Jim Bakker: Difference between revisions

| image = Jim Bakker 1977.png

| caption = Bakker in 19861977

'''James Orsen Bakker''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|eɪ|k|ər}};<ref name=Time06-2001>{{cite magazine|last=Ostling|first=Richard N.|author-link=Richard N. Ostling|title=Power, Glory&nbsp;– and Politics|date=June 24, 2001|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101860217-143137,00.html|access-date=November 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308110631/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101860217-143137,00.html|archive-date=March 8, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> born January 2, 1940) is an American [[televangelist]] and convicted felon. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program ''[[The PTL Club]]'' and its cable television platform, the [[PTL Satellite Network]], with his then wife, [[Tammy Faye Messner|Tammy Faye]]. He also developed [[Heritage USA]], a now-defunct Christian theme park in [[Fort Mill, South Carolina]].

The Bakkers married on April 1, 1961, and left college to become [[Itinerant minister|itinerant]] [[Evangelism|evangelists]]. They had two children, Tammy Sue "Sissy" Bakker Chapman (born March 2, 1970) and [[Jay Bakker|Jamie Charles "Jay" Bakker]] (born December 18, 1975). The couple divorced on March 13, 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tammy Faye Bakker Gets Divorce, Custody of Son, 16|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-14/news/mn-3158_1_tammy-faye-bakker|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 14, 1992|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009180218/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-14/news/mn-3158_1_tammy-faye-bakker|archive-date=October 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 4, 1998, Bakker married Lori Beth Graham, a former televangelist, fifty days after they met.<ref>{{cite news |last=Garfield |first=Ken |date=April 1, 2000 |title=The Preacher's Wife: Lori Beth Bakker says she is her own woman |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=20000401&id=YWQzAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682,207555 |newspaper=[[The Free Lance-Star]] |location=Fredericksburg, VA |access-date=September 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429094010/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=20000401&id=YWQzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cwgGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6682,207555 |archive-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2002, they [[adopted]] five children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://jimbakkershow.com/about-us/about-jim/|title=About Pastor Jim Bakker {{!}} The Jim Bakker Show|work=The Jim Bakker Show|access-date=October 1, 2018|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001220448/https://jimbakkershow.com/about-us/about-jim/|archive-date=October 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/65297-jim-bakker-s-son-the-no-1-thing-to-remember-when-dealing-with-immigrants|title=Jim Bakker's Son: The No. 1 Thing to Remember When Dealing With Immigrants|last=Lancaster|first=Jessilyn|website=Charisma News|date=June 2, 2017 |language=en|access-date=January 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041816/https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/65297-jim-bakker-s-son-the-no-1-thing-to-remember-when-dealing-with-immigrants|archive-date=January 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.charismanews.com/culture/74716-exclusive-jim-bakker-s-son-ricky-believes-this-is-the-generation-that-will-see-christ-return|title=EXCLUSIVE: Jim Bakker's Son Ricky Believes This Is the Generation That Will See Christ Return|last=Staff|first=Charisma|website=Charisma News|date=January 9, 2019 |language=en|access-date=March 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203032906/https://www.charismanews.com/culture/74716-exclusive-jim-bakker-s-son-ricky-believes-this-is-the-generation-that-will-see-christ-return|archive-date=February 3, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1966, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker began working at [[Pat Robertson]]'s [[Christian Broadcasting Network]] (CBN) in [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|Portsmouth]], [[Virginia]], which had an audience in the low thousands at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Lived Here - in a Kit Home!|url=http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2011/11/23/jim-and-tammy-faye-bakker-lived-here-in-a-kit-home/|publisher=Sears Home|website=searshome.org|date=November 23, 2011|access-date=February 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024019/http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2011/11/23/jim-and-tammy-faye-bakker-lived-here-in-a-kit-home/|archive-date=February 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bakkers contributed to the network's growth, hosting a children's variety show called ''Come On Over'' that employed comic routines with [[puppet]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, "On her first television appearance and creating The Jim and Tammy Show |website=Television Academy Foundation Interviews |date=October 23, 2017 |url=https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/jim-and-tammy-show |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408085932/https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/jim-and-tammy-show |archive-date=April 8, 2019 }}</ref> Due to the success of ''Come On Over'', Robertson made Bakker the host of a new prime-time talk show, ''[[The 700 Club]]'', which gradually became CBN's flagship program.<ref name=wapo>{{Cite news|title=Robertson's Bakker Connection|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/02/06/robertsons-bakker-connection/f558f67c-c4f5-489c-b733-e768d1daacdc/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 6, 1988|access-date=February 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311081305/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1988/02/06/robertsons-bakker-connection/f558f67c-c4f5-489c-b733-e768d1daacdc/|archive-date=March 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bakkers left CBN in 19721973 and, the followingsoon yearafter, joined with [[Paul Crouch|Paul]] and [[Jan Crouch]] to help co-found the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]] (TBN) in [[California]]. However, this partnership lasted only eight months until a falling-out between Jim Bakker and Paul Crouch caused the Bakkers to eventually leave the new network.

AfterWhile their exit fromunder TBN, the Bakkers moved to [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]], [[North Carolina]], where in 1976May of 1973 they launched an east coast version of ''Praise The Lord'' under TBN's umbrella. Less than a year later the Bakkers formed their own non profit organization, registered the [[The PTL Club|PTL]] trademark, left the umbrella of TBN and the Crouches, and continued their show on 36 [[WCNC-TV|WRET]] Charlotte, 16 [[WGGS]] [[Greenville, South Carolina]], and a few other stations. In 1975, they nationally debuted their own [[late-night talk show|late night]]-style talk show, known as ''[[The PTL Club]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tammy Faye: Faith & Flamboyance |work=Biography (TV) |date=August 7, 2000 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682420/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210075814/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1682420/ |archive-date=February 10, 2017 }}</ref> Bakker founded the [[PTL Satellite Network]] in 1974, which aired ''The PTL Club'' and other religious television programs through local affiliates across the U.S.<ref name="buzzfeed"/>

A sentence-reduction hearing was held on November 16, 1992, and Bakker's sentence was reduced to eight years. In August&nbsp;1993, he was transferred to a minimum-security federal prison in [[Jesup, Georgia]]. Bakker was [[parole]]d in July 1994, after serving almost five years of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jim Bakker freed from jail to stay in a halfway house |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/us/jim-bakker-freed-from-jail-to-stay-in-a-halfway-house.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 2, 1994 |access-date=March 11, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311081429/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/02/us/jim-bakker-freed-from-jail-to-stay-in-a-halfway-house.html |archive-date=March 11, 2018}}</ref> His son, Jay, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the parole board advocating leniency.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bakker |first=Jay |author-link=Jay Bakker |title=Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows |year=2001 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=006251699X}}</ref> Celebrity lawyer [[Alan Dershowitz]] acted as Bakker's parole attorney, having said that he "would guarantee that Mr.&nbsp;Bakker would never again engage in the blend of religion and commerce that led to his conviction."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/us/judge-cuts-bakker-s-prison-term-making-parole-possible-in-4-years.html |title=Judge cuts Bakker's prison term, making parole possible in 4&nbsp;years |last=Applebome |first=Peter |date=24 August 1991 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=15 April 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515161918/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/us/judge-cuts-bakker-s-prison-term-making-parole-possible-in-4-years.html |archive-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> Bakker was released from [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] custody on December 1, 1994,<ref>{{cite news |last=Smothers |first=Ronald |title=Ex-television evangelist Bakker ends prison sentence for fraud |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/us/ex-television-evangelist-bakker-ends-prison-sentence-for-fraud.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 2, 1994 |access-date=February 21, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030215/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/02/us/ex-television-evangelist-bakker-ends-prison-sentence-for-fraud.html |archive-date=February 16, 2018}}</ref> owing $6 million to the IRS.<ref>{{cite news | last=Krotz | first=Daniel | url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-krotz/jim-bakker-and-other-coun_b_795822.html | work=[[Huffington Post]] | title=Jim Bakker and the counterfeit hell robbers | date=December 20, 2010 | access-date=February 18, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204062348/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-krotz/jim-bakker-and-other-coun_b_795822.html | archive-date=February 4, 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>

<!--The reporting is problematic. First is the claim of parole. Parole at the Federal level was eliminated by the Sentencing Act of 1984 <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/98th-congress/house-bill/5773 |title=H.R.5773 - Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 |publisher=United States Congress |access-date=January 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In an October 2017 video, Bakker said that "God will punish those" who ridicule him;<ref>{{cite web|last=Mazza|first=Ed|title=Jim Bakker Says God Will Punish You For Making Fun Of Him|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-bakker-stop-making-fun-of-me_us_59e593f3e4b0a2324d1d2f54|quote=Jim Bakker: One day, you're going to shake your fist in God's face. And you're going to say, 'God, why didn't you warn me?' He's gonna say, 'You sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you, but you didn't listen.|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=October 17, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107145213/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jim-bakker-stop-making-fun-of-me_us_59e593f3e4b0a2324d1d2f54|archive-date=January 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> he has said that [[Hurricane Harvey]] was a judgment of God, and he blamed [[Hurricane Matthew]] on then-President [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Disgraced pastor Jim Bakker says Hurricane Harvey was 'judgment' from God while selling his Tasty Pantry bucket for $175|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/disgraced-pastor-jim-bakker-calls-hurricane-harvey-judgement-article-1.3473935|work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|location=New York|date=September 5, 2017|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083505/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/disgraced-pastor-jim-bakker-calls-hurricane-harvey-judgement-article-1.3473935|archive-date=February 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Tashman|first=Brian|title=Jim Bakker Blames Hurricane Matthew On Obama|url=http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-blames-hurricane-matthew-on-obama/ |publisher=Right Wing Watch|date=October 17, 2016|access-date=February 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083601/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-blames-hurricane-matthew-on-obama/|archive-date=February 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Bakker predicted that if then-President [[Donald Trump]] was [[Efforts to impeach Donald Trump|impeached]], Christians would begin a Second American Civil War.<ref>{{cite web|title=Televangelist Jim Bakker: Christians will start a civil war if Trump is impeached|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|quote=Jim Bakker: If it happens, there will be a civil war in the United States of America. |last=Delk |first=Josh |url=httphttps://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/348418-televangelist-jim-bakker-christians-will-start-new-civil-war-if/|date=August 29, 2017|access-date=February 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214014707/http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/348418-televangelist-jim-bakker-christians-will-start-new-civil-war-if|archive-date=February 14, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He compared the [[2017 Washington train derailment]] to the [[Sinking of the RMS Titanic|sinking]] of the [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']] and stated the [[Amtrak]] train derailment was a warning from God.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mantlya|first=Kyle|title=Jim Bakker: Washington Train Derailment Was A Warning From God|url=http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-washington-train-derailment-was-a-warning-from-god/|publisher=Right Wing Watch|quote=Jim Bakker: The great preachers of all times have said the ''Titanic'' is God's warning|date=January 3, 2018|access-date=February 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032207/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-bakker-washington-train-derailment-was-a-warning-from-god/|archive-date=February 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He also claimed that he predicted the [[September 11 attacks]] of 2001, stating that he "saw 9/11 in 1999 before [[New Year's Eve]]" and that there would "be terrorism" and bombings in New York City and [[Washington, D.C.]]"<ref>{{cite web|title=Televangelist Jim Bakker claims he predicted 9/11 disaster|url=https://joltleft.com/televangelist-jim-bakker-claims-he-predicted-911-disaster/|quote=Jim Bakker: I saw 9/11 in 1999 before New Year's Eve ... I said there's going to be terrorism; there's going to be a bombing in New York and Washington DC. I said it would be at a high defense location in DC ...|publisher=Jolt Left|date=August 23, 2011|access-date=February 25, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226032244/https://joltleft.com/televangelist-jim-bakker-claims-he-predicted-911-disaster/|archive-date=February 26, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> A few days after the [[Stoneman Douglas High School shooting]], he stated that "God came to [him] in a dream... and he was wearing camouflage, a hunting vest and had an [[AR-15 style rifle|AR-15]] strapped to his back" and that God supported Trump's plan to [[arm teachers]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Jim Bakker Supports Arming Some Teachers: 'Jesus Loves AR-15'|url=https://www.nova-magazine.net/jim-bakker-supports-arming-some-teachers-jesus-loves-ar-15/|quote=To me, that is a sign that he is against gun control. God ordained Donald Trump and he supports his plan to arm teachers.|work=nova-magazine.net|date=February 22, 2018|access-date=March 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306142257/https://www.nova-magazine.net/jim-bakker-supports-arming-some-teachers-jesus-loves-ar-15/|archive-date=March 6, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Following the death of [[Billy Graham]] on February 21, 2018, Bakker attended Graham's funeral and paid his respects, stating that Graham was the greatest preacher since [[Jesus]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Marusak |first1=Joe |last2=Funk |first2=Tim |title=Fallen evangelist Jim Bakker and wife pay their respects to Billy Graham in Charlotte |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/special-reports/billy-graham-life/article202470224.html |work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=March 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228091355/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/special-reports/billy-graham-life/article202470224.html|archive-date=February 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and also remarking that Graham had visited him in prison.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dyches|first=Chris|title=Fallen PTL pastor Jim Bakker recalls prison visit from Rev. Billy Graham|url=http://m.wbtv.com/story/37607004/fallen-ptl-pastor-jim-bakker-recalls-prison-visit-from-rev-billy-graham|publisher=[[WBTV]]|location=Charlotte, N.C.|date=February 27, 2018|access-date=March 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306023215/http://m.wbtv.com/story/37607004/fallen-ptl-pastor-jim-bakker-recalls-prison-visit-from-rev-billy-graham|archive-date=March 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Category:American Evangelical writers]]

[[Category:Sexual abuse scandals in EvangelicalismPentecostalism]]

[[Category:Finance fraud in EvangelicalismPentecostalism]]