Remember when televangelist Oral Roberts said that a 900-foot Jesus had appeared to him and told him to build the City of Faith medical complex, and that it would be successful (it wasn't, clsoing after eight years)? Remember when Oral Roberts said God had appeared to him and said that that if donors didn't come through for him in a pince, that the Lord was going to kill him? (That did work.)
Well, golly gee Moses, I'm thinking that the 900-foot Jesus is going to be making a comeback pretty soon. Sounds like a pretty shocking scandal brewing at the Oklahoma campus. Excerpt:
Now, his son, Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal.Richard Roberts is accused of illegal involvement in a local political campaign and lavish spending at donors' expense, including numerous home remodeling projects, use of the university jet for his daughter's senior trip to the Bahamas, and a red Mercedes convertible and a Lexus SUV for his wife, Lindsay.
She is accused of dropping tens of thousands of dollars on clothes, awarding nonacademic scholarships to friends of her children and sending scores of text messages on university-issued cell phones to people described in the lawsuit as "underage males."
At a chapel service this week on the 5,300-student campus known for its 60-foot-tall bronze sculpture of praying hands, Roberts said God told him: "We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person whether they have a legitimate case or not. This lawsuit ... is about intimidation, blackmail and extortion."
Wack! Read the PDF version of the actual lawsuit in which these allegations were made. The lawsuit was filed by former ORU employees who claim that they were punished for blowing the whistle on the Robertses' lavish and possibly illegal lifestyle (illegal, in that it would violate the religious institution's tax-exempt status). If these allegations are true -- and it would appear that there is in many cases documentary evidence -- the Robertses come across as Okie Pentecostal version of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. The lawsuit alleges that Richard Roberts had his 2,000 square foot home office -- bigger than Your Working Boy's entire home! -- remodeled at university expense to turn it into a walk-in closet for Lindsay Roberts's extensive wardrobe.
If the 900-foot Jesus comes back to ORU's campus, I don't think He's going to be happy at all...
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
The original story was a laugh, but your post was a belly laugh - thanks!
ORU is the source of a bunch of converts to Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. I can think of a handful of RC and Orthodox priests who were once students there and the local Orthodox churches are full of ORU alums.
What are the implications of Mrs. Roberts calling "underaged males" in the middle of the night on university cell phones? Was she having phone sex? Selling drugs? What is that all about?
All the big names in the religious right are in it for the money and power. This is a guy who commuted weekly to Oklahoma from Florida on a private jet to play golf. (Probably the aforementioned jet he loaned to his daughter.)
He's personally spent enough of God's money on himself to feed a hundred needy people their entire life.
I worked for ORU as a staff member for 5 years. If any of these things are true then I can assure you, the board of regents who also have a strong financial intrest to see the University suceed, will make changes. I do not think it is fair to sit and make fun or ORU as the foundation of the University is good. It employs a lot of Tulsa people, the campus is good, the students who attend do get a good education. Are any of the charges true? Hard to say. Do odd things go on behind the scenes? With all high profile people and the conversations I have had with security staff "Off the record" possibly, but it is rumors. I do know other high profile evangilists kids who have been enrolled at ORU who have got into let's say campus hijinks got a pass. They are kids and human. Things they did are what kids do and just because they are evangilists kids does not mean they are holier than thou. People at ORU were great to work with, they are human, they may accidently let out a curse word, I did myself but know God forgives, if anyone thinks you walk on the campus and everyone is supposed to smile and walk around and hold your hand and say Jesus loves you, then you are a moron. Yes, Oral made mistakes, yes, Richard may have made mistakes, but to sit there and pass judgement on anyone, you need to wait and see what unvails. No one is any better than anyone else.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.