Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407130056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Cody Lowe
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The day he was released from a federal prison to a halfway house in Asheville, N.C., I happened to be in that mountain city where the story drew a banner headline on the front page. Elsewhere the story may have made the front pages, but farther down - and most places the story was buried inside the paper.
Bakker got a few seconds on the national newscasts, a passing mention only.
The relative lack of attention to his move to a Salvation Army halfway house was a result of several factors. He's old news now, for one thing. More importantly, he faced tough competition from the scandal du jour, the O.J. Simpson story.
Bakker's saga still has some life in it, though.
In some ways he was vilified in a way that O.J. hasn't been in the press. Of course, O.J. hasn't been found guilty of anything, and he wasn't a ``man of the cloth'' who violated a sacred trust.
It is interesting, nonetheless, that Bakker was seen as a scoundrel of the first magnitude early on even though the crime he was accused of was far less horrible than murder.
Don't get me wrong. I was among those who wanted to see Bakker severely punished. He took advantage of thousands of gullible followers to satisfy his own greed. Though none of the ``contributors'' was forced to send Jim and Tammy Bakker any money, the couple clearly defrauded many who sent in hard-earned dollars - sometimes money the givers really couldn't spare.
On top of that was the insult many of us felt that Bakker cynically twisted Scripture to advance heretical notions of Christianity. Teaching that Christianity promises health, wealth and uninterrupted happiness, Bakker was able to con his followers into providing him with wealth, even if he couldn't be guaranteed health or happiness.
Worse than stealing their money, Bakker undermined the faith of thousands who tried their best to be good Christians but nevertheless got sick, stayed poor, never really felt happy. Who knows how many never returned to any kind of faith?
Still, Bakker's punishment was extreme. An angry, vengeful judge imposed the harshest penalties he could. Initially, Bakker faced longer prison time than most murderers, rapists or child molesters ever get.
Later rulings reasonably reduced the prison sentences. One of the prosecutors of the case last week acknowledged that the reduced sentences were fair, but lamented that the real shortcoming in Bakker's sentencing was its lack of restitution for the victims of the fraud.
Of course, those robbed of their faith can never be repaid, but the others might have been given some of their money back.
Now we'll have to see if Bakker has really changed, as his relatives and friends claim. From prison has come word that Bakker now sees the error of his ``prosperity Gospel'' doctrine. He has apologized repeatedly - including the day he moved to Asheville - to those he wronged.
It will be interesting to see if his new life demonstrates a new understanding of people and God. He has taken a fall such as few of us ever will. He has lost his wife, his money, the esteem of thousands, even, for a while, his freedom.
Now he has an opportunity that most of us will never have, either - to start over.
A basic tenet of Christianity is that God will forgive those who repent and ask for forgiveness. So, that is Bakker's for the asking.
Tougher to obtain will be forgiveness from those of his fellow human beings he wronged. They're likely to demand a little more - some concrete demonstration of a changed life.
We'll see if Bakker can deliver that.
by CNB