Some news this morning about Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) inquiries about some of America's most controversial televangelists and their spending habits. He set a deadline of December 6th for the ministries to turn over specific documents.
Joyce Meyer states she will fully comply.
Ken Copeland will not. His daughter, Terri Pearsons, effectively compared Grassley to Hitler when she called Grassley's request for documents the equivalent of Kristallnacht. The implication was that Grassley has been possessed by the spirit of the anti-Christ.
No response as yet from the other four ministries although I suspect they'll plead the Fifth.
Kristallnacht. Seriously, she said that. And they claim to support the State of Israel?
Refresher course, people: Hitler was a Roman Catholic. A lapsed Catholic, but one nonetheless. And it was both Catholics and Protestants in Germany who enthusiastically supported the Holocaust during WW II. No one is calling for a Final Solution for TV preachers. We're just asking them to prove that they are actual churches and not businesses disguised as a church in a deliberate attempt to evade taxes. And more important one who associates himself with the Christ cannot be the anti-Christ. Period.
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4 comments:
It is not the business of the ever intrusive federal government to require that churches prove anything. The concept of seperation of church and state was designed to prevent exactly this type of meddlesome, overbearing nonsense. Grassley has lost his mind.
Separation of church and state per the Constitution of the United States means that the government will not establish a national religion, as did England with the Church of England. Separation of church and state does not prohibit the government from pursuing crooks.
If you are a non profit organization, have a non profit number, and submit to authority then I do not understand what the issue is.
Grassley could have had all of the information he wanted through an IRS investigation which Copeland himself requested. The information would have been required to be kept confidential though. This situation has gone on way too long. Copeland is going to fight to the end, and his support continues to grow. Grassley still seems to be grasping at something with some weight, otherwise don't you think he would have already moved on with the subpeonas he has threatened?
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