Tammy Faye stops cancer treatment

[Ian David]

published Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, the North Carolina televangelist who came to embrace gays and was embraced in return, told fans Tuesday that doctors have ceased to treat long-running cancer that had spread to her lung.

"So now it's up to God and my faith. And that's enough! But please continue to pray for the pain and sick stomach," Messner, 65, wrote Tuesday on her Web site, adding that she is down to 65 pounds and needs "God's miracle to swallow."

Messner closed with a message for others who might be suffering: "Don't give up!! . . . You see, God gives out his promises, they do not lie, they do not fail. We do not have to BEG him for them, they are FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

<snip>

She had always counseled tolerance of gays, in strong contrast to Falwell and other religious-right figures; among her post-PTL media projects was a 1996 talk show co-hosted by out gay actor Jim J. Bullock. She left the show to focus on treating her recently diagnosed colon cancer. In 2004, she appeared on the reality TV show "The Surreal Life."

A 1999 documentary by out directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," was a hit with gay audiences. Messner returned the love, premiering a 2004 sequel at San Francisco's Castro Theater, on whose famous rising organ she played the evangelical anthem "Power in the Blood."

More:
http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?coll=news_articles&sernum=2007/05/09/4&page=2

[beyurslf]

1. Tammy Faye is the only televangelist I don't talk bad about.

I still remember pictures of her going through an AIDS ward with gay men, way back when most people wouldn't even say the word AIDS in public (aka Reagan). She is a good woman with a good heart. The world could use more like her.

[undeterred]

2. I think she's someone who always identified herself as a sinner

The male evangelists are always pointing the finger at everyone but themselves. She knew her shopping was an addiction and she saw her own human flaws. She was probably closer to God than the whole lot of them.

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. Her son POd his biggest backer

Bravo or MTV had a reality show with her son and his ministry that I caught a few episodes of. He's a stark contrast to the stereotypical evangelical preacher...tattoos, piercings, and all.

The end of the season he came to the decision that he was going to come out in support of gays and had discussions with the ministry leadership first. They were 'debating' the risk he was taking because they knew his biggest financial backer would be pissed and might very well pull all the funding. They said they would back his decision and support him.

In the end, he did it and laid out why saying he had researched it in the bible. He said that most of the time, those who preach against it stop at the point that supports their position instead of fully reading to learn what God's teachings were. The backer sat there with his arms crossed, obviously uncomfortable and thoroughly pissed. Apparently, the backer put his foot down, too. Bakker moved to NYC. LOL!

[Warpy]

4. She's why I say good people get to be wrong

I saw very little of her in those PTL days. I do know that the weaselly Jim Bakker was unique among the ilk for not pushing a barrage of fear and hate, although he did scam his millions out of poor rural folks who could least afford it. I found his smugness and her constant weepiness too much to take, even for an occasional hoot.

As wrong headed as I found her, I never saw her as wrong hearted. When the hate against women and gays was really ramping up in the 80s, with AIDS as proof that gays were cursed and how dare women avoid the judgment of GAWD against their SIN by aborting it! Tammy Faye remained non censorious and disapproved of behavior but not the person.

She also had a personal trait I find irresistible: she knew how to laugh at herself.

I hope her passing is calm and quiet and that her journey is eased as much as it can be.

[shireen]

5. a wise and courageous decision

i watched a friend die of cancer. It started under his tongue, then spread to his lungs. Doctors performed two surgeries; the second one removed a big chunk of his lung that left him very weak. His last months were pretty awful. He told me that he should not have had that 2nd surgery ... instead, while he had the strength, he would have spent that remaining time with his fiancee and sailing the Chesapeake.

She's always been an extraordinary lady, perhaps the only tele-evangelist I like. I wish her a good quality of life.

[lonestarnot]

6. Poor lady.

She grew on me. I hope they can keep her comfortable until it's over.

[Hamlette]

7. Catch "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" if you get a chance...its great.

A sympathetic look at someone I used to think of as much more "plastic". I really liked her by the end of the movie and they were SO screwed by Falwell...its all in the movie.

[yardwork]

8. Yes, fans of Falwell should remember what he did to the Bakkers

Jim Bakker was a crook, no question, but Falwell was a crook on a much higher level and he simply took everything away from the Bakkers by orchestrating that scandal.

I appreciated what Tammy Faye did later in her life. I wish her well.