I used to watch TBN for
grins when I lived in
Fayetteville, AR. I don't get it where I live now. And although
I am a Christian, I didn't appreciate a lot of the
rhetoric spewed by the
idiots on TBN.
There's
Benny Hinn who claims to heal people
on the spot. Why doesn't he spend more time in
hospitals where people are
dying every day? Surely if he were as
powerful and as
gifted as he claims to be, he could
help some of the people who have
terminal diseases, right?
And have you caught
PTL since
Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker left? I remember my mother watching PTL in the early
80's, and at that time it was actually a pretty
decent show, aside from their incorrect
theology. But the PTL of today is clothed in
ostentation that would make most
rich people
queasy. Everything is
gold. Most of the people are
white with
big hair. They are more often than not
overweight. They play
country-style gospel music...as if THAT is what's going to appeal to the
masses!
Most of the shows on TBN are like PTL in that they have very
expensive furniture and the hosts wear very expensive
clothes. I think they are trying to get across the point that
God has blessed them because they are
faithful. In fact, that's what they
preach. There's a term for it, it's called "
Name it and Claim it." Basically the doctrine is that whatever you
pray to God for, if you're living your life correctly, He will give it to you. Just like that. Sheesh....what
dolts.
I guess these guys never read the book of
Job. Job was a
good man, and he prayed to God, but things just got worse. Is this because God is
evil? No, it's because God is
just. Anyway, that's beside the point. Additionally, the
Apostle Paul prayed that a
thorn (probably some form of
chronic pain) be taken from him. God responded to Paul that God's
grace was sufficient. So quit yer belly achin', Paul.
Also they have a regular
pledge drive which is just insane. They ask you to "
Plant your $1000 seed of Faith" which really means "Hey we need to get some new fancy furniture and some new
fancy clothes and our
bank account is running low but we don't want people to
see that we need money 'cause then they might think that we aren't living a
righteous life." They prey on the
elderly, the
naive, and the
ignorant, and sometimes they make me wonder "
why am I a Christian?". Oh well, they'll get their
just desserts some day.