If the contents of a lawsuit filed by the granddaughter of Trinity Broadcasting Network founders Paul and Jan Crouch prove to be true, then the inner workings of the famous Christian network are scandalous indeed. The LA Times has the story:
The Trinity Broadcasting Network, which bills itself as the world’s largest Christian network, is embroiled in a legal battle involving allegations of massive financial fraud and lavish spending, including the purchase of a $100,000 motor home for family dogs.
YES? Tell me more.
Brittany Koper, a former high-ranking TBN official and the granddaughter of its co-founder, Paul Crouch Sr., was fired by the network in September after discovering “illegal financial schemes” amounting to tens of millions of dollars, according to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court.
The article goes on to detail Brittany’s role as a whistleblower for the whole operation, which allegedly included stuff like this:
The lawsuit alleges that Paul Crouch Sr. obtained a $50-million Global Express luxury jet for his personal use through a “sham loan,” and that TBN funds paid for a $100,000 motor home for dogs owned by his wife, Janice Crouch, a network director.
The suit also alleges that TBN bought residences across the country for its directors under the pretext that they were “guest homes” or “church parsonages.” The properties include mansions used by the Crouch family in Newport Beach; side-by-side mansions in Windermere, Fla.; and homes in Nashville; Miami; and Irving, Texas, according to the suit.
Nice. Run of the mill wingnut televangelist extravagance so far, except, wait, there’s more:
The directors also misused funds to cover up sexual scandals, the suit claims.
Ding ding ding! That always comes up with such outfits, doesn’t it? What sort of sexual scandals, praytell? As Right Wing Watch points out, the LA Times sort of sugarcoated that part.
For instance, a section entitled “Multiple cover-ups of sexual and criminal scandals” accuses TBN, among other things, of covering up a “bloody sexual assault,” infidelities by Paul and Jan Crouch, and repeated incidents in which Matt Crouch exposed his genitals to cleaning staff.I’ve included that section below, which mentions a legal settlement with Enoch Lonnie Ford. As previously reported, Ford, a TBN employee, was paid $425,000 to not discuss his alleged sexual encounters with Paul Crouch.
Now THAT is just the kind of juicy stuff I was looking for! I am sure regular readers are completely shocked that such allegations could be raised against such an upstanding right-wing Christian organization as Trinity Broadcasting Network, but please, don’t let that shock ruin your day.
We look forward to seeing just where this lawsuit goes.
[...] at the Trinity Broadcasting Network? Truth Wins Out Tue, March 27, 2012 8:34 PM UTC Truth Wins Out Rate Loading … Share (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); [...]
religion is legalized fraud, so accustomed to bilking people out of millions each week, these bored preachers force employees into fellatio or sodomy for an answer to their xian sex prayers… leave scars or DNA evidence & the lawyers bribe all sides & settle out of court??? motorhome for dogs, sounds like Jim & Tammy Bakker were “conservative” only air conditioning the dog house for twenty thousand… http://www.hireLarryFireBobby.com oust Speaker Harrell WHO MADE IT LEGAL FOR CASH RICH NON-PROFITS TO SPECULATE ACROSS THE BORDER FROM CHARLOTTE IN ANY LAND FOR UNLIMITED TAX FREE INVESTMENT & SALES… TELL THE TRUTH and elect an HONEST Atheist to replace godly Harrell @VoteLarryDis114
Ah, of course. Completely shocking for an upstanding Christian institution to be doing something immoral.
I love this website, I love TWO and the work you do. I just wish so many of my fellow readers and blog commentators weren’t so hateful about religion. Here, I’m addressing Larry.
Yes, some religious people do terrible things. Yes, lots of those terrible things are directed against us.
But religion is not one giant monolithic evil thing. In fact, it’s not just one thing. There are so many religions. A lot of comments here equate religion with ultra-conservative Christianity.
I’m Jewish. I converted to Judaism- I didn’t just luck into it, I wasn’t raised in a Jewish household. Being Jewish was the decision of an intelligent, highly educated adult. My congregation does wonderful things for the community and world, and oppresses no one.
Religion is not fraud and it is not evil. People who do evil things in the name of religion are evil. People who commit fraud in the name of religion are guilty of fraud.
@-Lacey I will give you that not all religion is evil and much good is done in it’s name but I won’t give you that it is not a fraud. Religion is the belief in a higher being that there is absolutely no shred of evidence to back up. And in fact there are literally thousands of gods worshipped by people on this planet. So are those thousands of gods all frauds yet the one you have chosen to say is true is real???? And with hardly any exception those religions are in place to control people whether it is monetarily, or morally or for other purposes. So yes it is funny that you have decided that your religion is true and your god is true and everyone’s else is phony i.e. fraud.
Lacey, I’m sorry that you find TWO’s general stance on religion distressing. I actually consider myself to be xtian though not of an evangelical/fundamentalist stripe. But I was raised evangelical & I know their ‘language’ so would you be surprised to know that for evangelicals & their fundy brothers would say that they, too, believe ‘religion’ is evil? They believe in a ‘relationship’ (with Christ)not a religion. Or so they say. But for all they say that it is true that they believe that their form of conservative belief is the only religion. They drive me crazy so I enjoy websites which take apart their terrible hypocrisy & ignorant assumptions.
@ Tim #5, actually there is more than a’ shred of evidence’ to back up the belief in a Super Intelligence of some sort. I recently saw a program where an *astrophysicist* said that the chances that the very finely tuned conditions for intelligent life to evolve on Earth purely by random chance are about 1 in 10 to the 10th to the 123rd power. Even agnostic scientists have grumbled that it ‘looks like a put up job’; their words, not mine.
@Lacey
Just because some sects don’t murder people, abuse people or extort obscene amounts of money from them, that doesn’t make them good. They are still false. You still believe in a lie. You still lie to people. You lie to children and brainwash them into believing demonstrable falsehoods.
Whatever good you think your sect is doing, you can do that without religion. Religion just gives you convenient means to organize them
Steve – Please make no mistake, but the same exact thing can be said about Atheism with just as much passion and proof.
Oh btw, most of this planet is hostile to human life. 60% of is salt water. Large parts of it are deadly deserts, forests and mountains. We are hit by meteors every couple of thousands of years. There are extinction level events every couple hundred million years, wiping out most life.
In two billion years, the sun will be so hot that water will boil on Earth’s surface. In about 4.5 billion years our galaxy might collide with the Andromeda galaxy. In five billion years, it will bloat to a red giant and consume the inner planets.
Fine-tuned my a*s.
Nick, what lies are atheists spreading? That there is no proof that there are any gods? That’s actually not a lie–there is no proof that there are any gods.
Gary said “I recently saw a program where an *astrophysicist* said that the chances that the very finely tuned conditions for intelligent life to evolve on Earth purely by random chance are about 1 in 10 to the 10th to the 123rd power.”.
That’s akin to saying the winner of a lottery didn’t win by random chance because the odds of her winning are astronomically small. There is a great deal physics doesn’t know and it may be that these “finely tuned” conditions cannot be anything other than what they are and hence random chance has no role. Further there are trillions of stars in the galaxy and trillions of galaxies in the universe. Even if life is an extremely unlikely event just the shear gigantic numbers alone mean its going to happen many, many times in our universe.
There still is not a shred of evidence to support the belief in a god.
Priya, I’ve long been of the opinion that life’s one of the fundamental forces of the universe, and that if it can appear, it will. We may not recognize it as life, based upon our purely localized experieence of it. I also suspect that a unfiied field theory will not make its appearance until such time as an understanding of what life is (beyond a mere concatenation of chemical processes) is incorporated into our u debate About
physics.
Heisenberg certainly hinted at this when he said that the observer cannot be held to be completely separate from that which he observes.
Is there a God? Does not matter. The VAST majority of humans think there is. And that Majority is (worldwide) growing, not shrinking.
In a world where that is the reality (and it is…like it or not, it is), how do we work for LGBT rights? what is the best strategy? how do we go about doing what we can, in the way that helps the most LGBT people realize their basic rights?
THAT is the question.
Don’t like religion? Fine. I am a believer, and much of the time, I don’t either. But that does not mean it is not the standard state of being for most of the planet, and more and more of it all the time. We can’t get it rid of it (if we wanted to)…so…how can we work WITH it? THAT is what we need to be thinking about.
I wonder if Jan had herself a little fling with the guy who plays “Jesus” at the Holy Land Experience?? Ha! Wouldn’t that be a hoot?
Gary, believe what you want–no one is stopping you, but don’t claime there is evidence of a god–that’s just not true. The lack of evidence doesn’t mean you can make stuff up. We don’t know how or if everything began–that doesn’t mean we can just make up an explanation and call it God.
And the fact that a majority of people (in the US) believe something doesn’t make it true. It really just points to how bad education is.
I think it’s a little unfair that Paul and Jan get THEIR golden rewards while all the rest of us have to wait till we die and go to heaven. Jan’s always crying about starving little babies. But look at how her dogs live like kings!
Gene said “Is there a God? Does not matter. The VAST majority of humans think there is. And that Majority is (worldwide) growing, not shrinking.”.
False. In 1900 virtually everyone on the planet believed in a god(s). Since then the non-religious group has continuously grown and is now about 1 billion people. Religiosity reached its maximum percentage of the population over 100 years ago and has been in slow decline ever since.
http://richarddawkins.net/articleComments,956,Why-the-Gods-Are-Not-Winning,Edge-Gregory-Paul-amp-Phil-Zuckerman,page1#36316
Read the article, but the demographics dont bear it out. Lot of wishful thinking there.
True. Non believers around the world tend to have lower birthrates than those with religious faith. The article fails to take into account the staggering growth in population in Africa, and the far greater (i am not saying it is a good thing, just a fact) growth to come there. Nonbelievers among them? precious few. China and India? China will hit demogrphic peak in a few decades, but it rapidly (Buddhism aside, which is declining, with the strange exception of…again, the US…why are we always the outlier?) is becoming a nation of believers (islam, Christianity). India, still growing, and religius to its toenails. Mr Dawkins mentions France, and its birthrate. Been to Marsailles lately? That answers that.
Priya, you seem to really, really NEED to believe the world is getting less religious. I am not sure why. As a believer, I don’t care one way or the other that it is, and I mean it as no attack on you or you athiesm. But, the facts reamain; the athiests/non believers of northern Europe and parts of North America dont reproduce as fast as Christians in Africa, Muslims almost everywhere, the people of India (overwhelmingly relgious) and even the new immigrants to our own hation.
Non belief, looking at it honestly and dispassionatly (once again, I don’t care) will continue to grow for several decades, at least, here in North America. The absolute numbers of non believers in the world will continue to grow, at least for some time. But, the number of believers will also continue to grow. Mr. Dawkins made a comment about all the Muslims having unprotected sex, and growing by that means. Demographers see no sign of that stopping soon, and the population of Christians in Africa has grown like a cancer, and that has only begun (again, due to population growth).
Long and short of it, non-belief will continue to grow, but the % of world population that DOES have a religion is set to explode, vs the non believing population, which has lower birthrates.
We are becomming a more and more religious planet, despite the growth of those who do not have a religious (which I will grant is larger than ever…much like the population of the planet is larger than ever).
Who do you think is going to have more babies? Athiests in Scotland, or pentocostals in Uganda? Does anybody SERIOUSLY think Uganda is about to even begin to start to nudge towards athiesm? India? Nigeria? Egypt? Indonesia? China is moving in the OTHER direction, and Japan and South Korea (which Mr. Dawkins made reference to) are already in demogrpahic decline…though religious Koreans tend to have larger families it should be noted…and Koreans now equal or outnumber Americans in terms of # of overseas missionaries).
You seem to be taking this personally…you are passionate about your beliefs I suppose, and I respect that. Yet, as GLBT people, we need to be prepared to face reality. Most religions are not gay friendly (especially not in their GROWING branches…I belong to one of the GLBT welcoming ones that is in demographic decline…all that are welcoming, sadly, are in demographic decline)…now, how do we address this reality?
That, not that their are more non believers than ever (which is undoubted) nor that belief is better than non belief (which I am not saying…muchof religion is toxic) was what I was saying.
I am pointing out, as someone married to a man, and by extension part of his wonderful family, who are from the developing world, that most GLBT people LIVE in that world. And its religious…and we have to face that before we try to think of the best ways to help them. That was all I was trying to do.
I don’t need to believe it Gene, its just the facts. You’re under the mistaken assumption that babies born in religious areas will turn out to be religious as well – faulty assumption.
The facts are in the article I gave you, if you don’t want to believe the obvious I can’t help you. Population growth in Africa isn’t going to continue, its a well established pattern that as countries become more prosperous and women more educated population growth slows and the percentage of children rejecting their parents religion grows as well. You mention China were the religious are an insignificant portion of the population and will almost certainly remain so. For you to claim that this shows China is going to become predominantly religious shows it is you who needs to believe this is true.
The fact is that the world ONCE was almost entirely religious – that was the peak, back in 1900. Those days are gone forever, the growth of the non-religous in terms of percentage of the population has grown continuously ever since. There’s no denying this fact as much as you’d like to – the world is becoming less religious and will continue to do so in the forseable future.
well…I have no interest in an arguement Priya…though my demographics can be (and were) backed up, and most kids born in Uganda WILL be as religious as their parents, and I would read Former PM Tony Blairs atricles on the growth of religion in China and how it will affect its position on the global stage before I make reference to the “insignigicant” growth of religion in China…Its not me seeing what I want to see. Its also our state department.
Africa had 10 million Christians in 1900. There are 390 million now, 3 times as many as 30 years ago. Another 200 million Christians are expected in the next 30 years on the continant. that is not even mentioning Islam. Europes Christians are exptected to shrink by 17 million, as non belief spreads, and populations in Russia and other nations actually declines. Note that…as their populations DECLINE…and Africa and Asia, grow.
Where (!?)did you get the idea that population in Africa is not exprected to grow radidly…The United Nations states that at current reproduction patterns Africa could TRIPLE in population in the next century from just under 1 to 3.6 Billion(!) (UN forcasts 10.1 million people by Centuries End…NYT, MAY 3, 2011) As per increases in wealth affecting religiosity…the central belt of Africa from Nigeria to Kenya is barely moving out of dire poverty, and is hardly growing wealthy, save for corrupt elites. I wish it was not the case, but…with these population statistics, wealth is not going to be touching to many people there in the next couple of generations. Athiesm does not thrive well in poverty…whether it is real or not, religion gives people hope, and Africa is going to need it.
These nations are where the people will be. They will grow. The nations with high concentrations of non believers will in some cases grow (not much, and much of that will be among believers among them) but they will decline relative to the exploding populations of nations that are religious (for good or ill). The nations where non belief has grown the most, have, as populations overall, grown the least, and, are gray.
But, this debate among us serves no purpose. My demographic facts hold up (as do yours, but they are only go so far, and dont take population growth and decline patterns, as well as the growth of religion in the developing nations like China, into account). The whole point is, most Lesbian and Gay people live in the developing world. That region will grow, and with it, religion, and these are religious people…that seems to, offend, some athiests. Nevertheless, its true. Now, HOW are we going to work to help GLBT people in places like Uganda, and Indonesia, and India, and China, if we do not understand the cultures they live in, and the often anti gay forces alligned against them (often religious)?
Just saying “well, I think religion is mistaken and it should not affect their lives”, wont help them a bit….because, like or not…it will remain a fact of their existance. We have to work with the world we got, and the one that is coming. Best we be prepared for it.
It’s bizarre to argue that the world isn’t becoming less religious when every study and poll points to the fact that it is indeed becoming less so with every passing year. This is a fact.
Yes, uneducated and isolated populations will always be more prone to being religious, but there are less uneducated and isolated populations with every passing year. This is a fact.
It doesn’t matter ultimately if remaining uneducated and isolated populations continue to be religious specifically because they are uneducated and isolated. This is a fact.
Since there obviously are no gods and religion is simply a tool of oppression and nothing more, it is vital that we eradicate religion from civilized societies, and we can do it. This is a fact.
We’ll no more be completely rid of religion than we are rid of any form of bigotry or any other irrational or destructive beliefs, but we can significantly reduce the numbers of religious people through education and make sure that those who still cling to these delusions, for whatever reason, are aware that they must keep their fantasies out of our government and to themselves, where they can’t do any harm to anyone else.
Religion’s deathgrip on civilization was once universal. Happily, that is no longer true. And the more the people who were once being strangled by religion feel what it’s like to breathe more freely, they’ll only want that deathgrip loosened even more, not less. This is a fact.
Gene, I know you’re not open to changing your mind on this but the statistics don’t lie and they show you are wrong. Almost every year since 1900 the percentage of non-relgious in the world has grown. You can go on all day about demographics but the statistics show your argument is wrong and its wrong because of a flaw you’re unwilling to see.
The assumption underlying your argument is that children of religious parents will be religious themselves. If that were true rather than the world having 1 billion atheists as it does now, virtually the entire planet would be religious now as it was in 1900. Your argument about demographics was just as “true” then as it is now – Demographics in 1900 show the entire world is religious and the religious have a high birthrate there will never be any atheists. Didn’t work out that way because your argument is flawed and demographics are irrelevant to the growth of atheism in the 20th century.
It is irrelevant that (if I take you at your word, which I don’t) there were 10 million christians in Africa in 1900 and 390 million now. The entire African population was religious in 1900 and although the percentage of christians has increased at the expense of traditional religions the total percentage of religious people in Africa has dropped over the past 100 years as it has virtually all over the planet. Your argument is intentionally deceptive and you falsely imply that because christianity has grown in africa overall since 1900 religiosity has grown as well – it has not. That’s a typical example of the type of lying religious people do with statistics, similar to the lying they do with statistics when it comes to gay people.
As the link I posted showed, the religious sources for your belief are in incorrect and that is no surprise given that religion has a long history of prolific lying while secularism has been for the past 100 years the voice of science and truth. The statistics don’t lie, atheism has grown continuously from being virtually non-existant in 1900 to aproximately 1 billion today. I know nothing can change your mind about this but you are not my target audience for my posts anyway.
And if you want to play the “there are 39 times as many christians in Africa now as there were in 1900″ then keep in mind there are 287 times as many atheists in the world now as there were in 1900.