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Mister E. wrote about Paul Crouch’s recent homo crises and wondered why it doesn’t get more press.

I’m not really sure. I have always wondered why the Christian community does not rag on Benny Hinn, the white-suited, faith healer, and expose his pathetically erroneous theology. I am always surprised that there’s not a big, active backlash against Benny Hinn, although some secular news organizations have tried exposing him and he certainly is a questionable figure for many American Christians.

I think the reason that these guys don’t receive that much scrutiny is that the nature of Protestantism is to be very divided and ultimately democratic. There’s no one tradition to appeal to (like in Eastern Orthodoxy) and there’s no organized heirarchy (like the Vatican and the Pope). Protestantism tends to be more subjective and ultimately places a lot of power in the hands of the community itself to decide what it thinks it should be doing. There is such a thing such as orthodoxy (which the vast majority of churches and denominations adhere to), but there’s enough room for diversity that unorthodox theology is tolerated and not very scrutinized.

As for TBN…it’s mostly disgusting. They have good guests on sometimes and a lot of times I hear Paul Crouch say things that do sound orthodox. And he does come off genuine (and I’ve heard he’s very nice in real life), although his wife is a weird freak. He has turned TBN into an empire far greater than anything Falwell, Bakker, or Swaggert could even manage. TBN is enormous, powerful, and well-connected. It does sound like the witness against Crouch has some credibility problems–HOWEVER, Crouch, Hinn, Swaggert, and Co. never do the things in their ministry that could erase doubts about their morally uprights standing. They are careless at best, and frauds at worst.

They contrast greatly with Billy Graham who is a boring speaker, financially modest, and highly accountable–and is the most succesful Christian preacer in the history of the world. If Crouch and Hinn are innocent, I don’t have much sympathy for them anyway because of how recklessly they present themselves with their gaudy, over-the-top, materialistic ministries. Regardless, I think both TBN and Hinn do a lot of damage.

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