Jim Bakker Is Dead. I’m Not Going to Pretend That Erases What He Did.
Jim Bakker is dead. He was 86 years old. And apparently this is the part where everybody is supposed to lower their voice, rearrange their face into something appropriately solemn, and begin discussing his “complicated legacy.” I am going to pass. Not because death is funny. It isn't. Not because an 86-year-old man's family isn't entitled to grieve. They are. His wife, children, friends, and people who genuinely loved him have every right to mourn him privately and publicly. Human beings are rarely one thing to everyone. But death does not operate a celestial reputation-laundering service. A pulse stopping does not transform a lifetime of documented misconduct into a misunderstood journey. An obituary is not holy water. And I have never understood the peculiar social rule requiring us to suddenly become dishonest about somebody simply because that person is no longer around to enjoy the revision. Jim Bakker died October 5, 2026, after spending decades as one of the most fam...
