By Hon. J.C. Watts I’m proud to call Oklahoma home because my homefolks may just lead the nation in common sense. I give you the following letter to the editor written by Marguerite in Weatherford, Oklahoma, in one of the statewide newspapers. Marguerite noted a story about a U.S. senator who “wants to check out all the ‘big’ televangelists to see if they’re spending donor money correctly. We (the public) donate to whomever we choose and if (the senator) wants to check out anything, it should be congressional spending habits! Our tax dollars are confiscated from us and he wants to make sure we’re getting our money’s worth from free donations? What a crock! Heartland common sense. Kudos to Marguerite. The arrogance of Congress never ceases to amaze me. I’ve yet to see a call for an investigation of Congress when a member of Congress falls, be it financially, morally or otherwise. Not once have I heard of a call for every member of Congress to bring forth their financial statements or campaign statements in response to the actions of one bad apple. I’m a little bit perplexed how Congress is so quick to stick its nose into different places. Televangelists driving expensive cars and living in fabulous homes may seem incompatible to some peoples’ interpretation of the scriptures. But I suspect this is more about Uncle Sam not getting what he perceives is his fair share of the offering plate. This is puzzling for several reasons. These ministries might be misusing parishioners’ tithes or offerings. But while we can all speculate on what is or isn’t going on in the faith world, we don’t need to speculate on what’s happening in financial world. Congress is sticking its nose into speculation of some evangelists’ matters, while everyone in Congress has the facts lying before them regarding the financial shenanigans of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more...

Labels: Congress, J.C. Watts, Oral Roberts

Posted at 11/19/2007 07:58:00 AM