Divorce, no matter what the circumstances, is tough. Believe me, I know from experience that it’s no laughing matter.
Unless, that is, the divorcing couple is one of the most prominent and hypocritical fundie pairs in Florida. Welcome to the club, Randy and Paula White, founders and pastors of Tampa’s Without Walls International Church! They announced their pending divorce last night … in church:
“It is the most difficult decision that I have had to make in my entire life,” said the Rev. Randy White, 49. “I take full responsibility for a failed marriage -100 percent. I don’t blame Paula, and I don’t blame other parties. But as the man of the house, I take full responsibility for that.”
He praised his wife, calling her an exceptional woman and a great preacher and wife.
Standing by his side and appearing to fight back tears, the Rev. Paula White called the decision to divorce “one of the most painful of our lives.”
“But God always comes to you in the dark places of life,” White said, standing beside her husband in the pulpit.
White, 41, also offered a note of optimism.
“It’s not the end of the story for Randy or Paula or maybe even Randy and Paula,” she said.
Although they didn’t give a reason for the split, apparently absence may have made the heart grow … um … not fonder:
Word about trouble in the couple’s marriage has circulated for months. The Whites’ disparate ministry paths have fueled much of the concern. Randy White, a bishop at Without Walls International Church, has been spending time in Malibu, Calif., in hopes of establishing a ministry on the West Coast. Paula White, the church’s senior pastor and a sought-after televangelist, keeps an apartment in New York City, where she recently opened a new ministry and self-help center in July.
Normally, I wouldn’t laugh and point even at fundies. But some chickens are coming home to roost, perhaps? The Whites have faced quite a bit of scrutiny over the years for their shady business deals and lavish south Tampa lifestyle (what? Rich evangelists? Say it ain’t so!):
[Paula] White also has been dubbed a prosperity preacher, a proponent of the name-it and claim-it gospel, which purports that people can receive financial, emotional and spiritual blessings if they donate. That message and her penchant for designer clothing and flashy cars have added to the cacophony of criticism.
White drives a Mercedes-Benz and flies around the country in a private jet. She lives in a $2.1-million mansion on Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard and has a Fifth Avenue condo in Trump Tower in New York City.
The ministries took in $39.9-million in 2006, according to an audit of Without Walls and Paula White Ministries released in June by an independent Clearwater accounting firm. About $28.6–million helped promote the church’s programs, conferences and outreach efforts, the audit said. Other expenses covered management and fundraising.
This raises, of course, the age-old question, “What Would Jesus Fly?” To mix religious metaphors, karma’s a bitch, ain’t it? I’m not sure where mansions and private jets are recommended in the Bible, but then again, I’m just a dirty fucking hippie, so what do I know?
What I do know is that congratulations are in order for Randy and Paula White, for today’s Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you! (If I were you, I’d just agree to split the award evenly. It’s much easier that way …)
