Tag: Christianity

Sigh: Why do Christians do stupid stuff like this?

Disclaimer: In the interest of full disclosure; this author of this article, that being myself, is a Fundamentalist Baptist. I wholeheartedly reject the doctrine of laying on of hands and casting demons out of people.  Please see this Statement of Faith here, to see what I believe. (Please note, I do NOT attend this Church!)

The Story:

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WPIX) – A video which shows an exorcism of a teen to drive out apparent “homosexual demons” has sparked outrage among several gay rights activists.

The video, which was posted on YouTube, features church elders from the Manifested Glory Ministries Church in Bridgeport performing the exorcism on the 16-year-old boy.

“Right now I command you to leave!” screamed one of the church leaders involved with the exorcism in the video.

The teenager is seen rolling around on the ground, moaning and screaming – at one point he even vomits.

Although it was never confirmed to be a gay exorcism, repeated references to the subject’s sexual orientation suggests it was.

“Right now in the name of Jesus, I call the homosexuality, right now in the name of Jesus,” a church elder is heard screaming to the teen.

It’s unclear when the 20 minute video was made or if the teen suffered any physically injuries from what appeared to be near seizures.

Meantime, advocacy groups for gay youths are calling the video abuse and want authorities to get involved.

Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors said she plans on reporting the incident to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, according to the Associated Press.

The video has since been taken down from YouTube, however the footage is still making its rounds on the internet.

via Apparent Gay Exorcism in Conn. Church Causes Outrage – WPIX.

First of all;  This Church is to blame for the good part of this story. In this day of Anti-Christian sentiment in this Country and rampant Liberalism; you never, ever, post a video of this sort on youtube or on a website.  In only can cause you extreme grief, as you can see here. Second of all, I have reason to believe that this little video was, as are most of the theatrics in “Pentecostal” Churches; most likely faked.

Just as well, I believe that if there is any sort of penalty for this little incident; it is to be known that this Church, because of their foolish actions of putting it on the internet, is to blame. In other words, they should have known better.

(H/T Drudge)

The Reading Room: THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE

The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible, but it is a term used to describe the catching away of the saints of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The term “caught up” in 1 Th. 4:17 is also translated “pluck” (Jn. 10:28), “take by force” (Acts 23:10), and “pulling [out of the fire]” (Jude 23). It refers to a forceful seizing and a snatching away. It is used of the Spirit of God snatching away Philip after the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:39). This is exactly what Christ will do to the New Testament believers before the onslaught of the Great Tribulation.

Notes on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:

1. The Rapture is (1) a resurrection of the dead in Christ (v. 14-16), (2) a catching up and translation of the living New Testament saints (v. 17).
2. The dead in Christ are with Him in heaven (v. 14).
3. The Rapture is the believer’s hope (v. 13). It is what we are looking forward to.
4. The Rapture is certain. (a) It is as sure as Christ’s resurrection (v. 14). (b) It is the word of the Lord (v. 15).
5. The Rapture is a comfort (v. 18). If this translation did not occur until the end of the torments of the Great Tribulation, it certainly would not produce solace for the Christian standing on this side of the Tribulation.
6. The Rapture is before the day of the Lord’s wrath (5:1-5, 9).

This event is also described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-58.

Continue reading “The Reading Room: THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE” →

From the "can't keep in his pants" dept: Sen. John Ensign has an affair

Man, as if the Republicans did not need any other problems right now… now this:

Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign has told colleagues that he plans to admit an extramarital affair, a senior Republican official tells POLITICO.

Political insiders in the Senate and in Nevada told POLITICO that Ensign began an affair with a staffer several months after he separated from his wife. When Ensign reconciled with his wife, the sources said, he gave the aide a severance package and parted ways.

Sometime later, a Nevada source said, Ensign met with the husband of the woman involved and had what this source described as a positive encounter. Sources said that the man subsequently asked Ensign for a substantial sum of money – at which point Ensign decided to make the affair public.

Ensign’s office did not return calls for comment, but the senator told the Associated Press Tuesday: “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions.”

Ensign’s staff said he would be making a statement about a “personal matter” at 3:30 p.m. local time in Las Vegas.

Ensign informed fellow Nevadan Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, about his situation earlier today.

“I don’t know the details. I talked with him today,” Reid told POLITICO. “Of course, he’s my friend. This is a private, family matter. I just hope that Darlene and he work things out.”

Reid said he didn’t offer any advice on how to handle the situation. “I didn’t give him any advice. I just told him he’s my friend. I’m pulling for him. Anything I can do to help, let me know.”

Ensign, a born again Christian, is chairman of the GOP Policy Committee, making him the highest ranking Republican Senator in Nevada’s history. He has three children.

This means the charges of GOP having NO CREDIBILITY on family values should begin, in oh, a 1/2 hour or so.
Which is absolutely true. The Liberal left will come down on this and the chorus of the liberals will say how this points out how hyporcritical Christianity and Social Conservatism is; and to an extent, I agree with that. But on a broader scale I disagree, but you cannot judge a whole movement, by the actions of one.
Carpenter also said:
Wait, didn’t mean to glamorize this. This is bad/sad/dumb. We need more women in Congress. They don’t cheat on wives (har, kidding) spouses.
At which point, I was in the middle of taking a drink from my water bottle and almost spit it all over my laptop’s screen. Hey Amanda; tell that to my now-former youth pastor from the 1980’s, who’s wife of 15 years decided that she did not love him anymore and divorced him. All because of a back injury and he could not “perform” in the sack any longer. It is; as the old saying goes, if she’s not getting it from you, she will get it from someone else. So, nice try. But that is such stupidity and shows that you have not been married long at all. Wait till hubby man there starts having the usual trouble men start having around 40 or so… We’ll see who’s all “Polly Pure Bright” then.
Update: Statement from Ensign and his Wife:

“I came home to Nevada to come forward and explain to the citizens of our state something that I was involved in about a year ago. Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage. It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it.

“I take full responsibility for my actions.

“I know that I have deeply hurt and disappointed my wife Darlene, my children, my family, my friends, my staff and others who believed in me. To all of them, especially my wife, I am deeply sorry. I am truly blessed to have a wife who has forgiven me. We sought counseling last year and have built a stronger marriage — stronger than ever.

“I will not mention any names but the woman who I was involved with and her husband were close friends and both of them worked for me. Our families were close. That closeness put me into situations which led to my inappropriate behavior. We caused deep pain to both families and for that I am sorry.

“I am committed to my service in the United States Senate and my work on behalf of the people of NV.

“Thank you.”

[…]

His wife, Darlene, is issuing this statement: “Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband.”


Video: Something to make you think

This an excellent video: (Via True Conservatives on Facebook)

Some idiot thinks we need to change the National Anthem

Seriously, what on earth is wrong with these idiots?

I’m not quoting that b.s. here, you want to read it? You go there.

Some stuff to watch:

Sung by The Cactus Cuties

The TRUE Story of the Star Spangled Banner
By David C. Gibbs
CHRISTIAN LAW ASSOCIATION
http://www.christianlaw.org

I do not know about you. But I will keep my National Anthem just exactly like it is.

Others: Atlantic Correspondents, Neptunus Lex, Hot Air, The Opinionator, Argghhh! and This ain’t Hell …

The reading room: Friday Church News Notes

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

HOW THE POP CULTURE HAS DUMBED DOWN SOCIETY (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The rock & roll pop culture has been dumbing down society since its inception in the 1950s. The pop culture image of cool is the individual who excels in foolishness, the Elvis Presleys, the James Deans, the John Lennons, the rock & roll playboys, the Hollywood starlets. Influential pop culture movies such as “Blackboard Jungle,” “Rebel without a Cause,” and “The Wild One” emphasized irresponsibility, insubordination, free sex, and scholastic laziness. “The Blackboard Jungle” used a Bill Haley soundtrack to encourage young people to forget their studies and “rock around the clock.” In “Rebel without a Cause” James Dean exuded the essence of pop cool: unisex sensuality, narcissism, and rebellion to authority. “The Wild One,” played by the very cool Marlon Brando, glorified self-centered living and neglect of education. Chuck Berry’s hit “School Days” encouraged young people to exchange their boring studies for the glories of rock & roll partying: “Hail, hail rock and roll/ Deliver me from the days of old/ Long live rock and roll/ The beat of the drums, loud and bold/ Rock, rock, rock and roll/ The feelin’ is there, body and soul.” By the 1960s, the modern teenage culture was well established, with its own me-first attitude, Dionysian philosophy, oft ridiculous fashions (anything to differentiate the teenager from his elders), and particularly its own music. The modern teenager has always been driven by pop music. Rock stars set the tone. A serious education is downplayed for the sake of having “fun, fun, fun.” I was dramatically influenced by the pop culture from the time I arrived in junior high school in 1962. Though I had some God-given intelligence and love for reading, I soon realized that being a diligent student was not cool. I became far too busy being a proper pop culture teenager to give serious attention to my studies and as a result I was a mediocre to poor student. Nothing has changed since then. The term “nerd” comes from the climate of teenage cool. It defines a young person who is serious about scholarship and probably doesn’t fit in too well with the foolish but oh-so-cool crowd. I was reminded of this by a recent Associated Press report entitled “I Love Nerds” about the 2009 National Spelling Bee contestants. It observed that the bright students “stand out as a bit dorkey back home.” Jose Cabal of Miami said, “It’s like back home I’m a nerd. Up there, everyone else is a nerd.” The serious spellers have memorized tens of thousands of words and have sharpened their intellect and perfected their use of the English language, but they aren’t cool. The entire concept of the “nerd” exposes the vanity and foolishness of the pop culture. It is the “nerd” that is using his or her life sensibly, whereas the cool crowd is dedicated to vanity. The pop culture teenage philosophy typically leaves young people ignorant and deeply scarred with sin. But the power of teenage cool is enormous and the average young person is not wise enough to withstand its appeal. Many reports have been written on the decline in education in America. In 1994 the editor of Harper magazine characterized the national test scores as “a coroner’s report …  [that] returned a finding of mortal ignorance.” But most studies on modern American education neglect one of the most powerful influences, which is the pop culture. When the Herman’s Hermits sang in the 1965, “Don’t know much about history/ Don’t know much biology/ Don’t know much about a science book,” they were expressing the philosophy of teenage cool.

BOMBING KILLS TWO AT CHURCH IN NEPAL (Friday Church News Notes, June 5, 2009, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – A Hindu organization took credit for a bombing on May 23 that killed two and wounded 15 others at a Catholic mass in Kathmandu, Nepal. An unidentified woman entered the church just before mass began and left the bomb behind in a bag. A second bomb was disarmed by police. The Nepal Defense Army took responsibility for the murders. This is a radical Hindu group with probable ties to extremist Hindus in India that have viciously persecuted Christians. It was formed in 2007 with the objective of reinstating a Hindu state in Nepal (hindujagruti.org, Sept. 13, 2007). The Nepal Defense Army has demanded that all Christians leave Nepal and has stated its intent to “fight against the foreign religious invaders” (telegraphnepal.com, May 30, 2009). The NDA murdered a priest in July 2008. They have also bombed a mosque and another church. Police have quietly visited the churches in Kathmandu and warned them to be on the outlook for suspicious packages.
Continue reading “The reading room: Friday Church News Notes” →

The Southern Avenger Says "Obama and Cheney Make Us Less Safe"

In the ongoing debate between President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney on torture, former CIA terrorism expert Michael Scheuer points out how both leaders’ refusal to address U.S. interventionism as the primary catalyst for terrorism makes us all “less safe.”

The Southern Avenger’s Blog

The Southern Avenger @ Taki’s Magazine

No Maggie, The problem is Social Conservatism itself

It is not everyday that I find myself talking back to the writers of the National Review‘s Blog “The Corner“.

But, I saw this entry, and I felt the need to let my feelings be known.

Maggie Gallagher, who, in typical cowardly Republican fashion, does not divulge her e-mail address in her profile; says the following:

Back a while ago, when I was complaining about Republicans who think the GOP has just too darn many religious voters (“funny, so do the Democrats”), I promised I would explain how social conservatives have contributed to this misimpression — and also to their oddly subordinated role within the GOP governing coalition.

It’s simple. Social conservatives have had bad models for political action. We’ve depended on two basic strategies, and neither of them work very well:

1. The Mass-Uprising Model. “The people will rise up and throw off their oppressors spontaneously.” Well, it’s nice when it happens, but it’s hardly a plan, is it?

2. The Secular-Messiah Model: Join with others in the GOP to elect a godly man to office and then expect him to solve all your problems for you. This last model resulted in me fielding calls from reporters about whether or not I thought Bush was responsible for failing to pass a Federal Marriage Amendment — at a time when the poor man was 33 percent in the polls. Gay-rights groups don’t behave like this. They understand it’s their job to make it easy for politicians to do what they ask, not the other way around.

Social conservatives simply have not been in politics. We lack institutions that can defeat our enemies and directly assist our friends.

After a while, threatening to leave the coalition unless the coalition does what you want gets old. And tiring. And ineffective. It makes your allies not like you very much. Social conservatives talk like that because it’s our one lever of power.

Time to get some new levers.

No Megan, what it is time for; is this, it is time for the social Conservatives to leave the Republican Party and make alliances with a new Party, like the “America First” Party or something similar.  I am going to be perfectly blunt, the Social Conservatism movement is, essentially a very bad joke.  A perfect example would be no other than Sarah Palin.  That is correct, Sarah Palin.  I mean this woman, who before the 2008 election was a little known Governor outside of the state of Alaska.  John McCain selects her, on a whim, and attempts to steal Hillary’s voters away from Barack Obama.  We see how well that worked out, did we not?  It is quite the buzz kill and sobering dose of reality to point this out.  Nevertheless, because I believe in the truth; even when it is not considered popular or even politically correct; I will state the obvious.

Sarah Palin came charging to the forefront of the Republican scene, like an Alaska Buffalo on the prairie farm.  She was to come in, riding on the White Horse of Social Conservatism, she was the evangelical Church’s new female Messiah, and she was going to wrangle the victory away from those who were going to try to expand the Government to Anti-Christ-like Levels.  Again, as I wrote a minute ago, we all see how that worked out, did we not?

Instead, Sarah Palin became the poster woman of everything that is essentially wrong with the Evangelical Christian movement as a whole.  One of the biggest and most grotesque problems with the movement as a whole is just innate and abject hypocrisy.  Sarah Palin came into the 2008 election as the beacon of moral pureness.  By the time, the people had come to vote, Palin was exposed as someone; who preached moral values, but her own children were not even listening.  In fact, her own daughter said that abstinence was unrealistic.

To add insult to injury, instead of Sarah Palin leaving the McCain campaign taking her family back to Alaska and salvaging what little of a political career that she actually had left.  Instead she continues to bring a black mark to the campaign of John McCain and allows his campaign to be trounced by one the most unqualified candidates ever.  Further, instead of actually owning up to her daughters mistakes and basically admitting that she lied about her daughter and also admitting that her accepting the offer John McCain was a mistake; Palin then spins her daughters sexual promiscuity into this sister souljah moment.  Frankly, it was quite sickening to watch.

Meggie, the Religious do-gooders do not need levers.  They need to stop trying to pull levers, because every time they do.  The secular world sees them for exactly for what they are.  You would have thought the Conservative Christian world would have learned this lesson in the 1980’s.  I suppose some dogs are not trained as quickly as others are.

Others: Politics Daily and AmSpec Blog

President Obama, The time is now.

That’s correct, you read that headline right. Enough is enough, the deception and lies needs to stop. I am sure that most of you have been following the internet Meme floating around right now about Nancy Pelosi’s saying that the CIA lied to her about the enhanced interrogations. Well, the accusations just got some serious merit and I do mean huge serious merit.

The Huffington Post is now reporting:

In testimony that could bolster Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the CIA misled her during briefings on detainee interrogations, former Senator Bob Graham insisted on Thursday that he too was kept in the dark about the use of waterboarding, and called the agency’s records on these briefings "suspect."

In an interview with the Huffington Post, the former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman said that approximately a month ago, the CIA provided him with false information about how many times and when he was briefed on enhanced interrogations.

"When this issue started to resurface I called the appropriate people in the agency and said I would like to know the dates from your records that briefings were held," Graham recalled. "And they contacted me and gave me four dates — two in April ’02 and two in September ’02. Now, one of s-GRAHAM-large the things I do, and for which I have taken some flack, is keep a spiral notebook of what I do throughout the day. And so I went through my records and through a combination of my daily schedule, which I keep, and my notebooks, I confirmed and the CIA agreed that my notes were accurate; that three of those four dates there had been no briefing. There was only one day that I had been briefed, which was September the 27th of 2002."

As for the one briefing he did attend, the Florida Democrat said that he had "no recollection that issues such as waterboarding were discussed." He was not, per the sensitive nature of the matters discussed, allowed to take notes at the time. But he did highlight what he considered to be pretty strong proof that the controversial technique was not discussed.

"What struck me…was the fact that in that briefing, there were also two staff members," he said. "As you know, the general rule is that the executive is to brief the full committees of the House and Senate Intelligence committees about any ongoing or proposed action. The exception to that is what is called "covert action," where the president…only briefs the Gang of Eight, which is the four congressional leaders and the four intelligence committee leaders. Those sessions are generally conducted at an executive site, primarily at the White House itself. And they are conducted with just the authorized personnel, not with any staff or any other member of the committee…. Which leads me to conclude that this was not considered by the CIA to be a Gang of Eight briefing. Otherwise they would not have had staff in the room. And that leads me to then believe that they didn’t brief us on any of the sensitive programs such as the waterboarding or other forms of excessive interrogation."

The remarks made by Graham bolster the comments offered by Pelosi on Thursday. The Speaker told reporters that during her briefing session in the fall of 2002 she was not just kept in the dark about the issue of waterboarding, she was assured that it had not been used.

[….]

"The irony," said Graham, "is that the whole series of events in late September of ’02 were concurrent with the CIA’s release of the first classified version of the National Intelligence Estimate, which was one of the key factors that led me to vote against the war in Iraq because I thought that their case was so weak. And they were making to the public these very bold statements about how we were in extreme danger if we didn’t move quickly to eradicate Saddam Hussein. The whole, ‘a smoking gun may appear in the form of a mushroom cloud’ kind of argument."

I know some Conservatives that read this blog are going to say something to the effect of, “Oh, that’s the Huffington Post, you cannot trust what they say.” Well, to that I say; Unsinn! (nonsense!) While I may have a personal problem with the way that the comment sections are handled over there and I may have some issues with the political ideology behind that website. I am quite sorry to say it, but news is news; and this my friends is big news.

Since I began blogging back in the winter of 2006; first as a populist and then when my site was hacked, and which at the time this happened; I had began to change my views, and I finally came out as a “Right of Center” or a Traditional Conservative or if you will, a Paleo-Conservative. (As opposed to a Wilsonian, Neo-Conservative; like George W. Bush) I made it quite clear for my disdain of the Wilsonian, Neo-Conservatism of George W. Bush and his Administration. Having said this, I believe it is time that I be the first “Right of Center” blogger to say this:

It is time that the United States of America actually used it’s systems of “Check and Balances.” It is time for a formal investigation into the Bush Administration.

I realize that the Obama Administration wants to avoid a “partisan witch-hunt.” I can respect this, but at this point, this whole mess has gone way beyond the bounds of partisanship, and to the point of an outright betrayal of the American values and of the United States Constitution that the now former President was supposed to swear to uphold.  It is quite obvious to this writer that the now former President of the United States and his Administration fully instructed the C.I.A. to lie to the Democrats in office about the techniques used in the enhanced interrogations that took place after the invasion of Iraq.

Lying to the Congress of the United States of America under the orders of the President of the United States of America for the sole purpose of achieving a political goal, in this case the Iraq War and the supposed “War on terror,” in this writers opinion, amounts to treason of the worst kind. Lying to Congress in order to skirt around the agreements signed by the United States of America and many other Nations, under the accord of the United Nations is a crime and should be dealt with immediately. I am not a huge fan of the United Nations, but agreements are agreements and laws are laws, and it is quite obvious, to this writer, that this previous Administration was not interested in upholding those laws or the United States Constitution or the Geneva Conventions.  Instead the President of the United States ordered the C.I.A. to lie to Congress on it’s use to waterboarding in the enhanced interrogations. This, my friends, is treason. It is wrong, and it should be prosecuted.

I realize that some Conservatives  are going to disagree, that is their prerogative. However, those Conservatives and those who are non-partisan who believe that the rule of law in this Country should be upheld, not just for Conservative Presidents, but also for Democratic Party Presidents; will agree with me in saying that the current attorney should open a full an unbia
sed investigation into this situation forthwith. The future of this Constitutional Republic depends on it.

Mr. President, The time is now.