Nation: Doing It His Way

Texas preacher favors conviction over compassion

For the past six years, Lester Roloff has been waging a battle against the state of Texas. A fiery Bible-quoting, fundamentalist preacher, Roloff, 65, believes devoutly in the separation of church and state, so much so that he has repeatedly refused to allow inspection and licensing of his three child-correction homes in Texas, part of his multimillion-dollar evangelical empire. He has thundered defiance on his daily radio programs, broadcast over 180 stations to his supporters. "They want me to be licensed by a failing infidel system," he...

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