WWFSMD?
A Southern Baptist minister has called upon God to smite a couple of guys who work for an organization that sicced the Internal Revenue Service on him. That is pretty heavy going, even for someone who has ratted you out to the IRS.
The Rev. Wiley Drake of Buena Park. Calif., a Baptist pastor and announced candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, has called for Christians to direct “imprecatory prayer” against two officials of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which had called for an IRS investigation of Rev. Drake’s political activities.
“When he be judged,” thunders Drake’s choice, the 109th Psalm, “let him be condemned and let his prayers become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife be a widow. Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labours. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him; neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.”
One more laughable religious looney.
Having had hostile dealings with both the IRS and Southern Baptists I’m not certain I’d prefer one over the other. Although the former are less likely – as best I recall – to pull a gun on you.
The Rev got caught playing politics on church letterhead, which just might cancel his tax exempt status.
While I’m not religious, I seem to remember a comment JC made: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Mister Drake’s probably going to be rendering a lot more to Caesar than he used to…and will be driving Daewoos instead of Cadillacs.
A Baptist. As Eric Idle once remarked, “Say – no – more! “
His “imprecatory prayer” is hilarious. I actually send out those sorts of things to people all the time, in jest. And when somebody is good to me, I tell them that their cattle will prosper and their crops grow plentifully.
#3, a lot of Baptists are good wholesome atheists who like fried chicken on Wednesday night.
All I know about Baptists is that they don’t have sex standing up because someone might think they’re dancing…
It’s a good thing there is prayer, otherwise how would God know what he’s supposed to do?
RBG
You noticed that too, RBG?
I mean, how could prayer possibly do anything? Praying for something is asking God to do something other than what He has already decided to do, or has already done – but He’s incapable of doing anything wrong. So if He granted a prayer request and did anything different, He’d be conceding that the thing He did first was wrong, which is, of course, utterly impossible. So he obviously would never respond to a prayer, which makes it a pretty futile and pointless exercise unless you pray for what God has already decided on – which is no less futile and pointless. Seewhutimean, Vern?
#8 – The flaw in your logic is that it’s predicated on the idea that God did the first thing that you’re asking Him to rectify. I believe the Judeochristian belief is in predestination – not omnipresent divine manipulation.
Luckily for Americans United for Separation of Church and State prayer doesn’t work because there is no god.
Actions like that are just embarrassing.
On prayer “I pray not to change God’s heart, but mine.” – C.S. Lewis.
#9
Baptist do not believe in predestination. They believe that God gave man free will. It is Calvinists and Presbyterians that believe in predestination.
If you think that’s bad, see what an “upstanding” church deacon nutjob can do to his fellow man, just because he didn’t like the guy’s T-shirt! Not for the faint-hearted.
From Cage Match yesterday:
http://cagematch.dvorak.org/index.php/topic,2163.msg7858
As long as they believe in Baby Back Ribs and leaving me alone – I don’t care if they prefer full immersion.
Religion has to be the worst daily activity there is and it should all be banished to the heavens. Oops. I mean, banished to hell! Oops again, damn. Jeez, gotta put ’em somewhere….but not in my backyard because they’ll kill everything.
#15, no,
And here I thought all that bullshit was good for the roses.
I just don’t understand these pastors who refuse to abide by the rule not to do politics with their religious non-profit church. It’s just greedy and very hypocritical.
If they are so against the government telling them what to do, then they should quit taking the religious non-profit tax exemption and go private with their church.
OR, they should shut up about politics in their church and start a separate political action group.
But they want the religious tax exemption AND to do politics. It’s just lazy and wrong.
Nice example for his flock, on how to “turn the other cheek”.
And I guess his answer to WWJD?, is: Getting even is for those who can’t get ahead…
I mean, really. You’re mad at those two guys, so you want Our Heavenly Father to kill them – but to also “Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. …; neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.”
It will tell me everything I would need to know about Southern Baptists, if they elect that guy president of their convention.
But they want the religious tax exemption AND to do politics. It’s just lazy and wrong.
On target as usual, Greg Allen. The problem is, most Americans don’t even know what the tax exemptions are, and there is a lot of misunderstanding. For example, most know of the property tax exemption for churches, but how many know about the pastor’s housing allowance? And many pastors deliberately mislead people when questioned about this, pointing out that the pastor has to pay self-employment tax… as if that makes up for what they would have to pay on the portion of their compensation that pays to buy their house and related expenses.
Even on the blog, I’ve seen church folk stop by to defend their pastors on this, trying to convince people that the pastor actually pays more than they do in taxes. It always gives me a chuckle.
Did you know that Apple is the incarnation of the Anti-Christ? Look at what I just found …
The similarities between Apple and evil:
* Mac OS X is based on an open source project known as “Darwin” and, as you know, Darwinism promotes the theory of evolution.
* “Open source” is another name for communism.
* Apple was founded by “long-haired hippies”
* Apple’s logo — an apple with a bite taken out of it — leads us into temptation.
* Hexley, mascot of the Darwin project, is a platypus dressed up like a devil who “performs occult magic.”
* Mac OS X is based on “BSD Unix,” which he refers to as “an obsolete system.” (Ha!)
* The use of chmod 666 to open locked files is an evil reference!”
BE GONE SATAN!
WTF? I thought Microsoft was the evil empire… ?
I knew there was a Apple Mac tie in somewhere…thank you Internet…
Cheers
#8, Lauren,
Good question, one I have asked many times. The usual answer is “God works in mysterious ways” or words to that effect.
#20, T,
Interesting observation. I do prefer to stick with the devil I know rather than the devil I don’t. And I don’t know MAC.
#21- Fusion
“And I don’t know MAC.”
Really? Well, that’s OK, we can fix that; they just so happen to have a Website. 🙂
Oh, did you mean the computers? Nope. Never heard of ’em… 😉
8–Lauren==I think it was David Steinberg, the comedian who did a routine on how God can change his mind. Ot was the guy who argued about finding honest men in Sodom and Gamorah? That guy argued God down to saving S&G if there was just one honest man ==as I recall.
Bad bet though as God already knows the answer?? What was that all about??
Hah!!!!
In other words, the Minister is misusing the charity money *yawn*
Yes, since God already knows us inside and out, and He also has already determined everything that’ll ever happen –
didja ever consider that this world is not “The Matrix” – but The Sims 6 or 7, running on God’s PC?
• • • • •
Oh, yeah. B4 I forget – Angel, you tired bastard!
#25 “Yes, since God already knows us inside and out, and He also has already determined everything that’ll ever happen…”
That sort of makes praying a waste of time… he knows already 😉
Hey, we agree on something! 😀
Cheers
This does not sound unusual to me at all. It just sounds normally religiose to ask god to smite one’s opponents:
I think this is Jeremiah 25, no?
Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
Religion of peace?