Comedian John Oliver spent the majority of the Sunday episode of his "Last Week Tonight" tackling a topic familiar to Atlanta: the "prosperity gospel," "seed faith" and Creflo Dollar.
Dollar's quest for a $65 million jet was one in a string of examples Oliver cited during a 20-minute segment that upbraided televangelists for what Oliver called false promises of salvation and good health in the exchange for money.
As Oliver explained this thinking, "Wealth is a sign of God’s favor, and donations will result in wealth coming back to you."
(This echoes Dollar's comment in a 2006 New York Times story: "If you sow a seed on a good ground, you can expect a harvest.")
Dollar's campaign — to purchase a Gulfstream G650, which would allow Dollar, his wife Taffi and 16 others to safely share the love of Jesus, a spokesman for his ministry has said — was a "bold request," Oliver said on his show.
Then he played a clip of Dollar's explanation to his congregation: "If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me from dreaming."
But Dollar was just one of several people named — including Kenneth Copeland, who faced allegations that his own ministry plane was used for personal trips, and Robert Tilton, who Oliver began a months-long correspondence with, apparently receiving multiple letters from Tilton asking for money as an "offering" to God.
Locally, Dollar's gospel and plane campaign have been met with both support, including from his church, and skepticism. Politifact called Dollar's need for the jet "ridiculous."
As one College Park resident told the AJC's Mark Davis in July, "People who don't go (to Dollar's church)? They think he has got some nerve. People who go there? Some of them, they don't have a car."
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