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28779. judithathome - 11/5/2006 8:41:54 PM Baptists Thinking of Boycotting WalMart
They will probably decide to stage a full-on boycott and stick to it about as well as they did to the Disney one...mouth to the world that they are doing it but still go there to shop. Maybe they'll go to their WalMart not in their neighborhoods but seriously, they will still shop at the one thwo or three neighborhoods over. Grumbling prayers to Jesus the entire time. 28780. judithathome - 11/5/2006 11:51:22 PM Jen, here is a thoughtful post from Steve Shack over at Demonizinf Religion...you knoe Steve, I think, and may be comforted by his kind words:
Ted Haggard's Apology
"The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality. And I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I have been warring against it for all of my adult life," he said.
What I wonder is if Rev. Haggard can correctly identify what the "repulsive and dark" part of his life is. I would imagine that he would come to the wrong conclusion that it's his same sex attraction which is the "repulsive and dark" part. In his world, the "temptation" of gay sex is, if you listen to the leaders of the political religious evangelical right, is among the MOST heinous of "sins." If Haggard had been with a woman, I guarantee you that they would still put him on some kind of leave, but he'd eventually be invited back.
But now that they know he was having -- horrors -- gay sex, there will be no return to this pulpit. If he chooses to continue in a heterosexual lifestyle, he will probably run off for awhile, start preaching in a tiny congregation somewhere and try to rebuild what he had before. But it will never approach what he had before. The evangelical right has no pity nor love for "homosexuals." Even in the Exodus International organization, the leaders are, inevitably, males who are married to females. The stories of the celibates are hidden away. Even Randy Thomas, who achieved some modicum of attention as a lobbyist, who dedicated his life to celibacy, has suddenly turn up with what he refers to as "the girlfriend." (I have no problem with Randy having a girlfriend. I just notice that his pledge to celibacy went out the window rather easily once he got tired of having no intimate relationship in his life.)
No. Rev. Haggard will probably jump to the exact wrong conclusion about what, in his life, is "repulsive and dark." But, just in case he wants my opinion, I can help him with this. What's repulsive and dark is when someone is a hypocrite, who is same sex attracted, engages in impersonal sex which he bought and paid for, and then turns around and tells the world how "evil" homosexuality is. Who betrays his fellow same sex attracted human beings by using his weekly meetings with the White House to push for anti-gay legislation. Who appears before children and young people, telling them that God hates their same sex attraction.
What repulsive and dark is the theology that convinced him he needed to convince everyone he was a heterosexual. Who married a woman, had five kids, and has now humiliated them because he didn't know that there is absolutely nothing spiritually wrong with being a gay man.
Who knows what's going to happen? Frankly, I think he should admit that he's gay, confess that he did his fellow gay people wrong, work for legal equality, and also work with his wife to decide how they're going to deal with the fact that he's not just gay, but a liar and a cheat. He could choose to stay with the family, for instance and raise his kids, holding off on any other personal relationships until they are out of the house. He could go into "change therapy," which doesn't work but, hey, it'll give him a chance to tell the truth to someone.
I look at his story and realize that I could very easily have been in his same position. When I was young and going to Baptist College, I was looking for a wife. I dated girls. I tried fooling myself and praying to God and doing all the right things. Luckily, I had more personal integrity than that. I didn't know what "gay" meant, and I knew no other gay people, but I knew I couldn't marry someone I wasn't attracted to, or couldn't love.
Looking past all the politics and lies, I have been trying to just put myself in Rev. Haggard's shoes and see him as a human being caught in a terrible situation. I think that's the most compassionate position and it's the one that I'm most comfortable with. Others will unleash venom. Others will laugh and jeer (as I have already done, I'm sad to confess). But, beneath all the betrayals and political opinions and cultural disconnects, he and his wife and his kids are nothing less and nothing more than human beings. I cannot imagine how much pain they must be in. Probably almost as much pain as all the gay kids who heard his words telling them how much God hated who they were. Probably as much pain as any gay partner barred from his or her lover's hospital room because of the laws established by, and encouraged by the political power of the Ted Haggards of the world.
There's a lot of pain to go around. And Rev. Haggard's personal pain is probably the least of it all. I'm glad he apologized to his church.
Now, when does he apologize to the rest of us?
28781. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 11/5/2006 11:52:26 PM The best one minute Jesus impersonation I've ever seen!
28782. wonkers2 - 11/6/2006 12:15:39 AM Evangelical Pastor Cofesses to "Sexual Immorality 28783. Jenerator - 11/6/2006 1:42:08 AM Jen, here is a thoughtful post from Steve Shack over at Demonizinf Religion...you knoe Steve, I think, and may be comforted by his kind words:
*I* am not the one who needs to be comforted Judith. Get over yourself. 28784. Jenerator - 11/6/2006 1:44:09 AM And Steve Shack expressed a nice sentiment, but he has serious issues with the scriptures. He and Jex could be twins or soulmates. 28785. Jenerator - 11/6/2006 2:44:18 AM Ted's letter was a testimony to his spiritual condition. I admire his humbleness. 28786. judithathome - 11/6/2006 5:51:15 PM Yeah, poor Ted. No more $600,000 a year to use on rent boys and meth. I really feel for him, too. Must be tough. 28787. judithathome - 11/6/2006 6:51:40 PM *I* am not the one who needs to be comforted Judith. Get over yourself.
Just so you know, I thought you might be comforted by Steve's post because it was an example of Christian charity from a gay man. He sort of agrees with you that Ted should have understanding, even though Ted has done his best to make the lives of people like Steve worse.
And Steve Shack expressed a nice sentiment, but he has serious issues with the scriptures.
Now see, this is what I was referring to in my little tirade at you the other night. Steve is a Christian...he lives the values of a Christian. He has probably done more charitable work for people that all of us posting on the Mote put together. He started an organization for gay teens that helps them when their families kick them out for being gay and all of the profits from his CDs and public appearences got toward that organization. He is living the things that Jesus preached and yet, because he has a slightly different interpretation of certain scriptures than you do, you feel free to criticize him.
28788. wonkers2 - 11/6/2006 7:30:16 PM Steve Shack's piece is worth reading. 28789. jexster - 11/7/2006 2:23:00 AM JUDITH ALERT!!!
HBO has a documentary "Friends of God"
Starring PASTOR TED!
 28790. robertjayb - 11/7/2006 4:19:46 PM I guess her belief wasn't strong enough...
A London woman is dead after being bitten by a snake during a Sunday church service, the Laurel County (KY) Sheriff's Office said yesterday.
Neighbors near East London Holiness Church on Smith Brewer Road, which officials said the 48-year-old attended, said the church practices serpent handling.
.................................................
Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to "take up serpents" without being harmed.
It is illegal in Kentucky to handle reptiles as part of religious services. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50-$100 fine.
Or death...
The scary thing to me is not what these folks do in their church but that they probably vote.
28791. jexster - 11/7/2006 5:04:12 PM
"The Watcher" by Thomas Blackshear, which adorns Haggard's New Life Church.
Pastor Ted's "Confession" 28792. jexster - 11/7/2006 5:08:05 PM I consider myself 40 percent Catholic and 60 percent Baptist. but I'm in favor of every religion, with the possible exception of snake-chunking. Anybody that so presumes on how he stands with Providence that he will let a snake bite him, I say he deserves what he's got coming to him.
28793. concerned - 11/7/2006 5:17:15 PM Holding Islam to Account,
by Amil Imani (Iranian)
Here are the few favorite cards:
* "There is no compulsion in religion," says the Koran. (But the full context is never shown.)
* Islam means "peace," so Islam is a religion of peace.
* "For you, your religion, and for me, my religion," Muhammad reportedly said.
The Muslims and their apologists quickly run out of their few cards, and the rest of the Islamic deck is all about intolerance, hatred and violence toward the infidels, toward all others who are not true Muslims, and even toward those who consider themselves Muslims. Shiites, for instance, judge the Sunnis as traitors to Islam, and Sunnis condemn the Shiites as heretics. Each side deems the other worthy of death and hellfire.
and..
There is no need to belabor the point that Islam is not, and has never been, a religion of peace. The word Islam is derived from taslim, which means "submission," while the term for "peace" is solh. Another derivation of the word taslim is salamat, which means "good health" and so on.
...just to clear that Islam is 'peace' bullshit up, once and for all.
28794. jexster - 11/7/2006 5:24:19 PM What did you think of "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" TD? 28795. alistairconnor - 11/7/2006 5:28:43 PM Glad you cleared that up : so "salam" doesn't mean peace, like we always thought?
Then neither does its Hebrew form, "shalom"?
You "learn" something every day. 28796. concerned - 11/7/2006 5:33:59 PM AC -
Better get your glasses checked. The word is 'taslim,, not 'salam'. Two totally different words.
Get it? 28797. concerned - 11/7/2006 5:35:17 PM 28795 is completely beside the point I made. 28798. jexster - 11/7/2006 6:48:34 PM Islam does mean submission
Submission to Allah
Good God what an idiot
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