WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I want to start 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:04.759 today by putting you in a specific headspace. 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:09.099 It's 2 .0 a .m., you can't sleep, you're in a 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:11.560 hotel room, maybe somewhere in the Midwest, and 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.140 the only light in the room is the blue glow of 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.260 the television. You start flipping channels. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.379 I know exactly where you're going with this. 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:21.300 You go past the infomercials for nonstick pans, 00:00:21.620 --> 00:00:24.859 past the reruns of sitcoms from the 90s, and 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.140 then you land on something. Yeah, there's always 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:29.719 something on. There's a guy. He's usually standing 00:00:29.719 --> 00:00:31.820 on a stage that looks like it cost more than 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.140 my house. He's wearing a suit that shines under 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:36.259 the studio lights. He's holding a microphone, 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:38.979 maybe wiping sweat from his forehead. And he 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:41.780 is passionately, intensely asking you for something. 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.399 Usually money. Usually money, often in exchange 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:47.560 for a miracle. The classic American archetype. 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:49.359 It's almost a piece of folklore at this point. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.079 Exactly. We are talking about televangelism. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.640 And I think for most of us, it's a punchline. 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:57.969 It's the caricature of the greedy preacher or, 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:00.210 you know, the Sunday morning channel surfing 00:01:00.210 --> 00:01:02.750 hazard. But when we actually looked at the stack 00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:04.530 of research for this episode, I was honestly 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.109 floored by the sheer scale of this machine. It's 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:10.090 massive. And it's not just about the caricature. 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:12.730 Not really. This is a story about the evolution 00:01:12.730 --> 00:01:16.549 of media technology itself. It is about how religion. 00:01:18.009 --> 00:01:20.409 adapted, or I guess mutated, depending on your 00:01:20.409 --> 00:01:23.290 view, to fit every new screen that entered our 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:26.269 lives. From crackly AM radios to... To global 00:01:26.269 --> 00:01:28.870 satellite empires. It's a huge leap. So that 00:01:28.870 --> 00:01:30.670 is our mission today. We are going to trace this 00:01:30.670 --> 00:01:32.709 lineage. We need to figure out how we got from, 00:01:32.810 --> 00:01:34.709 I don't know, street corners to private jets. 00:01:34.909 --> 00:01:37.230 And we are going to unpack the controversies, 00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:39.549 the theology, the massive financial questions, 00:01:39.609 --> 00:01:41.370 and the investigations that tried to crack the 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:43.209 code of these organizations. And we have to talk 00:01:43.209 --> 00:01:45.230 about the why. Why did this happen here? Why 00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:48.230 is it such a uniquely American export? Because 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:50.930 it really, really is. Right. But before we get 00:01:50.930 --> 00:01:52.989 to the jets and the scandals, let's settle on 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:56.409 the word itself. Televangelism. It sounds so 00:01:56.409 --> 00:01:58.469 natural now, but it's a weird word, isn't it? 00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:00.670 It feels like a corporate buzzword from the 80s. 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:03.209 It does, but it's actually a portmanteau, which 00:02:03.209 --> 00:02:04.989 is a fancy way of saying it's just television 00:02:04.989 --> 00:02:08.169 and evangelism smashed together. But the history 00:02:08.169 --> 00:02:10.939 of the word is surprisingly twisty. You'd assume 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.439 it was a term coined by journalists to mock these 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:15.680 guys, right? That would be my guess. It sounds 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.280 like a critique. Oh, look at that televangelist. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.479 But the first recorded use was actually by the 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:23.939 church itself. In 1958, the Southern Baptist 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:26.699 Convention used it as the title for a television 00:02:26.699 --> 00:02:29.680 miniseries. They were trying to brand this new 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:31.979 method of reaching people. Wait, wait. So the 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:34.039 Baptists invented the term. They coined it themselves. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.460 Effectively, yes. They were proud of it. But 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:39.340 it didn't catch on immediately. It took a while. 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:42.819 It wasn't until around 1981 when two sociologists, 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.759 Jeffrey Haddon and Charles Swan, published a 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.219 book called Primetime Preachers that the term 00:02:48.219 --> 00:02:51.319 televangelist really entered the popular lexicon. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:53.800 Primetime Preachers. That sounds like a heavy 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.539 metal album. It absolutely does. But here is 00:02:56.539 --> 00:02:58.879 the curveball that I think really contradicts 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.219 the stereotype we all have. When you picture 00:03:01.219 --> 00:03:03.699 a televangelist, who do you see? I see a Southern 00:03:03.699 --> 00:03:08.680 guy, probably Baptist or Pentecostal. High energy, 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:10.539 maybe some big hair, depending on the decade. 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.919 Right. That is the image. But Time magazine actually 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:17.080 used the term televangelist way back in 1952. 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:19.960 52. And they weren't talking about a Baptist. 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:22.379 They were describing a Roman Catholic bishop 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:26.360 named Fulton Sheen. No way. A Catholic bishop. 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.740 The full robes and everything. A Catholic bishop 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:30.979 in full regalia. We will get to him later because 00:03:30.979 --> 00:03:33.240 he is a fascinating character. But it just goes 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.240 to show that this phenomenon didn't start in 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:36.719 the way most people think. It's much broader. 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.860 That is a great reminder. We have these mental 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:41.479 shortcuts, but the history is always messier. 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:44.060 Also, the research mentions other terms like 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:47.139 radio evangelism or teleministry. I guess the 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:50.900 umbrella term is just using media to market religion. 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:54.780 Precisely. It is the utilization of mass media 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:57.280 platforms for the marketing of religious messages. 00:03:57.539 --> 00:03:59.719 And I use the word marketing deliberately because 00:03:59.719 --> 00:04:01.680 at a certain point, that's what it becomes. OK, 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.219 let's address the geography. Because I've traveled 00:04:04.219 --> 00:04:06.229 a bit. And while you see religion everywhere, 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:09.909 this specific flavor, the independent broadcaster 00:04:09.909 --> 00:04:13.590 buying airtime to solicit donations, feels deeply 00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:17.529 American. Is that just my bias? It's not bias 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:21.110 at all. It is structural. The roots of televangelism 00:04:21.110 --> 00:04:23.589 are uniquely American because of two very specific 00:04:23.589 --> 00:04:26.810 factors. The first is our media environment. 00:04:27.089 --> 00:04:28.649 You mean the fact that we watch too much TV? 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:31.680 Well, there's that too. But specifically, the 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.779 regulation of TV. In the U .S., the media landscape 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:38.259 has historically been largely deregulated compared 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:40.879 to, say, Europe. Here, airtime is a commodity. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:42.319 If you have the funds, you can buy the slot. 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:44.139 It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:46.379 if you're selling soap, cars, or salvation. The 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:48.220 network just wants the check to clear. Right. 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:51.060 Whereas if I go to the U .K. In the U .K., or 00:04:51.060 --> 00:04:53.519 many other nations, broadcasting was historically 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:56.040 treated as a public service. It was heavily regulated. 00:04:56.459 --> 00:04:58.860 Religious programming existed. But it was usually 00:04:58.860 --> 00:05:01.060 a requirement placed on the broadcasters by the 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:04.139 government. So the BBC might film a nice, quiet 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.759 service at a local parish. Right. It's a documentary 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:09.240 approach. Here's what the church is doing. It's 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:11.980 not an appeal. Exactly. It wasn't a private interest 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:15.040 group buying an hour of prime time to fundraise. 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:17.839 Yeah. That is a crucial distinction. In America, 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:21.259 the pulpit was for sale to the highest bidder. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:23.360 And the second factor. You said there were two. 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:27.170 Demographics. You simply had a massive Christian 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.610 population that was accustomed to giving money 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:33.290 to the church. The tradition of tithing was already 00:05:33.290 --> 00:05:36.149 deeply ingrained. You combine a willingness to 00:05:36.149 --> 00:05:39.189 donate with an open market for airtime, and you 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:41.910 create an industry. It's the perfect storm. Okay, 00:05:41.949 --> 00:05:44.370 so let's get into the time machine, because you 00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:46.230 made a point in the pre -show notes that this 00:05:46.230 --> 00:05:48.069 didn't start with the television. It started 00:05:48.069 --> 00:05:50.329 way before the screen. Oh, absolutely. If you 00:05:50.329 --> 00:05:52.810 want to understand the DNA of televangelism, 00:05:52.850 --> 00:05:55.069 you have to look at the wireless pulpit. We have 00:05:55.069 --> 00:05:58.110 to go back to the 1920s. The radio era. The roaring 00:05:58.110 --> 00:06:01.149 20s. The radio era. And to understand the motivation, 00:06:01.389 --> 00:06:03.709 you have to look at the theology. Christianity 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:06.110 has this built -in imperative called the Great 00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:08.569 Commission. Go ye into all the world and preach 00:06:08.569 --> 00:06:11.129 the gospel to every creature. Exactly. It's a 00:06:11.129 --> 00:06:13.970 command to spread the message. So for 2 ,000 00:06:13.970 --> 00:06:16.350 years, Christians have been early adopters of 00:06:16.350 --> 00:06:19.000 whatever technology helps them do that. The apostles 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.040 used Roman roads and ships. The reformers used 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.860 the printing press. And then in the 20th century, 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.920 you get the vacuum tube. You get radio. I try 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:29.779 to imagine what that must have felt like. For 00:06:29.779 --> 00:06:32.339 a preacher in 1920, speaking to 500 people was 00:06:32.339 --> 00:06:35.500 a huge crowd. Suddenly you turn on this box and 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.660 you can speak to how many? Millions. It was a 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:41.050 paradigm shift. It was as big a leap as the printing 00:06:41.050 --> 00:06:44.209 press was from hand copying manuscripts. Radio 00:06:44.209 --> 00:06:46.629 allowed them to bypass physical barriers. It 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:49.370 was low cost and it could penetrate borders where 00:06:49.370 --> 00:06:51.209 missionaries were literally banned. So who was 00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:53.569 the first? Who was the pioneer of radio preaching? 00:06:53.870 --> 00:06:56.069 There were a few pioneers, but S. Parks Cadman 00:06:56.069 --> 00:06:58.250 is a name you need to know. He started broadcasting 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:01.629 in 1923. 1923. That is right at the birth of 00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:03.389 commercial radio. I mean, the first commercial 00:07:03.389 --> 00:07:06.250 station, KDKA, was only in 1920. So they were 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:07.649 right there at the beginning. They were on the 00:07:07.649 --> 00:07:10.990 ground floor. 1928, he had a weekly Sunday afternoon 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:14.569 broadcast on the NBC radio network. Now, I want 00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:18.790 you to guess the audience size. Hmm. 1928. Radios 00:07:18.790 --> 00:07:21.139 were still kind of a luxury, right? Maybe a couple 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:23.639 hundred thousand. A million if you're being generous. 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:28.180 Five million. Five million people in 1928. Are 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:30.579 you serious? Five million listeners tuning in 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:33.439 every Sunday. That is staggering. If you adjust 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:35.639 for population growth, that's like a Super Bowl 00:07:35.639 --> 00:07:38.620 audience every single week for a sermon. It really 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:40.680 is. And it wasn't just individual preachers. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:43.660 Churches realized this power immediately. In 00:07:43.660 --> 00:07:47.220 that same year, 1923, the Calvary Baptist Church 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:49.899 in New York City became the first church to operate 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:52.529 its own radio station. Not just buy time, but 00:07:52.529 --> 00:07:54.670 own the station, the whole infrastructure. Own 00:07:54.670 --> 00:07:56.649 the infrastructure. Yeah. And talk about staying 00:07:56.649 --> 00:07:58.870 power. They're still around. They still produce 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:01.290 a show called Tell It From Calvary. That is a 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:03.889 century of continuous broadcasting. That is wild. 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:07.069 But radio also gave us the first celebrity preachers, 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:09.069 right? The personalities. Because it's not a 00:08:09.069 --> 00:08:11.170 visual medium, your voice is everything. Absolutely. 00:08:11.209 --> 00:08:13.170 The medium rewards personality. You have to mention 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:15.829 Amy Semple McPherson. Oh, she is a legend. A 00:08:15.829 --> 00:08:18.430 total force of nature. She was. She was a tent 00:08:18.430 --> 00:08:20.470 revivalist, which is exactly what it sounds like. 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:22.620 traveling from town to town, breaching in massive 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:25.319 canvas tents. But she realized that radio could 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:27.800 take that energy and broadcast it nationwide. 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:30.300 She could put the tent revival in your living 00:08:30.300 --> 00:08:32.080 room. She wasn't just reading a sermon, though. 00:08:32.120 --> 00:08:33.820 She was performing. There were sound effects, 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:36.019 characters. She was a pioneer of the format. 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:39.000 She built one of the earliest Pentecostal megachurches 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.440 based on her radio fame. She understood that 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:45.100 to hold an audience on the radio, you had to 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:48.230 be engaging. You had to have drama. She gained 00:08:48.230 --> 00:08:51.149 a nationwide notoriety in the 20s and 30s because 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:53.370 she made faith sound exciting. But there was 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:56.590 a darker side to this early radio era, too. It 00:08:56.590 --> 00:08:59.909 wasn't all revival and hymns. The same tool could 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:02.610 be used for other purposes. No, not at all. We 00:09:02.610 --> 00:09:04.289 have to talk about Father Charles Coughlin. He 00:09:04.289 --> 00:09:06.330 was a Catholic priest in the 1930s. I remember 00:09:06.330 --> 00:09:08.909 this from history class. The radio priest. Yes. 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:11.490 And he started out fairly standard, talking about 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:14.370 scripture, but he moved into very dark political 00:09:14.370 --> 00:09:17.659 territory. He used his massive platform to broadcast 00:09:17.659 --> 00:09:20.840 virulent anti -communist and eventually strongly 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:23.039 anti -Semitic rhetoric. And people listened? 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:25.840 Millions listened. His audience was estimated 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.419 at up to 30 million at its peak. It showed the 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:31.700 danger of the medium. When you have a charismatic 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.960 leader and a microphone and no one to fact check 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.759 you in real time, you can mobilize a massive 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:40.340 amount of hate just as easily as you can mobilize 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:43.899 love. It's a direct, unfiltered line into people's 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.980 homes. Exactly. By 1946, Time magazine estimated 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:51.120 there were 10 million regular listeners for radio 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:53.929 ministers in the U .S. The industry was established. 00:09:54.009 --> 00:09:55.870 And the engagement. I mean, people weren't just 00:09:55.870 --> 00:09:57.730 passively listening while doing the dishes. They 00:09:57.730 --> 00:10:00.149 were writing in. The mail was a huge part of 00:10:00.149 --> 00:10:02.370 this. The mail volume is the key metric here. 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:04.370 This is where we see the business model forming. 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:06.549 It's not just about preaching. It's about building 00:10:06.549 --> 00:10:10.429 a database, a mailing list. A pre -digital CRM. 00:10:10.490 --> 00:10:12.210 That's a great way to put it. Reverend Ralph 00:10:12.210 --> 00:10:14.470 Sockman was getting 4 ,000 letters a week. 4 00:10:14.470 --> 00:10:16.870 ,000 letters. Imagine the logistics of that. 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:20.200 The paper cuts alone. And Archbishop Fulton Sheen, 00:10:20.360 --> 00:10:22.500 who we mentioned earlier, was receiving between 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:26.100 3 ,000 and 6 ,000 letters weekly. Think about 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.679 what that requires. You need a staff. You need 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:31.320 a warehouse. You need a system to open, read, 00:10:31.340 --> 00:10:34.600 and crucially process the donations inside those 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:36.679 envelopes. That is the birth of the direct mail 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:38.720 fundraising machine right there. The whole, send 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:40.679 us a dollar and we'll send you this prayer cloth 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.879 model. It is. And this industrial scale led to 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.120 the formation of the National Religious Broadcasters, 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:50.779 the NRB, in 1944. They realized they needed a 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:53.320 trade association, a lobbying group, to protect 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:55.460 their interests and manage this growing industry. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.460 So radio proves the concept. It proves you can 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:00.559 build a national audience, you can raise millions 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:03.659 through the mail. But then the 1950s roll around. 00:11:03.820 --> 00:11:06.759 The technology shifts. We get the picture. The 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:09.639 shift to the screen. TV had been around experimentally 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:12.039 in the 30s, but the 50s is when it took over 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:13.720 the American living room. It's the new shiny 00:11:13.720 --> 00:11:16.059 thing. And religious broadcasters were right 00:11:16.059 --> 00:11:18.220 there waiting. And we are back to Fulton Sheen. 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:21.320 The bishop. The man time called the first televangelist. 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.960 He successfully made the jump from radio to TV 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.440 in 1951 with his show Life is Worth Living. And 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.820 this is really important. He wasn't on some backwater 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:35.120 station. He was on primetime. He was competing 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.879 with Milton Berle. And winning. Right. I read 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.159 he was a huge star. He won numerous Emmy Awards. 00:11:41.539 --> 00:11:44.820 His show ran until the late 60s. He had this 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:47.620 intense, hypnotic gaze. He would just stand there 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:50.519 in front of a blackboard, no fancy set, and talk. 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:53.039 He'd look right into the camera, and people felt 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:54.820 like he was looking into their soul. He proved 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.059 that religion could be entertainment. Compelling 00:11:57.059 --> 00:11:59.399 television. That was the breakthrough. And then, 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:01.100 of course, the 50s gave us the biggest name of 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:03.340 them all. You can't talk about this subject without 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:06.220 him, Billy Graham. You can't tell this story 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:08.470 without Billy Graham. But what's so interesting 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:11.529 is that he didn't just preach on TV. He understood 00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:14.129 multimedia in a way that was decades ahead of 00:12:14.129 --> 00:12:17.190 his time. In 1951, he founded Worldwide Pictures. 00:12:17.389 --> 00:12:20.690 A movie studio. A real movie studio. Basically. 00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:23.330 He was producing feature films with Christian 00:12:23.330 --> 00:12:26.190 themes to be shown in churches and on TV. He 00:12:26.190 --> 00:12:28.929 was creating content. His televised crusades 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:31.470 from stadiums around the world became must -see 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:34.389 TV events for millions of people. He understood 00:12:34.389 --> 00:12:37.029 spectacle. And at the same time, we see the format 00:12:37.029 --> 00:12:39.590 of the televised church service starting to take 00:12:39.590 --> 00:12:41.570 shape. Not just a sermon, but the whole show. 00:12:41.730 --> 00:12:44.730 Right. Rex Humbard is the key figure there. In 00:12:44.730 --> 00:12:47.490 1952, he became the first to broadcast a weekly 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:51.629 church service. And get this. He literally built 00:12:51.629 --> 00:12:54.070 his church, the Cathedral of Tomorrow in Ohio, 00:12:54.429 --> 00:12:57.450 as a TV studio first and a church second. Wait, 00:12:57.490 --> 00:12:59.409 what do you mean? The seats were arranged in 00:12:59.409 --> 00:13:02.230 a semicircle for the best camera angles. The 00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:04.169 lighting was studio lighting. The pulpit was 00:13:04.169 --> 00:13:07.149 a stage. The people in the pews were, in a way, 00:13:07.149 --> 00:13:09.070 part of the set for the much larger audience 00:13:09.070 --> 00:13:11.610 at home. That is a huge psychological shift. 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:13.789 The people in the room are props for the people 00:13:13.789 --> 00:13:16.230 who aren't there. In a way, yes. And it worked. 00:13:16.409 --> 00:13:20.330 By 1980, Rex Humbard's program was on 695 stations 00:13:20.330 --> 00:13:23.350 in 91 languages. 91 languages. That is the internet 00:13:23.350 --> 00:13:25.570 before the internet. It is global domination 00:13:25.570 --> 00:13:28.809 via satellite. Another pioneer from that era 00:13:28.809 --> 00:13:32.809 was Oral Roberts. By 1957, his broadcast reached 00:13:32.809 --> 00:13:35.690 80 % of the possible TV audience in America. 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:38.970 He perfected the faith -healing format for television. 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:41.669 And then the model evolved again. It wasn't enough 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:44.269 to just buy time on a channel. The real power 00:13:44.269 --> 00:13:48.009 was in owning the channel. Bingo. Enter Pat Robertson. 00:13:48.009 --> 00:13:50.870 Founder of CBN. Pat Robertson founded the Christian 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:55.000 broadcasting network CBN in 1961. This was the 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:56.980 first Christian television network in the United 00:13:56.980 --> 00:14:00.659 States. He bought a defunct UHF station in Virginia 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.440 and built an empire from it. And this is where 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.759 the 700 Club comes from. I feel like that show 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:07.679 has been on forever. It's one of the longest 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.179 running programs in television history. And the 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:12.600 name itself is a fundraising reference. He needed 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.620 700 partners to donate $10 a month to keep the 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:17.299 station on the air in the early days. That's 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:19.799 the mechanic again. The content exists to drive 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:22.220 the donation, which funds the content. It's a 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:25.350 perpetual motion machine. And the reach is staggering. 00:14:25.549 --> 00:14:29.809 As of 2016, CBN was broadcasting in 39 languages 00:14:29.809 --> 00:14:34.029 across 138 countries. This era, the 60s and 70s, 00:14:34.029 --> 00:14:37.049 is when TV fully replaced radio as the primary 00:14:37.049 --> 00:14:39.409 medium. This is the golden age of the names everyone 00:14:39.409 --> 00:14:42.690 knows. Jimmy Swaggart, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, 00:14:42.909 --> 00:14:45.690 Jerry Falwell. The Bakers and the PTL Club. That 00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:47.529 was a whole cultural moment in itself. It was 00:14:47.529 --> 00:14:50.230 a phenomenon. They created a Christian version 00:14:50.230 --> 00:14:53.559 of The Tonight Show. with celebrity guests, music, 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:56.320 and Tammy Faye's very emotional, very famous 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:58.500 makeup. They built a theme park. It's a complete 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:00.600 media ecosystem. And we also have to mention 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.360 the Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN. Founded 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.700 by Paul and Jan Crouch, it's now the world's 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:07.799 largest religious television network. They took 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:09.659 Robertson's model and just scaled it up to an 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:11.879 incredible degree with their own satellite network 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:13.700 covering the globe. So that brings us to the 00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:16.360 modern era, the 21st century. The hair is a little 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:18.639 less big, maybe, but the model seems the same. 00:15:18.740 --> 00:15:21.019 The aesthetic is updated for sure. Now, in the 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:23.179 U .S., we have figures like Joel Osteen at Lakewood 00:15:23.179 --> 00:15:26.399 Church, Joyce Meyer, T .D. Jakes. Joel Osteen 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:28.399 is interesting because he doesn't really do the 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.059 fire and brimstone thing. He's a very motivational 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.299 speaker. It's a much softer sell. That's the 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:35.740 modern evolution. The message has shifted to 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:37.539 be more about positive thinking and personal 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.120 success. But the structure is the megachurch 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:43.419 pastor. They have a massive physical church. 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:47.379 Lakewood is an old basketball arena. But the 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.980 majority of their congregation is watching remotely 00:15:49.980 --> 00:15:53.139 on television or online. Now, before we get into 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:54.940 the heavy controversy, I want to pivot to something 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:57.399 I didn't expect. We think of this as an American 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:00.080 thing, but the Sork material says the fruit of 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.659 this is now global. It is. The roots are American, 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:07.259 but the model has been exported perfectly. The 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:09.360 technology, satellite TV, the Internet made it 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.120 possible to replicate this anywhere. And Nigeria, 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:14.259 for instance, is a massive hub for this now. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.309 Who are the big names there? You have figures 00:16:16.309 --> 00:16:19.330 like Enoch Attaboy and Chris Lyakalom. They are 00:16:19.330 --> 00:16:21.590 superstars. They fill stadiums that make American 00:16:21.590 --> 00:16:24.049 megachurches look like chapels. And they use 00:16:24.049 --> 00:16:26.210 the same satellite and Internet strategies, often 00:16:26.210 --> 00:16:28.870 with even more spectacular claims of miracles 00:16:28.870 --> 00:16:31.100 and healings. And it's not just Protestants, 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:34.480 right? The model works for anyone. No. In Uruguay, 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:36.500 the National Channel 4 has been airing the Catholic 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:40.220 Mass since 1961. So the medium has been adopted 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:43.139 across the board by different denominations and 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.340 in different cultural contexts. OK, we have the 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:48.019 history. We have the reach. We see how it evolved 00:16:48.019 --> 00:16:51.100 from a guy at a microphone to these global media 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:54.340 corporations. Now we have to talk about the money. 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.480 And the theology that drives the money, because 00:16:57.480 --> 00:16:59.679 you can't separate the two in this world. No, 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:01.980 you can't. They are completely intertwined. And 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:04.299 this is where the friction really starts. Let's 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:06.559 talk about the prosperity gospel. I feel like 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.500 I know what it means, but can you define it properly 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:11.039 for us? Sure. The prosperity gospel, sometimes 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.619 called the health and wealth gospel or seed faith, 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:17.000 is a theological belief that faith. positive 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.579 speech, and most importantly, donations to religious 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:23.519 causes will increase one's own material wealth 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:25.920 and physical health. So God wants you to be rich, 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.099 and if you give me $100, God will give you $1 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:31.180 ,000 back. That is the essential pitch. It's 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:33.660 not just that God wants you to be rich, but that 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.259 if you aren't rich or if you are sick, it might 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:39.779 be a sign of a lack of faith or, crucially, a 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:42.980 lack of sowing. Sowing meaning giving money to 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:45.660 the preacher. Exactly. The metaphor is a seed. 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.799 You give a seed offering and God will grow that 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.839 into a financial harvest for you. It turns faith 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:55.420 into a transaction, an investment. And I can 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:58.960 see why critics hate this. It seems so transactional. 00:17:59.019 --> 00:18:02.200 The criticism is fierce. Secular critics obviously 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.880 see it as a scam, a way to prey on the desperate. 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:07.819 But the harshest criticism often comes from other 00:18:07.819 --> 00:18:09.819 Christians. Right, because traditional Christianity 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:12.470 is usually about... You know, blessed are the 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:15.089 poor. It's about humility and suffering. Exactly. 00:18:15.569 --> 00:18:17.789 Critics point to the story of Jesus and the rich 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:20.069 young ruler, where Jesus tells the man to sell 00:18:20.069 --> 00:18:22.029 all his possessions and give the money to the 00:18:22.029 --> 00:18:24.869 poor. The prosperity gospel completely flips 00:18:24.869 --> 00:18:27.250 that on its head. It says acquiring possessions 00:18:27.250 --> 00:18:29.829 is a sign of God's favor. I have a quote here 00:18:29.829 --> 00:18:32.029 from John MacArthur. He is a very prominent, 00:18:32.109 --> 00:18:34.650 very conservative pastor. This is from 2009, 00:18:34.829 --> 00:18:36.829 and he's talking about prosperity preachers. 00:18:36.950 --> 00:18:39.369 Okay, let's hear it. He calls them shameless 00:18:39.369 --> 00:18:44.769 frauds. greedy imposters, charlatans, and enemies 00:18:44.769 --> 00:18:48.029 of everything holy. He is not holding back. Enemies 00:18:48.029 --> 00:18:50.609 of everything holy. That is serious beef. That's 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:53.549 not just a theological disagreement. It is. And 00:18:53.549 --> 00:18:56.190 there are watchdogs like Ole Anthony from the 00:18:56.190 --> 00:18:58.970 Trinity Foundation who spent decades digging 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:02.349 through televangelist trash, literally, to find 00:19:02.349 --> 00:19:04.849 evidence of them faking miracles and living these 00:19:04.849 --> 00:19:07.059 incredibly lavish lifestyles. And that leads 00:19:07.059 --> 00:19:09.240 us to the lifestyle, because if you are preaching 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:11.559 that God wants everyone to be rich, you better 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:13.440 look the part, right? That's the justification. 00:19:13.660 --> 00:19:16.440 That is the justification. They argue that their 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:19.299 wealth is proof that their message works. Look 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:21.900 at my mansion. God bless me. He can bless you, 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.299 too, if you just have enough faith and send in 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.140 a donation. But the opacity of the finances is 00:19:27.140 --> 00:19:29.740 the real issue. We don't actually know how much 00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:32.019 money they have or where it goes. Right. And 00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:34.440 this is a key point about U .S. law. Religious 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:37.660 organizations are tax exempt. But unlike other 00:19:37.660 --> 00:19:40.119 nonprofits like the Red Cross or a university, 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:43.099 churches do not have to file a Form 990 with 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:45.220 the IRS. They don't have to show the public their 00:19:45.220 --> 00:19:47.519 books. So it's a complete black box. It's a total 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.779 black box. There is an organization called the 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:52.000 Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:55.200 the ECFA. It's a voluntary group that churches 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.160 can join to commit to financial transparency. 00:19:57.500 --> 00:20:00.079 So it's sort of good housekeeping seal of approval 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:03.740 for church finances. A great analogy. And do 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:07.690 the big name televangelists join? A 2003 survey 00:20:07.690 --> 00:20:10.750 by the St. Louis Post -Dispatch looked at 17 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:13.470 major televangelists. Only one belonged to the 00:20:13.470 --> 00:20:16.049 ECFA. One out of 17. That tells you everything 00:20:16.049 --> 00:20:18.509 you need to know about their desire for scrutiny. 00:20:18.930 --> 00:20:21.390 They operate as independent fiefdoms. They aren't 00:20:21.390 --> 00:20:23.210 answering to a bishop or a board of elders in 00:20:23.210 --> 00:20:25.109 the traditional sense. They are the top of their 00:20:25.109 --> 00:20:27.589 own pyramid. And this lack of oversight leads 00:20:27.589 --> 00:20:30.779 to the stories we always hear. The gold faucets, 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:34.220 the fleets of car. Private jets. The jets are 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:36.160 always the headline. Always. Jesus didn't have 00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.579 a private jet. And look, they have a defense 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:41.759 for that. They say, I need a jet to travel efficiently, 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.579 to spread the gospel around the world. But when 00:20:44.579 --> 00:20:47.380 you have fleets of rolls races or palatial estates 00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:50.500 listed as parsonages, it becomes very hard to 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:53.299 justify that as a ministry expense. And this 00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:56.400 high -flying lifestyle requires a constant, massive 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.539 influx of cash. That is the trap. High production 00:20:59.539 --> 00:21:03.119 values, satellite time and jet fuel are incredibly 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.720 expensive. So the fundraising has to be relentless 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:07.740 and aggressive. They have to sell the miracle 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.660 water, the prayer shawls, the DVDs. They have 00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:12.859 to keep the donor list churning. This brings 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:14.900 us to the most dramatic attempt to rein this 00:21:14.900 --> 00:21:17.980 in. The Senate probe. The Grassley investigation. 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.900 This is a pivotal moment in the history of televangelism. 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:24.359 Set at stage. It's 2007. It's 2007. Senator Chuck 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:26.970 Grassley. a Republican from Iowa and the ranking 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:29.170 member of the Senate Finance Committee, launches 00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:31.849 an investigation. Now, this is significant because 00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:34.430 Grassley is a conservative. This wasn't a liberal 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:37.309 attack on religion. This was a fiscal conservative 00:21:37.309 --> 00:21:40.670 looking at potential tax abuse. And he targeted 00:21:40.670 --> 00:21:44.970 six specific ministries, the Grassley Six. Yes. 00:21:45.349 --> 00:21:47.809 The list reads like a who's who of the prosperity 00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:50.009 gospel at the time. You had Kenneth and Gloria 00:21:50.009 --> 00:21:53.410 Copeland in Texas. Crayflo and Taffy Dollar in 00:21:53.410 --> 00:21:56.009 Georgia. Crayflo Dollar is quite a name. It is. 00:21:56.170 --> 00:21:59.289 Then there was Benny Hinn, also in Texas. Eddie 00:21:59.289 --> 00:22:02.609 L. Long in Georgia. Joyce and David Meyer in 00:22:02.609 --> 00:22:05.369 Missouri. And Randy and Paula White in Florida. 00:22:05.630 --> 00:22:07.829 These are the heavy hitters, the biggest names 00:22:07.829 --> 00:22:10.450 in the game. They are. And Grassley's questions 00:22:10.450 --> 00:22:12.430 were not about theology. He didn't care what 00:22:12.430 --> 00:22:14.589 they preached. He cared about the assets. He 00:22:14.589 --> 00:22:17.289 had reports of fleets of Rolls Royces, multi 00:22:17.289 --> 00:22:20.130 -million dollar homes, personal use of ministry 00:22:20.130 --> 00:22:22.930 -owned jets, and very questionable credit card 00:22:22.930 --> 00:22:25.160 spending. all funded by tax -exempt donations. 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.740 There was a specific detail about a bathroom 00:22:27.740 --> 00:22:29.519 fixture, wasn't there? That got a lot of press. 00:22:29.859 --> 00:22:31.759 There were reports of a ministry paying for a 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:35.299 $23 ,000 marble commode for a bishop's mansion. 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:39.259 A $23 ,000 toilet. Allegedly. And these are the 00:22:39.259 --> 00:22:40.900 kinds of details that get the public's attention 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.400 and eventually a senator's attention. And Eddie 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:44.900 Long, there was another layer of controversy 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:48.380 there, too, beyond just the finances. Yes. The 00:22:48.380 --> 00:22:52.180 source notes that a 2011 docuseries episode focused 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:55.819 on Bishop Long's alleged sexual misconduct, which 00:22:55.819 --> 00:22:58.420 was a separate and very serious scandal that 00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:00.940 unfolded around the same time. So for some of 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:03.140 these figures, the financial issues were just 00:23:03.140 --> 00:23:05.460 the tip of the iceberg. So Grassley sends these 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:07.599 letters. He demands their financial records. 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.119 What did they do? Did they open the books? Most 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:12.559 of them said no. Flat out. They just said no 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:14.940 to the United States Senate. Effectively. They 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:18.180 hired high -powered lawyers and argued that the 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:20.660 inquiry violated their First Amendment religious 00:23:20.660 --> 00:23:23.740 freedom. They claimed it was government entanglement 00:23:23.740 --> 00:23:25.759 with religion and that the government has no 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.119 right to inspect the internal finances of a church. 00:23:28.339 --> 00:23:31.079 That is a bold strategy. You can't audit us because 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:33.890 we're a church. It was a standoff. To be fair, 00:23:34.049 --> 00:23:36.150 Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn did cooperate to some 00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:38.009 extent, providing some records and making changes 00:23:38.009 --> 00:23:40.289 to their governance. But others, like Kenneth 00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:42.250 Copeland, basically stonewalled the committee 00:23:42.250 --> 00:23:44.609 and were very defiant about it. So how did it 00:23:44.609 --> 00:23:47.150 end? Did people go to jail? Were there massive 00:23:47.150 --> 00:23:51.390 fines? No. The final report was released in January 00:23:51.390 --> 00:23:55.680 2011. And honestly. It was a bit of a dud in 00:23:55.680 --> 00:23:57.539 terms of enforcement. It was more of a summary 00:23:57.539 --> 00:23:59.960 of what they found, which was very little because 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:02.720 most didn't cooperate. Really? After all that, 00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:05.640 all the headlines? Grassley essentially threw 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:08.400 his hands up. He called for further congressional 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:11.400 review of tax exemption laws for religious groups. 00:24:11.579 --> 00:24:14.799 But he realized that legally, the wall of separation 00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.000 between church and state is so high in the U 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.400 .S. that it is incredibly difficult for the IRS 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:22.059 to audit a church. without looking like they 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:24.539 are persecuting religion. So the jets kept flying. 00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:26.839 The jets kept flying. The laws didn't change. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:29.119 That is frustrating. But I guess it highlights 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:31.799 how uniquely protected religious institutions 00:24:31.799 --> 00:24:34.180 are in America, for better or for worse. It is 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:35.940 the double -edged sword of freedom of religion. 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:38.220 It protects the little neighborhood church, but 00:24:38.220 --> 00:24:40.380 it also protects the guy with the $23 ,000 toilet. 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:43.039 Now, money isn't the only place where these guys 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.259 flex their muscles. We have to talk about politics. 00:24:45.539 --> 00:24:47.700 Oh, yes. The intersection of televangelism and 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:50.220 the ballot box is huge and has shaped DeMorgan 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.559 politics for the last 40 years. We've seen this 00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:55.019 for decades. Pat Robertson ran for president. 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:58.599 He did in 1988 and did surprisingly well in the 00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:01.279 early primaries. And Jerry Falwell founded the 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.480 Moral Majority in the late 70s, which was instrumental 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:07.700 in electing Ronald Reagan. These televangelists 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:10.400 became kingmakers. They could mobilize millions 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:13.460 of voters, their donors, their viewers, to support 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:15.779 specific candidates. Usually conservative candidates? 00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:18.920 Historically, yes. The source material also mentions 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.259 John Hagee, who is very active politically, particularly 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:24.700 regarding support for Israel. They can get on 00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:26.700 television and frame a political election in 00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:29.859 stark moral terms. But wait, if they are tax 00:25:29.859 --> 00:25:32.559 -exempt 501c3 organizations, aren't they supposed 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:35.799 to stay out of politics? Technically, yes. There 00:25:35.799 --> 00:25:37.720 is a law called the Johnson Amendment passed 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:40.220 back in 1954. Explain that to me. What does it 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:43.680 do? The Johnson Amendment bans 501c3 organizations, 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.539 which includes all charities and churches, from 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:48.839 explicitly endorsing or opposing candidates for 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:51.359 political office. If you do, you're supposed 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:54.380 to lose your tax -exempt status. But I feel like 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:57.380 I see pastors endorsing candidates all the time 00:25:57.380 --> 00:26:00.140 on TV. They might not say, I endorse so -and 00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:02.309 -so, but... It's pretty obvious. You do. And 00:26:02.309 --> 00:26:04.730 this is the controversy. Critics argue that when 00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:07.950 a televangelist uses donor paid airtime to tell 00:26:07.950 --> 00:26:10.549 people to vote for candidate X or to attack candidate 00:26:10.549 --> 00:26:13.809 Y, they are breaking the law. But they use coded 00:26:13.809 --> 00:26:17.329 language or they endorse a platform rather than 00:26:17.329 --> 00:26:19.589 a person. Has anyone actually lost their tax 00:26:19.589 --> 00:26:23.339 exempt status over this? Almost never. The IRS 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:26.180 is terrified of enforcing it because it inevitably 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:29.059 leads to a massive political fight and accusations 00:26:29.059 --> 00:26:31.839 of targeting religion. So the law exists, but 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.609 it's rarely used. It's a paper tiger. It seems 00:26:34.609 --> 00:26:36.849 like televangelists operate in this special gray 00:26:36.849 --> 00:26:39.630 zone where regular rules, financial transparency, 00:26:39.930 --> 00:26:42.450 political neutrality just don't apply. That is 00:26:42.450 --> 00:26:44.549 a very accurate assessment of the situation. 00:26:44.829 --> 00:26:46.509 Now, we're coming into the final stretch of the 00:26:46.509 --> 00:26:48.289 deep dive, and I want to pivot to something that 00:26:48.289 --> 00:26:49.829 I think will surprise a lot of people. We spent 00:26:49.829 --> 00:26:52.250 most of our time talking about Christians, but 00:26:52.250 --> 00:26:54.210 the source material highlights that this is not 00:26:54.210 --> 00:26:57.009 just a Christian phenomenon anymore. No, the 00:26:57.009 --> 00:27:00.200 medium of television is neutral. The model works 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.539 for anyone with a message and a means to broadcast 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:06.380 it. And we are seeing a significant rise in Islamic 00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:09.440 televangelism. This makes perfect sense if you 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:11.380 think about it. If the goal is to spread the 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:13.460 faith, why wouldn't you use the most powerful 00:27:13.460 --> 00:27:16.619 communication tools available? Exactly. In Islam, 00:27:16.740 --> 00:27:19.440 there is a concept called Dawah. Dawah. How do 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.900 you spell that? D -A -W -A -H. It effectively 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:26.200 means inviting people to Islam. It's the Islamic 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:29.160 equivalent of evangelism. Traditionally, a Dayi 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:31.859 caller might speak in a mosque or a public square. 00:27:32.099 --> 00:27:35.359 But now, they have satellite channels and YouTube. 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.809 Who are the stars of this world? The source lists 00:27:37.809 --> 00:27:39.690 a few key figures. You've got Moez Massoud, who 00:27:39.690 --> 00:27:42.730 is Egyptian, Zakir Naik from India, Amr Khaled, 00:27:42.829 --> 00:27:44.849 another Egyptian. And do they copy the American 00:27:44.849 --> 00:27:47.210 style, the production values, the format? They 00:27:47.210 --> 00:27:49.470 draw clear inspiration from it. Moez Massoud, 00:27:49.509 --> 00:27:51.309 for example, has been described as having a very 00:27:51.309 --> 00:27:53.930 modern, approachable style, not unlike a younger 00:27:53.930 --> 00:27:56.670 Western preacher. But Zakir Naik is perhaps the 00:27:56.670 --> 00:27:59.549 most famous and controversial example. His whole 00:27:59.549 --> 00:28:01.769 thing is massive public debates where he quotes 00:28:01.769 --> 00:28:04.039 scripture from memory. And just like the Christians, 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:06.700 they have their own networks. Yes, Muslim Television 00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:11.539 Ahmadiyya, the Islam Channel, ARYQ TV and Peace 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:14.220 TV, which was founded by Zakir Naik. These are 00:28:14.220 --> 00:28:16.619 major global broadcasters reaching millions of 00:28:16.619 --> 00:28:19.650 homes. You mentioned controversy with Zakir Naik 00:28:19.650 --> 00:28:22.369 and Peace TV. Is it the same kind of stuff? Financial 00:28:22.369 --> 00:28:25.130 questions, private jets? It's financial, but 00:28:25.130 --> 00:28:27.430 it also goes into much deeper political and social 00:28:27.430 --> 00:28:29.769 territory. And what's interesting is that regulators 00:28:29.769 --> 00:28:31.990 in other countries have come down much harder 00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:34.650 on them than U .S. regulators ever have on American 00:28:34.650 --> 00:28:37.549 preachers. For example? In the U .K., the regulator 00:28:37.549 --> 00:28:40.970 Ofcom has censured the Islam Channel and Peace 00:28:40.970 --> 00:28:44.519 TV multiple times. What for? Things like biased 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:46.660 political coverage, sure, but also much darker 00:28:46.660 --> 00:28:49.359 things. The source material mentions broadcasts 00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:52.299 that were homophobic and what Ofcom deemed incitement 00:28:52.299 --> 00:28:54.680 to illegal acts, specifically including justification 00:28:54.680 --> 00:28:58.279 for marital rape and murder. Wow, that is intense. 00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:01.240 That's way beyond a fancy toilet. It is. Peace 00:29:01.240 --> 00:29:03.339 BB is actually banned in India, Bangladesh, and 00:29:03.339 --> 00:29:05.640 Sri Lanka because of government concerns that 00:29:05.640 --> 00:29:07.859 its programming promotes extremism and religious 00:29:07.859 --> 00:29:10.960 intolerance. So while the American televangelists 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:13.559 get investigated for money, these figures are 00:29:13.559 --> 00:29:15.819 getting banned from entire countries for concerns 00:29:15.819 --> 00:29:18.000 about radicalization. Although the financial 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.759 critique is there too. Critics argue that some 00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:23.680 Islamic televangelists are also building personal 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.880 wealth and empires, capitalizing on the devotion 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.079 of their followers. The dynamic of charismatic 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:33.740 leader plus mass media plus donations equals 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:36.660 power and wealth seems to be a universal one. 00:29:36.779 --> 00:29:39.660 It's the medium, isn't it? TV demands a star. 00:29:40.109 --> 00:29:42.569 Stars get power, and that power can be abused 00:29:42.569 --> 00:29:44.670 in different ways depending on the context. It 00:29:44.670 --> 00:29:46.670 creates a structure that rewards performance 00:29:46.670 --> 00:29:49.509 over substance, regardless of the holy book you 00:29:49.509 --> 00:29:51.549 are holding. So let's try to synthesize all of 00:29:51.549 --> 00:29:54.170 this. We've gone from S. Parks Cadman's crackly 00:29:54.170 --> 00:29:58.450 radio mic in 1923 to these 24 -hour global satellite 00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:00.890 networks broadcasting in dozens of languages. 00:30:01.170 --> 00:30:04.069 It's been a century of explosive technology -driven 00:30:04.069 --> 00:30:06.420 growth. On one hand, you have to admit. They 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:08.700 did it. They fulfilled the Great Commission in 00:30:08.700 --> 00:30:10.680 a way the apostles could never have dreamed of. 00:30:10.740 --> 00:30:12.980 They got the message to every corner of the earth. 00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:15.680 Technically, yes. The reach is undeniable. You 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:19.240 can't argue with the numbers. But the cost. The 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:21.619 commercialization, the scandals, the political 00:30:21.619 --> 00:30:24.480 entanglement, the materialism. It feels like 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:27.220 the medium warped the message. That is the core 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:30.259 tension of this entire story. The tool that allows 00:30:30.259 --> 00:30:32.940 you to reach the world also tempts you to sell 00:30:32.940 --> 00:30:35.809 out to the world. The constant need for money 00:30:35.809 --> 00:30:39.210 to feed the machine can end up corrupting the 00:30:39.210 --> 00:30:41.349 mission the machine was built for. I want to 00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:43.450 leave our listeners with one final thought, something 00:30:43.450 --> 00:30:45.369 I found in the notes that really stuck with me. 00:30:45.509 --> 00:30:48.650 This is the echo chamber point. Right. Televangelists 00:30:48.650 --> 00:30:50.869 always claim they are saving souls. We reached 00:30:50.869 --> 00:30:54.710 a billion people, so many new converts. But some 00:30:54.710 --> 00:30:56.829 of the research suggests that religious broadcasting 00:30:56.829 --> 00:30:59.849 is primarily viewed by existing Christians. They 00:30:59.849 --> 00:31:02.559 are preaching to the choir. Or, more accurately, 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:05.240 selling to the choir. Exactly. If you aren't 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:07.119 a believer, you probably aren't watching TBN 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:09.319 at 2 a .m., you're watching Netflix or a sports 00:31:09.319 --> 00:31:11.920 replay. That is the reality of a fragmented media 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:14.059 landscape. So here's the question for you to 00:31:14.059 --> 00:31:17.299 think about. If the medium wins very few new 00:31:17.299 --> 00:31:20.519 converts and is mostly consumed by people who 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:25.210 already believe, then does this massive multi 00:31:25.210 --> 00:31:28.269 -billion dollar financial engine really serve 00:31:28.269 --> 00:31:30.470 the faith or does it just serve the broadcaster? 00:31:30.609 --> 00:31:32.710 That is the multi -million dollar question, isn't 00:31:32.710 --> 00:31:34.950 it? Is it a mission or is it just a very expensive 00:31:34.950 --> 00:31:37.269 subscription service for validation? Something 00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:39.089 to chew on. Thanks for listening to The Deep 00:31:39.089 --> 00:31:39.990 Dive. We'll see you next time.