Top 5 Pastors Who Piss Me Off

[carolynsinger]

You've hear me rant about churches, pastors, and theologies. Now it's time to hear exactly why these pastors shoot themselves in foot when it comes to being the living presence of Christ in the world. They claim to be some of the best evangelists in the world, but it turns out they're not really evangelists... they're something else entirely.

Comments

[the_plunk]

That Driscoll guy reminds me of this classic evil comic book

[carolynsinger]

1. The comic... wow, it was great until it turned all hellfire and brimstone

[the_plunk]

That's a heartening read, so thanks.

But I took at look at that Driscoll guy's site, and his fear of women and repressed homosexuality are a terrifying combination. He's like halfway to being a serial killer with his constant reliance upon sexual difference to prove that women are nothing like him and his pathological need to keep Jesus clear of "feminine" contamination by making him some kind of muscly bondage guy. His ideas are distinctly unwholesome and remind me of Fight Club.

Oh, and as long as we're staring into this terrible abyss, did I ever tell you about these people?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duggar_family

[carolynsinger]

Oh, I know about them alright... one of the houses where I used to care for MR/DD folks had TLC on 24/7. There is something to be said for growing the church by having kids, because if that's not happening, there's something wrong (i.e., everyone is too old to be having kids anymore and the kids they did have left the church a long time ago). My Queer church is adding three members in the space of a year through procreation, and one of them will be the child of a lesbian couple who had a commitment ceremony there.

However, using contraception is the ethically responsible thing to do, plain and simple. Those extreme Baptists are just, well, extreme. And it's Arkansas, what did you expect?

[stardust3515]

I think it's interesting that you say "Christianity and capitalism mix like oil and water" because wasn't it Christianity in england that helped develop the idea of capitalism and the consumer culture? "Protestantism and the spirit of capitalism" right? (maybe I'm remembering wrong.) True, it's different than selling your religion, doesn't it say that to be more religious you should possess things? or something on those lines.
And then there was the selling of virtue by the catholic church, that's how the catholics rebuilt their riches.
Maybe I have it all mixed up.

[carolynsinger]

Weber does make the case that Puritan values allowed capitalism to flourish. Remember, the Puritans were a sect of Christianity that got kicked out of England for their extreme beliefs and fled to America. As for the Catholic Church: 1. that was in medieval times, when feudalism reigned and the coercion of simony didn't seem so out of place; 2. selling indulgences technically was "selling" salvation, not virtue. Hence the Protestants, who called out the church hierarchy on its abuse of power and outright theological bullshit... if one could buy her/his way into heaven, Nicodemus wouldn't have had any qualms

[morley]

I am with you on Osteen. I've always wondered how they rationalize the Prosperity Gospel spiel. I don't get it. There's a lot of that type in Colorado - very wealthy, very fundamentalist, very self-righteous. I also see a lot of "In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned" stickers - and I wonder, isn't that the sin of pride? Doesn't that mean they probably *won't* be raptured? I doubt Jesus would like those types of stickers, esp. on Cadillac Escalades? Yeah, I don't get it.

Rick Warren makes me laugh, honestly.

I googled Mark Driscoll, since your description was rather intriguing, and found his blog. Yeah. Weird.

There's about 50 things wrong with the statement "God hates fags," but I'm know you know that, so no need to elaborate.

[carolynsinger]

1. I don't think you can just "tell" whether someone's sin/ lack of awareness indicates a merely superficial Christian commitment. It could be the sin of pride, or just ignorance, which technically isn't a sin. I've only seen those stickers in Ashland on beat-up old rust-mobiles, so trying to picture them on Escalades is making my brain short-circuit.

2. The first two things wrong with Phelps' statements: a) "God hates;" b) "fags." God is a God of love, and I can't stand when Phelps, Driscoll, ect. commit what I see as heresy by saying that God hates. Love and hate are polar opposites. "Fags" is just offensive and pejorative. Using what is essentially a curse word in this sense is taking God's name in vain. Hm, breaking a commandment... isn't Phelps all about posting the commandments all over public meeting houses? The hypocrisy never ends.

[suela_602]

I think "The Purpose Driven Life" is for suckers and Osteen is a superficial idiot. He and his wife deserve to be bitch-slapped, among other things.