European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fag 10 the stars and stripes saturday. Apfei 1,1fl87 Carl Rowan the Freedom to be fleeced the populist preachers the evangelicals of America arc in a holy War that bids to prove thai there is no Honor among  bakkers swag Garls fall cult and Robin pcs Are Church of the heavenly a Tenn also giving ugly proof to Jonathan Swift s observation in 1711 Itiat r we have just enough religion to make us Hale but not enough to make us love one  fall of Jim Bakker from his pal Praise the lord ministry after his confession hat he committed Dullary Wilh Church Secretary Jessica Hahn has unleashed a barrage of allegations confessions lawsuit Sand on camera contretemps thai arc exposing the to evangelicals for what they Are a Bunch of biblical Snake Oil salesmen who arc bleeding Gullible anguished americans of billions of dollars every  unholy War shows that the evangelicals Are the great con men of our Lime pretending that they can cure the lame and the halt dispensing moral codes that the to preachers themselves violate during Myria whims of lust and passion so now the evangelicals Are caught up in the Hel Lish fires of an orgy of charges about which preacher s Linen is dirtier than bakkers the evangelical leaders Are admitting that the ministry is loaded with Ivan Boesky who Are guilty of insider romancing and we plot takeovers of other religious empires that pro Duce great Bottom line results from Pineir fleece the faithful schemes. The magnitude of evangelical Money grubbing is est described in these words from evangelist Jimmy Swaggart i m ashamed i m embarrassed. The gospel of Jesus Christ has never sunk to such a level As it has today. We had a dear brother in Tulsa okla. Oral Robert perched up in a lower telling people that if they did t Send Money thai god was going to kill him then we get this Jim Bakker soap opera being carried out live Down in South Carolina All in the name  note that Bakker had a 500,000-member, $179 Mil lion pal ministry while Swaggart s television ministry is said to be Worth Only s140 million the once notorious Black preacher father divine must be twisting in his grave thinking that when women threw their purses and often their bodies at him it was a Nickel and dime exercise in religious exploitation. We All know that some preachers Are doing from heir pulpits things a lot worse than Boesky Ever did on Wall Street. But there Are no securities and Exchange commissioners no , attorneys who can go after the phony preachers the Way the Law enforcement people have gone after Brocsky and other Stock Market Money  we now clamor for congressional White House and other actions to rein in the evangelicals should government be pushed by the outrage of Mil Lions ofus to Clamp Down on the evangelicals to treat the bakkers and Falwell As just another Bunch of Wall Streel Lijie hustlers who use illegally the con Lilu Lional protections of religious Freedom after prayerful deliberation i say no Freedom of religion must always mean  to be fleeced seduced cuckolded or whatever by preacher of Choice. Only when there is Clear evidence ik3i the to preachers Are violating stale and interstate Laws against fraud or moving toward Jonestown Type massacres should government move in. So let the evangelicals fight publicly Over the spoil of their spoiled profession. This unholy War could t fall upon a More deserving crowd.  Merthi sol oct Mary Mcgrory to Evange Sis crowd ran Confra for news space the nation s no. I scandal the Iran Contr affair seemed to set a Standard for preposterous Ness that could not be duplicated. But the no. 2 contender a holy mess in televised evangelism is Matching the front runner in the Large particulars in what could recalled a miraculous Way. In both cases there is an Dot whose feet of Clay Are showing because he has committed the transgression that is least easily forgiven. Reagan sold arms to the country that americans hate mos Jim Bakker the Ideal husband dallied As we Are All demurely putting it with a 21-year-old Church Secretary. A powerful sense of betrayal is complained of by churched and unchurched As evangelicals Call All who do not contribute to electronic preachers alike. In both cases the quantitative defense was  said inaccurately it turned out that the number of weapons he had sent to the Ayatollah Kho Meini could tit in the Back of one cargo plane Bakker initially said that for heaven s Sake the tryst wit Jessica Hahn lasted Only 15 minutes. Jessica hurried out to have the Shock value of Fawn Hall Oliver North s Blond Secretary the shredder and 1 Ollerer of critical White House arms sales documents and of course a pan Lime Model. Is. Hahn in firs reports seemed to come off the pages of the Scarlet letter a chastened penitent Hesler prynne Piat tag her sins by Drudgery. Ii turns Oul though that she cleaned Church toilets before she "seduced"1 he says Jim Bakker. And a picture of her wearing Stillett heeled Black boots skin tight jeans and one of those Frothy Viper s tangle hairdos bespoke the contemporary single who is still very much in the game. The single most unifying element in the sister scandals of course is Money huge sums of Unac counted for diverted Cash. Leave aside for the moment the disposition of the $129 million that Jim Bak Ker and his wife. Tammy fac. Extracted from their congregation m pal last year address the question of the $ 1 5,000 that Bakker was said to have paid Jessica in a blackmail payment and you have a mystery As deep As where he Contra Money from the arms Sale profits went. Jessica sounding very much like Contra Leader Al Fonso Robelo who claims he saw none of the maybe 140 million cent his Way says she received Only afew dollars of the hush Money that the Savior of souls surreptitiously sent her after a Black hearted fellow preacher Jimmy Swaggart allegedly began to plot to steal his Empire. In the Way of recriminations the churched Haveit at Over the unchurched. To be sure the secretaries of defense and state made sure everyone knew the were against the arms Sale but for invective and Garny Lingo the two Are simply not in it Wilh the Warrin pastors. Oral Roberts is thundering from his prayer who has the menacing look of a Small town sheriff about to draw is threatening to Tell even More about Bakker s Esca Pades and there is a pentecostal charismatic ally of Bakker s who is bleating All Over the Home screen at Jerry Falwell the rubbery faced Shepherd who has inherited the Bakker kingdom of Sinclair Lewis . Mencken where Are you when we need you and there is of course Bakker s lawyer no Manroy Gilman who is in a class by himself. He promises to expose Smellie Linen in Swaggart s hamper than swagman has accused Bakker of. The Lingo of bed Bath and laundry room is in Chris Tian Vogue. When Tammy fac Bakker a remarkable woman whose ability to hold her head up under the weight of false lashes As thick and dark As seaweed can Only be explained by the revelation that she was Stone much of the Lime found Oul Aboul her marital Trou Bles she said a lot of people say Don t air you dirty laundry in Public but my laundry s been cleaned by the lord a contrition watch was instituted in Bot affairs. Bakker beat the president to the sawdust Trail by several months. He said right off the Bat i Mode mistake it was  Reagan look much longer to gel around to the same  citizens strive to assess the political Impact of the two upheavals in Church and stale. Washington says the president Bas put it behind him and Faith Ful pal supporters Are looking Forward to the Day when Bakker will be Back on the Allar divesting them of their life  Rev. Pat Robertson a possible presidential con tender is understandably concerned about the Public perception of his kind As avaricious paranoid grasp ing and mean. He has taken corrective Steps. He has been born again he is not a spokesman explained a television evangelist. He is a broadcaster a commentator. So far the Only casualty in both the sacred and in profane worlds has been Seif righteousness. For thai we can All Praise the lord. I by Cilo