Founding of Institutions
Hargis founded the Christian Crusade in 1950, an interdenominational movement designed as a "Christian weapon against Communism and its godless allies." In 1964 the IRS alleged that Hargis' involvement in political matters violated the terms of the Internal Revenue Code for religious institutions and withdrew the tax-exempt status of the Christian Crusade. At the time, Hargis had reported that the average contribution to his movement was $4, from a constituency of 250,000 donors, and it was receiving $1 million annually. He was the publisher of the monthly Christian Crusade Newspaper, with a circulation of 55,000, and Weekly Crusade.
He founded the David Livingstone Missionary Foundation, which operated hospitals, orphanages, leprosy villages, medical vans and mission services in South Korea, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Africa. The direct mail entrepreneur Richard Viguerie began his career working for Hargis.
Concerned with the liberalization of abortion laws, in 1971 Hargis organized Americans for Life. That same year, he founded American Christian College in Tulsa, to teach fundamentalist Christian principles and provide an alternative to perceived left-wing and counterculture influences. When asked what was taught there, Hargis said, "anti-communism, anti-socialism, anti-welfare state, anti-Russia, anti-China, a literal interpretation of the Bible and states' rights."
He also started a television show 'Billy James Hargis and his All-American Kids. It was sold to independent television stations. Students from the college performed in the musical group.
Read more about this topic: Billy James Hargis
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