From my personal experience with televangelists (and remember I was on the board of directors of one of them for a decade, made trips to Charlotte NC to be on the PTL Club, have had lunch with scores of them, been privy to their conversations and fundraising plans, etc. ad nauseum), if I am wrong I am not far from it.
The image we see of (most of) them is manufactured and edited for public consumption. We only see what they want us to see, hear what they want us to hear, and, unfortunately, believe what we are fed.
They do devour widows’ houses. Most of their fabulous incomes come from the dollars sent to them by widows, the elderly, desperately poor people looking for a way out of their poverty by sending “seed faith” offerings they cannot afford to a wealthy evangelist just to keep him on the air so he can continue to make merchandise of them. The typical evangelist has has absolutely no personal interest in them apart from what drops out of their envelope. He will never call them, visit them, talk to them, return their calls, or acknowledge them in a crowd.
What I see when I watch televangelists is what they want me to see. They call their programs 'ministry' – I call them religious infomercials. The only difference I can see between a television “ministry” and an infomercial for a food processor is one uses scriptures and the other doesn’t. One will send you a processor and the other will send you a ghost written, cheaply published book.
I’m amazed that people fall for scams like this. But they do it lock step and en masse.
So, no, I don’t think I am being unfair to televangelists and religious networks. In fact, believe it or not, I think I am pulling my punches. What I think is that it is they who are being unfair by the false polished image and embellished press releases they hand to the public.
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