The Curious Case of Jim Bakker Part 1 of 2 (BIH)

"The cash must flow.  If you scam them, they will pay."

Can we laugh, mock, and meme a man who deserves hatred too?  

Given that I grew up in Jim's heyday, I know how much of a terrible person he was.  He scammed millions out of boomers and their parents.  People forget the PTL club, Praise the Lord, or Pass the Loot.  I tended to lean toward an anti-religious lifestyle, partly due to these TV preachers.  

Like Hogan, my views about him are complex. 

I remember my boomer parents mocking them, lumping them in with Reagan.  The 80s were the age of religious groups scamming the followers into giving money. Two of the biggest were Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker.   I remember watching that shit during the day and not getting it or liking it.  I was confused about why this woman, Tammy Faye Bakker, would let her makeup run down her face or why she looked like a wax model.  

(Makes me realize there's a subplot about this in License to Kill)

I remember getting Swaggart and Bakker confused with each other.  However, that makes sense.  They both dressed the same and had similar deliveries. The Swag Man worked with Bakker.  The Swag guy and Bakker had a hissy fit, and Bakker booted Swag off his network.  

Swagert probably responded with, "Fine, I didn't want to play ball here anyway.  I'm taking my ball and going home.  Kick rocks."  

The Swag Man would later have his own sexual scandal involving a woman who usually works at night...with high heels... and has a "manager" named Mo Better Have My Money.  He would do that famous "I have sinned" speech with full tears and crying.  Every Gen X person remembers that.  At least he was on brand with evangelicals on TV.   

Side Note:  To keep it all in the Dark Avengers team, Bakker worked with the other big preacher, Pat Robertson.  Bakker left. Danger, Pat Robertson, danger.   Throw in Falwell too to this Dark Avengers team.  

Here's where this shit actually hit the fan.  

He and Tammy Faye (not proven) stole millions of dollars and even paid hush money to SA victims. I remember the sexual scandal.  The Feds started looking into him.  I remember seeing him in handcuffs.  He was convicted of federal charges stemming from mail and wire fraud.  He swindled roughly 160 million dollars in 1980s settings.  He also shunted off a piece of side money for stupid pimp-like items, which seems fitting given Bakker's misdeeds.   

Bakker spent 4-plus years in prison, though he was supposed to serve 45 years.   Given that federal prison is different, how did he fare there?  To not make this too long, he did get out.  

At this point, you can see why Boomers and Gen Xers hate him.  We're going to get into his second life and meme godhood.