Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, June 19, 2004
 | Paul Johnson, Sunday Morning, and Safety for American Moslems
The only thing worse than one atrocity is two atrocities. Since the barbaric murder of Paul Johnson, I have been praying that God will keep the minds and hearts of those who profess Christ fixed on the truth and not on their emotions. Right now the well-being of innocent American Moslems is on my mind, and I am praying that the American public will remember that the men who killed Johnson are fanatical extremists. I am concerned for the safety of those who may be unjustly attacked in revenge, and I am also concerned about the reputation of our Saviour. Nobody does the Lord any favors by lynching people in His Name. The name of Jesus Christ is given for salvation and mercy, not street justice. |
When the news went out yesterday about Paul Johnson's death, I received it with a sinking heart, as many Americans did. I had been praying for him throughout the morning, but to no avail. But my thoughts immediately went to the next most likely people to suffer, and that is American Moslems, who may receive the brunt of public disfavor. Tomorrow, Sunday morning, when Christian preachers get into their pulpits to allegedly deliver sermons on the Word of God, how will they behave? Will they preach the genuine Word of God, or will Fundamentalist congregations be subjected to that familiar mixture of Republican politics, Americana nostalgia (for an America that never actually existed), and Fundamentalist legalism?
The outlook at this moment is not good, to judge from the FFF. One of the regulars, a preacher, I believe, writes:
"These murders have no soul. They are devils. I wish the wrath of God and America upon them. I cant help it. God forgive me for these feelings."By the way, when Fundamentalists say "God forgive me," that really means, "My feelings are strong enough to excuse me from exercising faith in the Word of God." Many fundies assume that powerful feelings are more valid than Scripture.
The Fundamentalist relationship to the Word of God is often a contradictory thing: they say it is the sole authority by which we must live. Yet many, many, fundy preachers are dreadfully ignorant of what the Bible says. Just check the index for details on how ignorant they can be. And many of them really do assume that powerful emotions negate the Scripture or lessen our responsibility to be crucified with Christ.
Anyway, I did assume that the outpouring of emotion over Johnson's death would kick in the bypass circuits and have many fundamentalist preachers calling for Moslem blood. We've had more than one person on the FFF talk about the wives and children of the terrorists as well (as though Al-Qaedda women haven't suffered enough!)
So I don't think that Scriptural forgiveness, prayer for God to change the hearts of our enemies, and serious consideration of God's Word is going to be all that prominent in IFB pulpits come morning. No doubt the preachers can paste in swatches from Scripture of God smiting our enemies hip and thigh to make hatred sound biblical. But if they at least make it clear that justice and revenge belong to God and not man, I guess that will have to be good enough.
And if they don't stick to the theological truth, remember that every life belongs to God. And God has ordained the lawful institutions of government to try crimes and take life if necessary. Nobody honors the name of Christ by breaking the law to harm people or humiliate them.
Friday, June 18, 2004
 | Updated! Reviews of Secret Radio"I just want you to know that i'm really enjoying reading your blog and i can't wait to find out what happens next. thanks for sharing." -- shae "It is vicious gossip thinly disguised as "fiction." It is entirely without literary, ethical, moral, or Christian merit." --Thomas Cassidy "This is such an absorbing story, and you bring it to life with dignity and...well...grace. :)" -- Cindy (Notes in the Key of Life) |
"Publish it. My wife attended [Name of IFB college]. I once taught at [Name of another IFB college]. PLEEEEASE publish it." -- comment via comcast.net
"This story must seem an exaggeration to some, but I have seen this stuff in action, and it's no exaggeration." -- Javie
"Thank you for your honesty." -- Karen
"Its just junk! Some junk still has worth. This junk is worthless." --Marine
"Your story touches me as I have experienced some of what you've penned. Coming from a rabid IFB background, my eyes were opened some years ago and I give my praise to God for that...Secret Radio gave me the ability to recognize and address these issues and through prayer dilute the weight of them." --- comment via email
"No animals were harmed in the filming of this story." I dunno...I think a few sacred cows might have been tipped." -- patzer
"I just finished reading Secret Radio....I started reading it this morning and couldn’t stop until the end....So much of it was believable from my own past in an IFB-controlled environment. Your story outraged me, touched me, and humbled me. It was well-written and it had what so much of modern fiction lacks—-you find yourself genuinely caring about the characters." -- Jack Harris, Air Force
"I have to say, I don't think she goes too far. That is a slice of real life....That's why she's dealing with it, and I think very tastefully, as part of her ongoing saga." --The G Man
"This is a great story." -- ruth
"It's FICTION based on TRUTH and it's publicized as such. That leaves SO much room for the mind to wonder and to wander. Leaves people guessing how much is true and how much is fiction, and just how much went on WHERE." -- IMRIGHTUKNOWIT
"I just finished reading "Secret Radio" and must say that I was captivated by it....I really identified with the struggles that your character, Grace, went through....'Secret Radio' is an Incredible read and uncanny portrayal of the IFB life." -- from a cablelynx reader
"Most excellent!" -- Dave
"I am truly impacted and inspired by the truth and the courage of your characters. This story has real depth and is a study of human nature...which is always a vast study and can be difficult." -- scarlet
"I just want to write to tell you how much I have enjoyed reading [SECRET RADIO].
I came from an IFB background. ...Thank you so much for sharing your story like you have. ... It is captivating and riveting." -- anonymous
"linguistic pornography!" -- jewnorgreek
"We have someone with the courage to warn us, and we punish them by calling it porn? I know it is shocking, but I don't believe for a minute this was written for any reason other than to make us sober and vigilant." -- Pastor Bob
"I have read [SECRET RADIO] and I agree with Pastor Bob" -- Webmaster of the FFF
"Your story takes me back to my own days in a fundamental Baptist Bible college. The details may be somewhat different as it was 40 years ago and not 20. Still, many of the same situations existed even then." -- Don Moffitt
"I've been reading Secret Radio all afternoon....Keep the story coming." -- comment from email
"lady you are spinning a bigtime soap there...and the page that I read was a bit sleezy...you can keep your fundy early afternoon TV show." -- I Have to Laugh
"I...was impressed, as many others obviously were, by the candid (yet not at all prurient or titillating) realism of the story. The main characters were...very believable and human in their tragic faults and surprising virtues." -- Reader from Canada, commenting via email
"This story becomes more incredible with every episode. It's unbelievable how many similarites I see to the IFB college I attended every time I read. I think you're doing a great thing" -- Josh
"Secret Radio paints an inaccurate picture, coming from someone with a known "axe to grind" and an overwhelming desire to show all IFB's as deviants." -- PappaBear
"Just know that one (more) person appreciates this work very much, and your candid (not sensationalized) portrayal. ... Thank you again for writing and sharing Grace and the rest of the crew." -- anonymous
"As much as I wish what was written ...[in SECRET RADIO] was fictional...it isn't. Maybe we don't like the way it was presented -- that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be told. I don't think that it's representative of a statistical majority." --phoenix
"I've only just found this blog, but I've already been through all the archives. I'm amazed at how true to life you've made the details of the story." -- Erin
"I'm only an occasional reader ...Will be less occasional reader in the future." -- tigger2
"Thanks for the great story....too real in some aspects." -- Kathy
"A good piece of fiction, very critical of the worst excesses of Christian Fundamentalists, written by an Evangelical Christian and including several examples of good, loving Fundamentalist Christians among its characters." -- posted by Jedimom on Jabootu's BBS
"What a great story and I'm sad to see it end." -- Winterpen
Thursday, June 17, 2004
 | Is it Scam?
Scamming in the Fundamental Christian culture is just as real as the doctrinal errors that abound, the problems of deep moral corruption that I document, and the lack of accountability that is so problematic among preachers in Fundamentalism. Today I got a letter "From the Home of Dan & Debbie Gibson." Inside was a family picture of 5 white bread and mayo kids and their parents. |
Boy, I've seen this before, I thought. I had to rein in my uncharitable thoughts. But in two separate churches, I have run into Christian scammers. And one of them (a married couple) used their large family as a means to fit into the image of the ideal home schooling, evangelistic, right-with-God family as they worked their way up the hierarchy within the church and took advantage of the good hearted people around them. Many of us remember the Gentle Spirit magazine that went bust when its founder---ann advocate of no birth control, head coverings on girls at all times, home schooling, and things that apparently sounded right to many conservative Christians, left her husband for another man and did not return subscription moneys and money from merchandise orders.
People like these have taught me to be distrustful of smiling family portraits thrust under my eyes as the preliminary for a request for money, or an investment, or a business opportunity (or even as the mere excuse to "let us get to know you.")
They want me to get in on the EcoQuest sales system, and I am
guaranteed to make six figures in almost no time. Hmmm. You know,
000,000.00 is a six figure amount.
Who knows, maybe Dan and Debbie Gibson really are just trying to help others go into business? But the return address of the letter they sent is merely a post office box. And though the return address on the letter (clearly part of a mass mailing) is from The Colony, Texas (postmarked from Lewisville, TX), their website traces back to a Greg Boyer of Modesto CA (gboyer@sbcglobal.net)
And in the six-page letter I received, (printed on both sides of three sheets), dear Brother Dan never mentions his actual ministry, never talks about the poor he has given to, never references his church. In fact, there is no way to track these people back to anything that will document Gibson's claims of being in the ministry. And why send a picture of the family? Why not send a picture of the EcoQuest they are trying to get me to sell?
In the end, the letter appeals to the same drives that all "get rich quick" letters appeal to: financial freedom and freedom to do what you like. Dan thoughtfully supplies glittering accounts of exotic vacations and new cars they can afford with the slick expertise of a carnival barker rather than a pastor. And the letter promises the same guarantee that "get rich quick" schemes offer: it's easy, the market is huge and wide open, and you don't have to be a sales person to sell this product.
My choice is to stay away from this once in a lifetime deal. If you get bitten by the Gibson bug, at least check out who they really are, get some references on Dan Gibson's history as a minister (like where he went to school, and check with his alma mater), and get some history on the people, listed on the third page, who praise Gibson's product and sales method.
ADDENDUM I checked around on the internet. A quick glance shows that in 2000 the Justice Department went after Alpine (maker of EcoQuest) and EcoQuest International (distributing arm) for making unsubstantiated claims about their product. Complaints have been made about the workmanship and effectiveness of the machines. And the wonderful business plan set out by the Gibsons is what I figured: a multi-level marketing scheme. Best advice, don't take this bait.
Fayettville
Barbee
Parkwood(McCormick)
Left on Timmons
2nd on left, Timmons
5003 t6 96 7 77 a5
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
 | Bob Gray, IFB preacher in Texas, puts out a magazine called The Baptist. Apparently he discussed the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums in the March/April edition (see "Publish It Not" and "Foolish Forum Follies"). I wonder what he will do if he ever reads SECRET RADIO (or learns of it). Anyway, the Webmaster of the FFF has composed a very good reply to Gray, and you can read it if you want by clicking here. |
One possible thorn in Gray's side (or burr under his saddle) could be the notorious and hilariously funny Tales from the Temple penned by James Spurgeon (aka "Coyote"), who graduated from Gray's unaccredited school. (Click here for more tales)
 | Root Canal Accomplished!
There have been more evidences of grace and answered prayer regarding the unexpected root canal I had today than I have time to list right now. More on this later. But it is over! It is over! {Tech writer dance of joy} I've had tooth trouble for a few weeks, but my schedule plus my fear of dental work (caused by a strept infection that settled in my heart from dental work 12 years ago) prompted me to postpone seeing the dentist. Yesterday the dentist said the tooth was infected and I needed to get to an endodontist. She set me up for an emergency appointment today. I was very afraid, but now I am happy, happy, happy! It's over. |
 | Roger Delgado (the Master from Dr. Who) on BBC7 today
Internet radio station BBC7 is airing reruns of "Parsley Sidings," a vinntage radio comedy about a railway station. In today's re-run (June 16, 2004), Roger Delgado plays the French station master (no pun intended). If you miss it today, you can use BB7's Listen Again feature to catch it for the next week. For those of us in the USA, it is airing at 9:00 a.m. EST (so 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time). |
Here is the URL to connect to BBC7:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
| More from the Pulpits of Ignorance
Yet again, the HAC graduate and defender of all things IFB, PappaBear, has labeled SECRET RADIO as "Adult,'Christian' porn." The accusations from these defenders of hiding gross sin no longer bother me. |
What has really started to bother me is the stark illumination of their stupidity when they call a book, any book, "linguistic pornography". It's a stupid term concocted by an ignorant and barely literate person (jewnorgreek) and picked up by these equally uneducated fundybots. To fundybots, big words carry more weight than little words. So they think they are impressive when they call SECRET RADIO "linguistic porn." So I posted the following:
There is no such thing as 'linguistic porn'--
Posted by BASSENCO on Jun-14-04 6:02pm
(In reply to: It is nothing but Adult-rated... posted by PappaBear on Jun-14-04 5:18pm)
--because "linguistic porn" would be the pornographic use of the sounds that are the building blocks of language: as though articulation itself, or specifc sounds (not words, the units of sounds themselves) could be pornographic.
There is no such thing as linguistic porn, unless somebody were to record the vocal sounds made during sexual behavior and then articulate those sounds or phoneticize them for public use/hearing/pronouncing. Then you would have linguistic porn. Are you clear on that?
Linguistics is the study of speech and how it is vocalized in units of sound to create recognizable words. It is not the study of word meanings, fiction, or storytelling. If you want to call a story or a book pornography just say it is pornography. Stop using big words to try to sound educated.
Never willing to be corrected by the facts and move on, PappaBear just had to retort with this startlingly stupid counter:
Want to get technical? Where's the "RADIO"? Your red-light district blog story is too trashy to call "literature," but it certainly IS a "SOUNDING" board for you. And that SOUND is pornographic ... linguistic porn, if you will, via a "RADIO".
To many a fundybot, literary license is just as "wrong" as ignorance. By PappaBear's logic, since SECRET RADIO is not really a radio, then it is appropriate for its detractors to invent an incorrect term to describe it: "linguistic porn".
I could write more about this ridiculous thread, but my point is only to show the glorification of ignorance that abounds in IFB pulpits. Many an IFB-KJVO preacher cannot be wrong and cannot admit to being wrong; therefore, he must defend his most apparent goof-ups and invent new ways of thinking to make his goofs appear correct and necessary.
And **THEN** I found out that PappaBear has not even read SECRET RADIO. This also bugs me, mostly because I wasted my time in assuming the guy had something to say beyond fundybot rant. Then I find out he didn't.
You know what it will take to get fundamentalism back on the right track? First, the preachers need to actually read the Bible instead of waving it around and bragging about reading it. And second, some genuine integrity is called for. I've learned two things about fundybots: they don't know the Scripture, and they don't have integrity. Just more proof today.
To check out SECRET RADIO, Click Here, As always happens when the fundybots blast it, SECRET RADIO's readership has gone up.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
 | The Wicked Index is Updated
For readers who drop in occasionally, and for those who are doing research on the topics I cover in this blog, check the updated index. Since the last time I updated it, the Russell Hirner (child molestation) case has progressed, and Jim Vineyard ended up on the news, taking out his false teeth on camera and declaring that his sexually explicit language to young girls is appropriate for a pastor. |
