Profit of Doom

An email this morning from a large US book distributor alerted me to a timely new book called Jerusalem Countdown which will be released in the States in the next few days.

"We are on a countdown to crisis. The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty. The battle for Jerusalem has already begun. That war will affect every nation on Earth, including America, and will affect every person on Planet Earth." – So writes the author John Hagee, and sure enough on today’s BBC News there is a story about Iran breaking the international seals on a nuclear facility for “research” purposes.

Slightly perturbed by someone who out-rants me so emphatically, I find the subject-matter of the book too overwhelming to even contemplate. So I happily sidetrack the main issue by asking myself who is “best-selling author” John Hagee and where does he come from? Well, he’s the Pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. This is a modest 5,000-seater of a place of worship and scores one star out of five in the ratings of charitable ministries in the US (five stars being more acceptable). Pastor Hagee also runs a non-profit-making television arm, Global Evangelism Television, which has a 50,000-square-foot multimedia studio broadcasting to 127 television stations and 82 radio stations across America.

It is fair to say that Pastor Hagee’s very high earnings (much higher than Billy Graham) have been questioned in the past. But he has answered his critics saying that as he works "80 hours a week" writing books, singing songs, meeting international dignitaries and answering the call to preach the word of God, "I deserve every dime I'm getting".

As well as the dimes Pastor Hagee gets the pension. Contributions are made to a retirement package for highly paid executives which the IRS calls a "rabbi trust”. The John Hagee Rabbi Trust includes a $2.1 million 7,969-acre ranch outside Brackettville, with five lodges, including a "main lodge" and a gun locker. It also includes a manager's house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and three barns.

Perhaps I should consider Evangelism as a future direction. I could rant from my pulpit, write the odd thought-provoking book, draw a fine remuneration, and retire to my skeet range to avoid the nuclear fallout.