TONY ALAMO, A MAN OF GOD INDEED?

Screaming,"I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," as he was marched off to jail to await his sentencing, Envangelist Tony Alamo of New Jerusalem Church, will most likely spend the rest of his natural life, an imprisoned sexual pervert who took girls as young as 8 years to bed?

According to his perversion, the age of puberty and not biological age is the determinate factor in girls' maturity; hence once a girl starts seeing her period, she is matured enough in the eyes of "God" for wifely duties, including sex and procreation? And he is a acclaimed man of God?

Tony Alamo, formerly Bernie Lazar Hoffman, was a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar Evangelical New Jerusalem ministry, with a 15-acre compound headquarters at Fouke, Arkansas. His ministry also has operations stretching from Arkansas, to California and New York.

The 74 years old preacher was convicted on all 10-count Federal indictment which accused him of taking underage girls for "wives" and across state lines. He will be sentenced to prison in about eight weeks and could receive up to a total of 175 years in prison for violating the Mann Act, a law originally aimed at stopping women from being sold into sexual slavery and/or prostitution. Each of the ten count also carries a possible fine of $250,000 respectively, which will burn a $2.5 million dollars hole in his pocket?

It took a jury of nine men and three women about 11 hours to hear his case and about one day to reach a verdict. According to Jury foreman Frank Oller of Texarkana, Arkasas, said jurors deliberated more than a day only to ensure they considered everything. The testimony convinced them the 74-year-old evangelist kept the girls as sexual partners, not office workers as his defense team claimed. "That was the evidence. That was proven, we came up with a full decision that we are quite satisfied with."

Tony Alamo preached a brand of Christianity known as apocalyptic Christianity which dwells on end time teachings. He is a charismatic religious leader who controlled every aspect of his religious subjects' lives. No one obtained food, clothing or transportation without his knowledge and approval? His sect were so enamored in him that they only did as he commanded; his wish was their command as no member of church want to draw the anger of their "Papa Tony." Tony exploited this awe to prey on young daughters of his loyal parishioners who believed he is a prophet. Tony Alamo told his followers God instructed him to marry younger and younger girls. According to the victims testimony, Tony Alamo told them, "God commanded them to be his sexual partners"? Icheoku says, really?

Tony founded the New Jerusalem ministry with his wife Susan in the 1960s; and after his wife passed in 1982, he became more firebrand, attacking Catholicism and the Vatican with vengeful fury? His ministry also designed and sold denim jackets for celebrities, including the late Micheal Jackson who wore one of Tony's designer jacket in his "Bad" album? This caused the Federal government to swoop on him and seize his assets for tax evasion, after the court declared his operations as a business and no longer a church.

Icheoku says, as yet another man of God falls from grace, what will humanity not do or preach in the name of God? Sometimes, Icheoku wishes that the days of brimstone from heaven still exists till today? However recourse will be had in that every deceit or crime always has an end and so it is that Tony Alamo's criminal enterprise has ran out of gas and its full shameful course. WWJSD - what would Jesus say of do? It will be recalled that David Koresh of Branch Davidian, Waco Texas similarly once held his followers captive until they died in a Federal raid of his church compound in the eighties?