Religion: Of God and Greed

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Despite Bakker's denials, Falwell also said he has heard taped testimony from "men that have told me of your homosexual advances." He identified one of the witnesses as ex-PTL Staffer Gary Smith. Falwell added that he is concerned about Bakker's "homosexual problems, dating back from 1956 to the present time as they have been alleged to us." On Nightline, Koppel remarked that if Falwell was lying, Bakker could "sue the pants off that man." Bakker responded that it is against his biblical principles to sue, but that the accusations had "no substance." One case involved a supposed "homosexual look," said Bakker, and another a rubdown in a locker room where men were customarily naked.

Sex aside, huge questions loomed about money. Said Falwell: Bakker "needs to return the millions of dollars that have been taken from the coffers of this ministry at the cost of widows and supporters and people who have sacrificially built this Christian ministry." At the press conference, Falwell waved a note that Tammy had jotted on her own stationery. She had given it to a PTL emissary who was sent last month to Palm Springs by Falwell to arrange a severance package. The note's wish list: $300,000 a year for life to Jim; $100,000 a year for life to Tammy; all royalties and rights to their PTL-related books and records; the furnished $400,000 lakeside mansion in South Carolina that PTL had provided for the Bakkers' personal use; two cars; security staffing; payments for attorneys to handle the Bakkers' possible problems with the Internal Revenue Service; a maid and secretary for one year. Falwell thundered, "I see the greed. I see the self-centeredness. I see the avarice that brought them down."

On Nightline, the Bakkers described the list as a starting point for bargaining, but it was apparent that they were not geared for a hardscrabble life. Jim estimated his 1986 salary at $1.1 million, while Tammy professed that she had no idea what she made. (By Falwell's account, Jim got a salary of $1.6 million, and Tammy, $300,000, not counting perks.) Bakker, however, did admit to Koppel that "I think we've made a lot of mistakes, and I'm very sorry about it."

The couple protested that the PTL board had urged the munificent sums upon them, and Koppel did not pursue the nature of Bakker's control over the board. The Washington Post later reported that PTL board minutes, which could prove important in federal investigations, show that members often took no action on important money matters.

To underscore the Bakkers' opulent life-style, the Falwell administration escorted journalists on tours of the couple's private penthouse in PTL's Heritage Grand Hotel. There they examined Tammy's 50-ft. walk-in closet and the gold-plated plumbing fixtures. The lavish expenditures of the Bakkers were pointed up even further at a mammoth May 23 auction of the possessions acquired during the fat years of PTL. The auction served a second purpose, explained by a PTL aide: "Whatever we don't need we are trying to convert to cash."