Hmmm. I wonder how Farrakhan runs The Nation of Islam, and when that indictment is coming down?
Driscoll and Turner..
Driscollini and Turneretto.
There. Fixed it.
Can I get away with that because i’m Italian American? :)
on a serious note, it’s disgusting what they’ve done. and it’s as old as civilization.
Not all televangelists are corrupt... but the church has its share of hucksters and scam artists whose only interest in preaching the gospel and doing good works is not to honor God and glorify His Name on earth but to line their own pockets.
Which Mark Driscoll appeared to do and being with a RICO lawsuit is a first of the federal anti-racketeering law against a religious organization. People who don’t set an example show us the difference between venality and true faith. The love of God doesn’t give a preacher license to mock God. And whoever mocks God will find his days in this world numbered.
Be careful of your tongue and your deeds, you cannot hide your secrets from your Heavenly Father and what is done in darkness will be made known to men in open daylight. Do not be led into temptation and always live in the fear of Heaven. For your true treasures are not on the earth but are found above and walk in the light and be sure you are as holy as God is holy in all your comings in and comings out so you will be the Child Of God you were born to be.
RICO has been used in Scientology-related cases before—both against the Church of Scientology including specifically Tom Cruise and by the Scientologists against their targets. In both cases I believe it was dismissed.
Mega Church Ping
Not to defend Driscoll but that is exactly the model used by red cross, denominations, and a host of other charities. Their budgets are fungible. That is the bottom line. If they decide 10000 is going to Burundi, then your designated 1000 to Burundi will be said to go there. Their target will then drop to 9000. With your 1000 that will equal their planned 10000. Nothing has changed. If they get 11000 in designated money, then 1000 will be pushed to the next year’s budget for burundi. Apparently, that’s legal.
And it's Federal. Anyone care to list all the Amendments--not to mention provisions of the main document--that this violates?
Yes, they've used it to go after some bad people, but so what? It's also used all over the place, by law enforcement and ambulance-chasing lawyers in private practice, for extortion. Hard cases make bad law.
Not that I support Driscoll, I think he's a dork.
The White House calling the collection Kettle ...black.
So how is this different from what ANY government (local, fed) is doing today with our taxes?
It’s an outright abuse of the RICO law.
Now Rev. Ike was a megachurch pastor that had integrity. He made no secret of the fact that he was using the donations from the poor folks to pay for his extravagant lifestyle. Those Rolls Royces get poor gas mileage.
I am ambivalent on this. One one hand, it is a dangerous precedent for the Government to determine who is a ‘real church’. On the other hand, it would open the door to curb similar behavior in other businesses who claim to be a church like the Mormons.
Ping for Inmans
If the Mars Hill Church is now closed, and yet it still owns millions of dollars of real estate and perhaps other assets, I wonder who controls that and how it will be distributed.