Snake Oil

Choosing my Religion

2011-07-16T09:18:00.000-05:00

What America Will Be Like After the Dominionist Takeover

2011-07-13T20:26:00.003-05:00

Good intro to the 7 Mountains mandate here. Then watch the video. And be afraid.

It just never gets old, does it?

2011-07-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

And you may also enjoy, Robert Tilton: A History in Flatulence

Cougars for Christ?

2011-07-11T20:52:00.004-05:00

When I first heard about the new book and dvd series called "Real Housewives of the Bible," my first thought was, COULD IT BE? - a definitive guide to how to score a little MILF action at the local megachurch??

No such luck. The series instead "depicts 12 different biblical characters like Esther, Ruth & Sarah living in situations today's women deal with every day." Might be mildly amusing, but probably not.

Catching up with Bob's First Born

2011-07-10T20:05:00.004-05:00

Amy Tilton Kushnir

Woah! My faith is rising!

Catch up with what Amy's up to these days here!

She has a show called My Texas Today which apparently airs on WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas. How come nobody tells me these things??

Good to see you back on the air, Amy!

Take a Toke of the Holy Ghost!

2011-07-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

Speaking of Nightmares

2011-07-09T15:59:00.005-05:00

check out Nightmare for the Dream Center, a prank call Brother Russell just dug out of his archive and put up on his bandcamp site.

I truly feel sorry for people who have to work as a call center operator in the middle of the night for some megachurch media ministry. The megachurch in question here is Matthew (son of Tommy) Barnett's Dream Center in Los Angeles, California. Anyway, the poor guy who answers the phone for the Dream Center at 1:30 in the morning is across the country in Virginia and should get a raise for putting up with the weirdos who call in at that time of night.

Christian Nightmares

2011-07-09T15:53:00.004-05:00

I've been enjoying the Christian Nightmares YouTube channel this afternoon. Funny as hell!

And here's their main site.

And, yeah, I see I'm a little late to the party.

Prophet Omega is On the Air!

2011-07-04T19:37:00.002-05:00

Listen to some classic Prophet Omega at Brother Russell's Bandcamp page

Also, didn't ever think to look, but Omega has a wikipedia entry.

Here's a link to the documentary about him. I remember being underwhelmed by it, but may be time to give it a second look.

Don't forget the Snake Oil Shoppe!

2011-07-04T19:22:00.003-05:00

Tonight I Die clock, Benny Hinn Blew Me button, Jonathan Bell teddy bear!

Here

America’s Most Hated Family In Crisis

2011-07-04T18:41:00.004-05:00

In America’s Most Hated Family In Crisis, Louis Theroux is once again granted a behind-the-scenes look at America’s most controversial Christian group, the Phelps family of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS, as it gears up for what it sees as the final showdown with doomed America. Louis explores the church’s strange new belief that Obama is The Beast spoken of in the Book Of Revelation, and their conviction that we are now in the run-up to the second coming of Christ.

Watch the entire documentary here

One thing I enjoyed about watching the Phelps women, is that they always preface talking about any future event with the phrase, "if the Lord tarries," meaning that if the Rapture Doesn't Happen First. What a perspective on life. Fatalistic, dispensationalistic, but you know, coming out of the mouth of one of Fred's granddaughters in particular, I'd be onboard if she were doing a little flirty flshing.

no more Praise in the Night

2011-07-04T14:05:00.007-05:00

Steve Solomon has called it a day, or a night rather, on his long running "Praise in the Night" radio show. Here's the announcement:

Diane and I are so appreciative for all of our friends and supporters of this ministry for your faithfulness through all of these years. We have seen many miracles of salvation, healing, deliverance take place to the glory of God.

Riverwalk Fellowship has been underwriting the expenses of PITN for many years and now with a new radio contract that has been presented to us with an amount that could not be agreed to, we have prayed and decided that this was the time to end this ministry.

We will now be able to focus more of our energy on the ministry of Riverwalk and we are excited about this new chapter in our lives and ministry.

We are grateful to the Lord Jesus Who gave us this tremendous opportunity and privilege to minister the Gospel, every night, all night beginning in 1991.

We will have expanded podcasts and teachings available on our Riverwalk Website in the near future.

God bless,

Steve and Diane Solomon

But if you're like me, you still need to get FILLED occasionally, so here ya go:

Filled, Lady! by Brother Russell and Melba Jackson

this clip perfectly sums up Stever for posterity. I envision him doing his late night call-in show via some kinda remote hookup from his McMansion abode in a faceless Dallas suburb, in his houserobe and slippers, kicked back on an overstuffed leather sofa, smug and self-important, condescending to his listeners, and even talking with a mouthful of crackers, as he is in this particular clip, not even halfway paying attention to his sad, pathetic, halfwit callers. Then getting blindsided by good old Bro Russell.

More Happy White People in Heaven!

2010-06-15T22:31:00.002-05:00

via

Somebody Goofed

2010-05-25T21:47:00.000-05:00

Holy Smoke

2010-04-24T18:17:00.001-05:00

When Toby Elles fell asleep while cooking a late-night snack, it really was a case of divine intervention that saved his bacon.
The 22-year-old was 'miraculously' woken after an hour as his lounge filled with smoke – and quickly had the revelation that he had left a frying pan on a hob.
While saying his prayers, the bank worker scraped the remains of crispy bacon rashers from the pan, but could not believe the vision that appeared before him - Jesus Christ staring back at him.

full story here

(another miracle report from Brother Ben)

I believe that all dinosaurs were born of Satanic angel

2010-04-24T18:10:00.006-05:00

from the ever vigilant Brother Ben:

Dallas County jail guard fired over anti-gay remarks

DALLAS (where else?) — A Dallas County jail guard recently fired after allegedly making anti-gay remarks and commenting about religion has said his free speech rights have been violated but he will not seek to regain his job.
A sheriff's department review concluded Stephen Johnson, 59, persisted in volunteering his religious opinions and speaking out against homosexuality.
Johnson, after nearly 17 years with the department, was fired Jan. 20 for conduct unbecoming an officer and for lying to internal affairs, the Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.
Johnson in October interrupted a private conversation among jail staff and “interjected his own opinions,” telling them all gays should be annihilated, according to a sheriff's report.
“They made it out to be that I was a bigot. I was fired ‘cause I hurt someone else's feelings,” Johnson said Monday. He said that his free speech rights were violated but that he will not appeal.
Johnson said he made his comments to some clerks. The names of the witnesses who filed the complaints were obscured in the sheriff's department report.
In a sworn statement, Johnson denied saying he supported slavery while noting that “slavery is a fact in the Bible.” Johnson also offered an opinion about the origin of dinosaurs.
“I believe that all dinosaurs were born of Satanic angel who has sex with woman and the animal kingdom that created ungodly reptilian creatures none of these were on the Ark,” he said in the sworn statement.
Johnson also said that he didn't believe in homosexuality and “that they should be put to death,” according to his statement. But he said his beliefs don't lead him to treat gays differently.
Capt. Bart Terrell, who supervises the intake area where Johnson was assigned, wrote that Johnson demonstrated a “pattern of conduct that is verbally inflammatory in nature and is detrimental to keeping a good working environment.”
Johnson was suspended for three days and given 90 days of probation in 2000 for using a derogatory word about minorities while talking to several inmates he was searching, records show.

It's not true! Jesus Loved Dinosaurs!

from the twisted mind of Julie Jackson

2010-04-24T17:46:00.000-05:00

Dog Paddle for Jesus

Aryans, Mars and the End of Days

2010-04-24T17:42:00.001-05:00

Every so often, the sun emits a massive solar flare which pretty thoroughly fries Earth and messes with it's magnetic fields. The super-advanced race which lived here millennia ago saw it coming and managed to evacuate to Mars (Aries, hence Aryans). There they waited for some centuries until the Earth was habitable again. Their underground Mars bunkers nearly out of resources, they limped back to Earth only to find that monkeys had come down from the trees and started using primitive tools and were walking upright. The Aryans, accustomed to their dark underground bunkers, could no longer stand the harsh light of day, and so they lived underground on Earth, where they have secretly directed the affairs of humans to this day. Also, white people are not Aryans, but the bastard offspring of Aryans and humans. With another solar apocalypse on it's way, the Aryans are once again getting ready to jump ship and head back to Mars. They are slightly concerned, however, that the human elites who have served as their middle management have been back-engineering their technology and might try to follow them this time.

Find out more here:

Aryans, Mars and the End of Days

Foul Rotten Demons

2010-03-28T20:17:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of new posts. Please continue to view Brother Mack videos until I return mid April.

Brother Mack is ON FIRE for the Lord!

2010-02-24T22:33:00.001-06:00

And get Mack's healing Prayer Glove here! Wow!

...the disembodied head of preacher Robert Tilton

2010-02-21T21:49:00.004-06:00

For this trip to the Island of Forgotten Anime, we're going to showcase some religious-themed anime made by Hikyou-Kisei Studios, which were usually international co-productions with various religious institutions around the world.

Bobu Bobu Bobu Hai Hai Hai which... well, I can't quite translate into anything coherent, but it features the adventures of two children, Cash and Penny, who travel around the world accompanied by the disembodied head of preacher Robert Tilton and learn about the importance of giving money (to Robert Tilton) so they can make better use of their prayers to God, or something. I don't get it either.

Here - see if you can tell me what this is all about: The Continent of Lost Anime

Haiti: A church group helping children...?

2010-02-20T11:34:00.012-06:00

or HELPING THEMSELVES TO CHILDREN?

Ten of the twelve American missionaries arrested on January 29th on child kidnapping charges in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti were released this week without needing to post bail. Two, including the group's leader, Laura Silsby, remain in Haitian custody.

Questions remain. Something just doesn't smell right.

First of all, they lied to authorities, initially claiming the kids were orphans, when, in fact, the majority of them were not. Then, the "orphanage" in the Dominican Republic where the group was allegedly taking the children turned out to not actually exist. The group had none of the required documentation to take the kids out of the country.

OK, maybe these were actually heroic, sincere Christians following a God-mandated directive to "save the children."

But let's take a closer look at group leader Laura Silsby.

From the New York Times:

Silsby defaulted last July on the mortgage on a house in an unfinished subdivision in Meridian, a suburb of Boise.

her business, Personal Shopper, which provides shopping services for Internet customers, have faced multiple legal claims. According to state records and officials, Personal Shopper has been named 14 times in complaints from employees over unpaid wages.

She clearly has serious financial problems.

In completely unrelated news, child trafficking can be a very lucrative business enterprise.

And this:

Who exactly is Jorge Puello, the legal advisor to the Americans? Is he connected with trafficking Central and South American children for purposes of prostitution, or is it all a case of mistaken identity? New York Times story here, and excellent blog commentary here. Still more here.

I dunno. Questions...

thanks to Dave McGowan for getting me thinking...

Some Good Benny Hinn Quotes

2010-02-19T23:14:00.003-06:00

"Adam was a super-being when God created him. ...The Scriptures declare clearly that he had dominion over the fowls of the air...which means he used to fly. ...Adam not only flew, he flew to space. He was - with one thought he would be on the moon" (Praise the Lord, TBN, 26th December 1991).

"You say, 'Benny, am I a little God?' You're a son of God, aren't you?...What else are you? Quit your nonsense!...If you say, 'I am,' you're saying you're part of Him, right? Is He God? Are you His offspring? Are you His children? You can't be human! You can't! You can't!" (Our Position in Christ #2, 1990, audiotape, sd 2)

"When you were born again the Word was made flesh in you. And you became flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. Don't tell me you have Jesus. You are everything He was and everything He is and ever shall be... Don't say, 'I have.' Say, 'I am, I am, I am, I am, I am'" (ibid.)

"When you say, 'I am a Christian,' you are saying, 'I am mashiach,' in the Hebrew. I am a little messiah walking on earth, in other words. That is a shocking revelation. ...May I say it like this? You are a little god on earth running around" (Praise-a-Thon, TBN, 6th November '90)

"In my case, I know I have lost complete desire for anything to do with the world. My worldly desires are gone....I no longer have any rebellion in me." (The Anointing, p177-8.)

"SO, I'M BENNY JEHOVAH!" (Spiritual warfare seminar, May 2 1990).

"Say after me: 'Within me is a God-Man.' Say it again. 'Within me is a God-Man.' [Congregation repeats.] Now, let's say even better than that. Let's say, 'I AM A GOD-MAN.' …This spirit man within me is a God-Man. …Say 'I'm born-of-heaven-God-Man. I'm a God-Man. I'm a sample of Jesus. I'm a super being'" (Praise the Lord, TBN, Dec 6 1990).

"God came to earth and touched a piece of dust and turned it into a God. …Are you a child of God? Then you're divine! Are you a child of God? Then you're not human!" (TBN, Dec 1, 1990).

"When I stand in Christ - I am one with Him; united to Him; one spirit with Him. I am not, hear me, I AM NOT PART OF HIM, I AM HIM! THE WORD HAS BECOME FLESH IN ME!. …When my hand touches someone, it's the hand of Jesus touching somebody" (Our Position in Christ).

"I [Jesus] loved you enough to become one of ya! And I love you enough to make you one of me!" (TBN, Dec 1 '90).

"God told Abram He could touch this earth till a man gave it back to Him" (World Charismatic Conference, 7th August 1992); "Never, ever, ever go the Lord and say, 'If it be thy will....' Don't allow such faith-destroying words to be spoken from your mouth" (Rise and Be Healed!, 1991, p47-48).

"Jesus was born again [in hell]" (Our Position in Christ #1, 1991, audio-tape).

"The Holy Spirit says, 'God's original plan is that the woman was to bring forth children out of her side" (Our Position in Christ #5,1990, audiotape, side 2)

"Jesus knew the only way He would stop Satan is by becoming one in nature with him" (Benny Hinn, TBN, 15th December 1990).

"Before He died, I should say, on that cross, something happened to Him which began the wheels of the New Creation moving that was this: He died spiritually! …Jesus Christ understood that spiritual death is union with the satanic nature. …What is spiritual death? Separation from God" (New Creation in Christ sermon, late 1988).

The Trinity- 3 or 9?
"Each one of them is a triune being by Himself...there's nine of them" (Benny Hinn, TBN, 3rd October 1990).

lots more weird Benny shit here

Edward Gein - product of the Jezebel Spirit

2010-02-18T22:39:00.006-06:00

Nobody tells a story better'n Brother Mack:

"Well, what do you suppose this young man did? He went to openin' graves... he went to violatin' corpses. He went to makin' things out of them.

He made him a suit of tits. He made him a wig of hair. He made leggins and walk around at night and howl like a monkey in the Wisconsin moonlight...

Benny Hinn's wife files for divorce!

2010-02-18T20:11:00.006-06:00

ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — The wife of televangelist Benny Hinn has filed for divorce from the high-profile pastor, whose reputation as an advocate of prosperity gospel has attracted millions of followers and criticism from lawmakers and watchdog groups over his lavish lifestyle.

Suzanne Hinn filed the papers in Orange County Superior Court on Feb. 1, citing irreconcilable differences, after more than 30 years of marriage. The papers note the two separated on Jan. 26 and that Hinn has been living in Dana Point, a wealthy coastal community in southern Orange County.

"Pastor Benny Hinn and his immediate family were shocked and saddened to learn of this news without any previous notice," Benny Hinn Ministries said Thursday in a statement. "Although Pastor Hinn has faithfully endeavored to bring healing to their relationship, those efforts failed and were met with the petition for divorce that was filed without notice."

Full story from LA Times here

Snake Oil readers are probably familiar with Suzanne Hinn's scatological preoccupations, most famously her "holy ghost enema" routine, to wit:

Now we know she's CRAZY, but is she crazy enough to go public with even a fraction of the dirt that is shoved in the Hinn closet, a very large closet which is literally bursting at the seams? For people who mess with Benny have a habit of dropping dead, as in the case of Christian singing abomination Carman's brother, Mario C. Licciardello, who mysteriously keeled over the day before he was to be deposed in a scandalous lawsuit:

There's a darker side to Hinn and his organization. In 1998 two members of his inner circle died of heroin overdoses. In 1999, after one of his many vows of reform, he fired several board members and hired an ex-cop named Mario C. Licciardello to do an internal investigation of his ministry. Licciardello was the brother-in-law of Carman, the popular Christian singer, so many think Hinn considered him "safe." But Licciardello did such a good job – taking hundreds of depositions and getting to the bottom of the heroin use – that Hinn then sued him. While Licciardello was still his head of security, the ministry filed a lawsuit demanding that all his files be turned over and sealed, because their public release could result in the end of the ministry. One day before Hinn was supposed to give his deposition in this case, Licciardello had a mysterious heart attack and died. The Hinn organization made an out-of-court settlement with Licciardello's widow, which included sealing the court papers.

Above blurb is from here.

Whew! Let's hope this story has some legs! Stay tuned to Snake Oil...

Happy Valentine's Day 2010!

2010-02-13T19:38:00.001-06:00

Today is the Day the Lord Hath Made: Brother Mack Stevens

2010-02-12T17:49:00.002-06:00

Brother Mack Dot Com

AMAZING! Confessions of former Tilton employee

2010-02-10T22:26:00.005-06:00

"Even now, many years later it is difficult for me to write these words, to acknowledge the cesspool of darkness that was my heart."

By 1989 things had pretty much fallen apart for me in my job. The company that I worked for had gone broke. I had tried several things on my own. Nothing seemed to work out. I decided that God was closing these doors because He wanted me back in ministry full time. I went back to the ministry center, this time as a full time employee.
The pay was minimal. In fact it really wasn’t enough but my wife still had a good job and we decided that if I was doing this unto the Lord, He would provide. I spent the next 6 years working for Robert Tilton ministries.
I started again as a regular prayer minister but after a while I was promoted to be a special assistant to Bob. My job was to speak on Bob’s behalf to partners and others who called and insisted on speaking directly to him.
The way it worked was like this; If you were a personal friend of Tilton’s or if you were another big time preacher you could get through to Bob’s personal secretary and ultimately to Bob himself. If you were just a regular Joe Schmoe partner (you know, the ones who were actually funding Tilton’s lavish lifestyle with their vows of faith) well Bob didn’t have time for those people. Those calls were routed to me. Also some of the thousands of letters the ministry received every day were given to me to call back.

much more here:

ApostasyWatch

Singin' Glory Hallelujah

2010-02-10T22:11:00.005-06:00

Another one from the vaults:

The Robert Tilton Fan Club disrupts the protest of a group of Word of Faithers outside District Court in Dallas when Bob was being sued to turn over church records as part of some civil action. While the RTFC agrees with the church's right to privacy, we wanted to take the opportunity during this public gathering to ask some questions of our own and to express our appreciation of Bob in our own way. Sister Wendy joins the protest and gets her sign torn in half and then is cursed in "tongues" by some church members. As an added bonus, the whole episode makes the 6 o' clock news that night. ( Behind the scenes footage starts at 2:19)

The Network of Stolen Consciousness

2010-02-07T12:10:00.003-06:00

by Beth Goobie

I am a survivor of intelligence cults that operate across Canada and are connected internationally. In 1959, I was born into an intergenerational
CIA-connected cult that continues to operate in central Ontario. I was first subjected to calculated torture sessions in the womb, and have been able to integrate fetal selves as an adult. I was an experienced dissociater at birth, an accomplished prostitute before kindergarten, and was being circulated on an elite international circuit by grade school. My programming involved fragmentation into alters who were trained as sex agents, couriers, computers, and cult alters (priestess, seeker, caller, whore, slave, trainer, etc.) Some of my alters were trained to handle weapons. The stories of Kathleen Sullivan, Brice Taylor, Cisco Wheeler, and Claudia Mullen, as well as Cathy O'Brien's TranceFormation of America describe much that is familiar to me, including near-death centers and 'hunting.' I would like to thank each of these women for speaking out. I deeply admire your courage. Keep going.

My perspective differs somewhat from the women mentioned above in that I have experienced a great deal, both personally and through recovered memory, of the metaphysical. I do not believe occult ceremonies are based solely on superstition and programming. It is my understanding that both cults and the intelligence network are developing the technology to exploit the metaphysical realities that are a daily part of all our lives, and that they intend to use these metaphysical realities to fragment and radically realign the consciousness of the average citizen for purposes of 'mind control' and to 'feed' off the energy of each individual life. I would like to discuss this as a complex process that aligns the brain to specific frequencies, then uses calculated trauma and dissociation to force interaction with the metaphysical. This interaction is then programmed for specific purposes by the intelligence community.

First, however, I think it important to note the basic motivation that drives mystery cults to perpetrate their heinous illegal activities: the desire to live forever. In search of immortality, cults have always explored metaphysical gateways to alternate dimensions that can be opened through traumatic dissociation. These out-of-body experiences teach cult members to exist as frequencies; conscious knowing energy that has been dissociated from the body during trauma. One can leave the body at many different frequencies, and each frequency opens up a different dimension of reality or 'mystery,' as well as interaction with the entities which inhabit these dimensions.

Members of mystery cults have also learned to exploit the human energy of others as 'feed,' extending their own longevity within the body. They have learned to transmit more and more of their consciousness into alternate dimensions (some are called Heaven, Hell, the Mysteries, etc.), where their 'spirits' will live after their bodies die, so that they are 'storing up their treasures' not on earth, but in alternate 'spiritual' realities. These dissociated 'spirits' are composed of energy and continue to exist only as long as they are 'fed' through the kill energy of human sacrifice. If not, they fade as all energy fades, because human beings are not meant to live forever.

more: Paranoia Magazine. Fall 2000 Issue #24

Priest Uses Fingerprint Reader to Monitor Mass Attendance

2010-02-07T11:45:00.002-06:00

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish priest has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said on Friday.
The pupils will mark their fingerprints every time they go to church over three years and if they attend 200 masses they will be freed from the obligation of having to pass an exam prior to their confirmation, the paper said.
The pupils in the southern town of Gryfow Slaski told the daily they liked the idea and also the priest, Grzegorz Sowa, who invented it.

"This is comfortable. We don't have to stand in a line to get the priest's signature (confirming our presence at the mass) in our confirmation notebooks," said one pupil, who gave her name as Karolina.
Poland is perhaps the most devoutly Roman Catholic country in Europe today and churches are regularly packed on Sundays.
via

Voodoo 'supreme master': Believers are being discriminated against by Christians in Haiti

2010-02-07T11:41:00.005-06:00

Haiti's "supreme master" of voodoo claims his fellow believers are not getting their share of relief aid in the ailing Caribbean nation.
"Evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," Max Beauvoir told London's Telegraph on Monday.
The 75-year-old biochemist believes Christians in Haiti are taking food and supplies, and not allowing them to reach needy people outside Port-au-Prince.
"They take everything they get to their own people," he said, "and that's a shame."
Beauvoir's remarks come on the heels of supplies arriving in Mariani, a town outside Port-au-Prince, where hundreds of voodoo followers reside.
"It is the first delivery and it took a couple of weeks’ fight to get that for the voodoo people," he said.
Haiti's voodoo priests recently objected to mass burials for the thousands who died during the earthquake.
"The conditions in which bodies are being buried are not respecting the dignity of these people," Beauvoir said last week. "It is not in our culture to bury people in such a fashion."
More than half of Haiti's 9 million people are believed to practice voodoo. Some 80 percent are also Catholic.

sent in by Brother T Tex

via

More Zombies for Haiti

2010-01-27T17:34:00.001-06:00

Travolta Flies More Scientologists to Haiti

January 26, 2010, 9:27 am
By ROBERT MACKEY

After flying a jet filled with relief supplies, doctors and Scientologist healers to Haiti, John Travolta told reporters at the airport in Port-au-Prince, “We have the ability to actually help make a difference in the situation in Haiti, and I just can’t see not using this plane to help.”

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Travolta flew his own Boeing 707 to Haiti from Florida on Monday, and brought four tons of ready-to-eat military rations and medical supplies along with “a team including doctors and Scientology ministers.” The raw video embedded below shows Mr. Travolta speaking to reporters flanked by his wife, Kelly Preston, and Scientologist ministers, who wear yellow T-shirts.

The Scientologists will join other members of the church who arrived in Haiti last week and have been offering touch therapy to badly injured earthquake survivors at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.

On Saturday, the French news agency Agence France-Presse reported that one Scientologist from Paris who gave her name as Sylvie claimed that the controversial church’s techniques were working:

“We’re trained as volunteer ministers; we use a process called ‘assist’ to follow the nervous system to reconnect the main points, to bring back communication,” she said. “When you get a sudden shock to a part of your body the energy gets stuck, so we re-establish communication within the body by touching people through their clothes, and asking people to feel the touch.”

Next to her lay 22-year-old student Oscar Elweels, whose father rescued him from the basement of his school where he lay with a pillar on his leg for a day after the deadly Jan. 12 quake. His right leg was amputated below the knee and his left leg was severely bruised and swollen. [...]

“One hour ago he had no sensation in his left leg, so I explained the method to him, I touched him and after a while he said ‘now I feel everything’,” said Sylvie. “Otherwise they might have had to amputate his other leg.”

The news agency said that an American doctor at the hospital who asked not to be identified commented sarcastically, “I didn’t know touching could heal gangrene.”

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0 ... -to-haiti/

Don't Fear the Loup-Garou

2010-01-27T14:54:00.003-06:00

Haiti: fears of child-eating spirits
By Matthew Bigg and Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – The earthquake that shattered Haiti has unleashed fears that child-eating spirits, mythological figures entrenched in Haitian culture, are prowling homeless camps in search of young prey.
The 'loup-garou,' which means 'wolf man,' is similar to werewolf legends in other parts of the world, but in Haitian folklore it is a person who is possessed by a spirit and can turn into a beast or even a dog, cat, chicken, snake or another animal to suck the blood of babies and young children.
Haitians fear loups-garous in the best of times and even more since a powerful earthquake wrecked the capital of Port-au-Prince two weeks ago, killing as many as 200,000 people and forcing hundreds of thousands more to sleep outside in vast camps or on the streets.
Some people accused of being loups-garous have apparently been lynched since the earthquake, including a man killed at the La Grotte camp for displaced people on a barely accessible hillside that looks down on Port-au-Prince.
"After the earthquake, the loup-garou fled from prison. He was bragging that he was in jail because he was caught eating children ... During the night he went into the tents and tried to take someone's child," said Michaelle Casseus, a camp resident.
In another camp, residents described beating a man almost to death after he tried to take a baby during the night.
Night-time patrols have been set up to deter the spirits, who are also called 'lougarou' in the Creole language.
"The loup-garou is profiting from the earthquake to eat the children," said Milot Bazelais, a civil servant who was left homeless by the quake and also works for a charity group to help neighborhood children.
He said he had heard that one patrol killed a spirit before she had time to change form.
SPIRITUAL COMBAT
Most of Haiti's 9 million people are Roman Catholics but many also practice voodoo, a religion with African roots.
The belief in loups-garous cuts across religious identity and is most strongly adhered to among Haiti's poor, which are the majority in the most impoverished country in the western hemisphere.
Sylvain Lafalaisse, Haiti's secretary of state for finance, says the fears are stronger in times of social dislocation.
"People talk about loups-garous to give a name to their fears, but it is child snatchers who snatch children, not evil spirits," said Lafalaisse.
Thousands of Haitian children have been orphaned or separated from their parents by the earthquake, and the government and aid groups warn of of a growing threat of child traffickers seizing young children for illegal adoptions.
Haiti's government says it has already buried 120,000 victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake, and tens of thousands more are believed to have been buried by their families or are still in the rubble of wrecked buildings.
At a mass grave in Titayen just north of Port-au-Prince, mechanical diggers have churned personal possessions of the dead to the surface -- a student ID card, a child's pink sandal, a school satchel complete with school books and pencils and a Bible lay strewn across the enormous grave site on Monday.
Voodoo priests are objecting to mass burials, saying they do not respect the dignity of the dead.

via

Start your own Mind Control Cult!

2010-01-27T14:40:00.001-06:00

via

The Trials of Ted Haggard on HBO this month

2010-01-25T20:51:00.002-06:00

A documentary by Alexandra Pelosi takes a behind-the-scenes look at a recent life and hard times of ex-minister, Pastor Ted. Ted Haggard had it all: prosperity, a doting wife, five kids- and a ministry that reached out to approx 30 million followers who counted on his every word, whether on TV or in person at one of his arena sermons. In 2006, it all fell apart when Pastor Ted admitted to having sex with a male prostitute and to buying methamphetamines. He was exiled from his church and home in Colorado and became a pariah who now makes ends meet as a traveling insurance salesman.

HBO info HERE

or purchase it from the Snake Oil Amazon Store!

Prominent Scientologist wants his money back

2010-01-25T20:42:00.001-06:00

If you watched TV in the past three decades, you probably saw Larry Anderson. He appeared on more than 30 shows, including Charlie's Angels, Mork and Mindy, Desperate Housewives andMad Men. He hosted three game shows and had bit parts in eight movies.
He got lots of parts but isn't well known. Except to Scientologists.
Anderson starred in the Church of Scientology's 1996 film Orientation, a 40-minute promotion central to church recruiting efforts. Translated into 15 languages, it has been shown at church facilities worldwide not only to potential recruits but also to parishioners and staffers, to get them more involved in Scientology.
At the film's dramatic climax, Anderson is a portrait of rectitude as the background music swells and the camera zooms in:
"If you leave this room after seeing this film and walk out and never mention Scientology again, you are perfectly free to do so. It would be stupid. But you can do it. You can also dive off a bridge or blow your brains out. That is your choice.
"But, if you don't walk out that way, if you continue with Scientology, we will be very happy with you. And you will be very happy with you.''
Now, after 33 years as a Scientologist, the past 13 as the voice extolling the virtues of Scientology and the perils of walking away, Anderson is walking away. He says the church failed to deliver the spiritual gains it promised.
He also wants his money back, nearly $120,000 he says he prepaid for services never taken. A church policy says parishioners can get repayments, but if they do, they cannot come back.

Read complete story HERE

117 Russians in hospital after drinking holy water

2010-01-25T20:38:00.002-06:00

MOSCOW – More than 100 Russian Orthodox believers have been hospitalized after drinking holy water during Epiphany celebrations in the eastern city of Irkutsk, an official said Monday.
A total of 117 people, including 48 children, were in the hospital complaining of acute intestinal pain after drinking water from wells in and around a local church last week, said Vladimir Salovarov, a spokesman for the Irkutsk Investigative Committee.
Salovarov said 204 people required some medical treatment after consuming the water, the source of which was a stagnant lake. He said, however, that it was too early to say what caused the illness.
Many Russians consider any water obtained on Epiphany — which they celebrate on Jan. 19 — to be holy.
The water is typically bottled for consumption later. Tap water in most of Russia is undrinkable.

sent in by Brother Ben via

Extortion plot designed to hasten Christ's return to Earth

2010-01-22T17:44:00.003-06:00

One of two brothers sentenced to death in Contra Costa County in 2005 for slaughtering five people in a bizarre murder-extortion plot designed to hasten Christ's return to Earth has been hospitalized after apparently trying to commit suicide.

Justin Helzer, 37, was found in his cell at San Quentin State Prison about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Helzer was taken to a hospital, where he was in critical condition. Citing privacy concerns, Thornton would not discuss the manner in which Helzer injured himself.
"I am saddened," Helzer's attorney, Daniel Cook, said today. "If true, it would appear to be another indication of a deeply troubled man, unable to cope with the profound psychological forces that have so greatly influenced and impacted him for so long."
Helzer, his older brother Glenn Helzer and Dawn Godman were convicted of bludgeoning and dismembering Ivan Stineman, 85, and his wife, Annette, 78, of Concord during a plot to extort $100,000 from them in the summer of 2000.
They then killed Selina Bishop - daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop - to silence her after she collected the money. Their bodies were cut up and were found in gym bags that surfaced in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Glenn Helzer, a self-described prophet on a crusade to save the world from Satan, then shot and killed Bishop's mother, Jennifer Villarin, and Villarin's boyfriend, James Gamble, at Bishop's Marin County home because Villarin had seen his face and he was afraid she could identify him.
During his 2004 trial, Justin Helzer was portrayed as a shy young man whose older brother often told him, "I'm No. 1, and you're No. 2." Godman was described as a lonely woman who was hooked on speed and had tried to kill herself.
Glenn Helzer, a former stockbroker, enlisted them in a cult-like plot to train Brazilian orphans to slaughter the leaders of the Mormon Church so he could become its prophet and "transform America," Godman testified.
They needed money for the scheme, so they decided to blackmail one of Glenn Helzer's former clients. They chose the Stinemans and kidnapped them to extort $100,000 from them. Justin Helzer then beat Ivan Stineman to death, while his brother slashed Annette Stineman's throat.
Justin and Glenn Helzer, now 39, were sentenced to death. Godman, now 34, was sentenced to 38 years to life in prison.

Scary Mormon stuff. The above is just the latest. Somehow I'd missed this whole mess. If you need need to catch up like I did, there's lots more Helzer links HERE

Crucified Jesus Made of Toast

2010-01-18T21:09:00.004-06:00

Brother Ben sends this in...

British artist Adam Sheldon recreated Jesus’ crucifixion using some pieces of burned toast and a scraping knife. His work of art is now on display at the Anglican Church of St Peter, in Lincs.

full story here.

“spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ.”

2010-01-18T21:02:00.003-06:00

Via: ABC News:

Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.
One of the citations on the gun sights, 2COR4:6, is an apparent reference to Second Corinthians 4:6 of the New Testament, which reads: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Other references include citations from the books of Revelation, Matthew and John dealing with Jesus as “the light of the world.” John 8:12, referred to on the gun sights as JN8:12, reads, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Trijicon confirmed to ABCNews.com that it adds the biblical codes to the sights sold to the U.S. military. Tom Munson, director of sales and marketing for Trijicon, which is based in Wixom, Michigan, said the inscriptions “have always been there” and said there was nothing wrong or illegal with adding them. Munson said the issue was being raised by a group that is “not Christian.” The company has said the practice began under its founder, Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian from South Africa who was killed in a 2003 plane crash.
The company’s vision is described on its Web site: “Guided by our values, we endeavor to have our products used wherever precision aiming solutions are required to protect individual freedom.”
“We believe that America is great when its people are good,” says the Web site. “This goodness has been based on Biblical standards throughout our history, and we will strive to follow those morals.”
Spokespeople for the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps both said their services were unaware of the biblical markings. They said officials were discussing what steps, if any, to take in the wake of the ABCNews.com report. It is not known how many Trijicon sights are currently in use by the U.S. military.
The biblical references appear in the same type font and size as the model numbers on the company’s Advanced Combat Optical Guides, called the ACOG.
A photo on a Department of Defense Web site shows Iraqi soldiers being trained by U.S. troops with a rifle equipped with the bible-coded sights.
“It’s wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws,” said Michael “Mikey” Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.
‘Firearms of Jesus Christ’
“It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they’re being shot by Jesus rifles,” he said.
Weinstein, an attorney and former Air Force officer, said many members of his group who currently serve in the military have complained about the markings on the sights. He also claims they’ve told him that commanders have referred to weapons with the sights as “spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ.”
He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of “those who are calling this a Crusade.”
According to a government contracting watchdog group, fedspending.org, Trijicon had more than $100 million in government contracts in fiscal year 2008. The Michigan company won a $33 million Pentagon contract in July, 2009 for a new machine gun optic, according to Defense Industry Daily. The company’s earnings from the U.S. military jumped significantly after 2005, when it won a $660 million long-term contract to supply the Marine Corps with sights.
The sights are used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the training of Iraqi and Afghan soldiers. The maker of the sights, Trijicon, has a $660 million multi-year contract to provide up to 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps, and additional contracts to provide sights to the U.S. Army.
U.S. military rules specifically prohibit the proselytizing of any religion in Iraq or Afghanistan and were drawn up in order to prevent criticism that the U.S. was embarked on a religious “Crusade” in its war against al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents.
“This is probably the best example of violation of the separation of church and state in this country,” said Weinstein. “It’s literally pushing fundamentalist Christianity at the point of a gun against the people that we’re fighting. We’re emboldening an enemy.”

Pat Robertson Voodoo doll offered for sale on ebay

2010-01-18T20:57:00.004-06:00

The soul of American Televangelist Pat Robertson is being offered for sale at online auction site ebay in the form of a Voodoo doll.
It comes after Robertson brought condemnation from church leaders and even the White House, for saying that Haiti's earthquake was caused by Haitians' pact with the devil.
A White House spokesman Robert Gibbs fiercely criticised the evangelist broadcaster saying: "It never ceases to amaze, that in times of amazing human suffering somebody says something that can be so utterly stupid."
The day after the earthquake, Robertson said Haitians pledged to serve the devil if he would help them win their independence, and the devil said, "It's a deal."
Robertson said, "ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other."
His spokesman said Robertson's comments were based on Voodoo rituals carried out before a slave rebellion against French colonists in 1791.
Now, a Pat Robertson Voodoo doll is being offered for sale on ebay, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross.
"After an exclusive deal with devil, we are finally able to bring black magic into your very own home!" the item's description states.
"The lucky winner of this auction will attain the soul of Televangelist Pat Robertson in a handheld figurine comprised of the finest straw, cloth, and other organic natural materials!
"Ever wanted to cause Pat Robertson a massive headache? Give him back pain? Jab him in the crotch?" the entry states. "Of course you have! Well then BID NOW to own your very own physical representation of the dark, dark soul of Pat Robertson.
Accessories included with the doll are "Pat's very own Holy Bible, and Bag of money taken from real Americans!"
via

Marte Tilton: Our Hearts Were Pure

2010-01-17T20:51:00.002-06:00

Here's an oldie but goodie from 2001 - A Steve Blow column in the Dallas Morning News where he visits with Marte Tilton on the occasion of her book, The Only Way Out is Through, being published.

It almost felt like returning to the scene of the crime.
Back when I was digging around on TV preacher Robert Tilton, people often called to say they had spotted him in a high-dollar shop at the Galleria or at the Westin Hotel there.
The Galleria Westin was where Bob and his wife, Marte, stayed while in town after they had secretly moved to a mansion in California.
Well, when Marte Tilton agreed to visit with me the other day, where did she suggest we meet? At the cafe just outside the Westin Hotel in the Galleria.
It felt a little weird. But I guess we're all creatures of habit.
To be honest, I lost interest in Brother Bob a long time ago. People still ask me about him. And I tell what little I know – that he moved to South Florida and carries on with a smaller, cheesier version of his TV ministry.
But it's Marte I have continued to wonder about. She's the one who stayed around – through the collapse of their church, through their divorce, through Bob's quick marriage and messy second divorce, through the laughingstock that the name Tilton became.
"God has done a lot of healing in my life," she said as we visited over coffee. We had found a quiet table out of the way, overlooking the ice-skating rink.
"I don't remember a lot of things – which I'm glad about. Obviously I wouldn't be sitting here today with you if I remembered a lot," she said, laughing.
And I laughingly told her how hurt I was to not get a single nasty mention in her recent book, The Only Way Out Is Through – Courage In Times of Trouble.
Rightfully, she gives credit for the ministry's public disgrace to Diane Sawyer's PrimeTime Live exposé. But Marte still insists that the central accusation of that program – that prayer requests went straight into the trash – was wrong.
"They were absolutely wrong. I set the system up. I knew how it was supposed to work," she said.
But on the other hand, she doesn't contend that the ministry was innocent. "I don't blame the media for all this," she said. "It has to do with the heart."
In her book, as well as face to face, Marte is frustratingly vague about the sins of the ministry. "There was a shift in our hearts," she said. "It was gradual. I can't say exactly how or when it happened."
But what happened?
"I can't speak for Bob. I was just trying to keep up. I became a workaholic instead of ministering to the people. When you don't have time to open your Christmas gifts for six months, you've got a real problem. Our focus had been lost.
"As for Bob, I don't know what happened. But obviously something happened in his heart or he would not have dropped his family as he did."
That's about all she will say about her ex-husband. She said they have spoken only twice in the last year.
"I don't hate him. We had 25 wonderful years together. We had four wonderful children. How could I hate him? I don't know why things happened like they did. But I know that God did a lot of good things in those 25 years, and that's what I try to look at."
The Tiltons have two grown children and two teenage sons who live here with Marte. She asked that I not specify their suburb.
"My kids have suffered a lot because of their last name," she said.
My biggest problem with the Tiltons was always one of stewardship. The ministry brought in $70 million a year at its peak, and the Tiltons controlled every cent. They lived like royalty – with no deacons to answer to, no elders, no oversight of any kind.
Yet Marte still sees no problem with their lifestyle. "Obviously it was a higher level than a lot of people lived. But not higher than a lot of high-profile ministers."
And what became of the millions of dollars in church property that she and Bob controlled?
"I have no idea," she said. "After the divorce, I was kicked out and cut off."
Since the divorce, Marte has operated a small gifts business. For a while, she sold from a kiosk at Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville – feeling conspicuous and humiliated.
She speaks some at pastor conferences and women's retreats. But she knows she doesn't have the charisma of her ex-husband.
"I'm more of a behind-the-scenes person," she said. "My real gift is administration. I'm an organizer, for goodness' sake."
She hopes to turn that gift into consulting work for private schools and ministries.
As Marte talks, her voice warms most when she recalls those early days – when she and her exuberant young husband first got saved, when he felt called to begin a tiny church.
"Nobody could bring people to the Lord like Bob. It was thrilling and all so exciting," she said.
"Our hearts were pure."

Voodoo's view of the quake in Haiti

2010-01-16T12:22:00.002-06:00

For Erol Josué, the earthquake was mother nature, the land of Haiti, rising up to defend herself against the erosion, deforestation, and environmental devastation that have been ongoing for the last few decades. "Everybody was smashed to the ground," said Erol. "Rich and poor. But look how symbolic this is. The Palace is smashed, the legislative building, the tax office, and the Cathedral. The country is crushed. We are all on our knees." This Vodou priest is not speaking about divine retribution, as has Pat Robertson. God is not punishing us for disobedience. Erol is speaking about a giant natural rebalancing act, a reaction against human dealings with the ecosystem.

via

Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

2010-01-13T16:28:00.005-06:00

Ex 22:19

This one's for you, Brother Mack.

Sheep Gives Birth to Human-Faced Lamb in Turkey

A sheep gave birth to a dead lamb with a human-like face. The calf was born in a village not far from the city of Izmir, Turkey.

Erhan Elibol, a vet, performed Cesarean section on the animal to take the calf out, but was horrified to see that the features of the calf’s snout bore a striking resemblance to a human face.

“I’ve seen mutations with cows and sheep before. I’ve seen a one-eyed calf, a two-headed calf, a five-legged calf. But when I saw this youngster I could not believe my eyes. His mother could not deliver him so I had to help the animal,” the 29-year-old veterinary said.

The lamb’s head had human features on – the eyes, the nose and the mouth – only the ears were those of a sheep.

Veterinaries said that the rare mutation most likely occurred as a result of improper mutation since the fodder for the lamb’s mother was abundant with vitamin A, CNNTurk.com reports.

A goat from Zimbabwe gave birth to a similar youngster in September 2009. The mutant baby born with a human-like head stayed alive for several hours until the frightened village residents killed him.

The governor of the province where the ugly goat was born said that the little goat was the fruit of unnatural relationship between the female goat and a man.

"This incident is very shocking. It is my first time to see such an evil thing. It is really embarrassing," he reportedly said. "The head belongs to a man while the body is that of a goat. This is evident that an adult human being was responsible. Evil powers caused this person to lose self control. We often hear cases of human beings who commit bestiality but this is the first time for such an act to produce a product with human features," he added.

The mutant creature was hairless. Local residents said that even dogs were afraid to approach the bizarre animal.

The locals burnt the body of the little goat, and biologists had no chance to study the rare mutation.

The Antichrist Study Guide

2010-01-13T16:04:00.004-06:00

it's coming down fast. Get the answers YOU NEED at THIS LINK, provided by our good friend, the ever-vigilant Brother T Tex

and I guess you can follow the Antichrist on Twitter now, too.

Pat Robertson: Haiti "Cursed" After "Pact to the Devil"

2010-01-13T15:57:00.004-06:00

Pat Robertson, the American Christian televangelist and host of "The 700 Club," said that Haitians need to have a "great turning to god" while he was reporting on the devastating 7.0 earthquake that shook the island nation — the most powerful to hit the country in a century.

As Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said "well over" 100,000 people may have died in the national disaster, Robertson took to the airwaves Wednesday on his show and said that the country has been "cursed by one thing after another" since they "swore a pact to the devil."

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about," Robertson said Tuesday.

"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another," Robertson said.

Full story and video HERE

our thanks to Brother Ben for this newsflash

What if You're Wrong?

2010-01-11T21:34:00.000-06:00

Tilton Nemesis Gary Richardson talks about Tilton and Oral Roberts

2010-01-11T20:38:00.008-06:00

Tributes to Oral Roberts flooded the airwaves after his passing. His son Richard said that he received hundreds of condolences via text messages to his phone. But longtime Tulsans know that the name Oral Roberts solicits a more controversial message when mentioned around town.
In this special edition of Goodbye Tulsa, we talk to a man who wasn’t charmed by Roberts’ particular charisma, but rather tested by it.
Attorney Gary Richardson, whose name also elicits a strong response around Tulsa, filed a famous lawsuit against Oral Roberts University in late 2007, which ultimately led to the departure of its sitting president. Richardson’s history with Oral Roberts goes much further back, however–back to a time when Roberts had actually sought Richardson’s advice following the legal troubles of another televangelist, Robert Tilton. It wasn’t until the end of the lengthy meeting that Roberts left Richardson with a distinct impression–one that you can judge for yourself.
Goodbye Tulsa

Mad TV: Davey and Goliath II - Pet Cemetery

2010-01-10T20:54:00.000-06:00

Mad TV's Davey and Son of Goliath

2010-01-10T20:50:00.001-06:00

Davey and Goliath creator Art Clokey dies

2010-01-10T20:40:00.005-06:00

2 Kings 2:23-24

2010-01-02T16:06:00.006-06:00

sent in by Brother Ben

who found it here (looks like lots of good stuff from some

smarty pants secular humanist)

PS - fellow blogsters - how to I get blogger to set margins where

YouTube vids don't get cut off?

Hispanics flock to Pentecostal churches

2010-01-02T15:07:00.003-06:00

"It's really evangelism on steroids," Lugo said. "This may well be the most dynamic religious movement in the world today in terms of growth and breadth and scope."

story here

via

Sorry about the last two posts...

2010-01-02T12:09:00.000-06:00

Could we start again, please?

And if that wasn't sick enough for you

2010-01-02T12:01:00.002-06:00

Rumors about Baby Soup have been circulating around China for a while, but the shocking proof came when a reporter decided to go undercover and see it with his own eyes. “Spare Rib Soup”, as it is commonly referred to, is not on a regular menu and people have to wait until a baby is available…for cooking. The Chinese reporter, for example, had to wait two weeks until a couple who had aborted their child, sold it to the restaurant. They already had two girls and when they learned their third offspring was again a girl, they decided to terminate their pregnancy and make some money.

Now a restaurant in Canton, China, is serving Spare Rib Soup as a delicacy. The baby is boiled together with pieces of chicken and expensive herbs, that consumers swear by. A client said he is 62-years-old while his wife is just 19, and thanks to the Baby Soup, they have sex every day.

please....don't.....click....the....following...link...

boiled baby soup

Satanic Panic - The Movie

2010-01-02T11:56:00.002-06:00

looks like they packed in every lurid cliche in the book!

Devil Devil Go Away!

2009-12-27T16:20:00.002-06:00

Devil Devil Go Away!

Jesus is a friend of mine

2009-12-25T21:49:00.000-06:00

John Hagee's Ideal woman

2009-12-25T21:41:00.000-06:00

Reverend Bruce Gets the Last Laugh

2009-12-25T21:37:00.001-06:00

The psychedelic secrets of Santa Claus

2009-12-25T12:03:00.002-06:00

Then of course there are the contentions that Santa is a shaman, inspired by ancestral memories of Amanita Muscaria use...

via

All I Want For Christmas...

2009-12-25T11:35:00.006-06:00

Aborted Fetus Found in Gift Box Under Christmas Tree

SAN JUAN, Texas -- A south Texas couple put an aborted 7-month-old fetus in a gift box under a Christmas tree after they were unable to flush the remains down a toilet, authorities alleged Monday.

Ruby Lee Medina, 31, and Javier Gonzalez, 37, of Mission, have been charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Bond was set Monday at $20,000 each.

San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez said police found the fetus inside the woman's trailer home Thursday after getting an anonymous tip.

Autopsy results are pending, but Gonzalez said police believe the woman used pills to induce an abortion Thursday, then called an ambulance after she began bleeding and told doctors she didn't know where the fetus was.

The abortion drug, mifepristone, was made to be used at approximately seven weeks into pregnancy to kill an unborn child, but the second part of the two-drug process, misoprostol, can be used to cause contractions.

It is an anti-ulcer drug that is not meant for pregnancy or abortion purposes.

Gonzalez said Medina called for an ambulance after she began bleeding and told paramedics she did not know the location of the unborn child.

He indicated the couple attempted to flush the body of the baby down the toilet but were unable to do so.

The couple said they eventually had planned to bury the baby's body in their backyard but police found them out first.

They voluntarily surrendered to officials.

"Apparently they cleaned up the fetus and they placed it inside a gift box under the Christmas tree," the police chief said.

sent in by Brother Ben

oh, and you can get your fetus cookie cutter here!

Know Thy Enemy

2009-12-25T11:30:00.003-06:00

Rep. Michele Bachmann and Lou Engle of The Call participate in the Family Research Council's anti-healthcare reform "prayercast."

via <------ lots of good stuff there

thanks to Brother T Tex

Teabagger Worried His Prayers Made God Kill Sen. Inhofe

2009-12-23T14:16:00.002-06:00

A panicked teabagger called up C-SPAN in tears today, worried that he accidentally killed Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe by praying for Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd to die.

via GAWKER

The Condemned Man's Prayer wall clock

2009-12-22T22:59:00.008-06:00

just in time to be too late for Christmas. Time is running out in more ways than one.

"Dear God, this is my last prayer on earth..."

first offering from the Snake Oil Cafe Press Shoppe

(Here's a tip about Cafe Press: If you sign up for an account and don't mind getting their spam, they do offer free postage several times a year. Otherwise it's a pretty harsh toke.)

Here is the text of the prayer:

Baboons Observed Praying

2009-12-22T14:47:00.002-06:00

Read about it here

Thanks to Sister Lori for the tip.

Meet the Republican Party's new spiritual guru, Lou Engle

2009-12-22T12:44:00.003-06:00

"My son Jesse, he's nineteen years old. God has given him dreams, to go to San Francisco to launch a house of prayer, one block from the Castro District - where the homosexuals boast the dominion of darkness. He's going there with weeping in his heart. With the dream that prayer is stronger than the dominion of that spirit.

...He said to me, "dad," he said, "as long as I'm there I don't think the Lord will judge San Francisco." [boos, angry murmur from Engle's audience]...

He's nineteen years old. He's starting to cast out homosexual spirits out of our new converts. It's scary*. The whole thing's scary. But fathers are to send their sons into the darkest places."

Good rundown here

Our 100th Post Celebration: Screaming Boy

2009-12-20T18:57:00.011-06:00

Upstart TV preachers flock to Dallas like young starlets drawn to Hollywood. So began the story of Jonathan Bell who arrived in Dallas from Kingston, Ontario in early 1992 with a vision from God to start a television ministry.

Accompanying Jonathan were Carrie Hart, a 71-year-old invalid, and her 35-year-old retarded son. With the $1400 per month that the Harts received in government checks, the three got set up in a one bedroom apartment in the predominately gay Oak Lawn section of Dallas, and Jonathan Bell Ministries was on its way.

That first Texas summer, however, took its toll on the trio of transplanted Canadians. Their living arrangement had deteriorated to the point that on the night of July 28th, police were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance at the ministry apartment, whereupon Jonathan was hauled in on aggravated assault of an invalid.

The police incident report reveals a sorry state of affairs: Jonathan typically sent the Harts out early each morning on ministry errands, and they were expected back promptly at 9 PM. Being late, or not following instructions exactly resulted in a beating. Neighbors told police that they had seen the Harts with bruises and black eyes. The Harts were given just a few dollars a month, and Jonathan got the only bed while they slept on the floor with no bedding.
In what may have been a water baptism gone horribly awry, Harry Hart, the son, claimed that earlier in the summer Jonathan had tried to drown him at an area lake by holding him underwater by his hair.

Within a few days of Jonathan's arrest, the Harts returned to Canada, and all charges were dropped.

This sordid little tale would not be worth telling if shortly thereafter Jonathan had not gone on to produce two of the most psychotic, disturbing religious programs ever made.

Flanked by a potted plant, Screaming Boy was born in the studios of Dallas Cable Access. Religious fury in a rented tux. The petulant, porcine pentecostal launched into a hellfire and brimstone sermon at max volume which didn't subside for a solid hour.

But much more than the message itself was the delivery, complete with nervous tics, bulging veins, and a childish, bullying demeanor. An implicit "n'yah-n'yah n'yah n'yah-n'yah" was almost audible at the end of every sentence. His main message concerned those smug, self-satisfied, so-called Christians in "their fancy churches" who "weren't gonna make it in."

"I've been looking for a church here in Dallas where they don't just preach the Word on Sunday and live like the DEVIL the rest of the week! Last Friday I went to a singles get together at the Church of Christ, and they were going to show Terminator 2...to people who weren't even saved! I mean, COME ON!" [note that the singles group was going to show Terminator 2. I guess Jonathan took care of THAT!] "If you don't realize you're a filthy, rotten sinner, you're going to hell, Buck-o."

So don't you blame Screaming Boy when, on Judgement Day, you're on the wrong side of the gate. And, hey, you might be in a car crash tonight. You'll see. Jonathan's making it in, and you're not. N'yah-n'yah n'yah n'yah-n'yah.

"I"M NOT AN EXTREMIST!!!"

Speweth Jonathan: "I study the Bible five to eight hours a day!! And because I have faith as a child, Jesus Christ shows me visions all the time. He talks with me all the time, whether YOU believe it or not!" [So THERE!]

"Two years ago God gave me a vision where I saw young people, men and women - no children there - no clothes on...They had their hands up in the air and they were screaming and yelling in Hell!"

Also perversely compelling were the little tidbits he threw in about his own life. Abandoned by his mother at age eleven, Jonathan was put in a foster home with a man who sexually abused him. He suffered from depression until age twenty-seven, but managed to build a successful career as a hairdresser making, he claimed, $100,000 a year. He led a singles group at a church in Kingston, Ontario, but then God told him to go to Dallas and start his own ministry, and to build a Christian Boy's Ranch for abused youngsters.

Hmmmmmm... Good thing that in that vision of Hell that God gave Jonathan, none of the naked people were under eighteen.

My writing skills at conveying the viewing experience of watching Screaming Boy are woefully inadequate. If I said he was a cross between Porky Pig and Sam Kinison, would that help? If I noted that for no reason little subtitles would appear on the screen with slogans like "Satan Wants Your Mind and Soul," would you start to understand how mind-numbingly weird these shows were? Or that, in the finest cable access tradition, Jonathan spent half the time looking into the wrong camera?

Sadly, after producing just two one hour programs on Dallas Cable Access, Jonathan Bell vanished. Calls to Dallas Cable Access yeilded no information. Letters sent to his Dallas PO Box went unanswered.

While reviewing the two Screaming Boy episodes in preparation of this story, I decided to call the church in Kingston where Jonathan said he had led the singles group.

"We are in no way associated with Jonathan Bell. If you're writing something about him, please don't mention the name of this church. We don't know any more than what's been in the papers."

click

The papers?? Surely they weren't concerned about a little blurb in the Dallas paper almost three years ago about the assault on the Harts..

With much excitement and a healthy dose of foreboding, I dialed the number for the Kingston Whig-Standard. The worst was confirmed.

"A Kingston hairstylist and former host of a self-help cable TV show, who is facing a number of sexual charges involving children, will remain in jail until a bail hearing Monday.

"Jonathan Bell, the 35-year-old owner of the Jonathan Bell Salon at 477 Macdonnell St., appeared briefly at a bail hearing yesterday in provincial court on Wellington Street.
"He faces 11 sexual molestation charges, some of them stretching back almost two decades...

"Besides running his own salon, Bell was known to many people in the Kingston area through his short-lived Cablenet TV program, called Success In Life.

"Rob Heeney, program manager at Kingston Cablenet, said the show ran monthly from September 1993 to December 1993. 'It was a self-help show,' said Heeney. Part of the show involved Bell giving people make-overs."

--excerpted from The Kingston Whig-Standard, November 4, 1994.

Subsequent articles revealed that Jonathan pleaded not guilty, was denied bail, and that still more charges were filed.

It is interesting and somewhat telling that upon his return to Canada he choose to name his new television program so similarly to Robert Tilton's "Success N Life," even though he expressed nothing but sneering contempt for "so-called preachers here in Dallas who live in their big, fancy houses."

It occurs to me now that what was played out on Dallas Cable Access was more than a tormented individual ranting and raving about Jesus. What we had witnessed was no less than Jonathan Bell in an all out battle with his personal demons, the title match for his very soul.

Chalk this one up for the Devil.

(The above originally appeared in the print version of Snake Oil # 4, Fall 1995)

Brother T Tex helps us get in the Christmas Spirit!

2009-12-20T12:36:00.003-06:00

Check out all the crazy Christmas images at T Tex's Hexes

The Greatest Story Ever Told

2009-12-19T10:33:00.005-06:00

Santa Claus versus The Devil

I first saw K. Gordon Murray's Santa Claus at the 25th Street Theatre in Waco, TX in 1966. It's impossible to overstate the profound effect this film had on my life. Of course, it was the English dubbed version I saw, but nowadays I'm partial to the original spanish. Here is the classic scene where the Devil tempts Lupe to steal the doll:

Name It and Claim It Christians Contributed to the Financial Crash

2009-12-16T20:58:00.004-06:00

I love it! An article in the new Atlantic makes the case that Prosperity Gospel is a contributing factor in today's economic ills. Right on! Here's the summary:

America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it’s still going strong.

Dallas is so overrun by these morons. It's nice to see them called out. Read the full article HERE

Called Home

2009-12-15T15:52:00.004-06:00

Oral Roberts has exited the tent

The Rebel Jesus

2009-12-15T15:17:00.004-06:00

Temple of Schlock has a nice tribute to Dallas' own Larry "Zontar" Buchanan's 1973 insane "The Rebel Jesus"
This groundbreaking film uncovered lots of important stuff they left out of the Bible!

Family Circus

2009-12-15T14:37:00.000-06:00

Raising the Dead with Todd Bentley

2009-12-15T13:30:00.005-06:00

from the Lakeland, Florida revival

this is kinda old news, but if you want to take a trip down the Todd Bentley / Joel's Army rabbit hole, here are a couple of good places to jump off:

'Arming' for Armageddon

Joel's Army and The Call

UPDATE: if you're so inclined, a good round up on the Roots of Dominionism

A message from Scientology: There's an Org in Your Neighborhood!

2009-12-13T13:51:00.004-06:00

(includes Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson)

via

Dinner with the Abortionists

2009-12-13T13:27:00.002-06:00

via

Robert Tilton Flashback

2009-12-13T02:01:00.003-06:00

While we're waiting for a new post, why not go back through the archives and catch up on all the Robert Tilton related posts from days gone by?

Robert Tilton: A History in Flatulence

So.... What's Bob Been Up To?

Robert Tilton Fan Club on Channel 8

Mrs. Bob Tilton # 2

Jesus Junk!

2009-12-06T18:38:00.012-06:00

Somebody has taken it upon themselves to keep track of the tacky Christian-themed apparel, doodads, and knickknacks that are proliferating out there. Pictures are posted on this blog: The Museum of Idolatry. Sometimes they link to the seller, other times, sadly, not. But it's oh so worth a click!

Thank you, Brother Russell for sharing!

Passing the collection plate

2009-12-06T12:32:00.004-06:00

If you are doing any Christmas shopping at Amazon, please consider going to Amazon via the Snake Oil Amazon page. <----Click that link, then click on "powered by Amazon" and it'll take you to the main Amazon page. If you initiate your Amazon session this way, I get a small piece of the action. So go to Amazon now and buy a big TV or something!

Old Time Religion

2009-12-06T12:01:00.004-06:00

This is an absolutely incredible site - religious ephemera from the collection of Jim Linderman. Your faith will be stirred up! Once again we are indebted to Brother Tex Edwards. Click here!

Especially wonderful is the post on Rev. Charles Jessup

Derelict HOLY LAND USA roadside attraction from the 1950s

2009-12-05T12:21:00.005-06:00

In the early 1950s John Baptist Greco, a staunch Roman Catholic, had a vision of a roadside theme park devoted to God. By the end of the decade, he had created exactly that: a theme park built to replicate a miniature Bethlehem. By the 1960s, the park was visited by some 50,000 people a year. One could come and see a recreation of the Garden of Eden, biblical-themed dioramas and various tributes to the life and work of Jesus Christ.
The park was perhaps best known for its Hollywood-style sign reading "Holy Land USA" and its 56-foot steel cross that can be seen for miles, especially when lit up at night. It is said that there is a town joke that citizens grow up thinking Jesus was electrocuted on the cross. In 1984, the park was closed for renovation. Greco had hopes of expanding the site to attract more visitors; however, this was never achieved as he died in 1986.
Responsibility for the park passed to a group of nuns. For a while, they tried to keep the park clean and neat looking but never opened to the public. Regardless of their efforts, the park became seedy and vandalised since Greco's death. To this day, the nuns still own the property, however, it is the local teenagers and foragers who have made their mark. Statues have been beheaded, dioramas destroyed, and tunnels blocked. Occasionally tourists still stop to look, and even explore, but they make sure they are gone before dark.
via
this article was also sent in by Brother Ben, who is obviously on a spiritual roll this week

OUR FOUR EVIL ENEMIES OF THE END TIMES

2009-12-05T12:15:00.001-06:00

Brother Ben thought that this should be brought to your attention:

Bob Larson vs Foul Demon Spirit of Homosexuality!

2009-12-03T14:10:00.003-06:00

Adam Gorightly heps us to this wonderful Bob Larson segment

more Bob Larson here

Yet another holiday gift idea

2009-12-03T14:01:00.003-06:00

War on Christmas button

Wanda Jackson

2009-11-25T13:24:00.002-06:00

you may know Wanda for "Funnel of Love" or "Mean Mean Man." But I love Wanda most for

Jesus Put a Yodel in My Soul

Soldiers of Christ

2009-11-25T11:14:00.006-06:00

The Family.

No, not Charlie's Family. We're talking about the truly scary, secretive right wing political "fellowship" in Washington DC, subject of an excellent 2008 book by Jeff Sharlet called The Family.

Sharlet is back on the media circuit talking about the Family to NPR's Terry Gross, timely at present because of their involvement and influence in the current health care debate.

Brother T Tex alerted me to the above NPR piece which is well worth a listen.

And while we're on the subject of Jeff Sharlet, I'd like to point out a monumental article he wrote back in 2005 for Harper's called "Soldiers of Christ: Inside America's Most Powerful Megachurch" about Ted Haggard's New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Unfortunately it's not one of the articles Harpers offers for free, although the text can be found in somewhat random places elsewhere on the internet. The story of Pastor Ted's rise from pastor of a basement church to an advisor of President Bush is fascinating, and the social implications of the megachurch phenomenon are absolutely terrifying:

Which brings us back to "Order." Key to the growth of evangelicalism during the last twenty years has been a social structure of "cell groups" that allows churches to grow endlessly while maintaining orthodoxy in their ranks. New Life, for instance, has 1,300 cell groups, or "small groups," as Pastor Ted prefers to call them. Such a structure is not native to Colorado Springs; in fact, most evangelicals attribute it to Pastor Paul Cho, of South Korea, who has built a congregation of 750,000 using the cell-group structure. American megachurches that have adopted the cell model unaltered have had only partial success.

Pastor Ted's insight was in adapting this system for the affluence of the United States. South Korea, he notes, is on the "front lines" in the war against communism, "so they needed a strong chain-of-command system." But not so Americans. "Free-market globalization" has made us so free, he realized, that an American cell-group system could be mature enough to function just like a market. One of Pastor Ted's favorite books is Thomas Friedman's The Lexus and the Olive Tree, which is now required reading for the hundreds of pastors under Ted's spiritual authority across the country. From Friedman, Pastor Ted says he learned that everything, including spirituality, can be understood as a commodity. And unregulated trade, he concluded, was the key to achieving worldly freedom.

In devising New Life's small-group system, Pastor Ted says that he asked himself and his staff a simple question: Do you like your neighbors? And, for that matter, do you even know your neighbors? The answers he got - the Golden Rule to the contrary - were "Not really" and "No." Okay, said Pastor Ted, so why would you want to be in a small group with them? His point was that arbitrary small groups would make less sense than self-selected groups organized around common interests. Hence New Life members can choose among small groups dedicated to motorcycles, or rock climbing, or home-schooling, or protesting outside abortion clinics.

But Pastor Ted's true genius lies in his organizational hierarchy, which ensures ideological rigidity even as it allows for individual expression. Not just anyone can lead a small group, much less a section; a battery of personality and spiritual tests must be undergone first, as well as an official background check. Once chosen, group leaders meet regularly with their own leaders in the chain of command, and members are encouraged to jump the chain and speak to a higher level if they think their leader is straying into "false teachings" - moral relativism, ecumenism, or even "Satanism," in the form of New Age notions such as crystal healing.

Whether the system is common sense or heresy itself - the Body of Christ atomized - is beside the point; New Lifers have found it powerfully persuasive. Pastor Ted has instituted a semester system, so that no one needs to be locked into a group he or she doesn't like for too long. And since New Life's cell groups don't limit themselves to Bible study, they function as covert evangelizing engines. In return, what Pastor Ted has given his flock are lifestyle choices.

I'd like to point out that you don't have to be a foaming at the mouth atheist to oppose the megachurch phenomenon - probably the best way to fight them is to support smaller progressive churches.

Scientology for beginners

2009-11-25T10:38:00.003-06:00

from the Sydney Morning Herald:

For decades the celebrity-recruiting group, granted legal status as a religion in Australia in 1983, has fought to preserve its secrets. These include a bizarre cosmology involving the galactic dictator Xenu dumping millions of corpses in volcanoes on Earth 75 million years ago and blowing them up with 17 hydrogen bombs

In this schema, the souls, or ”thetans”, of the dead were contaminated and in turn contaminated humans, who can be cleansed only by Scientology. The process involves vitamins, E-meters and large sums of money.

via

Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins

2009-11-24T23:12:00.004-06:00

'I have walked the same path as God, by taking lives and making others afraid, I became God's equal. Through killing others, I became my own master. Through my own power I come to my own redemption..'

via

this post inspired by The Barracudas' "Poor White Trash"

Some Thrift Store Gospel for your Thursday

2009-11-19T18:17:00.004-06:00

Swing That Gospel Axe!

submitted by Brother T Tex

via

Another Holiday Gift Idea

2009-11-19T18:14:00.005-06:00

Hollow Flask Bible!

Get yours from Etsy

Holiday Gift Ideas!

2009-11-19T18:06:00.009-06:00

someone's coined a bumper sticker slogan encouraging people to pray for Barack Obama. But here's the funny part: if you actually read the verse, it's really a secret Christian code for "Kill the President!'

“Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

via Gawker

(sadly it looks like Cafe Press has now pulled the item)

Bus 1170: One Man On a Mission From God

2009-11-17T22:50:00.012-06:00

Too Weird for Words (so watch the documentary)

On a peaceful summer’s night in July 2008, along a stretch of the Trans Canada Highway in Manitoba, the unthinkable happened. What started as just another Prairie bus ride became a nightmare when the lives of two passengers intersected tragically and resulted in the murder of Tim McLean. In Bus 1170, Bob McKeown takes us inside what happened on Greyhound 1170 through the eyes of the surviving passengers and other witnesses.

A seemingly random decision, to take the Greyhound from B.C. to Winnipeg rather than a friend’s offer of a plane ticket, would cost twenty-two-year-old Tim McLean his life, would profoundly change the lives of dozens of others who saw his murder and shock anyone who has heard about it since. On Greyhound 1170, Vincent Li, a diagnosed schizophrenic on his own randomly chosen bus journey, sat beside McLean and then, obeying voices inside his head, repeatedly stabbed and then cannibalized McLean’s body.

Watch documentary here.

Of special interest to Snake Oil readers: victim Tim McLean was a Juggalo!

Big Big Things Coming Up

2009-11-17T17:40:00.004-06:00

don't want to give too much away, but I have had an exclusive Word of Knowledge that big things are on the horizon in the world of Brother Mack and his mighty mighty ministry. Stay tuned to Snake Oil and you won't miss a thing!

And for your listening pleasure...

2009-11-17T17:36:00.003-06:00

click ---> Glossolalia: Speaking In Tongues

brought to you by Brother T Tex. And I forgot to mention that the previous offering was from Ben, our dear Baylor Brother.

If your Faith is wavering...

2009-11-17T17:32:00.003-06:00

If your faith is wavering...

click here.

Process Church of the Final Judgement - Reenactment

2009-11-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

via Mutate

Christian Bootcamp Seeks to Arm Home-Schooled Youths for "Spiritual Warfare"

2009-11-17T17:23:00.002-06:00

By Eleanor Bader, RH Reality Check
Posted on November 16, 2009

Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, Assistant Director of Operation Save America, is worried. According to studies by the Barna Research Group, California pollsters specializing in tracking religious and spiritual attitudes, only nine percent of teenaged Christians believe in moral absolutes. What’s more, Barna reports that the vast majority of kids raised Christian will abandon all or part of their faith by the time they finish high school. "Assembly of God leaders estimate between 65 and 70 percent will depart, while the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life estimates roughly 88 percent will leave," Thomas writes.

To remedy this, Thomas' Elijah Ministries has started the Kingdom Leadership Institute, a weeklong ideological boot camp for home-schooled Christians between the ages of 14 and 21. His recently released book, The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual, is a roadmap for their training and a fascinating -- if twisted -- look at the concerns of far right evangelicals, complete with a game plan for action.

There's no pussy-footing in Thomas' screed. For him the battle between God and Satan is at hand, pitting True Believers against Sinners. Common ground? Impossible since there are only two sides, one resulting in heavenly salvation and the other ending with the earth’s destruction.

"Life is not a playground," he rails. "It is a war zone -- a clash of ideas, philosophies, values, and worldviews. It demands leaders who do not shrink back in [sic] the day of battle." He calls it "spiritual warfare" and repeatedly summons images straight out of the Middle Ages, with gallant Knights protecting grateful maidens, and courtliness trumping gender equity.

Contemporary equals bad, he rants. "During Colonial times, children would be up at four in the morning to help with chores; spoke only when spoken to by an adult; and by the age of seven or eight, boys had chosen their craft or trade and were ready to become apprentices. What a contrast compared to the unruliness, laziness, and lack of direction that characterizes many in this generation." One can only wonder about the regimen imposed on the good reverend’s 13 children and two grandchildren.

As Thomas sees it, the crisis facing today’s young people is a direct result of American secularism-- you know, those pesky rules separating religion and government. In his telling, the lead culprit is the Supreme Court which has usurped God’s legal authority, outlawing prayer in schools, sanctioning abortion and gay rights, and allowing infidels -- AKA Muslims -- to live freely among us.

Remember Alabama Judge Roy Moore? So does Thomas, and he is still smarting from Moore’s 2003 comeuppance. Moore -- one of Thomas’ few heroes -- had posted the 10 Commandments in the Rotunda of the state Judicial Building, something most folks -- Christians and non -- saw as a violation of church/state separation. Not Moore. Given a choice between removing the Commandments or losing his job, he chose the latter which demonstrates, says Thomas, how far the Godly have fallen in the US of A.

Thomas’ solution for changing this and returning American youth to the Christian fold is straightforward, if absurd, and starts with home schooling. Women, he writes, should quit working for money and instead work on inculcating “Christian values”, including male supremacy, in the next generation. “A patriarch is a family ruler. He is the man in charge,” Thomas begins. “Biblical manhood demands men … defend and shield or cover women from injury, evil or oppression.” Not surprisingly, Thomas puts forward an essentialized view: Men are logical, women emotional and spiritually attuned. Feminist challenges to this monochromatic definition are anathema to nature, he charges. Worse, they challenge the male birthright to establish a “dynasty” at home.

Yep, you read right. A dynasty.

“Feminists charge that Christianity promotes a patriarchal religion, which oppresses women and steals their potential. Although it is true that Christianity is patriarchal, the function of true patriarchy is to protect, provide, and care for women and children. Biblical patriarchy is expressed as chivalry,” Thomas writes.

You can almost see Thomas squirming at the idea of women's equality or the varied gender expressions feminists have championed. And then there’s his obvious discomfort with power-wielding females. "A woman can manipulate, dominate and control a man to the point that his manhood is slowly eaten away like a cancer," he raves. Finally, there’s the ultimate rightwing putdown: "Too many women seek value by trying to become men, lead as men, and be aggressive as men."

For Thomas, the call is not only to criminalize abortion and homosexuality, return prayer to the schools, get women out of the workplace, and declare the U.S. a Christian nation, but also to impose Biblical rule on all who reside within our national borders. Furthermore, he's going for blood -- and I mean that literally. "Whether we like it or not, ours is a bloody religion," he explains. "Beginning with God slaying the animals to cover Adam and Eve after the fall…to the final sacrifice by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one theme rings true. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins."

It's hard to know whether this is an oblique reference to murdering abortion providers or is a more literal reference to the war Thomas envisions between his parishioners and everyone else.

But either way, Thomas' fighting words are sure to unsettle at least some of his youthful charges, sending them squarely into the arms of 21st century secularism.

I say a hearty amen to that. Hallelujah.

from http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/143975/

Normal programming will resume shortly

2009-11-17T17:19:00.003-06:00

Bobblehead Jesus

(you gotta click on the link to make BJ do his thing - I haven't figured out how to steal animated images)