OMG! Anybody remember Jim Bakker?

[Brigid]

As I was flipping channels just now, I happened to spot his name on the bottom of the screen. I probably wouldn't have even noticed if not for the way the name is spelled. He has a white beard and a baseball cap. He's pitching some kind of nutritional supplements and vitamins now. And his wikipedia entry says he still owes the IRS $6 million.

[yesphan]

1. Oh Yeah !

And his beautiful wife Tammy. What a pair.

[Aerows]

15. She's been dead since 2007

I'm sure she's gorgeous about now . Not even her makeup, fingernails and hair could hide that!

[liberalhistorian]

17. They had been divorced for many years

by then, and she'd been remarried for quite awhile before cancer took her. She had repudiated a lot of Bakker's "philosophy" and actions and had written and spoken out against him. I think once she was out from under his thumb she was able to think more clearly and blossom a bit.

[yesphan]

42. Yes, I recall her passing.

She wasn't quite as freaky after she left Jimbo.

[Aerows]

2. Is he out of jail?

He probably shouldn't be. He's a hoodlum.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Too bad Tammy Faye isn't still alive to help him sell them.

[Aerows]

14. What the hell is up with this OP?

the woman has been dead since 2007, as you pointed out. What gives?

[Erose999]

4. Is he a juicer? lol

[madokie]

5. Who could forget he and Tammy Faye

What a pair

[KansDem]

53. Yes, who could forget...

[deutsey]

6. PTL was the best comedy show (albeit unintentionally) of the '80s

My friends and I watched it all the time and would quote our favorite lines from Jim and Tammy like people used to do with Seinfeld.

[MuseRider]

29. My brother and I did that too.

They were endlessly entertaining. Too bad they were also ruining the lives of a lot of people. Did not think about it then but boy oh boy.....

[NJCher]

38. oh yeah, me, too!

My brother and I used to light up the pipe, mute the TV, and laugh until the early hours of the morning. There was something all the more funny about it without the sound, not to mention in our altered state of consciousness.

Tammy used to get so worked up she would cry and then all that eye makeup would be dripping down her face.

Yeah, we, too, didn't think about the people getting hurt.

Didn't they start some kind of crazy Christian theme park?


Cher

[LordGlenconner]

63. Tammy's House Party

Was my go-to television after school. It was basically her own talk show with some fund raising and religion mixed in. Gavin McLoud (Capt. Stubing from Love Boat) and his plastic surgery addicted wife were frequent guests. Unintentional comedy indeed.

[Th1onein]

59. This woman is my FAVOR-ITE Christian lady

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/jan-crouch

[KG]

7. wasn't he a kicker for the St Louis Cards?

[WinkyDink]

8. Mock Tammy Faye all you want, but do it with some knowledge:

Gay men came to embrace Ms. Messner as a camp figure, making her the subject of gender-bending look-alike contests. She embraced them as well. She began attending gay pride events, and in 1996, she became the co-host of a syndicated television talk show with Jim J. Bullock, an openly gay actor.

“I refuse to label people,” Ms. Messner said in a 2000 documentary, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” when asked about her attitudes toward gay rights. “We’re all just people made out of the same old dirt, and God didn’t make any junk.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/us/22bakker.html?_r=0

[Aerows]

13. Send 10 dollars

and your soul will be a pure as Tammy's.

You can't seriously be that gullible?

The woman is DEAD. As a doornail. Has been since 2007. I hope you aren't mocking gay people, because we don't allow that shit around here.

[FreeState]

20. As a gay man myself I highly recommend seeing the movie

Tammy was an amazing woman who embraced the gay community with open arms for the last 15-20 years of her life.

Her son runs a ministry out of New York and pushes for gay rights as well. They both are nothing like Jim.

[Aerows]

24. I had a hard time

with these two, the 700 Club and the Christian Broadcasting Network when I was coming out and learning about myself.

Sorry for flying off the handle.

[MuseRider]

34. Jesus, that is entirely understandable.

She turned out to be OK, really. A strong advocate for equality.

Things like that show and others did a lot of harm to young, gay people (others too but particularly young LGBT people). I know many people who feel like you do. Hard to get over that.

[Aerows]

41. Yeah, and it is easy

to categorize people when you saw what they were associated with. I can forgive, it's just hard to forget, sometimes.

[MuseRider]

46. None of us ever should forget.

Forgive if you can but never forget.

[Aerows]

47. Thank you

[Aerows]

56. Indeed

[arely staircase]

44. she really does seem to have repented nt

[Aerows]

45. And I do my best to let it go

I'm no more perfect than anyone else is, though, and it isn't easy to forgive and forget, even though you *really* want to do so. It takes time.

[WinkyDink]

61. Wow. Your reading comprehension is turned to "OFF" here. I KNOW SHE IS DEAD, FGS. As for "mocking

gay people," that's me, BWAHAHAHAHA! I guess I'll have to take my "Adam Lambert" stickers off my car (yes, they are there!)!

[Aerows]

65. I think I explained myself upthread well enough

Peace.

[Chaco Dundee]

55. you have that right

mammy fae had that right as well.of course some imaginary creatuure can not make junk.but to refer to any person as junk is beond my imagination.

[WinkyDink]

62. Uh...she said NOT junk. Jeezo.

[quinnox]

9. huh, yea, didn't know he was still around

I do know that Swaggert is still at it preaching, believe it or not. (He is the guy famous for confessing live on tv with tears streaming down his face - "Lord, I have sinned against you!"

[Bragi]

10. Before you trash him and Tammy Faye

I'd suggest you view the documentary film "The Eyes of Tammy Faye".

She was a compassionate person who was among the first Xians to support gay rights and the fight against aids.

Don't believe me? Check it out.

It also is worth noting that the real bad guy in the Jimmy Bakker story was the creepy reptillian Jerry Falwell, who basically got Bakker arrested and stole all the money for himself.

[Aerows]

12. After he got sent to prison

Sorry, I don't need people to support my rights after they have a spouse sent to prison, since loving someone has nothing to do with extorting funds from people.

[Bragi]

16. Watch the film

A clue as to it's bias is that it's narrated by RuPaul.

[Aerows]

18. No link

and I live in the South, so it shouldn't shock and surprise you that I took it seriously.

[FreeState]

22. Heres the link

Tammy was an amazing woman.

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_eyes_of_tammy_faye

[Aerows]

23. Thank you

I don't mean to have a hair-trigger, but these two were awful when I was coming out.

[AndyA]

31. I knew Tammy Faye personally. She was the real deal, no phony.

She had zero issues with gay people, and spoke up to organized religion before anyone else did about their treatment of gay people. She truly loved all, and it didn't matter what their sexual orientation was, if they were sick with a disease, or anything else.

Never met Jim Bakker, but it seems like he really treated her badly. She forgave him, too, and still had love in her heart for him.

She was a very nice lady, and you felt better just being in the same room with her. Watch the documentary, it will give you a completely different understanding of Tammy Faye.

[Bragi]

33. Your response is understandable

Maybe the film will at least redeem her a bit for you. Her change is a good story to point out to hostile Xians.

[backscatter712]

19. I've got some respect for Tammy Faye. Not so much for Jimmy... n/t

[Bragi]

21. Same here

Jimmy was an evangelical fool. Falwell is truly evil.

[CBGLuthier]

28. Falwell was evil

Now he, like Tammy Faye is dead.

[Bragi]

35. I missed that good news story /nt

[longship]

60. Hitchens: If they had given Falwell an enema they could have buried him in a matchbox. nt

[deutsey]

27. They both demonstrated big changes in their worldview after the scandals

I would say big improvements, from what I saw. Before the scandals, though, they were as creepy and reptilian as Falwell, was.

[deutsey]

30. Well, Jim seems to have return to his reptilian roots

http://newsvandal.com/2013/06/jim-bakkers-supermarket-of-doom/

[Bragi]

36. That's hilarious

On the evil scale, I'd say a huckster food-selling evangelical survivalist doesn't rank very high.

As comedy, though, he's gold.

[ramblin_dave]

11. Jim Bakker's Supermarket of Doom...

Jim Bakker's Supermarket of doom

The end of the world is coming.
And you’re gonna need food. A lot of food.
That’s where Jim Bakker comes in.

[lpbk2713]

25. He probably owes a lot more ...

to the losers who backed him on that theme park that went down the toilet.

[Bragi]

39. I visited it a few years ago in Charlotte NC

It's fabulous.

[NoPasaran]

26. Wasn't he the cellmate of Lyndon LaRouche

For a while when they were both in the slammer?

[arely staircase]

32. yep

[jmowreader]

58. He bears a slight resemblance to...

[Pretzel_Warrior]

37. WTF!!!?? How can people on here be supporting Tammy Faye Baker? that is just nuts

I don't care if she was personally performing gay marriages later in life. She was part and parcel of a religious scam on millions, and i find it offensive a reptilian person like her is defended on DU.

[Bragi]

40. You have every right to feel offended /nt

[Aerows]

43. She and her husband

were personally responsible for making gay men and women feel as though they were lower than dirt, and the fact that she changed her mind later in life is admirable, but I still harbor a bit of pain in my heart for the things they preached. It doesn't mean that I am unable to forgive, but a whole lot of inside of me wonders "Why?"

[rucky]

57. Tammy Faye is off limits

DU rules.

[WinkyDink]

64. So people get no quarter from you if they actually and sincerely change? Nobody is defending crime.

[brooklynite]

48. He moved out of SC and set up shop in Branson, MO...

http://jimbakkershow.com/

Same shtick, different trophy wife...

[backscatter712]

49. On the bright side, here's a little find with "Jimmy Bakker" and the Church Lady.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/church-chat/n9565/

And another with Pat Robertson and Jimmy Swaggart!

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/church-chat/n9682/

Looks like little Jimmy came out of his pulpit!

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. yes, he's still around.

[LWolf]

51. Well, not until you brought him to mind.

[GP6971]

52. I forgot about him

had to Google him......result was a flood of bad memories. How ridiculous

[Nevernose]

54. I thought he was dead.

I guess the wrong one got all the good luck in the divorce.