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posted by: fractalmom (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (10:10 am)

ah sheesh Dave!! you've bounced me right outta my comfy little bubble. now i have to go read the dang article LOL

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (10:24 am)

Reply to: fractalmom
I was surprised to find the article, in entirity, in their online edition since it is a feature article. It deals with a version of the faith you may or may not be familiar with- Pentecostalism. They are strong in this part of the country. I generally take a live-&-let-live approach to all the different flavors of the church. These guys can be a bit strange, but I'm sure someone says the same about how I practice my Christianity. Happy reading!

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posted by: fractalmom (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (10:33 am)

how weird. the article WAS funny though. but one thing really struck me.

"Even if you're a degenerate Rolling Stone reporter inwardly chuckling and busting on the whole scene — even if you're intellectually enraged by the ignorance and arrogant prejudice flowing from the mouth of a terminal-ambition case like Phil Fortenberry — outwardly you're swaying to the gospel and singing and praising and acting the part, and those outward ministrations assume a kind of sincerity in themselves. And at the same time, that "inner you" begins to get tired of the whole spectacle and sometimes forgets to protest — in my case checking out into baseball reveries and other daydreams while the outer me did the "work" of singing and praising. At any given moment, which one is the real you?"

How much like a cult does that seem. Nodding. I know, I know.

and I am not against fundamentalism, or pentacostalism....but dang. I have been in a few Christian churches and some of the mega churches do seem a bit like a cult. Scarey.

and the worst part is, that passage in Scripture which reads...

Beware false prophets...keeps springing to mind.

His article may be tongue in cheek, or just in bad taste, but there are, unfortunately, elements of truth in it. It is easy for one heck of a lot of people to fall into acceptance of a powerful, charismatic preacher. And really, who are they believing in? God? Jesus? or the charismatic preacher.

Makes ya wonder....

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posted by: OldSchool (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (10:34 am)

I will look forward to your conclusion in part 2.

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (10:37 am)

Reply to: OldSchool
I've a bad habit around her of promising a Part II and never delivering. This one I'll take care of.

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posted by: timm17 (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (11:15 am)

Hey Pastor Dave: I just finished reading your article and your mentioning of Cornerstone turned "Messiah" John Hagee. This "pastor" with a supposed following of over 4 million followers and I would really dispute that number, has always found that melding politics with the word of God would appear to make what his topics in his sermons are about seem more authentic and "factual". Of course this is intentionally done to draw in a bigger "fan" base to enlargen also his base.

When I see these television evangelists associate their interpretation of Gods' word with their ideas of what is the truth then I must wonder whether or not this person has a personal agenda and Mr.Hagee certainly does. When it comes to showing graphs and lines of statistics displaying for all to see that he must be telling the truth to support his ministry than his motives must be truly called into question. Take care Pastor Dave and I look eagerly toward Part-2 of your article. Adios for now!


Timm17

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posted by: intricategirl (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (1:25 pm)

Slightly off-topic and as a warning- Forgetting Sarah Marshall has a whole lot of full-frontal nekkid male. Just so you know.

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (1:45 pm)

Reply to: intricategirl
Yeah? I'm not sure I want to pay good money to see that. You did?

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posted by: intricategirl (reply)
post date: 04.24.08 (2:22 pm)

I did not see the movie. I heard about it last week.

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posted by: surrogate (reply)
post date: 04.25.08 (5:59 am)

I've been making it a point to watch Hagee's telecasts of late. The director and cameramen sure seem to feature a lot of his member's nodding enthusiastically even when he - or son Matt - say outrageous things. Tiabbi is certainly a lefty, but I don't see that his writings are even close to being as outrageous -or hateful- as some of the things this Hagee spews in the name of Jesus. He is a Cherry Picker supreme, and what he chooses to concentate his teachings on prove to me that he really doesn't have a clue, though I do note that when I get up the hundred buck offering, I may be blessed with a nice picture book featuring photographs from Pastor Hagee's 50-year-long history of shouting bullsh*t for God - a must-have for all REAL Christians of his ilk, I'm sure.

Jesus doesn't make me puke, but Hagee does.

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posted by: kurtmaddox (reply)
post date: 04.25.08 (7:35 am)

Unfortunately, Rev. Hagee is obviously statistically more representative of Evangelicals than you are, which is too bad because America would be a far better place if you had 4 millions in your congregation and John Hagee was preaching to 20 people on tBlog!

As for the writer being a "smug, self-righteous, sophomoric bully" -- I like him a lot already and now must go read the article. Mr. Taibee and Rev. Hagee are likely simply satisfied you spelled their names correctly ;-)

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:06 am)

Reply to: kurtmaddox
So you like the "smug, self-righteous, sophomoric bully" type? Awaken your good friend, Doc Savage, and let him check out this guy. I think he would find a kindred spirit.

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:10 am)

Reply to: surrogate
You watch this guy's telecasts? I've caught him in passing a few times. I cannot tell you the last time I watched a religious telecast for more than three minutes- it was probably a Billy Graham Crusade from 25 years ago, or maybe a Mormon show just so I could understand their latest marketing approach. You're a strange fellow.

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:13 am)

Reply to: timm17
In my opinion, apocalyptic writings of the Bible like Revelation and Daniel are greatly misused by many preachers to scare the audience and fill the coffers. I say this, having never heard a single sermon by Rev Hagee. He could be just a big, fat ole teddy bear.

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posted by: kurtmaddox (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:17 am)

Reply to: PastorDave

I've listened to Rev. Hagee at least 20 times and I can tell you if he's a "teddy bear", then he's the kind the kills you about half way into the movie like "Chuckie".

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:19 am)

Reply to: fractalmom
I think you make a good point. So often, at the heart of the matter, a person's spirituality/Christianity is mostly a cultural connection and not a personal relationship with God. I'm convinced you could throw out the name of God and replace it with someone or something else, and many of our religious groups would continue to prosper. Why should the personality of the messenger so overshadow the message itself? A personality cult is far removed from being a true church, in my opinion.

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posted by: kurtmaddox (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:19 am)

Reply to: PastorDave

We both have a bit of "smugness" at some level, PD -- go ahead... c'mon now... admit it... sometimes... just a little bit?

Sometimes I got a lotta bit ;-)

May Doc Savage RIP!

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posted by: kurtmaddox (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:21 am)

Reply to: surrogate

Confessions of another Televangelist Junkie ;-)

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (9:21 am)

Reply to: kurtmaddox
Now that is funny. I can picture a fat little Rev. Hagee doll, complete with truncated arms, glistening eyes, and a dagger. Hey, I think there would be a marketplace for such. Several could be sold right here on t-Blog.

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posted by: fractalmom (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (1:59 pm)

i watched him once. LoL. him and good ole bennie hinn. what a load of crap!! they make me puke.

but here's the thing. My relationship with God is MY relationship. and whenever I visited one of 'those' churches, I always felt, um....like I was somehow deficient. That they all portrayed a relationship with God that was so much 'better' than mine was. and i didn't like that one bit.

then i decided, that my relationship with God was totally up to me, and has nothing to do with any of them, and that i shouldn't compare it.

so i quit going to those churches at all.

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posted by: surrogate (reply)
post date: 04.26.08 (4:23 pm)

Reply to: PastorDave

Same reason I listen to right wing talk radio. I like to hear what the... What's a kinder word? I want to say "idiots," but I suppose that would be wrong, even if true... How about this? I like to keep up with what the especially gullible self-righteous fools in the country are swallowing as truth, just so I know what I'm up against. I try to watch all of them at least a few times a year.

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posted by: surrogate (reply)
post date: 04.28.08 (5:13 am)

"You watch this guy's telecasts? I've caught him in passing a few times. I cannot tell you the last time I watched a religious telecast for more than three minutes-"

You really should. You'd understand the concern of those of us who are deathly afraid of this country becoming a spooky sort of theocracy. I agree with Kurt. Maybe YOU need four million members.

I just took the time to read Tiabbi's article.

I've gone on a couple of those weekends over the years - and though the topics were different, I could have written a similar story - assuming I had the talent to do so. His last few paragraphs are spot on. This stuff is dangerous to the health of the nation as much as, I'm quite sure, it would be an affront to Jesus. It would definitely either make him puke, or go off in a temple style rage at the audacity of people pulling such shenanigans in his name.

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posted by: ggirl (reply)
post date: 04.30.08 (9:33 am)

The last thing I heard from John was that New Orleans deserved the devastation because they pissed God off with all of the sinning. Grrrrrrr.

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posted by: Rev Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. (reply)
post date: 05.01.08 (4:22 pm)

Former Speech Writer for Michelle Obama

I don't normally talk about how it is literally the case that I commend to your earnest and philosophical consideration Rolling Stone Magazine's plan to diminish our will to live. However, in this case I'm going to make an exception. I figure it's okay because its machinery of panoptic control seems to have no bounds. What follows is a series of remarks addressed to the readers of this letter and to Rolling Stone Magazine itself.

Now that I think about it, if I am correctly informed, ignorant and highly emotional persons are frequently swayed by Rolling Stone Magazine's bombast and fustian. In any case, it's unfortunate that it has no real morals. It's impossible to debate important topics with organizations that are so ethically handicapped. Be that as it may, Rolling Stone Magazine should work with us, not step in at the eleventh hour and hog all the glory. I recently received some mail in which the writer stated, "We must publicly distance ourselves from nugatory dossers." I included that quote not because it is exceptional in any way, but rather because it is typical of much of the mail I receive. I included it to show you that I'm not the only one who thinks that I would be grateful if Rolling Stone Magazine would take a little time from its rigorous schedule to deal with it appropriately. Of course, pigs will grow wings and fly before that ever happens.

Some of the facts I'm about to present may seem shocking. This they certainly are. However, I act based on what I think is right, not who I think is right. That's why I try always to extend the compass of democracy to sullen, haughty delinquents. It's also why I say that time has only reinforced that conviction. I challenge it to move from its broad derogatory generalizations to specific instances to prove otherwise. If an attempt to utilize questionable and illegal fund-raising techniques isn't garrulous, it certainly is sinister. Finally, any one of the points I made in this letter could be turned into a complete research paper, but the conclusion of each would be the same: Rolling Stone Magazine is rarely shy about speaking from the depths of its ignorance.

As for Mr. Mike Taibbi, the author of this misbegotten article. I do not apologize for the amount of space in this letter I intend to devote to telling you about Mr. Mike Taibbi. Without going into all the gory details, let's just say that Mr. Taibbi says that he holds a universal license that allows him to allow federally funded research to mushroom into a craven, grossly inefficient system, hampered by crude, depraved cads and refractory backstabbers. That's a stupid thing to say. It's like saying that he is the most recent incarnation of the Buddha.

As anyone living above the Earth's surface knows by now, it would be great if we could scuttle Mr. Taibbi's narrow-minded attempts to deny us the opportunity to lead the way to the future, not to the past. Still, if we take a step, just a step, towards addressing the issue of obscurantism, then maybe we can open people's eyes (including our own) to a vision of how to enable patriots to use their freedoms to save their freedoms. We should complain about jealous swaggerers. (Goodness knows, our elected officials aren't going to.)

Think of all the lives that could be saved if we would just give peace a chance. While I have no proof that I got off on a tangent, you should still believe me, as some people apparently believe that if we don't bother Mr. Taibbi, Mr. Taibbi won't bother us. The fallacy of that belief is that our desires and his are not merely different; they are opposed in mortal enmity. Mr. Taibbi wants to erode constitutional principles that have shaped our society and remain at the core of our freedom and liberty. We, in contrast, want to alert people that when I was a child, my clergyman told me, "Mr. Taibbi can't see beyond his own perfidious concerns." If you think about it you'll see his point. Everyone knows of the lust and driving passion that has caused this problem. Let me express that same thought in slightly different terms: I shall not argue that Mr. Taibbi's newsgroup postings are an authentic map of his plan to compromise the things that define us, including integrity, justice, love, and sharing. Read them and see for yourself.

I am more than merely surprised by Mr. Taibbi's willingness to squeeze every last drop of blood from our overworked, overtaxed bodies. I'm shocked, shocked. And, as if that weren't enough, Mr. Taibbi likes thinking thoughts that aren't burdensome and that feel good. That's why I defy the mentally deficient, silly hoodwinkers who replace the search for truth with a situationist relativism based on petulant escapism and I defy the powers of darkness that they represent.

Mr. Taibbi has been known to say that society is screaming for his double standards. That notion is so atrabilious, I hardly know where to begin refuting it. I don't know what sort of abuse he was subjected to as a child that made him such a pompous headcase but I do know that Mr. Taibbi has allowed himself to become a spokesman for the same point of view shared by exploitative self-promoters, bloodthirsty junkies, and pernicious hippies while masquerading as an outspoken radical bucking the system. It's a well-known fact that bettering the world is apparently the last item on his "to do" list. It's an equally well-known fact that he takes a perverse pleasure in watching people scurry about like rats in a maze, never quite managing to nourish children with good morals and self-esteem. When logic puts these two facts together, the necessary result is an understanding that Mr. Taibbi's clueless dream is starting to come true. Liberties are being killed by attrition. Frotteurism is being installed by accretion. The only way that we can reverse these inerudite trends is to bring strength to our families, power to our nation, and health to our cities. To be precise, his cajoleries are based on two fundamental errors. They assume that the Queen of England heads up the international drug cartel and they promote the mistaken idea that his tricks provide a liberating insight into life, the universe, and everything. Stand with me, be honest with me, and help me make this world a better place in which to live, and together we'll honor our nation's glorious mosaic of cultures and ethnicities. We'll provide an antidote to contemporary manifestations of intransigent pessimism. I'm counting on you. Thanks for reading this.

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posted by: PastorDave (reply)
post date: 05.01.08 (4:53 pm)

Reply to: Rev Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
Alright, this seems the product of some kind of automatic comment generator, and I know there are several out there in blogland. Still, it's funny, and so I'll leave it here for the perusal of my readers. I dare any of you to read this in its entirity! You can't do it!

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