Jim Bakker: Miscarriage of Justice?

Rating:
Summary: Jim Bakker: Miscarriage of Justice
Review: Set aside your current read and delve into this book ! Albert ask the question, was an innocent man sent to jail ? The answer is unequivcally YES ! Jesus was put on the cross for who He was, an innocent man. Joseph (coat of many colors) was accused of sexual assault and spent 11 years behind bars for a crime he never commited and Jim Bakker was tried and condemned before his trial. If there were ever a 21st century "type of Christ" it's Jim Bakker.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ FOR ANONE INTERESTED IN JIM BAKKER
Review: Some think the Miscarriage of Justice should have been called The Indictment of the Prosecution of James Bakker. If you've wanted to know the real truth behind Jim Bakker's trial, (and don't want to pay the fifteen cents a page for more than 4,000 pages of the transcript to decide for yourself) then you should read this book. Law Professor James Albert (with the help of his students) has done an exceptional job, taking the 4,000 pages of trial transcripts, pulling out the important relevant details, and chronologically integrating it with testimony from the Bakkers, PTL partners, prosecuting & defense attorneys, and jurors. Trial testimony and exhibits have also been included, so that you can decide the case for yourself. Jim & Tammy credit God with their rise from an obscure ministry to heading a multibillion dollar ministry known as the PTL network, whose broadcasting power was such , that even presidential candidates sought the endorsement of PTL and its followers. At the height of this success, a scandal arises, the ministry falls, and the whole world starts to turn against Jim & Tammy. Oral and written testimony are given which answers questions the reader would likely have. What were the charges against Jim? Why did the government prosecute him? Was the government willing to subvert justice to gain a conviction at any cost? Were the Judge and Jury fair and unbiased? What was Jim's defense? What happened during and after the trial? What happened to Jim and Tammy's faith in God? Was the conviction deserved, or was it the result of various parties seeking to bring down the ministry at any cost? Were church leaders seeking to gain the multi-million dollar ministry for themselves? Who stayed loyal to Jim in the midst of the trials, and who would turn against him? The ultimate question is whether Jim was a master con-man preying upon the elderly, or a man of God who being human, sinned? After reading this book, you may wonder if the political establishment, had some role in encouraging the prosecution for a conviction, to remove James Bakker, the PTL Ministry and its political power, from the political arena. Unfortunately, this book does not answer that issue. Some trial transcripts can be boring and monotonous. However, James Albert gives a captivating, easy to read book, that intersperses the testimony, with humorous and juicy details such as why the dog house had an air conditioner, or what did the Judge and jury think about Tammy's singing? From the heights of international acclaim, through the fall, the trials, the lonely depths of prison, to Jim's release, the book chronicles relevant testimony and provides additional evidence the jury never got to see, so you can decide for yourself if Jim was guilty as charged, or a "Miscarriage of Justice." This book will be particularly interesting to anyone who likes to read about justice, church & state, political and religious intrigue, sociology, psychology, theology or Faith under attack. It should be required reading from anyone leading a ministry or other non-profit organization as it shows the sometimes hostile attitude that prevails against those whom have different beliefs than the majority. Although the book in my opinion, provides a balanced approach, it should be noted that Mr. Albert did help Jim in his defense before the Appeal and Parole boards. I give the book 4 ½ stars.

Rating:
Summary: Jim Bakker: Miscarriage of Justice
Review: The book manages to be easy and fun to read while also backing up its statements with hard, well-documented facts (including footnotes, no less). A real eye-opener. At the time of the Bakker meltdown, I, like most people, didn't look past Tammy Faye's make-up or the air-conditioned doghouse before I passed judgment. I was a skeptic when I approached the book. Now, I'm convinced Bakker didn't receive a fair trial. I may never have read this book had the author not been a professor here at Drake Law School, but I'm glad I did. I think that if you have any interest in the subject at all -- no matter what your attitude toward televangelists, Jim Bakker, the law, or religion in general -- you should read this book. There's more to this story than the late-night TV jokes we all heard and, unfortunately, believed.

Rating:
Summary: A real eye-opener
Review: The book manages to be easy and fun to read while also backing up its statements with hard, well-documented facts (including footnotes, no less). A real eye-opener. At the time of the Bakker meltdown, I, like most people, didn't look past Tammy Faye's make-up or the air-conditioned doghouse before I passed judgment. I was a skeptic when I approached the book. Now, I'm convinced Bakker didn't receive a fair trial. I may never have read this book had the author not been a professor here at Drake Law School, but I'm glad I did. I think that if you have any interest in the subject at all -- no matter what your attitude toward televangelists, Jim Bakker, the law, or religion in general -- you should read this book. There's more to this story than the late-night TV jokes we all heard and, unfortunately, believed.

Rating:
Summary: PTL/TBN/BAKKER,CROUCH/PARTNERSHIP/FALL/JUSTICE
Review: We thought the book was a very candid account of the facts that lead to the fall of PTL, as well as the changes in his life and the release of Jim Bakker. It seems to bring out many truths not only about the then PTL, but, also the now TBN. With the hinting toward the partnership that Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker had with Paul & Jan Crouch in the beginning, it would seem that one can now have a more indepth understanding of TBN's tactics as well as those of other ministries. However, we did notice that it left out the part about the power struggle that lead to the Bakker's moving to N.C.. It also, seems to shed a very bright light on the actions of TBN as to why they feel worthy enough to judge Christians as to whether they are seasoned and or well established enough to be permitted on the very air waves that the unaware Christians paid for. As Bakker's book states, he himself used such tactics when deciding which guests to have on the PTL show. As we understand it, Bakker also, only wanted those guests whom he felt would bring in the most money. Since finding out about their partnership, it is not hard for us to understand some of the other actions of TBN. The book explained about the fact that he, Jim Bakker, handled his PTL program inapproiately as well as the money. At the same time it lead us to think of TBN / Paul & Jan Crouch. We thought of the fact that the IRS wanted TBN to pay taxes on millions of dollars, yet, TBN claimed to be a non-profit organization. While reading it seemed to us that it was about that time Jan decided to redecorate the sets /studios, Paul decided that it wasn't anyone's business how much money they take in during a praise-a-thon so they decided to not show it any more. We believe that it was also close to this time that they, TBN, decided to use their supposed non-profit money to fund the personal production business for Paul & Jan' son, Matt Crouch. As we understand it, Jim Bakker was sent to prison on fraudulent charges, and the more we discover about TBN and the close partnership with the Bakkers, we wonder if maybe someone else was supposed to or should have gone to jail with Bakker? With all that's happened, we are also, wondering if TBN / Paul & Jan Crouch even paid any taxes on the 60 MILLION DOLLARS THAT PAUL CROUCH /TBN IS SUPPOSED TO PAY AS A SETTLEMENT THROUGH FCC? Once again, we notice a similarity between the PTL / Jim Bakker situation and TBN / Paul Crouch matter. We feel however, that there is one very important point that needs to be made here. Even though Bakker went to prison, as God showed Bakker the error of his ways, Bakker began trying to make amends, God provided him with a miracle. God set Jim free to teach and tell the world what God had done for him. Now the concern we have is for those that were under Bakker's teachings from the past. As Bakker supposedly got caught up in the largeness of the moment and could only see the aspects of the money, the question that one might ask is will someone else have to go to prison before they will see and understand the truth as God would want them to? Prison is a harsh thing to have happen, but, we can imagine that knowing what he knows now, Bakker is thankful for the experience because it has been used to bring him closer to God. Since Paul & Jan were partners with the Bakker's, it seems that they may have learned most of their tactics from the old Bakker. We can only hope that they as well as others will see the error before it's too late and maybe learn at least some of the truths that the new Bakker is now trying to teach. This reminded us of a scripture verse where it speaks of the end and those that stand before Jesus saying,' Lord, Lord, and Jesus has to tell them to depart from HIM because he never knew them'. After all of their supposed hard works for the Lord, to us it seems that they will be turned away because in their hearts they hadn't heard the soft teaching of the almighty Lord. Then, as it is written, it will be too late. One of our favorite scriptures is Matthew 15:10 Sissie & Nette