It's always interesting to me how James Dobson can spend all his time telling everyone else how to live Christian family values, but when it comes to his own family, it's the age old do as I say, not as I do. Though Dobson has tried to cover up the divorce of his own son (now remarried, so that makes him an adulterer by fundamentalist Christian standards as well) you just can't hide from the truth. Ryan Dobson was formerly married to Cezanne N. Williams (Also known as Danita Williams) of Seattle in 1999. But the marriage didn't last, and the couple were divorced in 2001
As you may have read from my previous post, it's all right for Dobson to destroy the ministry of others who go through divorce. Or if they happen to work for Focdus on the Family, to fire them as in the case of Dobson's long time assistant Gil Alexander-Moegerle. But if it's your own son, well then it's different. Dobson's son Ryan Dobson, now living with his second wife Laura runs KOR Ministries. Judgement, condemnation, firing, blacklisting- that's for others. Your own divorced son, that's different. On the Hypocrisy scale James Dobson gets a 10.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
America The real Religion is delusion
As Americans, whether we are on the secular left or the religious right, we like to think of ourselves as right.
We know for a fact that we are on the side of truth and those "other" people are on the side of evil. So the Christian Right "knows" that people who don't believe just like them are going to eternal damnation. And those on the liberal side, know for sure that the Religious Right wouldn't recognize Jesus if he walked up to them and tapped them on the shoulder. A good example would be the little known fact that Jesus never said one word in the bible about homosexuals. Yet the Christian Right has made this a very big part of their agenda.
And the fact that Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, doesn't stop our born again President Bush from making up some fake reason for going to war- weapons of mass destruction or something like that. Why couldn't he just say I'm kicking middle east ass for my daddy and Halliburton! And if a women believes in abortion, then just say that, don't call it I'm standing up for my reproductive rights.
No, in our minds we have to create reasons to defend in our minds our behavior. And it's usually not enough to just do it as the Nike ads say, but we have to give good reasons why it is right and better behavior than yours. We are never wrong. And that my friend is delusional.
We know for a fact that we are on the side of truth and those "other" people are on the side of evil. So the Christian Right "knows" that people who don't believe just like them are going to eternal damnation. And those on the liberal side, know for sure that the Religious Right wouldn't recognize Jesus if he walked up to them and tapped them on the shoulder. A good example would be the little known fact that Jesus never said one word in the bible about homosexuals. Yet the Christian Right has made this a very big part of their agenda.
And the fact that Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, doesn't stop our born again President Bush from making up some fake reason for going to war- weapons of mass destruction or something like that. Why couldn't he just say I'm kicking middle east ass for my daddy and Halliburton! And if a women believes in abortion, then just say that, don't call it I'm standing up for my reproductive rights.
No, in our minds we have to create reasons to defend in our minds our behavior. And it's usually not enough to just do it as the Nike ads say, but we have to give good reasons why it is right and better behavior than yours. We are never wrong. And that my friend is delusional.
Billy Graham and Arranged Marriages
I was recently reading the book, Crazy for God by Frank Schaeffer, the son of the famed Francis Schaeffer. In the book he talked about up the arranged marriage of Billy Graham's daughter Virginia.
I used to think that it was only Muslim Sheiks that did the arranged marriage thing, so imagine my surprise to find out so did Billy Graham.
His daughter, Virginia, only 17 at the time, when Billy arranged her to meet and then marry a man 20 years her senior, Stephen Tchividjian. He was the son of a wealthy donor to the Graham Organization.
Well, the marriage didn't last, and they divorced. She then remarried, and Virginia "Gigi" Graham Tchividjian became Gigi Foreman, As a side note, on July 1st, 2005 she was arrested and charged with domestic abuse after witnesses told police she choked her new second husband in a parking lot. She was charged with misdemeanor domestic abuse and released the following day.
I used to think that it was only Muslim Sheiks that did the arranged marriage thing, so imagine my surprise to find out so did Billy Graham.
His daughter, Virginia, only 17 at the time, when Billy arranged her to meet and then marry a man 20 years her senior, Stephen Tchividjian. He was the son of a wealthy donor to the Graham Organization.
Well, the marriage didn't last, and they divorced. She then remarried, and Virginia "Gigi" Graham Tchividjian became Gigi Foreman, As a side note, on July 1st, 2005 she was arrested and charged with domestic abuse after witnesses told police she choked her new second husband in a parking lot. She was charged with misdemeanor domestic abuse and released the following day.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Pat Robertson needs a new hearing aid
Well folks, once again Pat Robertson has proved that when it comes to having the mind of Christ and hearing form God- he's deaf. Very deaf, and perhaps dumb and blind.
A few months ago God told Pat to back Rudy Giuliani for President. Today, Rudy, having failed to garner any support among the faithful dropped out of the Presidential race.
Pat, I don't usually give advice, but next time God tells you to back somebody for president on the GOP side, you might just want to make sure that he is actually a conservative Republican.
A few months ago God told Pat to back Rudy Giuliani for President. Today, Rudy, having failed to garner any support among the faithful dropped out of the Presidential race.
Pat, I don't usually give advice, but next time God tells you to back somebody for president on the GOP side, you might just want to make sure that he is actually a conservative Republican.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Kenneth Copeland Ministries Investigation
If you are like me, you may have seen the recent report on KCM aired on CBS. Kenneth Copeland is known as the godfather of the faith and prosperity gospel. Now I'm not much of a fan of most televangelists, however I think in the case of Kenneth Copeland they are going after the wrong guy.
Sure he has the jets, the big house, the lavish lifestyle. He also makes God out to be a big casino, where the payoff is 100-1- you know the old give 1 dollar to me, get back 100. But so do all the other popular Christian ministries out there. The reason I don't have as big of a problem with Copeland is that he isn't spending most of his time telling the "non" churched world how they should live their lives and then doing something else. He pretty much keeps his insane scam self contained in TX.
If his followers want to give him millions of dollars every year, that's between him and them. But the day that Kenneth Copeland starts telling me or anyone else outside of his own ministry what i'm supposed to do- that's when you can expect me to question his actions and his ministry more so than I am doing here.
Sure he has the jets, the big house, the lavish lifestyle. He also makes God out to be a big casino, where the payoff is 100-1- you know the old give 1 dollar to me, get back 100. But so do all the other popular Christian ministries out there. The reason I don't have as big of a problem with Copeland is that he isn't spending most of his time telling the "non" churched world how they should live their lives and then doing something else. He pretty much keeps his insane scam self contained in TX.
If his followers want to give him millions of dollars every year, that's between him and them. But the day that Kenneth Copeland starts telling me or anyone else outside of his own ministry what i'm supposed to do- that's when you can expect me to question his actions and his ministry more so than I am doing here.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Pat Robertson fake formula keeps on going
I woke up late this Sunday morning and as I was flipping the TV channels caught the 700 club with Pat Robertson. It's been a while since I caught his act and I would have liked to report it has changed, but no such luck.
It was another one of those fake news stories where the person is down and out, but then God, I mean Pat tells them if they will only tithe- give money to the 700 club, then the great Piggy Bank in the Sky (Jesus) will send that person a check in return.
Sure enough, that's what happened. The lady reported that a check in the mail miraculously appeared and all was well.
Now, the problem with all this for anyone with more than a 6th grade level of education is that we all know checks just don't show up for no reason because we send The 700 Club money.
In fact, if the logic that Pat Robertson used on his show was true- you give money you get money, then instead of Pat asking his viewers to send him money, he would instead ask his viewers to send him their addresses so he could instead have the 700 club send them a check so the 700 club could get a great big Jesus in the sky blessing.
Why the viewers of The 700 club don't catch onto this con game amazes me. But, I guess it is biblical in some ways as "a fool and his money are soon parted". Thank you Jesus.
It was another one of those fake news stories where the person is down and out, but then God, I mean Pat tells them if they will only tithe- give money to the 700 club, then the great Piggy Bank in the Sky (Jesus) will send that person a check in return.
Sure enough, that's what happened. The lady reported that a check in the mail miraculously appeared and all was well.
Now, the problem with all this for anyone with more than a 6th grade level of education is that we all know checks just don't show up for no reason because we send The 700 Club money.
In fact, if the logic that Pat Robertson used on his show was true- you give money you get money, then instead of Pat asking his viewers to send him money, he would instead ask his viewers to send him their addresses so he could instead have the 700 club send them a check so the 700 club could get a great big Jesus in the sky blessing.
Why the viewers of The 700 club don't catch onto this con game amazes me. But, I guess it is biblical in some ways as "a fool and his money are soon parted". Thank you Jesus.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Christian Divorce Dobson and Gingrich
I was asked the other day why I bring up divorce and the shortcomings of the so called "Christian" leaders. Well, I wouldn't except for the fact that they keep bringing up the sins and shortcomings of everybody but themselves. I would much prefer that everybody just chill out. But having read the bible I know that Jesus had a real problem with hypocrites. Much more so than with adulterers, murderers, and homosexuals. In fact when it comes to homosexuals Jesus said NOTHING in the bible pro or con about them. An amazing fact that very few bible believing Christians are even aware of these days.
It brings to mind that great family leader and politician Newt Gingrich who had such a hard time with the sins of Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. At the same time that Newt was attacking and judging Clinton, he was having an extramarital affair too. But instead of admitting to himself that he was a hypocrite he just felt sorry for himself, saying, "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich argued however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity. This is the kind of wacked out thinking that must be exposed.
Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, Gingrich remains wildly popular among many conservatives.
Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery. I'm sure he must have prayed WWJD before the meeting.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce. Ouch.
"There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them," he said in the interview. "I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I'm ... not proud of." Yet he is very proud of going after others while doing the same thing he condemns. With good Christian leaders like him, who needs those pagans anyway. Unless they can help raise funds to bring back morality in America again.
It brings to mind that great family leader and politician Newt Gingrich who had such a hard time with the sins of Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. At the same time that Newt was attacking and judging Clinton, he was having an extramarital affair too. But instead of admitting to himself that he was a hypocrite he just felt sorry for himself, saying, "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich argued however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity. This is the kind of wacked out thinking that must be exposed.
Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, Gingrich remains wildly popular among many conservatives.
Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.
Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.
His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery. I'm sure he must have prayed WWJD before the meeting.
Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce. Ouch.
"There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them," he said in the interview. "I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I'm ... not proud of." Yet he is very proud of going after others while doing the same thing he condemns. With good Christian leaders like him, who needs those pagans anyway. Unless they can help raise funds to bring back morality in America again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
