The media routinely provides disclaimers claiming that they don't necessarily agree with the content of paid programming; however by allowing massive scams where they get a cut of the loot and refusing to sell advertisements that might interfere with profits, this raises major doubts about the legitimacy of this claim!
The commercial media has, for all practical purposes, abandoned any attempt to provide unbiased media coverage long ago and they've consolidated into six oligarchies that don't provide diversity at all; instead they're all for profit businesses who allow financial interests to decide the vast majority of their programming. This was brazenly demonstrated when they refused to sell Adbusters "uncommercials" even when they were willing to pay the going rate as described in the following excerpt:
Mainstream media has been censoring advertisements that interfere with their profit for decades, including refusing to sell Adbusters Un-commercials but it has only been reported in low profile locations!
Several women's groups joined Adbusters in purchasing four spots on the CBC show, Fashion File, and they attempted to buy airspace on CNN's Style with Elsa Klensch. Both networks refused to run the Adbuster's uncommercial. Adbusters also attempted to buy time on ABC, NBC, and CBS for a spot declaring the day after Thanksgiving, "Buy Nothing Day." None of the major networks would run the ad. Richard Gitter, NBC's vice president of advertising standards and program compliance, says that NBC doesn't air controversial ads. Gitter continued with more candor, "this action was taken in self-interest. It was a spot telling people, in effect, to ignore our advertisers" (Oldenburg).
Complete article
There efforts to buy advertisements for their uncommercials go back close to twenty years, if not longer; however they have done little in the past ten years to push the issue, at least that I can find. The official version of truth, according to the advertisements, and often the content from the mainstream media, is a commodity, or at the minimum it is heavily influenced by financial interests. This goes beyond advertisements telling people to buy nothing, on Black Friday; they air an enormous volume of advertisements that are blatantly false like Colonial Penn life insurance, which doesn't cost much, but if they spend all that money on ads it's clear that they can't afford to pay out much for claims, and requests for charity, that also spend an undisclosed amount to pay for ads, leaving a fraction of the money for the actual charity, and much more.
Perhaps I'm wrong!
Perhaps you can figure out which ads really are providing accurate information that benefits the consumer. If so fell free to find it and let me know about it so I can correct this, but, if so, there has to be some explanation to how they can get the money for the ads without reducing the deal they give the customer, which is hard to believe in for profit industries, or even charities when they buy a large amount of ads or other products or services from for profit industries.
Can TV stations refuse to carry advertising? Apr 13, 2009
Adbusters suing networks for not airing spots 09/15/2004 updated 03/28/2017
Censorship of Advertisers 09/15/2003 This article claims that advertising has been protected by the first amendment; however it fails to mention the ads the media censors including Adbusters which sued the following year, although they had tried to buy ads prior to this article.
On top of that these six oligarchies that control over ninety percent of the media only cover candidates that don't challenge their control of the media; although they provide an enormous amount of coverage for candidates that do a fair job pretending to represent the public making an enormous amount of promises, and occasionally even speaking out against the media; but when they get in office they routinely show their true colors.
Televangelist fraud is incredibly easy to expose, or at least to those capable of a minimum amount of rational thinking; however it's still an enormous business.
Why?
What makes religious people believe this even when many of these lies are so obvious? There's actually an enormous amount of research available on this, although it isn't presented to the vast majority of the public. I explained previously in
Dobson’s Indoctrination Machine that a major part of the reason why many children learn to believe irrational claims is that before they develop critical thinking skills religious educators recommend they be taught or disciplined with authoritarian methods often using corporal punishment. This is often accompanied by emotional appeals, and at a very young age, often before they fully learn to speak English or walk, children learn to believe what they're told and to obey orders without question.
As I explained in
Philip Zimbardo, Lucifer Effect, Stanford Prison Experiment and
Eli Roth Stanley Milgram's Obedience To Authority experiment much more extensive than most people realize the military has been studying how to get obedience for decades, although they have claimed that they were trying to teach people how to avoid replicating the holocaust. The military is simply not in the practice of teaching their recruits to stop and think things through before they blindly accept orders from commanders sending them to war based on lies.
In addition to that, thanks largely due to support for corporal punishment based on their interpretation of the Bible the most religious states often ahve the highest murder rates as well as explained in
Does lack of education increase violent crime? Religion? And blind faith in leaders, including many that routinely betray their followers has also contributed to the fact that poverty, lack of education and income inequality are worse in the states with the strongest religious faith.
If they spend all this money on Mega-Churches without taking care of basic functions of society, like child care, educating the poor or providing social help for dysfunctional families that are in abusive homes it's not surprising that they have more violent crime in the most religious states, and as I'll elaborate more on below it is worse in most of the areas that have the largest concentration of Mega-Churches, often led by televangelists that are involved in one scam after another. These scams are often reported much better on the alternative media than in the traditional commercial media which is making an enormous amount of money selling these televangelists air time; so they have a financial incentive not to report it.
The most religious people are also more likely to blindly follow their leaders when it comes to politics and support of wars, which have been proven to be based on one lie after another. The largest rate of military recruitment is in the rural North West, where there's very little other work or high population; however the largest volume of recruits come from the Southern Bible Belt states, which also have the highest murder rates. And, as people can see from the current Senate Race in Alabama many of them are very reluctant to admit to themselves that their candidate has been implicated in child abuse.
Even after they admitted that there never were any weapons of mass destruction there was much more support for the war among evangelical leaders and followers according to
Most Evangelical Leaders Still Support Iraq War 02/12/2008 And there were reports to indicate that this war, and many others were based on lies from the beginning including Scott Ritter who as this article reminds us,
Pro-War Christians Should Come Clean 12/08/2004, disclosed the lies used to justify the Iraq War. Mohamed El Baradei also exposed these lies before the war began but few if any high profile ministers spoke out against it, either before or after the wear. During the Vietnam war there were much more clergymen including Martin Luther King Jr. and the Berrigan Brothers that came out against the war; however now there are almost none, at least that get any media attention speaking against current conflicts, even though it isn't hard to find research that exposes one lie after another that wars are based on.
These Clergymen claim to be "Pro-life!"
Real "Pro-life" people, especially those also concerned with quality of life, believe in protecting the environment, providing health care, education, child care and oppose wars while holding politicians accountable after they break one promise after another!
The same Evangelical preachers or other Clergymen that support one war after another are often also opposed to environmental protection economic policies that cut funds to social programs, educational opportunities for the poor, fair wages for the working class, diverse media and many more issues that benefit the vast majority of the public. On the rare occasions where clergymen do speak out for the poor they often do so in opposition to their own Church leadership especially in the Catholic Church which has a much more powerful hierarchy. Martin Luther King Jr. was of course one of the exceptions, who was much closer to his own community than any leadership he might have been accountable to and when both the Berrigan Brothers and Óscar Romero spoke out against the Vietnam War of oppression in El Salvador they did so without the support of the Vatican.
Many wonder why so many people vote against their own best interests one time after another; it's often because they're taught from birth to trust their leaders, instead of developing critical thinking skills so they can understand the issues, often very simple one!
Amazingly many of the most famous Televangelists, including Joel Osteen don't even bother doing a good job pretending to help their own communities, as demonstrated when he refused to open his door during Hurricane Harvey until after he was shamed into doing so. When this happened it wasn't the mainstream media that sells him enormous amounts of time on TV that shamed him, at least not initially; it was people at the local level that reported the story on social media. When it went viral the mainstream media finally reported on it; but they were quick to allow Osteen to have equal time to explain his views or much more time. Many of his followers may have accepted whatever explanation he had to offer them.
I can't imagine that anyone familiar with the story of Jesus overturning the tables of the "money changers" in the temple would think that he would have been too happy with modern televangelists if he were around today. But regardless of how happy he would have been my best guess is that most of the depictions of him with white skin that would have been more common in Europe than in the Middle East would have been accurate.
As I said above the most religious states also have the highest murder rates; and a large portion of the biggest Megachurches are also in cities with exceptionally high murder rates, especially in the South; however there are also a lot of them that are in small communities just outside of big cities, often with much lower crime rates. Glancing at some of these Churches indicates that it will show possible evidence of major amounts of economic inequality.
At least three of the five lists of megachurches cited below have over half the the ten biggest churches in cities with above rates of murder often well above and if you count the small communities that serve larger cities nearby it is even more. One of the remaining two only has three out of the top ten in cities with above average but six of the remaining seven are just barely outside of big cities with higher murder rates, although one or two isn't much above average. The fifth one is the longest and will take a closer look since it's alphabetical, but it probably indicates that over half of these megachurches are in areas with high murder rates. Part of the reason for this is presumably that in order to attract large congregations they have to be near big population centers and major cities have higher murder rates; however part of it also that the states with the biggest churches, as I reported in the previous article, are in the most religious states, especially the South that supports corporal punishment more, which also have higher murder rates.
Security has become an enormous expense for many of these Megachurches, often to keep hecklers from exposing the scams that many of these Pastors are involved in or, in some cases, to protect the pastors from their own followers. T.D. Jakes had to get a Restraining order against one of his own parishioners, and Joyce Meyers body guard was charged with murdering his own wife about six years ago. There are also many other stories about less popular preachers either being charged with murder or getting involved in domestic violence problems with their own families. Creflo Dollar was charged with abusing his own daughter and on another incident one of the preachers at his Church was killed. Ironically on at least one occasion a preacher who couldn't keep the peace in her own family used this to make her claim that she was an expert on domestic violence as a former victim. In
"Spare the Child" Philip Greven explains that most evangelical preachers teach their followers to use corporal punishment to control their children and this escalates to more violence later in life. He also cites examples where many preachers have used these tactics on their own children and they often rebelled violently. Most modern preachers don't advocates this publicly anymore, although there are some exceptions including Pat Robertson who has recommended on television that an atheist child be beaten until he respects peoples religion.
This form of teaching is almost certainly a major reason why the most religious states have higher murder rates and most megachurches are in areas with higher murder rates as well.
Preachers don't turn out to be much if any less violent than the rest of society, although they may maintain better images, or at least they used to before the scandals about child sex abuse came out; however the media still gives them better coverage to preserve the impression that they do have higher moral values.
It doesn't take a genius to know that if a community spends millions of dollars on monuments that they only use once a week for purposes of worship and not much else while declining to provide funds for education, child care, and other social programs that it is going to cause problems one way or another.
This isn't something new; the cultures that built what we consider great monuments in the past, like the pyramids, obelisks, Stonehenge, Angkor Wat, the Bayon, the Easter Island statues and many other monuments that are still around today, all went into decline, mostly as a result of corruption and fighting wars instead of performing basic functions that they needed to maintain their culture.
Anyone familiar with alternative media outlets that do a better job reporting the news that the mainstream media refuses to cover already knows that massive portions of our society are already in decline and with all the bickering over tax cuts for the rich we're inevitably going to follow in their foot steps.
10 Largest Megachurches in Texas originally published in 2016 updated November 2017 Six of these megachurches are in cities with murder rates ranging from 7.43 to 13.77 the other four are just outside of these same cities and only one of those four has much more than 100,000 people, two of them have less than 50,000 with congregations of 24 to 28 thousand people clearly drawing from larger cities.
Top 50 Fittest Mega Churches in America 2015 08/15/2015
List of megachurches in the United States
Full List of Megachurches
Newsmax's Top 50 Megachurches in America 11/11/2015
Top 100 Largest Participating Churches in America 2017 Only three of the top ten Churches in this list are in cities with above average murder rates, another six are in communities with small populations near larger cities with above average murder rates and only one is in an small city with below average rates surrounded by other cities below average. The first thirty seven of these have more than 10,000 members and are in cities have average murder rates lower than the ones on the other lists.
Initial count lists seventeen megachurches in cities with above average murder rates, ten of those are close to, if not more than double the average murder rate, and three of them are three to six times the average murder rates; eight of them in small communities with below average murder rates, but they serve a much larger congregation which includes cities nearby with much higher rates; and only three with below average rates that are either farther away from big cities or large enough to be independent of them. These twenty eight Churches are the top ten from four lists after subtracting those listed multiple times.
Counting all the ones from the top ten of these lists including one just below a 10,000 congregation, with a massive television audience, and adding more with a minimum congregation of 10,000 there are a total of one hundred and thirty-four; seventy-five (56%) are in cities with murder rates above average; forty (30%) are below average serving cities with above average murder rates; and nineteen (14%) of them, including the only one with a little less than 10,000 members, are in communities with below average murder rates including some that also serve larger cities which are also below average. This means that 85% of these Megachurces draw resources from cities with above average murder rates, even though 30% are outside these cities. The current percentage is about 85% either in or near cities with above average murder rates; and 15% serving cities with below average murder rates.
Forty-seven (35%) of these megachurches are in cities that have more than double the average murder rates; twenty-two are in cities with triple average murder rates; twelve of them in cities with four times average; six with five times average; College Park Ga. and Birmingham Al. have six times the average; Baltimore has seven times average; and Detroit has eight times average, each with one megachurch.
The states with the top ten murder rates for 2016 have a total of twenty-eight Megachurces; the states with the bottom ten murder rates have only only four; however, the top ten have a higher population; if two states to the bottom ten it is five adjusting for population. The next three states from the bottom don't have any so they could be added to adjust for population as well without changing it.
This will be updated more over the next few week to add all those available with a congregation of less than 10,000. These will be organized according to state, initially. They won't be sorted according to murder rates by city right away it at all. It is also clear that the ten states with the highest murder rates can expect to have much more megachurches than the ten states with the lowest murder rates, even after adjusting for population. Three of them don't have any on any of the lists that I've checked and at least three more only have a handful; all of the ones from the top ten have a large volume when going below the 10,000 member limit. The only four, with over 10,000 members, in the ten states with the lowest murder rates are all in or near cities with above average rates for the state, and three of them are in or near cities with above average rates for the nation as well.
Clearly there is an enormous correlation between higher murder rates and participation in the Megachurches, which are mostly if not entirely Protestant, although other religions have their own problems.
In some of the cases where the smaller Churches are in towns with lower murder rates they have congregations that are as high or much higher than their populations; this also goes for a couple of the small towns just outside of Atlanta, with a rate four times the average, that are just barely above average, including one with a congregation of 15,000 in a town of only 2,000; these two towns clearly draw people from the surrounding communities, including Atlanta. In most cases the high murder rates are almost certainly not in the immediate surroundings of the megachurches, especially those serving wealthy areas, which is probably a lot of them. Even the megachurches in large cities with high murder rates are probably not in the areas with the worst violence, although they may drain funds that could reduce those crimes. It's unlikely to stay quite as bad as this with a larger sampling but this is a large enough correlation to determine that megachurches are serving areas more violent than those served by smaller churches or more secular areas.
It's hard to see how there can be much if any doubt that these megachurches, often with multimillionaire pastors, are drawing funds from the local communities that could be used for services that could help address social problems and dramatically reduce violence. There should also be a serious debate about whether these Churches that are enriching pastors without addressing social problems should be considered charities or get a tax exempt status.
This will be updated over the next few weeks to include more Churches including most if not all that I can find with congregations above 10,000; and I will show the work, so those that want to check it will be free to do so, even if they want to distort it to suit their own views, which is common with statistics. Additional information has also been added
Megalithic Churches correlated with local murder rates which includes a review of the Megachurches in Alabama below the ten thousand mark. These are even more extreme than the national average however it doesn't necessarily reflect statistics in other states, including a few that I glanced at and are clearly not as bad as Alabama, or perhaps the national statistics. In Alabama only nine out of thirty seven of their megachurches are in cities with below average murder rates for the nation, an additional three are in cities with murder rates that are barely below Alabama's rate but above the national rate. Almost half of the Megachurches in Alabama are in cities with three times the national average. Alabama doesn't have any cities with more than 220,000 people, so even many of their rural areas have high murder rates; however if they're this high in the areas with Megachurches in them they must be much lower in other areas, otherwise their statewide averages would be higher.
Average murder rates from 2002-2016 for the nation are about 5.54 per 100,000; they dipped down to 4.5 for a couple years but climbed back to 5.3, so most of the gains have reversed, at least temporarily in the last couple years. Recognizing the causes of violence and reducing them can help resume the steady decline since the early nineties.
Since the traditional media is getting a cut of the loot these Churches are gouging from the public, and the political establishment relies on religious support to get elected, it is highly unlikely that these findings will be reported widely, except perhaps through alternative media that is more concerned with educating the public. However if there is major political or media change this could change too, but it's unlikely without massive grassroots pressure.
Megachurches in cities with above average murder rates:
Houston Texas, population 2.2 million, murder rates above average from 2002-16: 12.91 New Light Christian Church in Houston 13,500; Second Baptist 20,650; Lakewood Church, Joel Osteen 43,500; Windsor Village United Methodist Church 17,000; Sagemont Church 17,700; Fountain of Praise 11,800; Woodlands Church, 18,385, is in an isolated community outside of Houston with about 100,00 people and no available crime rates
Fort Worth Texas, population, 810,000, murder rates above average from 2002-16: 7.72 Kenneth Copeland
Dallas Texas, 1.28 million, above average murder rates from 2002-16: 13.77 The Potter’s House T. D. Jakes 16,100; First Baptist Church Dallas Dallas Robert Jeffress 12,000; Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church 20,000
San Antonio Texas, 1.4 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.43 Community Bible Church 14,000; Cornerstone Church 17,000;
Charlotte North Carolina, 810,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 8.29 Hickory Grove Baptist Church 11,900; University Park Baptist Church 10,000; Elevation Church Charlotte (has another branch in Toronto) 19,000
Durham North Carolina above average murder rate from 2002-16: 11.4, 252,000 people World Overcomers Christian Church 11,700; The Summit Church 10,000
Anderson South Carolina above average murder rate from 2002-16: 11.24 population 27,000 surrounded by very rural areas including Greenville wit another megachurch and a rate of 7.03 and Belton with only 4,300 and average rate of 8.8 NewSpring Church allegedly 28,100 (31,800 weekly) which means almost everyone from town and out of towners to make up the difference; however another source lists the congregation at 23,055 which is still most of the people in town.
Greenville South Carolina above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.03 population 62,250 very rural area Redemption AKA International Pentecostal Holiness Church 14,000
Charleston South Carolina, 130,000 above average murder rate from 2002-16: 10.65
Atlanta Georgia, 456,000, murder rates well above average murder rate from 2002-16: 22.59 First Baptist Church Atlanta Atlanta 11,000
Lithonia Georgia only one murder in fifteen years eight not listed; only about two thousand people average murder rate for those eight: 6.2 just outside Atlanta New Birth Missionary Baptist Bishop Eddie Long estimated congregation of 15,000
Norcross Georgia above average murder rate from 2002-16 (only eleven years recorded): 12.34 Just outside Atlanta with 22.59 average; only about 16,300 people Hopewell Missionary Baptist congregation of 15,000
College Park Georgia, 14,600, murder rates above average murder rate from 2002-16: 31.11 World Changers Church Int. Creflo Dollar 14,000 just outside Atlanta
Gainesville Georgia above average murder rate for the nation but slightly below average for Georgia from 2002-16: 6.05 population 36,000 near Atlanta with a rate of 22.59 Free Chapel 11,500
Jonesboro Georgia 4,600 above average for nation but below average for Georgia murder rate from 2002-16: 5.61 near Atlanta with a rate of 22.59 New Birth South Metropolitan Church 10,000
Louisville Kentucky, 263,000, above average murder rate from 2000-2: 12.37 full data not available but according to,
Louisville homicides in 2017 already outpace last year’s all-time high 04/18/2017 it must be above forty. St. Stephen Church 10,700; Southeast Christian Church in Middletown bordering Louisville 21,800
Lexington-Fayette Kentucky typical murder rates not available but articles indicate it is above average murder rate; population about 310,000 Quest Community Church 10,000
INTERACTIVE | 2017 Lexington homicides 28 murders with a few weeks to go for a rate of about 9
Lexington Police Respond To Increase In Homicide Rate 10/23/2017 count was only 26 at the time of this article claiming that highest two years were 1999 and 2001 indicating average rate is probably above average for the nation but recently has climbed. It is still lower than many other big cities with less than double national average.
Nashville Tennessee, 625,000 above average murder rate from 1999-2011: 12.22 according to
Nashville criminal homicides most in more than a decade 01/04/2017 current rates are as bad if not worse. Mount Zion Baptist Church 18,000; Mount Baptist Church 13,000
Memphis Tennessee, 657,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 20.09 Bellevue Baptist Church 30,000 / 6,800 weekly; New Direction Christian Church 10,950; Memphis Temple of Deliverance 10,000
Fort Lauderdale Florida, 176,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.43 Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale 30,000 / 18,500 weekly;
Jacksonville Florida, 853,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 11.89 Celebration Church congregation about 12,000; First Baptist Church of Jacksonville 28,000; Bethel Baptist Institutional Church 12,000
West Palm Beach Florida, 104,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 10.06
Miami Florida, 430,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 16.67 El Rey Jesús (King Jesus International Ministry) 12,500
Orlando Florida above average murder rate from 2002-16: 12.77 The Orlando Pulse shooting took place in 2016 sending the rate for that year up by about 18 and the average over 15 years by just over 1 population about 262,000 First Baptist Church Orlando 16,000
Oklahoma City Oklahoma, 621,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 10.07
Tulsa Oklahoma, 400,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 13.53 Church on the Move 10,000
Birmingham Alabama, 212,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 32.76 Church of the Highlands 43,600
Grand Rapids Michigan, 194,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 6.35 population about 190,000 Ada Bible Church 12,000 (Ada is an upscale Township within Grand Rapids with 13,000 people)
Detroit Michigan above average murder rate from 2002-16: 42.98 population 680,000 Triumph Church 11,600
Philadelphia Pennsylvania, 1.56 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 21.13 Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia 14,000; Deliverance Evangelistic Church 11,000; Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church Philadelphia 15,000
Albuquerque New Mexico, 557,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 8.48 Calvary of Albuquerque 16,800; Legacy Church 10,100
Las Vegas Nevada, 614,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 8.92
Cincinnati Ohio, 298,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 20.93 Crossroads Church — Cincinnati 22,700
Columbus Ohio above average murder rate from 2002-16: 11.97 population 836,000 World Harvest Church 13,000
Baltimore Maryland, 623,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 40.45 Empowerment Temple 10,000
Landover between
Landover Hills Maryland, 1,800 rate of 3.65 and
Cheverly Maryland, 6,450, rate of 7.21 near Washington DC with rate of 27.07 First Baptist Church of Glenarden 12,000
Trenton New Jersey,84,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 25.95 population 84,000
Richmond Virginia, 218,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 27.64 population 217,800 Faith Landmarks Ministries 10,000
Baton Rouge Louisiana, 229,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 23.67 population 228,900 Family Worship Center Jimmy Swaggart and Donnie Swaggart 15,500
New Orleans Louisiana above average murder rate from 2002-16: 54.02 population 384, This rate does not calculate the years 2005-6 in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina which contributed to a major increase that continued to 2007 which is calculated before dropping back down. according to
Murder Rates in New Orleans, La, 2004–2006 it was 96.6 in 2006 485 more than 2005 69% more than 2006. population dropped significantly as a result of the hurricane. Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist 10,000
Hammond Indiana above average murder rate from 2002-16: 12.7 population 78,300 next to Gary with rates of 56.05 First Baptist Church of Hammond 17,700
Gary Indiana, 78,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 56.05
Indianapolis Indiana above average murder rate from 2002-16: 14.35 population 848,800 Eastern Star Baptist Church 10,000
City data figure for Honolulu Hawaii, 337,000, full crime rates not available but according to
Honolulu Crime Rate Report (Hawaii) there were 16 murders in 2012 and a projected figure of 15 for 2017, which comes to a rate of about 5 which is average for the nation but above average for Hawaii which in the bottom ten and according to
Busy year for HPD homicide investigators as number of killings increases 2010 they had 23 in 2010 and 26 in 2004 which were their highest years, above average for both the nation and Hawaii, implying it're probably above average for both the nation and Hawaii. New Hope Christian Fellowship 14,500
Bakersfield California, 369,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.73 Valley Bible Fellowship congregation 12,000
Los Angeles California, 3.9 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 9.86 Hillsong Church; First African Methodist Episcopal Church Los Angeles 10,000; West Angeles Cathedral 20,000
Sacramento California, 485,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 8.9
Gardena California above average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.78 population 60,000 just outside of Los Angeles with a rate of 9.86 City of Refuge 10,000
San Francisco California above average murder rate from 2002-16: 8.59 population 852,000 Glide Memorial Church 12,600
San Bernardino California, 215,000 above average murder rate from 2002-16: 21.28 The Rock Church and World Outreach Center 14,450
Modesto California, 209,300 above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.01 Calvary Temple Worship Center 11,800
Santa Ana California, 335,000 above average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.95 Templo Calvario Assembly of God 11,000
New York, New York, 8.5 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.81 New York murder rates have been dropping steadily for years and for the past four years it has been the second city out of ten, with more than a million people, to drop below the national average, but over a fifteen year period it's still above average. Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York 20,000; Brooklyn Christian Cultural Center 13,000; Brooklyn Tabernacle 10,000; Hillsong Church 3,000
St. Louis Missouri, 317,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 40.43
Kansas City Missouri, 470,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 22.22
Chicago Illinois, 2.7 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 17.85 New Life Covenant Church Chicago 15,500; Salem Baptist Church 10,100; Living Word Christian Center 18,000; Apostolic Church of God 10,500
Phoenix Arizona, 1.5 million, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 10.79 Calvary Community Church Phoenix 11,400; Dream City Church aka First Assembly of God 21,000
Jackson Mississippi, 171,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 28.4
Washington District of Columbia, 659,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 27.07 Temple of Praise 18,000
Denver Colorado, 664,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 7.89
Little Rock Arkansas, 198,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 21.19
Minneapolis Minnesota, 407,000, above average murder rate from 2002-16: 11.26 Mount Olivet Lutheran Church 13,000 5,900 active
Megachurches in cities with below average murder rates with small population just outside of larger cities with above average murder rates:
Peoria Arizona below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.74 about 167,000 people just outside of Phoenix Arizona with an average of 10.79 Christ's Church of the Valley 27,000
Sunset Hills Missouri below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.39 8,500 people just outside of St. Louis with an average rate of 40.43 FaithChurch.com serves two other Missouri towns near St. Louis with rates unavailable and West Palm Beach with lower rates, also has large television audience. 25,000
Alpharetta Georgia below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.93; 63,000 people just outside Atlanta with an average rate of 22.59 North Point Community Church serving 38,000 people another source has lower estimate of 30,600
Lawrenceville Georgia, 30,000, barely below average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.062 near Atlanta with rates of 22.59 12Stone Church 16,000
Grapevine Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.38 only about 48,000 people just outside Dallas (13.77) and Fort Worth (7.72) Fellowship Church 24,100
Southlake Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.91 50,100 people just outside Dallas (13.77) and Fort Worth (7.72) Gateway Church 28,000;
Flower Mound Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.44 population about 69,000 just outside Dallas (13.77) and Fort Worth (7.72) The Village Church 10,400
Rockwall Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.51 with about 41,800 people near Dallas with a rate of 13.77 Lake Pointe Church almost 12,000
Highland Village Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.92 North of Dallas (13.77) and Fort Worth (7.72) The Village Church 10,200
Tyler Texas slightly below average murder rate from 2002-16: 4.94 population 101,000 relatively close to Dallas with a rate of 13.77 Green Acres Baptist Church 14,000
Carrollton Texas, 128,350, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.48 just outside Dallas with a rate of 13.77 Covenant Church 11,000
Edmond Oklahoma below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.15 only about 88,600 people bordering on Oklahoma City with average rate of 10.07 LifeChurch.TV 20,000
South Barrington Illinois no murders in fifteen years but only about 4,800 people surrounding suburbs only slightly higher but short drive from Chicago with an average rate of 17.85 Willowcreek Community Church serving 22,500 people
Rolling Meadows Illinois below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.56 population 24,300 near Chicago with a rate of 17.85 Harvest Bible Chapel 11,000
Troy Michigan below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.15 with population of 83,000 near Detroit with a rate of 42.98 Kensington Church 15,000
Grandville Michigan, 15,800, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.42 near Grand Rapids with a rate of 6.35 Mars Hill Bible Church 10,000
Southfield Michigan, 31,300 below average murder rate from 2002-16: 3.38 just outside Detroit with a rate of 42.98 Word of Faith International Christian Center 11,000
Raleigh-North-Carolina slightly below average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.03 population 440,000 near Durham with only 251,000 people but a rate of 11.4 Hope Community Church 15,000
Matthews North Carolina below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.11 population about 30,000 just outside of Charlotte with a rate of 8.29 Elevation Church 25,000;
Mount Pleasant South Carolina, 77,800, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.04 just outside of Charleston with a rate of 10.65 Seacoast Church 12,000
Palm Beach Gardens Florida below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.61 with only about 52,000 people only other town with more population is West Palm Beach with about 100,000 people and a rate of 16.06 Christ Fellowship Church congregation about 26,200
Cooper City Florida below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.41 population about 34,000 near Fort Lauderdale with a rate of 7.43 and Miami with a rate of 16.67 Potential Church 11,200
Longwood Florida below average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.29 population 13,900 near Orlando with a rate of 12.77 Northland, A Church Distributed 22,000
Lino Lakes Minnesota below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0 only about 21,000 people with Centerville in the middle with less than three thousand but it's just outside of Minneapolis with a rate of 11.26 Eagle Brook Church 22,480
Hugo, Minnesota murder rates unknown but probably low only 13,000 population near Minneapolis with rates of 11.26 Eagle Brook Church 17,100, presumably the same church with two towns, and two member estimates, listed bordering each other
Manheim Pennsylvania below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.96 with 4,900 people in between Harrisburg with rates of 24.08 and Philadelphia with rates of 21.13 LCBC Church 15,000 congregation
Munster Indiana below average murder rate from 2002-16: .95 only about 23,000 people just outside Hammond with rates of 12.71, Gary with rates of 56.04, and Chicago Ill. with rates of 17.85 Family Christian Center with 15,000 congregation
Conway Arkansas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 3.98 low but rising population going from about 46,000 to about 64,000 near Little Rock with a rate of 21.19 New Life Church 14,000 congregation
Nicholasville Kentucky below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.35 population 29,100 Near Lexington with rough rate of about 5 to 9 rough data Southland Christian Church 12,600
Germantown Tennessee below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.71 population 19,500 just outside of Memphis with a rate of 20.09 Germantown Baptist Church 12,000;
Littleton Colorado below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.94 with about 45,000 near Boulder with a rate of 7.89 Red Rocks Church congregation 12,000
Colorado Springs Colorado, 445,800 barely below average for the nation above average of Colorado murder rate from 2002-16: 5.03 relatively near Denver with a rate of 7.89 New Life Church 12,000
Leawood Kansas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.95 with about 34,000 people bordering Kansas City Missouri with a rate of 22.22 The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection 22,000 / 10,200 weekly
Brandon Mississippi below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.64 about 23,000 people just outside Jackson with rate of 28.4 Pinelake Church 10,000
Sayreville New Jersey below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.24 population 45,260 near Trenton with rates of 25.95 and New York with rates of 5.81 Faith Fellowship Outreach Center 11,100
Fort Washington, Maryland crime rates unknown but probably low with about 23,000 people near Washington DC with rates of about 27.07 Ebenezer AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Church 10,000
West Covina California below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.71 108,000 people just outside of Los Angeles with a rate of 9.86 Faith Community Church 10,000
Diamond Bar California below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.73 56,000 people between Los Angeles with a rate of 9.86 and San Bernardino with a rate of 21.28 Calvary Chapel Golden Springs 12,000
Granite Bay California rates unavailable but probably low, only about 20,000 people just outside of Roseville with rate of 1.1 and Sacramento with rates of 8.9 Bayside Church 16,000 or 11,300 congregation depending on source
Roseville California, 128,600, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.1 near Sacramento with rate of 8.9
Porter Ranch, Los Angeles California wealthy community of 30,000 people probably below average murder rate but figures unavailable Los Angeles rate of 9.83 Shepherd Church 10,500
Riverside California slightly below average murder rate from 2002-16: 4.69 population 3019,000 near San Bernardino with a rate of 21.28 and Los Angeles with a rate of 9.86 Harvest Christian Fellowship 15,000
Megachurches in cities with below average murder rates:
Plano Texas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.55 About 278,000 people just outside Dallas Prestonwood Baptist Church 15,800;
El Paso Texas, 679,000, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.4 Abundant Living Faith Center 12,400
Austin Texas, 913,000, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 3.57 Hyde Park Baptist and the Quarries Church 11,000
Burlington Washington, 8,600 barely below average for nation above average of Washington murder rate from 2002-16: 5.37 near Mont Vernon with 33,10 and rate of 2.37 barely above average for the state Christ the King Community Church 17,000
Lake Forest California murder rates below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.03 with only about 80,000 people modest drive from Los Angeles but surrounded by other small towns Rick Warren ministries Saddleback Church congregation about 24,000
El Cajon California below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.83 only about 103,000 people but nearest large city, San Diego has about same rates Shadow Mountain Community Church about 8,000 congregation plus television audience second only to Osteen's Church
Vista California below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.27 about 98,000 near San Diego with a rate of 3.67 North Coast Church almost 12,000
San Diego California, 1.38 million, below average murder rate from 2002-16: 3.67 The Rock Church congregation 14,000
Irvine California below average murder rate from 2002-16: .98 about 248,500 people surrounded by other small communities modest drive from Los Angeles Mariners Church 13,600
San Jose California below average murder rate from 2002-16: 3.31 just over one million people Jubilee Christian Center 14,000
Williamstown, New Jersey St. Matthews Baptist Church 13,000
Williamstown, New Jersey incomplete data but probably low surrounded by other rural towns also low
Vienna Virginia below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.49 population about 16,400 surrounded by other small towns with low rates but relatively close to Washington DC with rates of 27.07 McLean Bible Church 11,000
Ozark Missouri below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.13 population about 19,000 near Springfield with a rate of 5.33 James River Church 11,270
Springfield Missouri, 165,000, average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.33
Des Moines Iowa, 209,200 below average for nation but above average for Iowa murder rate from 2002-16: 4.32
West Des Moines Iowa below average murder rate from 2002-16: 0.73 with only about 63,000 people just outside of Des Moines with a rate of 4.32 Lutheran Church of Hope congregation 12,000
Henderson Nevada below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.48 population 277,000 just outside of Los Vegas with rates of 8.92 Central Christian Church 21,100
Toronto, 5.7 mullion, murder rates 2012 1.4 Elevation Church & Charlotte 19,000
Springdale Arkansas below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.25 population 76,000 surrounded by other small towns with low populations Cross Church 16,000
Melbourne Florida, 78,000, average murder rate from 2002-16: 5.43
West Melbourne Florida below average murder rate from 2002-16: 2.03 only about 20,000 people Melbourne rates about 5.43 Calvary Chapel Melbourne 10,000
Lafayette Colorado below average murder rate from 2002-16: 1.59 about 27,000 people but near Boulder with 100,000 people and low rates and Denver with almost 600,000 people and moderately above average rates Flatirons Community Church 15,500
The following are a sample of the many scandals surrounding televangelists or megachurches:
Media Fails to Report on Joel Osteen’s Unsavory Choice of Charity 10/24/2017
Prayer leader slain at Creflo Dollar's Ga. church 10/24/2012
Four men cleared of wrongdoing in Joel Osteen church heckling case 06/22/2016
Joel Osteen Impersonator Infiltrates Actual Joel Osteen Event 11/09/2017
Pastor Jeffress: Megachurch's Members Armed, Would Take Down a Shooter 11/06/2017
Security guard who stopped shooter credits God 12/10/2007
TD Jakes Sues Alleged Dangerous Stalker Who Is Ex-Church Member 02/18/2014
Security forces are a way of life for many big churches Dec. 2007 shootings at New Life Church in Colorado Springs
Why Scandals Hit Celebrity Preachers - TIME 09/28/2007 Juanita Bynum; Paula White, and her co-pastor husband Randy; and more
TELEVANGELIST BENNY HINN
Heckled at Airport 'WORLD'S GREATEST SCAMMER' 07/01/2013
The day Pat Robertson's bodyguard pulled a gun on me (part 4) 12/19/2009
Evangelist Benny Hinn's son arrested in Brazil for 'beating up deaf and dumb man during one of his father's events' 02/18/2013
If You’re a Christian, Muslim or Jew - You are Wrong By Cenk Uygur 10/231/2005
Pro-Cruz Pastor Shot by Kyle Andrew Odom an Iraq War Vet Six Times and Lives 12/0/2017
Creflo Dollar and Believing Our Girls By Libby Copeland 06/18/2012
Black Mega Churches: attitudes towards corporal punishment and perceived guilt or innocence 05/18/2015
Pat Robertson: Non-Religious Children Should Be Beaten Until They Respect Christian Beliefs 01/05/2015
Exposing Televangelists and Thousands of christian Leaders 07/17/2014
The Worst Televangelist Product Scams Of All Time 07/25/2012
Former Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook sentenced to seven years in drunk-driving death of cyclist 10/27/2015
Inside Justin Bieber's Hillsong Church: Child abuse cover-up claims, rinsing its followers for money and facing 'cult' accusations 06/27/2017
Brutal Memes Mock Joel Osteen Over His Hurricane Harvey Response 09/01/2017
The following are the net worth of some of the richest and most famous pastors or televangelists, that often use their fame to influence politics, despite being involved in enormous amounts of fraud:
8 Richest Pastors in America
These pastors inspire millions—and make millions. 12/0/2017 Kenneth Copeland: Net Worth $760 Million Fort Worth, TX; Pat Robertson: Net Worth $100 Million Virginia Beach, VA.; Benny Hinn: Net Worth $42 Million; Joel Osteen: Net Worth $40 Million Houston Tx.; Creflo Dollar: Net Worth $27 Million College Park, GA; Billy Graham: Net Worth $25 Million Billy Graham Evangelistic Association now run by Franklin Graham III his son in Charlotte, North Carolina; Rick Warren: Net Worth $25 Million Lake Forest, CA; Joyce Meyer: Net Worth $8 Million
Top 10 Richest Pastors In The World And Their Net Worth 09/08/2015 half of them abroad some unreliable
T. D. Jakes Net Worth: $18 million Dallas Texas
Paula White Net Worth 2017, Age, Height, Weight - Wealtholino
Paula White net worth: $5 Million
Jimmy Swaggart Net Worth: $1.7 million 09/28/2017 Entire familiy is part of ministry each of them with high incomes Baton Rouge La.
Ministry Makes $150 Million a Year : Rich Life Style Reflects Swaggart Empire's Wealth 03/14/1988
Oral Roberts Net Worth: $8 Million Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jerry Falwell Net Worth: $10 million Liberty University Lynchburg, Virginia
Juanita Bynum Net Worth: $10 Million
15 American Pastors worth Millions, Who’s The Wealthiest? 12/0/2017 15. Minister Louis Farrakhan Net Worth: $3 million; 14. Bishop Noel Jones Net Worth: $5 million Los Angeles; 13. Bishop Eddie Long Net Worth: $5 million Near Atlanta in Lithonia ,GA.; 11. Rev. John Hagee Net Worth: $5 million San Antonio; the rest listed elsewhere
Suze Orman Net Worth: $35 million 06/12/2017
14 Reasons to Not Listen to Suze Orman 07/07/2014
The following are a fraction of the major crimes committed by preachers their families or in their churches, most of them are only reported briefly at the local level and more may be added:
John Bernard Feit a Former priest on trial for murder of South Texas beauty queen in 1960 12/01/2017
Ex-Minister Arrested in Murder Try : Crime: He is taken into custody at a Los Angeles church after being indicted in Texas on charges of attempting to kill his wife in 1987. She has been comatose since. 08/26/1992
Former pastor arrested in Cochise for murder of Florida woman 05/14/2015
Ronnie Leon Hyde Former Youth Pastor Arrested in Florida Teen's 1994 Cold Case Murder and Dismemberment 03/10/2017
Preacher Arrested in Alleged Murder Plot 11/30/2006 FRESNO, Calif. -- Even in 2004, when the Rev. Howard Douglas Porter eulogized a friend killed in a car crash in which Porter was driving, the victim's friends and relatives were suspicious. They feared Porter deliberately planned the crash to get his hands on the multimillion-dollar trust fund of Frank Craig, an 85-year-old farmer.
Preacher killed wife, stuffed body in freezer, police say 07/31/2008 Anthony Hopkins, 37, was arrested Monday night at the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Jackson, Alabama
Baptist Preacher Arrested For Wife's Murder 01/05/2014 Richard Shahan, of Homewood, Ala., was arrested on New Year's day
Preacher Arrested for Murdering Wife 09/21/2007
Youth pastor arrested for allegedly murdering family on Thanksgiving 11/24/2017
Reverend Amos Hicks, Moss Point Pastor Held In Capital Murder Case 12/01/2004
Reverend Amos Hicks v. State of Mississippi pleaded guilty after killing his wife Lena in 2006
Slain Houston Tx. priest's son, Isaac Tiharihondi, arrested in Mississippi, charged with murder 02/04/2015
Edgar Ray Killen, Preacher charged with 'Mississippi Burning' murders 01/08/2005
Tennessee preacher's wife gets 2 months in killing 06/08/2017 A Tennessee woman, Mary Winkler, convicted of killing her preacher-husband who she said beat her, forced her to watch pornography and wear “slutty” clothes was ordered to spend two months in a mental facility on Friday.
Eddie Mallonee, a Tennessee Preacher, accused of trying to kill wife with banned poison 07/17/2013
A grieving son finds no justice on Rev. Maury Davis' path to redemption 06/18/2009
Defendant's ex-girlfriend: Pastor murdered after prostitution deal 08/24/2016
The Latest: Church shooting suspect charged with murder 09/24/017
Court sides with Sheri Coleman family in lawsuit against ministry 08/14/2014
Joyce Meyer testifies in secret for Coleman murder trial 04/07/2011
