Dave Zweifel: How do rich televangelists get away with it?
Iowa's Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is raising more than a few eyebrows these days by asking some tough questions of a number of TV evangelists.
The senator is concerned about how the money these preachers are raising is being used, considering the fact that it's all tax-free contributions from viewers and others who believe in their message.
Grassley has made it his mission to challenge how institutions, from churches to charitable foundations, are handling the dollars that the government allows them to raise and distribute while being exempt from the tax codes.
Federal law does prohibit religious leaders from collecting "unreasonable compensation."
So how come, the senator has asked, some of these folks are driving Rolls-Royces and flying in private jets?
According to a recent issue of Newsweek, Grassley is investigating the affairs of six well-known televangelists who preach that "God wants his followers to be rich both spiritually and materially." He has sent them detailed requests seeking information about everything from credit card spending to offshore banking accounts.
"It is the same thing I have been trying to accomplish with all of my investigations," he told the magazine, "and that's to make sure that tax laws are complied with."
Besides, he wants to make sure that their followers aren't being "played for suckers."
He's asked Joyce Meyer, a St. Louis televangelist, about her acceptance of personal gifts of money and jewelry. He wants the Revs. Ceflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga., to explain how they've come into possession of two Rolls-Royces.
Others on his list are Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas; Without Walls International Church of Tampa; Eddie Long of Georgia; and Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas. The churches have responded that Grassley is overstepping his bounds and that if there is an issue, it's the IRS that should be involved, not Congress.
The Iowa senator responded that his investigations have everything to do with Congress because it writes the tax laws.
"Is the money that's donated being used for legitimate nonprofit purposes?" he asked.
Newsweek said the televangelists often cite Deuteronomy 8:18, which says, "But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth."
Meanwhile, mainstream Protestant ministers derisively describe the tactics of the TV preachers as "blab it and grab it" and cite the gospel of Matthew: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal."
Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times.
File photo
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is asking tough questions of several TV evangelists.
