed to think that I led so many people astray. I was appalled that I could have been so wrong, and I was deeply grateful that God had not struck me dead as a false prophet!^[17]

In 1998, he and Lori Graham were married. Bakker released another book that same year, Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse ISBN 978-0-7852-6987-8, and, in 2000, he published The Refuge: The Joy of Christian Community in a Torn-Apart World ISBN 978-0-7852-7459-9.

His son, Jay, who is now a minister at Revolution Church in New York City, wrote of the PTL years in his book, Son of a Preacher Man: "The world at large has focused on my parents' preaching of prosperity, but ... I heard a different message — one of forgiveness and the abundance of God's love. I remember my dad always seating a mentally handicapped man in the front row and hugging him. And when vandals burned an African American church down, Dad made sure its parishioners got the funds to rebuild. His goal was to make PTL a place where anyone with a need could walk in off the streets and have that need met."^[4]:8–9

Later career[link]

In January 2003, Bakker began broadcasting the daily Jim Bakker Show at Studio City Cafe in Branson, Missouri, with his second wife, Lori. It is carried on the DISH and DirecTV satellite networks and the CTN cable network. He and wife Lori have since adopted and/or taken in five children from the Phoenix inner-city neighborhoods Lori once frequented as a part of the Master's Commission, a worldwide discipleship program now based out of Relevant Church in the Dallas Metro area. In January 2008, Bakker's ministry moved into a new television studio near Branson, in Blue Eye, Missouri The studio is housed in a 600-acre (2.4 km²) development that resembles Bakker's former location, Heritage USA. Most or all of the property in the new development (named Morningside) is owned by associates of Bakker rather than by Bakker himself. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Bakker still owes the IRS about $6 million.^[18]

See also[link]

• Christian evangelist scandals

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jim Bakker Show

Harland "Colonel" Sanders
200px
Born	(1890-09-09)September 9, 1890 Henryville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	December 16, 1980(1980-12-16) (aged 90) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	School dropout[1]
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Religion	Disciples of Christ
Spouse	Josephine King (divorced) Claudia Price
Children	Harland David Sanders, Jr. Margaret Sanders Mildred Sanders Ruggles
Parents	Wilbur David Sanders Margaret Ann Sanders (née Dunlevy)[2]
Signature

Harland David "Colonel" Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was an American fast food businessman who founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant chain. His image remains iconic in KFC promotions, and a foundation he established in his later years aids charities and funds scholarships with more than a million dollars in grants a year.

Early life and career[link]

Sanders was born to a Presbyterian family in Henryville, Indiana. His father, Wilbur David Sanders, died when Harland was six years old, and, since his mother worked, he was required to cook for his family. He dropped out of school in seventh grade. When his mother remarried, he ran away from home because his stepfather beat him.^{[citation needed]} Sanders falsified his date of birth and enlisted in the United States Army at the age of sixteen, completing his entire service commitment in Cuba.^[3] During his early years, Sanders held many jobs, including: steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, railroad fireman and farmer.^[4] He had a son, Harland, Jr., who died at an early age, and two daughters, Margaret Sanders and Mildred Sanders Ruggles.^[5][6]

Harland Sanders at age 20

In 1929 Sanders opened a service station in Corbin, Kentucky where he cooked chicken dishes and other meals for customers. Since he did not have a restaurant, he served customers in his adjacent living quarters. His local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and 142 seat restaurant, later Harland Sanders Café and Museum. Over the next nine years he developed his "secret recipe" for frying chicken in a pressure fryer that cooked the chicken much faster than pan frying.

Sanders was given the honorary title "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon. He was "re-commissioned" in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby.^[7]

Around 1950, Sanders began developing his distinctive appearance, growing his trademark mustache and goatee and donning a white suit and string tie.^[7] He never wore anything else in public during the last 20 years of his life, using a heavy wool suit in the winter and a light cotton suit in the summer.^[4]

At age 65, Sanders' store having failed^[4] due to the new Interstate 75 reducing his restaurant's customer traffic, he took $105 from his first Social Security check and began visiting potential franchisees.^[8]

The restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky where Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

The franchise approach was successful, and less than ten years later (in 1964) Sanders sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation for $2 million to a partnership of Kentucky businessmen headed by John Y. Brown, Jr. The deal did not include the Canadian operations. In 1965 Sanders moved to Mississauga, Ontario to oversee his Canadian franchises and continued to collect franchise and appearance fees there and appearance fees in the U.S. (He was locally active. For example, his 80th birthday was held at the Inn on the Park in North York, Ontario, hosted by Jerry Lewis as a Canadian Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser.)^[9] In 1973, he sued Heublein Inc. — then parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken — over alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as "sludge" that tasted like "wallpaper paste".^[10]

Death and legacy[link]

Sanders later used his stockholdings to create the Colonel Harland Sanders Trust and Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, which used the proceeds to aid charities and fund scholarships. His trusts continue to donate money to groups like the Trillium Health Care Centre; a wing of their building specializes in women's and children's care and has been named after him.^[11] The Sidney, British Columbia based foundation granted over $1,000,000 in 2007, according to its 2007 tax return.^[12]

Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, of pneumonia on December 16, 1980.^[13][14] He had been diagnosed with acute leukemia the previous June.^[5] His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol; after a funeral service at the Southern Baptist Seminary Chapel attended by more than 1,000 people. He was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

Gravesite of Harland Sanders

Since his death, Sanders has been portrayed by voice actors in Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials in radio and an animated version of him has been used for television commercials.

A 1982 episode of Little House on the Prairie ("Wave of the Future") paid tribute to KFC by featuring a character implied to be Col. Sanders (portrayed by John Roberts) offering Mrs. Olson a fried chicken franchise. For legal reasons, this character was listed in the credits as "Bearded Man".

Sanders was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

The Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball league has developed an urban legend of the "Curse of the Colonel". A statue of Colonel Sanders was thrown into the river and lost during a 1985 fan celebration, and (according to the legend) the "curse" has caused Japan's Hanshin Tigers to perform poorly since the incident.^[15]

A manuscript of a book on cooking, which Sanders apparently wrote in the mid-1960s, has been found in KFC archives. It includes some cooking recipes from Sanders as well as stories. KFC plans to try some of the recipes, and to offer the book online.^[16]

References[link]

Notes

Further reading

• Pearce, John, The Colonel (1982) ISBN 0-385-18122-1
• Kleber, John J. et al. (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky Press. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. 
• Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. 1987. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-403-09981-1. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Harland Sanders

Wikinews has related news: Colonel Sanders statue lost in 1985 recovered from river in Japan

• Kentucky Fried Chicken
• Harland "Colonel" Sanders at Find a Grave
• CBC Archives CBC Radio talks with Colonel Sanders about Canadian food and cooking (from 1957).
• Harland Sanders Café and Museum, Corbin, KY
• FBI file on "Colonel" Sanders
• Sanders on What's My Line? when he was unknown nationally
• Colonel Sanders at the Internet Movie Database

Tammy Faye Messner
Tammy Faye Messner in April 2004
Born	Tamara Faye LaValley (1942-03-07)March 7, 1942 International Falls, Minnesota
Died	July 20, 2007(2007-07-20) (&1000000000000006500000065 years, &10000000000000135000000135 days) Loch Lloyd, Missouri
Occupation	Singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, author, actress, television personality, co-founder of Heritage USA and PTL-The Inspirational Network
Years active	1962–2007
Spouse	Roe Messner (1993–2007) Jim Bakker (1961–1992)
Children	Tammy Sue Bakker Chapman, Jamie Charles Bakker
Parents	Carl LaValley and Rachel Fairchild
Website
tammyfaye.com

Tamara Faye LaValley Bakker Messner (March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American Christian singer, evangelist, entrepreneur, author, talk show host, and television personality. She was married from 1961 to 1992 to televangelist, and later convicted felon, Jim Bakker. She co-hosted with him on The PTL Club (1976–1987). She was a participant in the 2004 season of the reality show The Surreal Life.^[1]

Early life[link]

The eldest of eight children, Tammy Faye was born Tamara Faye LaValley in International Falls, Minnesota, to Pentecostal preachers Carl and Rachel Fairchild LaValley. Her parents were married in 1941, one year before Tammy Faye was born. Shortly after she was born, a painful divorce soured her mother against other ministers,^[2] alienating her from the church. After the divorce, Tammy Faye continued living in a strict atmosphere with her mother and brother. In 1948, when she was six, her mother married Fred Grover, who worked in paper mills. His salary increased their income, but the marriage also added six children to the household.^{[citation needed]}

As a girl child in the 1950s, she helped her mother with household chores and babysat her younger siblings;^{[citation needed]} but she was often spoiled by her favorite aunt, Virginia Fairchild, who was a retired department store manager.^{[citation needed]} She attended her aunt's church in 1952.

When she was accompanied by a friend to the Assemblies of God church, at age 10, she said she "felt the glow of God's love and wanted to call herself upon the Lord."^{[citation needed]} Her entire family gathered around her for celebrations, particularly Christmas, which was her favorite holiday. In 1956, she started spending summers at Bible camp and was voted "Queen". Also in 1956, she attended Falls High School, where she sang in the choir, and got an after-school job at Woolworth's. She didn't attend school dances, baseball games, or even movies, as her church did not allow it.^{[citation needed]} Before she graduated in 1960, her mother suggested that Tammy Faye would become a minister.^{[citation needed]}

Marriage to Jim Bakker[link]

In 1960, she met Jim Bakker when they were students at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[3] Tammy Faye worked in a boutique for a time while Jim found work in a restaurant inside a department store in Minneapolis. They were married on April 1, 1961. The following year, they moved to South Carolina, where they began their ministry.

Their marriage produced two children, Tammy Sue (Sissy) Bakker Chapman (born 1970) and Jamie Charles (Jay) Bakker (born 1975).

PTL Club[link]

Jim and Tammy Bakker had been involved with television from the time of their departure from Minneapolis until they moved to the Charlotte area via Portsmouth, Virginia, where they were founding members of the 700 Club. While in Portsmouth, they were hosts of the popular children's show "Jim and Tammy". They then created a puppet ministry for children on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) from 1964 to 1973 and co-founded the Trinity Broadcasting Network with personal friends Paul and Jan Crouch in California. Jim and Tammy founded the PTL Club (Praise The Lord) in the mid 1970s.

During the PTL shows, she provided a sentimental touch to stories and loved to sing. In a move that sharply distinguished her from other televangelists, she showed a more tolerant attitude when it came to homosexuality, and she featured people suffering from AIDS on PTL, urging her viewers to follow Christ and show sympathy and pray for the sick.

PTL collapse[link]

The Bakkers' control of PTL collapsed in 1987 after revelations that $287,000 had been paid from the organization to buy the silence of Jessica Hahn, who claims a forced sexual encounter with Jim Bakker.

The revelations invited scrutiny of the Bakkers, and charges made about their opulent lifestyle, including media reports of an air-conditioned doghouse at their Tega Cay, South Carolina, lakefront parsonage as well as gold-plated bathroom fixtures, dominated newscasts in the 1980s. The Bakkers' home, owned by the ministry, was actually an older home built in the early 1970s, and it was a few miles away from Heritage USA. Jim Bakker stated that the much-talked-about dog house was heated with an old heater to keep the dogs warm in the winter and the reported gold-plated fixtures were actually brass. The home was later sold by the ministry and burned to the ground not long thereafter. Jim Bakker wrote in his book I Was Wrong that he watched the home burn on live television while incarcerated.

The epilogue from the publishers of this book contains the following:

On July 22, 1996, shortly after Jim Bakker had completed the writing of this book, a federal jury ruled that PTL was not selling securities by offering Lifetime Partnerships at Heritage USA. The jury's ruling thus affirms what Jim Bakker has contended from the first day he was indicted and throughout this volume.

The Charlotte Observer ran exposes of PTL's finances and management practices. PTL went bankrupt after being taken over by controversial Lynchburg, Virginia-based Baptist televangelist Jerry Falwell, who offered to step in following the scandals in 1988.^[4] Charges surfaced that Falwell's interest in PTL and Heritage USA was solely an attempt to gain control of its profitable cable television network, something which Falwell was unsuccessful in establishing for his own ministry despite numerous requests to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to obtain a satellite license. Tammy Faye later forgave Falwell regarding these tactics before Falwell's death in 2007, two months before Tammy Faye's own death.

After PTL[link]

Marriage to Roe Messner[link]

Tammy stood by Bakker through the scandal, including several instances when she cried on camera. In 1989 Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison on 24 fraud and conspiracy counts.

In 1992, while Bakker was still in prison she filed for divorce, saying in a letter to the New Covenant Church in Orlando, Florida:

For years I have been pretending that everything is all right, when in fact I hurt all the time...I cannot pretend anymore.^[5]

On October 3, 1993, she married Roe Messner in Rancho Mirage, California,^[6] after Messner divorced his own wife. They moved to the Charlotte suburb of Matthews, North Carolina. Tammy and Roe were neighbors to Christian recording star and friend David L Cook.

Messner, who had a contracting business, Messner Enterprises, in the Andover, Kansas, suburb of Wichita, Kansas, had built much of Heritage USA as well as numerous other large churches and had been a family friend to the Bakkers throughout the PTL years.

Messner was the one who produced the money for the $265,000 payment to Hahn, later billing PTL for work never completed on the Jerusalem Amphitheater at Heritage USA.^[7]

In the Bakkers' fraud trial, Messner testified for Bakker's defense saying that Falwell had sent Messner to the Bakker home in Palm Springs, California, to make an offer to "keep quiet."

According to Messner's testimony, Tammy wrote the offer on her stationery, listing a $300,000-a-year lifetime salary for Jim, $100,000 a year for Tammy, a house, and a year's worth of free phone calls and health insurance. However, Messner said that Bakker wrote on it: "I'm not making any demands on PTL. I'm not asking for anything.".^[8][9] Falwell denied making any offer.

In the messy bankruptcy of PTL, Messner was listed as the single biggest creditor of PTL with an outstanding claim of $14 million. In court papers, the new operators accused Messner of $5.3 million in inflated or phony billings to PTL.^[10]

Messner filed for personal and corporate bankruptcy in 1990, saying he owed nearly $30 million to more than 300 creditors. He wound up being convicted of bankruptcy fraud. As he faced sentencing in 1996, he said that he could not afford to treat his prostate cancer because he lacked health insurance.^[11]

In July 2007, on more solid financial footing, the Messners relocated to a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, the Village of Loch Lloyd, Missouri. Coincidentally, Jim Bakker had also moved to Missouri (in 2003), 200 miles southeast of Loch Lloyd in Branson, Missouri. Tammy Faye told Entertainment Tonight they had moved to the "dream house" to be closer to Roe's children and grandchildren from his first marriage. The children still live in the Wichita area.^[12]

Back in the public eye[link]

As her second husband was jailed and she was first diagnosed with colon cancer, she re-entered the public eye in a series of books, movies and television appearances.

In 1996 she wrote her autobiography, Tammy: Telling It My Way (ISBN 0679445153), and she co-hosted a TV talk show titled The Jim J. and Tammy Faye Show with Jim J. Bullock.

She was the subject of a documentary titled The Eyes of Tammy Faye (1999) and a followup film titled Tammy Faye: Death Defying (2004) from Lions Gate Entertainment.

She appeared twice on The Drew Carey Show in 1996 and 1999, playing the mother of character Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney), who was also known for wearing excessive amounts of makeup.

On September 11, 2003, she published a new autobiography, I Will Survive... and You Will, Too! (ISBN 1585422428), in which she described her battles with cancer and her life with Messner.

In 2005, she appeared in an infomercial for alternative medicine promoter Kevin Trudeau. On her site, Tammyfaye.com she credits green supplements as a helpful part of her initial colon cancer remission.

Despite her background in Christian fundamentalism, Tammy Faye became a gay icon after her parting from PTL, appearing in Gay Pride marches with such figures as Lady Bunny and Bruce Vilanch.^[13]

[edit] The Surreal Life

In early 2004, she appeared on the second season of the VH1 reality television series The Surreal Life. The show chronicled a twelve-day period wherein she, Ron Jeremy, Vanilla Ice, Traci Bingham, Erik Estrada and Trishelle Cannatella lived together in a Los Angeles house and were assigned various tasks and activities.

Together, the six put on a children's play and managed a restaurant for a day. During the taping, she forged close bonds with all of the other five house mates, many of whom came to look up to her as a mother figure and a spiritual inspiration.^{[citation needed]}

She also attended a book signing for her best-seller, I Will Survive... And You Will Too.

At the end of the show, Messner said she thought of Vanilla Ice and Trishelle Cannatella as children and could relate to them deeply because she had similar feelings and problems when she was their age. She described porn star Jeremy as "a nice man."

Cancer[link]

Tammy Faye's 11-year battle with cancer was highly publicized. She was first diagnosed with colon cancer in March 1996, and the disease went into remission by the end of that year.^[14]

On March 19, 2004, Tammy Faye made an appearance on Larry King Live and announced that she had inoperable lung cancer and would soon begin chemotherapy.^[15] She continued receiving chemotherapy throughout mid-2004. On November 30, 2004, also on Larry King Live, she announced that she was cancer free once again. She described the details of her chemotherapy and continued to appear regularly on King's show. It was on his program again that she announced, on July 20, 2005, that her cancer had returned.^[16]

On March 13, 2006, she appeared again on Larry King Live and stated that she was continuing to suffer from lung cancer, which had reached stage 4, and that she was continuing to receive treatment for it. She also mentioned having difficulty swallowing food, suffering from panic attacks, and enduring substantial weight loss. As her health continued to worsen, a "Talk of the Town" article in the October 2, 2006, issue of The New Yorker stated that she was dying in hospice care, and a December 10, 2006, article in Walter Scott's column in Parade reported that her son Jay was "at a North Carolina hospice with his mom, [who is] gravely ill with colon cancer".^[17]

Tammy Faye was a guest by phone on CNN's Larry King Live on December 15, 2006, and stated that she was receiving hospice care in her home. Tammy Faye appeared in her son Jay's documentary series One Punk Under God, wherein she and Jay talked about her cancer treatments. In one episode, Tammy Faye required the use of oxygen in order to talk.

On May 8, 2007, she issued a statement on her website saying that chemo therepy had stopped, but urging her fans to continue to pray for her.^[18] The story was reported on NBC's The Today Show on May 11, and a feature in which fans and well-wishers could post get-well messages to Tammy was added to her website. As of July 2007, over 228 pages of wishes had been received.^[19]

On July 19, 2007, Tammy Faye made another appearance on CNN's Larry King Live in what turned out to be her final interview (she died the following day, just hours after the broadcast). At the time, she said she weighed 65 pounds and was unable to eat solid food. Messner's husband would later say that he believed that she chose to do the interview to say a final goodbye to her followers. During the interview, Messner had this message:

I'd like to say that I genuinely love you, and I genuinely care, and I genuinely want to see you in heaven someday. I want you to find peace. I want you to find joy.

Death[link]

On July 20, 2007, at 4 am,^[20] Messner died following an 11-year battle with cancer. What had started as colon cancer had spread to her lungs. She died in her home, said her publicist, Joe Spotts. A family service was held on the morning of July 21, 2007, in the Messner family plot in Waldron, Kansas,^[21] where her ashes were interred. The ceremony was officiated by the Rev. Randy McCain, the pastor of Open Door Community Church in Sherwood, Arkansas.^[20] She had frequently spoken about her medical problems, saying she hoped to be an inspiration to others. "Don't let fear rule your life," she said. "Live one day at a time, and never be afraid." She had written on her website in May that the doctors had stopped trying to treat the cancer. She died the day after the airing of her interview on Larry King Live on CNN. According to CNN.com, the family requested that King officially report the news of her death on July 21, 2007.^[22]

Legacy[link]

In June 2006, a stage musical titled The Gospel According to Tammy Faye opened at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and is currently being developed for a larger professional production.^[23] The show features songs by J. T. Buck and a book by Fernando Dovalina. The musical is described as a fantasia which takes a balanced and fair look at its subject. The impetus for the show was provided by a lengthy interview that Messner gave the authors in March 2005.^[24][25] The musical aired on August 2006 in Portland, Oregon, and Hood River, Oregon, it was presented on stage at Houston's Alley Theatre at the end of July 2007 under the direction of Les R. Wood. Industry readings presented by the Columbia Gorge Repertory Company were held at the Manhattan Theatre Club in December 2007 the cast including Tony nominee Sally Mayes and veteran Broadway performers William Youmans, Ken Land, Julie Foldesi, James T. Lane and Heather Parcells. The readings were directed by Mindy Cooper. Seth Farber provided musical direction.

Another musical following the life of Tammy Faye, titled Big Tent, debuted May 23, 2007 at Off-Broadway's New World Stages, in New York City. The show features music and lyrics by Ben Cohn, Sean McDaniel, a book by Jeffery Self, and direction by Ryan J. Davis.^[26] A star-studded concert of songs from the show opened February 18, 2008 at New York's Metropolitan Room.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tammy Faye's Official Website and blog
• National Public Radio All Things Considered The Re-Invention of Tammy Faye: Former Christian Broadcasting Queen Has New Gay Following June 20, 2002 (Online article with audio of ATC story and video clip of film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
• Tammy Faye Messner Interview at Archive of American Television
• Tammy Faye Messner (January 15, 2004) (Audio). Interview with Terry Gross. Fresh Air. NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1599635. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
• Tammy Faye Messner at the Internet Movie Database

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Jerry Falwell
Born	Jerry Lamon Falwell (1933-08-11)August 11, 1933 Lynchburg, Virginia, United States
Died	May 15, 2007(2007-05-15) (aged 73) Lynchburg, Virginia, United States
Occupation	Pastor, televangelist, commentator
Years active	1956–2007
Religion	Southern Baptist
Website
Liberty University Bio

Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007)^[1] was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia. He founded Lynchburg Christian Academy (now Liberty Christian Academy) in 1967, Liberty University in 1971, and cofounded the Moral Majority in 1979.

Personal life[link]

Falwell and twin brother Gene were born in the Farview Heights region of Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of Helen and Carey Hezekiah Falwell.^[2] His father was an entrepreneur and onetime bootlegger who was agnostic.^[2] His grandfather was a staunch atheist.^[2] Jerry Falwell married the former Macel Pate on April 12, 1958. The couple had two sons and a daughter (Jerry Falwell, Jr., a lawyer; Jonathan Falwell, a pastor; Jeannie, a surgeon).

He graduated from Brookville High School in Lynchburg, Va., and from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri in 1956. This Bible college was unaccredited until 2001.^[3] Falwell was eventually awarded three honorary doctoral degrees, and he sometimes used the title "doctor". The honorary doctorates were Doctor of Divinity from Tennessee Temple Theological Seminary, Doctor of Letters from California Graduate School of Theology, and Doctor of Laws from Central University in Seoul, South Korea.^[4]

Associated organizations[link]

Thomas Road Baptist Church[link]

In 1956, at age 22, Falwell founded the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, where he served as pastor. The Church went on to become a megachurch, and is now run by Jerry Falwell's son Jonathan Falwell, who serves in the same capacity as his father. ^[5]

Liberty University[link]

In 1971, Jerry Falwell founded Liberty University, a Christian liberal arts university in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty University has approximately 62,000 students of whom about 12,000 are residential students and 50,000 are enrolled online.^[6]

Moral Majority[link]

In 1979, Falwell founded the Moral Majority, which became one of the largest political lobby groups for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.^[7] The Moral Majority was founded as being "pro-family", "pro-life", "pro-defense" and pro-Israel.The group is credited with delivering two thirds of the white, evangelical Christian vote to Ronald Reagan during the 1980 presidential election.^[8][9] During his time as head of the Moral Majority, Falwell consistently pushed for Republican candidates and for conservative politics. This led Billy Graham to criticize him for "sermonizing" about political issues that lacked a moral element.^[7]

Social and political views[link]

Families[link]

Falwell strongly advocated beliefs and practices he believed were taught by the Bible.^[10] The church, Falwell asserted, was the cornerstone of a successful family. Not only was it a place for spiritual learning and guidance, but also a gathering place for fellowship and socializing with like minded individuals. Often he built conversations he had with parishioners after the worship service into focused speeches or organized goals he would then present to a larger audience via his various media outlets.^{[citation needed]}

Civil rights[link]

On his evangelist program The Old-Time Gospel Hour in the mid 1960s, Falwell regularly featured segregationist politicians like Lester Maddox and George Wallace.^[11] About Martin Luther King he said: "I do question the sincerity and nonviolent intentions of some civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mr. James Farmer, and others, who are known to have left wing associations."^[12]

In speaking of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, he said, in 1958:

"If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God's word and had desired to do the Lord's will, I am quite confident that the 1954 decision would never had been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line."^[13]

In 1977, Falwell supported Anita Bryant's campaign, which was called by its proponents "Save Our Children", to overturn an ordinance in Dade County, Florida prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and he supported a similar movement in California.^[2]

But 28 years later, in an appearance on MSNBC television, Falwell said he was not troubled by reports that the nominee for Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John G. Roberts (whose appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate) had done volunteer legal work for homosexual rights activists on the case of Romer v. Evans. Falwell told MSNBC's Tucker Carlson that if he were a lawyer, he too would argue for civil rights for LGBT people. "I may not agree with the lifestyle, but that has nothing to do with the civil rights of that part of our constituency," Falwell said. When Carlson countered that conservatives "are always arguing against 'special rights' for gays," Falwell said that equal access to housing, civil marriage, and employment are basic rights, not special rights. "Civil rights for all Americans, black, white, red, yellow, the rich, poor, young, old, gay, straight, et cetera, is not a liberal or conservative value. It's an American value that I would think that we pretty much all agree on."^[14]

Israel and Jews[link]

Falwell's staunch pro-Israel stand, sometimes referred to as "Christian Zionism", drew the strong support of the Anti-Defamation League and its leader Abraham Foxman.^[15] However, they condemned what they perceived as intolerance towards Muslims in Falwell's public statements. They also criticized him for remarking that "Jews can make more money accidentally than you can on purpose."^[16][17]

One unusual link between Falwell and Conservative rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, a Navy chaplain, was created when President Ronald Reagan surprised the participants at Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention in Washington, D.C., by choosing to read Resnicoff's on-site report of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing as his keynote address.^[18] When Resnicoff later served as Special Assistant for Values and Vision for the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, he would meet with Falwell to discuss issues linked to religious rights in the military, including the role and responsibilities of U.S. military chaplains. Resnicoff reported that Falwell supported the idea of using the Biblical verse that teaches that "God hears the words of our mouths and the meditations of our heart" as a basis for allowing Christian chaplains to offer "inclusive" prayers, because they could offer denominational words, such as "In Jesus's name," silently, as a "meditation of the heart."^[19]

Education[link]

Falwell repeatedly denounced certain teachings in public schools and secular education in general, calling them breeding grounds for atheism, secularism, and humanism, which he claimed to be in contradiction with Christian morality. He advocated that the United States change its public education system by implementing a school voucher system which would allow parents to send their children to either public or private schools. Jerry Falwell wrote in America Can Be Saved that "I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over again and Christians will be running them."^[20]

Falwell supported President George W. Bush's Faith Based Initiative, but had strong reservations concerning where the funding would go and the restrictions placed on churches. "My problem is where it might go under his successors.... I would not want to put any of the Jerry Falwell Ministries in a position where we might be subservient to a future Bill Clinton, God forbid.... It also concerns me that once the pork barrel is filled, suddenly the Church of Scientology, the Jehovah Witnesses [sic], the various and many denominations and religious groups — and I don't say those words in a pejorative way — begin applying for money — and I don't see how any can be turned down because of their radical and unpopular views. I don't know where that would take us."^[21]

Apartheid[link]

In the 1980s Jerry Falwell was critical of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa. He claimed that sanctions would result in what, he felt, would be a worse situation, such as a Soviet-backed revolution. He drew the ire of many when he called Nobel Peace Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu a phony "as far as representing the black people of South Africa."^[22] He later apologized for that remark and claimed that he had misspoken.^[23] He also urged his followers to buy up gold Krugerrands and push U.S. "reinvestment" in South Africa.^[24]

[edit] The Clinton Chronicles

In 1994, Falwell promoted and distributed the video documentary The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton. The video purported to connect Bill Clinton to a murder conspiracy involving Vincent Foster, James McDougall, Ron Brown, and a cocaine-smuggling operation. The theory was discredited, but nonetheless sold more than 150,000 copies.^[25]

Funding for the film was provided by "Citizens for Honest Government," to which Jerry Falwell paid $200,000 in 1994 and 1995.^[25] In 1995 Citizens for Honest Government interviewed two Arkansas state troopers, Roger Perry and Larry Patterson, regarding the murder conspiracy about Vincent Foster. Perry and Patterson also gave information regarding the allegations in the Paula Jones affair.^[25]

Falwell's infomercial for the 80-minute tape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who claimed to be afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his illegalities. It was subsequently revealed, however, that the silhouetted journalist was, in fact, Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video and president of Citizens for Honest Government.^[25] "Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter," Matrisciana admitted to investigative journalist Murray Waas.^[25] Later, Falwell seemed to back away from personally trusting the video. In an interview for the 2005 documentary The Hunting of the President, Falwell admitted, "to this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles."^[26]

LGBT issues[link]

Falwell condemned homosexuality as forbidden by the Bible. Pro-gay rights groups called Falwell an "agent of intolerance" and "the founder of the anti-gay industry" for statements he has made and for campaigning against LGBT social movements.^[2][27] Falwell supported Anita Bryant's 1977 "Save Our Children" campaign to overturn a Florida ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and a similar movement in California.^[2] In urging the repeal of the ordinance, Falwell told one crowd, "Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you."^[28] When the LGBT-friendly Metropolitan Community Church was almost accepted into the World Council of Churches, Falwell called them "brute beasts" and stated, "this vile and satanic system will one day be utterly annihilated and there'll be a celebration in heaven."^[29] He later denied this.^[30] Falwell also regularly linked the AIDS pandemic to LGBT issues and stated, "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals."^[31] Amongst many remarks over the years he is probably most known for statements attributed to him about a Teletubby being a homosexual role model for homosexual recruitment and stating that LGBT organizations angered God, thereby in part causing God to let the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina happen.^[32][33][34]

After comedienne and actress Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian, Falwell referred to her in a sermon as "Ellen DeGenerate." DeGeneres responded by saying "Really, he called me that? Ellen DeGenerate? I've been getting that since the fourth grade. I guess I'm happy I could give him work."^[35]

At the same time, Falwell's legacy regarding homosexuality is complicated by his support for LGBT civil rights (see "civil rights" section above), as well as his efforts at reconciliation with the LGBT community in later years. In October 1999 Falwell hosted a meeting of 200 evangelicals with 200 homosexuals at Thomas Road Baptist Church for an "Anti-Violence Forum", during which he acknowledged that some American evangelicals' comments about homosexuality entered the realm of hate speech that could incite violence.^[36] At the forum, Falwell told homosexuals in attendance "I don't agree with your lifestyle, I will never agree with your lifestyle, but I love you" and added "anything that leaves the impression that we hate the sinner, we want to change that"^[37] He later commented to New York Times columnist Frank Rich that “admittedly, evangelicals have not exhibited an ability to build a bond of friendship to the gay and lesbian community. We've said ‘go somewhere else, we don't need you here [at] our churches.’”^[38]

Teletubbies[link]

In February 1999, an unsigned article that media outlets attributed to Falwell was published in the National Liberty Journal – a promotional publication of the university he founded – claimed that the Teletubby named Tinky Winky was intended as a gay role model. An article published in 1998 by the liberal Salon.com had noted Tinky Winky's status as a gay icon.^[39][40] In response, Steve Rice, spokesperson for Itsy Bitsy Entertainment, which licenses the Teletubbies in the US, said, "I really find it absurd and kind of offensive."^[32][41] The immensely popular UK show was aimed at pre-school children, but the article stated "he is purple – the gay pride color; and his antenna is shaped like a triangle – the gay-pride symbol." Apart from those characteristics Tinky Winky also carries a magic bag which the NLJ and Salon articles said was a purse. Falwell added "role modelling the gay lifestyle is damaging to the moral lives of children."

September 11th attacks[link]

After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Falwell said on Pat Robertson's The 700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"^[42] Falwell further stated that the attacks were "probably deserved," a statement which Christopher Hitchens called treasonous.^[43] After heavy criticism, Falwell said that no one but the terrorists were to blame apologized saying "if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."^[33]

Labor unions[link]

Falwell has also said, "Labor unions should study and read the Bible instead of asking for more money. When people get right with God, they are better workers."^[44]

Islam[link]

Jerry Falwell held views in opposition to the Arab world and Muslims. According to Asharq Al-Awsat, a pan-Arab newspaper, Falwell stated that Islam is Satanic.^[45]

In a televised interview with 60 Minutes, Falwell stated, "I think Muhammad was a terrorist." He added, "I concluded from reading Muslim and non-Muslim writers that Muhammad was a violent man, a man of war." Falwell later apologized to Muslims for what he said about Muhammad and affirmed that he did not necessarily intend to offend "honest and peace-loving" Muslims. However, he still refused to erase his opinions about Islam in his website and the sincerity of his apology was doubted.^[46][47]

Egyptian Christian intellectuals, in response, signed a statement in which they condemned and rejected what Falwell had said about Muhammad being a terrorist.^[48]

Legal issues[link]

SEC and bonds[link]

In 1972, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched an investigation of bonds issued by Falwell's organizations. The SEC charged Falwell's church with "fraud and deceit" in the issuance of $6.5 million in unsecured church bonds.^[49] The church won a 1973 federal court case prosecuted at the behest of the SEC, in which the Court exonerated the church and ruled that while technical violations of law did occur, there was no proof the Church intended any wrong-doing.

[edit] Falwell versus Penthouse

Falwell filed a $10 million lawsuit against Penthouse for publishing an article based upon interviews he gave to freelance reporters, after failing to convince a federal court to place an injunction upon the publication of that article. The suit was dismissed in Federal district court on the grounds that the article was not defamatory or an invasion of Falwell's privacy (the Virginia courts had not recognized this privacy tort, which is recognized in other states).^[50][51][52]

[edit] Falwell versus Hustler

In November 1983, Larry Flynt's pornographic magazine Hustler carried a parody advertisement of a Campari ad, featuring a fake interview with Falwell in which he admits that his "first time" was incest with his mother in an outhouse while drunk. Falwell sued for $45 million in compensation alleging invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.^[53] After a civil trial, known as Falwell vs. Flynt, which lasted from December 3-8, 1984, a jury rejected the invasion of privacy and libel claims, holding that the parody could not have reasonably been taken to describe true events, but ruled in favor of Falwell on the emotional distress claim and ordered Larry Flynt to pay Falwell damages in the amount of $200,000. This was upheld on appeal. Flynt then appealed to the Supreme Court, winning a unanimous decision on February 24, 1988. The ruling held that public figures cannot circumvent First Amendment protections by attempting to recover damages based on emotional distress suffered from parodies. The decision in favor of Flynt strengthened free speech rights in the United States in relation to parodies of public figures.

After the death of Falwell, Larry Flynt released a comment regarding his friendship over the years with Falwell.

"My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling."^[54]

Falwell versus Jerry Sloan[link]

In 1984, Falwell was ordered to pay gay rights activist and former Baptist Bible College classmate Jerry Sloan $5,000 after losing a court battle. In July, 1984 during a TV debate in Sacramento, California, Falwell denied calling the homosexual-friendly Metropolitan Community Churches "brute beasts" and "a vile and Satanic system" that will "one day be utterly annihilated and there will be a celebration in heaven".^[29] When Sloan insisted he had a tape, Falwell promised $5,000 if he could produce it. Sloan did, Falwell refused to pay, and Sloan successfully sued. The money was donated to build Sacramento's first homosexual community center, the Lambda Community Center, serving "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex" communities.^[30] Falwell appealed the decision with his attorney charging that the judge in the case was prejudiced. He lost again and was made to pay an additional $2,875 in sanctions and court fees.

Falwell versus Christopher Lamparello[link]

In Lamparello v. Falwell, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed an earlier District Court decision, arguing that Lamparello "clearly created his Web site intending only to provide a forum to criticize ideas, not to steal customers."^[55] Lamparello's website describes itself as not being connected to Jerry Falwell and is critical of Falwell's views on homosexuality.^[55] On April 17, 2006, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Court of Appeals ruling that Christopher Lamparello's usage of the Internet domain "Fallwell.com" was legal.

Previous to this, "Falwell's attorneys have fought over domain names in the past" with a different man who despite eventually turned over jerryfalwell.com and jerryfallwell.com after Falwell threatened to sue for trademark infringement.^[55] Lawyers for Public Citizen Litigation Group's Internet Free Speech project represented the domain name owners in both cases.

Apocalyptic beliefs[link]

On July 31, 2006, Cable News Network's (CNN) Paula Zahn Now program featured a segment on "whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world," "marking the third time in eight days that CNN had devoted airtime to those claiming that the ongoing Mideast violence signaled the coming of the Apocalypse."^[56] In an interview Falwell claimed, "I believe in the premillennial, pre-tribulational coming of Christ for all of his church, and to summarize that, your first poll, do you believe Jesus' coming the second time will be in the future, I would vote yes with the 59 percent and with Billy Graham and most evangelicals."

Based on this and other statements, Falwell has been identified as a Dispensationalist.^[57]

In 1999, Falwell declared the Antichrist would probably arrive within a decade and "Of course he'll be Jewish."^[58] After accusations of anti-Semitism Falwell apologized and explained that he was simply expressing the theological tenet that the Antichrist and Christ share many attributes.^[59]

Failing health and death[link]

In early 2005, Falwell was hospitalized for two weeks with a viral infection, discharged, and then rehospitalized on May 30, 2005, in respiratory arrest.^[60][61] President George W. Bush contacted Falwell to "wish him well."^[61] He was subsequently released from the hospital and returned to his duties. Later in 2005 a stent was implanted to treat a 70% blockage in his coronary arteries.^[62]

On May 15, 2007, Falwell was found without pulse and unconscious in his office about 10:45 am after missing a morning appointment and was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital.^[63]

"I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast.... He went to his office, I went to mine and they found him unresponsive" said Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell's Liberty University. His condition was initially reported as "gravely serious"; CPR was administered unsuccessfully. As of 2:10 pm, during a live press conference, a doctor for the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of "cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death." A statement issued by the hospital reported he was pronounced dead at Lynchburg General Hospital at 12:40 pm, EST. Falwell's family, including his wife Macel and sons Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Jonathan Falwell, were at the hospital at the time of the pronouncement.

Falwell's funeral took place at 1:00 pm EDT on May 22, 2007 at Thomas Road Baptist Church after lying in repose at both the church and Liberty University. Falwell's burial service was private. It took place at a spot on the Liberty University campus near the Carter Glass Mansion, near his office. Buried nearby is B. R. Lakin.

After his death, his two sons succeeded him at his two posts; Jerry Falwell, Jr. took over as Chancellor of Liberty University while Jonathan Falwell became the Senior Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church.

The last televised interview with Jerry Falwell was conducted by Christiane Amanpour for the CNN original series CNN Presents: God's Warriors.^[64] He had been interviewed on May 8, one week before his death.^[65] Falwell's last televised sermon was his May 13, 2007 message on Mother's Day.

Legacy and criticisms[link]

Falwell's legacy is strongly mixed and often a source of heated controversy. Supporters praise his advancement of his socially conservative message. They tout too, his evangelist ministries, and his stress on church planting and growth. Many of his detractors have accused him of hate speech and identified him as an "agent of intolerance".^[27]

He was described by atheist social commentator Christopher Hitchens in turns as a "Chaucerian fraud" and a "faith-based fraud", and "especially disgusting in exuding an almost sexless personality while railing from dawn to dusk about the sex lives of others." Hitchens took special umbrage with Falwell's alignment with "the most thuggish and demented Israeli settlers", and his declaration that 9/11 represented God's judgement on America's sinful behaviour; deeming it "a shame that there is no hell for Falwell to go to, and [...] extraordinary that not even such a scandalous career is enough to shake our dumb addiction to the 'faith-based.'" Hitchens also mentioned that, despite his support for Israel, Falwell "kept saying to his own crowd, yes, you have got to like the Jews, because they can make more money in 10 minutes than you can make in a lifetime. He was always full, as his friends Robertson and Graham are and were, of anti-Semitic innuendo."^[66] Appearing on CNN a day after Falwell's death, Hitchens said, "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing: that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called 'reverend'."^[67] On C-SPAN, Hitchens made the comment that "If he had been given an enema, he could have been buried in a matchbox."^[68]

Falwell was an enemy of the revenge humorist "George Hayduke", who called Falwell a "fund-grubbing electronic Bible-banger" and "pious pride-in-the-pulpit". In his book Screw Unto Others, Hayduke mentions the story of one Edward Johnson, who in the mid-1980s, programmed his Atari home computer to make thousands of repeat phone calls to Falwell's 1–800 phone number, since Johnson claimed Falwell had swindled large amounts of money from his followers, especially Johnson's own mother. Southern Bell forced Johnson to stop after he had run up Falwell's phone bill an estimated $500,000. At one point, crank callers, especially gay activists, made up about 25% of Falwell's total calls, until the ministry disconnected the toll-free number in 1986.^{[69] [70]}

Publications[link]

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jerry Falwell

• Southern Baptist Convention
• Christian fundamentalism
• Heritage USA
• List of fatwas
• New Right
• The PTL Club
• Liberty Broadcasting Network
• Televangelism
• List of Southern Baptist Convention affiliated people

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Jerry Falwell on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
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• Jerry Falwell Ministries
• Jerry Falwell Photo Gallery (1933–2007) from Time.com
• Liberty University
• Jerry Falwell – Daily Telegraph obituary
• Jerry Falwell at the Internet Movie Database
• Jerry Falwell at the Notable Names Database
• An NPR: Jerry Falwell timeline.
• Jerry Falwell introduces keynote speaker, President Ronald Reagan, to speak on interfaith cooperation of military chaplains during combat, Text version; Video version.
• Dark Side of Rev. Moon: Buying the Right
• Franklin Graham's Eulogy for Falwell
• Final Video Interview With Christiane Amanpour
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview "The Politics of Plague" debate between Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev Troy Perry
• TIME magazine cover story on Jerry Falwell, Sept. 2,1985

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