Police arrest Georgia megachurch pastor after disturbance at home
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/08/megachurch-pastor-arrested-for-battery/?hpt=hp_t2
By John Murgatroyd and John Blake,
CNN
Deputies in Georgia's Fayette County responded to a call about a domestic disturbance about 1 a.m. Friday. Dollar's daughter said she argued with her father over attending a party, said Investigator Brent Rowan of the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.
The daughter says the argument got physical.
She told the deputies that her father charged her, put his hands around her throat and began to choke her, according to a police report. She said he then slammed her to the ground, punched her and beat her with his shoe.
Dollar's daughter was able to get away and dial 911, Rowan said.
Deputies noticed a scratch on the daughter's neck and arrested Dollar on charges of simple battery, family violence and child cruelty.
Deputies also spoke with another daughter, 19, who corroborated her sister's account of what happened.
Dollar was booked into the Fayette County jail early Friday. A judge set his bail at $5,000 during a morning hearing, and he was released.
Dollar said in a statement released to the media from his attorney, "As a father I love my children and I always have their best interest at heart at all times, and I would never use my hand to ever cause bodily harm to my children. The facts in this case will be handled privately to further protect my children. My family thanks you for your prayers and continued support."
Dollar is a senior pastor of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta, which claims about 30,000 members and has an $18 million sanctuary that resembles a golden-domed spaceship atop a hill.
He built an international religious empire, with broadcasts of his sermons beamed worldwide and speaking engagements in Europe.
A barrel-chested man who favors impeccably tailored pinstripe suits in the pulpit, Dollar preaches the Prosperity Gospel, a message that says God will bless faithful Christians with wealth and debt-free living.
Since he started his ministry in an elementary school cafeteria in 1986, Dollar has earned both praise and criticism.
Supporters say he has preached a message that's financially empowered his parishioners and challenged the idea that Christians should be ashamed to be rich.
Critics call him "Cash-Flow Dollar," a pulpit prima donna who once refused to allow parishioners to touch him. They say his message perverts the Gospel.
Dollar has had brushes with the law before, according to a lengthy 2000 profile in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He was once cited for contempt of court for refusing to give a deposition during the divorce proceedings of boxer Evander Holyfield, who attended his church, according to the AJC.
The AJC profile also said that 100 police officers were admonished for receiving $1,000 apiece from Dollar. Dollar sent the money to honor the officers' community service, but the act was criticized because it came a month after two traffic tickets Dollar received were downgraded to warnings, the profile said.
Discipline, Dignity and the Creflo Dollar Scandal
http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/32809-discipline-dignity-and-the-creflo-dollar-scandal
Did Atlanta megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar physically abuse his 15-year-old daughter last week, or was she just being sassy and disrespectful when she called 911 to ask for police protection?
None of us can make that judgment call. But it disturbs me that so many Christians are eager to rally around Dollar before hearing all sides of the story.
“Ministers in positions
of leadership—as models to the saints—should never use vicious fighting,
hateful language, painful violence or any form of abuse in the home, whether it
is directed toward a spouse or a child.”
By Sunday, Dollar was out on bail and in the pulpit, announcing to a packed house at his World Changers Church International that “all is well in the Dollar household.” He said the whole situation was overblown, and that the mark on his daughter’s neck was a scar from a skin disorder.
“A family conversation with our youngest daughter got emotional. Things escalated from there,” Dollar said, downplaying the incident and insisting that the devil was trying to discredit his ministry.
Because I raised four girls, I want to give the Rev. Dollar the benefit of the doubt. I know teenagers can be disrespectful, and that sometimes parents can lose their cool—especially in a case like this, when Dollar’s daughter was allegedly insisting on attending a party at 1 a.m. (“You will attend that party over my dead body,” is probably what I would have told one of my own daughters if I had been in a similar situation.)
But what disturbs me is the text of the 911 call that came from the Dollar home that night. The daughter told the dispatcher:
“I just got into an altercation with my father. He punched me and threatened to choke me. This is not the first time that this has happened. I feel threatened by being in this house. I don’t know what can be done. But I’m scared. I’m shaking. I don’t know what to do.”
I've listened to the 911 recording. If I got a similar call from any teenager, I would be concerned. This girl was scared. She said she felt threatened. So are we just supposed to dismiss her comments as crafty lies? Did she make all this up just because she wanted to go to a party and her father wouldn't let her?
The courts will have to hear the case—it’s not for us to decide. I agree with the Rev. Dollar’s staunchest defenders that we should pray for him, his wife, Taffi, and the family as they walk though this difficult trial.
But in all the rush to protect a preacher from a tarnished reputation, we should also be willing to hear the cry of a child. Many of us have had family squabbles in our homes, and in some of those heated arguments there may have been screams, threats, hurt feelings and maybe some bruised wrists. But have your children ever called 911 to have you arrested?
The Bible says clearly that a minister should manage his household well, “keeping his children under control with all dignity” (1 Tim. 3:4, NASB). The Greek word for dignity can also mean honor. This doesn't mean children of ministers have to be perfect, or that a minister is disqualified if his kids rebel.
But it does require that ministers in positions of leadership—as models to the saints—should never use vicious fighting, hateful language, painful violence or any form of abuse in the home, whether it is directed toward a spouse or a child.
In his statement to his church on Sunday, Dollar admitted that raising kids can be tough. “Like all of us who are parents, there are times when discipline and training our children can become very intense. I would never approach one of my children to intentionally inflict bodily harm. I love her with all my heart.”
I hope Dollar said those last words directly to his daughter. I also hope that if she called 911 out of spite she will apologize to her dad and to the congregation for the mischief she caused. On the other hand, if she truly felt endangered in her own home, I pray the Rev. Dollar will have the decency to address the problem and step out of ministry to seek healing. No ministry, no matter how big or successful, is worth sacrificing a family.
