Comments on: TBN: Send Money... See Riches

TBN: Send Money... See Riches

togdon — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:42:08 -0800

The Los Angeles Times gives a fascinating look at TBN, home to Paul and Jan Crouch.

By: substrate

substrate — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:50:43 -0800

...even viewers who couldn't afford a $1,000 pledge should take a "step of faith" and make one anyway. The Lord would repay them many times over, he said. "Do you think God would have any trouble getting $1,000 extra to you somehow?"

Sometimes I hope there is a Hell just so I know people like this will roast.

By: Berend

Berend — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:50:47 -0800

Religion sucks. What's new?

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:55:58 -0800

Interesting links, togdon. See also.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:10:33 -0800

Is it me or does her hair vary between a sort of pinkish champagne color and a lavender? My impression of Jan is she's Tammy Faye Bakker without the genuine faith and kindness side that Tammy has exhibited.

By: callmejay

callmejay — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:11:32 -0800

George Carlin said it best (overgeneralizing, of course):

Religion--easily--has the Greates Bullshit Story Ever Told! Think about it: religion has actually convinced people--many of them adults--that there's an invisible man who lives in the sky and watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And who has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to remain and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry, forever and ever, till the end of time. But he loves you! He loves you, and he needs money! He always needs money. he's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, but somehow... he just can't handle money. Religion takes in billions of dollars, pays no taxes, and somehow always needs a little more. now, you talk about a good bullshit story. Holy shit!

By: fenriq

fenriq — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:12:26 -0800

This pisses me off alot. These people need to be stripped of all their money and dropped into the middle of the damned ocean. Even if you can't afford it (though they could have paid for the building easily without asking for money) send in money. You don't need food, the Lord will provide you with food. FUCK! I hate religious thieves like these two. Although some of my ire is directed at the dupes who send them all that money so they can live high on the hog (and hump men behind closed doors.....) And this was a nice bit " The network, little known outside fundamentalist Christian circles, was buffeted by unwanted publicity last week, when The Times reported that Crouch had paid a former employee $425,000 to keep silent about an alleged homosexual tryst."

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:17:15 -0800

Well, after looking at Jan, I can understand why Paul might switch teams.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:21:46 -0800

jonmc, damn, I just looked and she looks like a damned alien! That is one nasty looking gold diggin' ho-bag! The worst part is that I bet she's one thousand times worse live and up close and all fake and false piety and all that bullshit that all of these shyster religiou-crooks are like. Never thought I'd look back at Tammy Faye nostalgically.

By: euphorb

euphorb — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 21:35:53 -0800

Hal Lindsey rocks. That is all.

By: eatitlive

eatitlive — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:08:26 -0800

All the Jan Crouch you can handle: "No More Tears" (real media)

By: weston

weston — Mon, 20 Sep 2004 22:57:15 -0800

If you can stand a religios viewpoint in the middle of this particular bash, the thing that bugs me about Christian broadcasting networks is the assumption that the world needs something that takes the rhetoric and presentational form of a secular network and handles faith-related content the same way. I think you could make a pretty good argument that modern broadcast media handle most things shallowly and poorly. There's a phrase from Chaim Potok's My Name Is Asher Lev that I'm reminded of:

...The fact is that gossip, rumors, mythmaking, and news stories are not appropriate vehicles for the communication of nuances of truth, those subtle tonalities that are often the truly crucial elements in a causal chain.

Or, take John 14, especially if you look at it as canon, quoting Jesus as saying:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

(Emphasis mine). So this phenomenon -- of Christians looking around at secular phenomenon they find in the world, and then creating a "Christianized" version of these things -- seems really odd to me, and likely to be, from the outset, a spiritual wild goose chase. But obviously it's been going on for a long time, and it continues to go on.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 03:01:13 -0800

Weston, it's comments like yours that give Christians a good name. I tip my agnostic hat to ya.

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 03:57:00 -0800

Look, I am not fond of TBN, and etc etc...but lay off Jan. She may look weird as crap, but she is a sweetheart.

By: pandaharma

pandaharma — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 04:02:50 -0800

all i can say about tbn is how beautiful they were to my acid addled eyes in 1989, three in the morning, in fayetteville, arkansas. beautiful white light, blue energy from her hair, magickal beyond all belief, at least until we were distracted by the yoda doll coming to life and ranting about thelema. nice to know they're still in business. i'm glad there's enough gullibility in the world to keep them going.

By: black8

black8 — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 04:32:40 -0800

pandaharma...I'm so glad to find I'm not the only one! Tho' it was 1999... Fun times...

By: Cedric

Cedric — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 06:11:41 -0800

I called the TBN "prayer line" at a low point during the 80's and promptly started receiving their monthly begletters. I sent the suggested 20$ "faith seed deposit" (they surprised me with a neat TBN coat-of-arms coffee "love gift" mug a few weeks later). /confession I don't watch TBN anymore, but I immensly enjoy (I will burn for sure) sites like http://www.geocities.com/mw_director/tbnwatch0501.html

By: PigAlien

PigAlien — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 06:39:00 -0800

May they burn in hell. Or, better yet, since I don't believe in hell... may they burn in some mad serial killer's backyard.

By: Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 06:58:54 -0800

She may look weird as crap, but she is a sweetheart. She's a fraud artist living off of other people's insecurities. She belongs in jail.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 09:54:06 -0800

they surprised me with a neat TBN coat-of-arms coffee "love gift" mug a few weeks later Note to self, scour ebay for TBN mug. pandaharma, black8, you are not alone, except I was somewhere between the two. How many of us are there out there? I must say though my very favorites were always Jack (warning, slow and sound) and Rexella. Please see the movie section, especially the very special film adaptation of the book Left Behind starring Kirk "Groin Pains" Cameron and (if you can believe this would be possible) its sequel (not to mention a Busey sighting).

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 11:51:10 -0800

What does God need with ~~a starship~~ eight million dollars?

By: LimePi

LimePi — Tue, 21 Sep 2004 14:26:48 -0800

I live a few miles away from the big white TBN HQ, and they have FREE VIRTUAL REALITY MOVIES. No, not with some dumb goggles and force feedback gloves, but a normal (Christian) movie, with super-duper 3d surround sound. When an evil UN official shoots his gun at Kirk Cameron, in Left Behind II, it really sounds like it's whizzing by your godbeloved head. When there's a scene with explosions/an earthquake/the booming glory of god, they kick up the subwoofers beneath the seats. It's wild stuff. They also deck out the building with white lights that read "Happy Birthday Jesus," for Christmas. Except, they have them on year-round--even during the CA power crisis.