Problems Encountered by Televangelism

This research examines televangelism and the problems faced by televangelists in the wake of the Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart affairs. Jim Bakker was convicted of financial improprieties and misdealings in the operation of his PTL Ministries. Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, where he may be found today, and his exposure and conviction created financial repercussions for televangelism generally, but not for all televangelists. Jimmy Swaggart was accused of sexual improprieties in 1988. Following an investigation of the allegations, Swaggart was disciplined by the governing body of the Pentecostal movement of which Swaggart Ministries was a part. Swaggart refused to submit to church discipline, and Swaggart Ministries began to operate as an independent Pentecostal entity. In 1991, Swaggart was found liable in a civil trial for fabricating charges of sexual misconduct against another televangelist, and of attempting thereby to destroy that televangelistÆs ministry. Soon after the decision was rendered in this case, Swaggart was charged in California with soliciting the services of a prostitute. Taken together, these latest two events have all but destroyed Swaggart Ministries and have created serious credibility problems for televangelism generally.

Televangelism itself, as well as the problems faced by televangelism and televangelists in the 1990s are perceived by most

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their evangelical, Pentecostal, and Fundamentalist counterparts in the 1920s and 1930s. As the actions and associations of contemporary televangelists taint televangelism, so the actions and associations of their earlier-day counterparts tainted evangelical, Pentecostal, and Fundamentalist religion in the 1920s and 1930s. In the late-nineteenth century, huge ocean liners began delivering tens of thousand of new immigrants to the Northern states from Europe. Unlike earlier migrations from Europe, these latter day immigrants from primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe, which meant that tens of thousands of Roman Catholics and substantial numbers of Jews were entering the Northern states. Substantial segments of the populations of the Northern states became convinced that both the traditional ethnic structure of white American and traditional American values were being threatened by the new immigration. As a consequence, the American Protective Association was formed in 1887. The goals of the organization were to (1) restrict immigration, (2) require fluency in English as a prerequisite for American citizenship, (3) ban Roman Catholic teachers from public schools, and (4) prohibit Roman Catholics from holding public office.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Pentecostal Fundamentalist, Klux Klan, Swaggart Ministries, Jimmy Swaggart, Clarence Darrow, City-Revival Movement, Protective Association, North South, Protestant Bible, Klan Klan, ku klux, ku klux klan, pentecostal fundamentalist, evangelical pentecostal, klux klan, evangelical pentecostal fundamentalist, 1920s 1930s, fundamentalist religion, awakening movement, jimmy swaggart, pentecostal fundamentalist religion, jim bakker, jim bakker jimmy, protestant awakening movement, protestant awakening,
Approximate Word count = 1962
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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