Lois Lerner of the IRS: Fifth Amendment for me but not for thee!

This is Lois Lerner, who headed the Internal Revenue Service's exempt organizations division during the time that the IRS was singling out "tea party"-affiliated groups and other politically conservative people with audits and intimidation...

Where do these people keep coming from?

Lois Lerner of the IRS invoked the Fifth Amendment so as not to potentially perjure herself during hearings in the House of Representatives investigating her agency's unethical and illegal activities.

Every year, you and I and millions of other Americans have to file 1040 forms with the IRS.  If we don't, we go to jail.  If we withhold information on the 1040 forms, we go to jail.  If we don't sign the forms, we go to jail.  At no time does the IRS afford us the right to invoke the Fifth Amendment so as not to incriminate ourselves. 

Lois Lerner in her capacity as a high-ranking official of the Internal Revenue Service is pleading the Fifth to a congressional committee and she expects to get away free and clear from this entire mess.

You and me and everyone else must answer the IRS under threat of perjury.  This IRS official doesn't want to answer to our elected representatives and is using the Fifth Amendment as an escape clause which her agency has not and never would afford the average citizen.

If Lerner gets away with this, then she has set a legal precedent and every tax-paying citizen in the United States should follow her example.  Come next April 15th, put "I PLEAD THE FIFTH JUST LIKE IRS OFFICIAL LOIS LERNER DID" in big bold red printed letters on your tax form and send that instead.

Remember folks: the Constitution applies to every citizen in this country, not just politicians and their cronies.

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"It's not a free-speech zone when we did it!"

I did not watch President Obama's inauguration today. There is nothing particularly interesting about a leader with no real vision. Sadly that's a trait that has been shared by every president since Reagan. But I digress...

It does interest me this afternoon however that President Obama continued the tradition established by former president George W. Bush of having a "free speech zone" marked off for the event...

Freedom Plaza is the site of one of the only authorized demonstration zones, where a strip of the plaza is designated a free speech zone.

The "free speech zones" were a routine and chronic practice of George W. Bush. Nobody who protested his policies was allowed anywhere close to him when he was president and out in public. There were many instances when protestors were limited to an area nearly a mile away from Bush.

The "free speech zones" were wrong then. They are just as wrong now on Obama's watch.

But that seems to be going clean over the heads of a lot of self-professed "conservatives" today, judging by how many at the above link on Politico.com are feigning outrage that Obama is keeping those who disagree with him out of sight and out of mind.

Here is what I wrote this past October about Obama continuing Bush's practice.

Now, I defy anyone to argue that it was any more right when Bush had the "free speech zones" than it is for Obama to do precisely the same.

This is but one reason why I have become so disgusted with politics. I like to think of myself as an honest person... and honest people have a problem with sullying their hands with such blatant hypocrisy.

That and as I said earlier: there is no leadership with clear and bold vision in America.

Sometimes I wonder if that might be on purpose. Or even if that's what we the people have come to embrace.

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Pat Robertson sez: Alzheimer's is grounds for divorce (Pat, shut up sir!)

I'm looking at this one of two ways: that Pat Robertson sincerely believes what he is saying here. Either that, or as I have heard it said a number of times in my life: "Whom God would destroy, He first makes mad."

During a broadcast of his 700 Club this week, Christian Broadcasting Network founder and "evangelist" Pat Robertson said that it was perfectly justifiable to divorce a spouse with Alzheimer's disease, on the basis that the illness is "a kind of death".

What. The. Hell. ?!?!?

In all honesty, I can't see how Pat Robertson - if this is his genuine belief - is any different from those who support abortion and the "right to choose". You know: the things that his Christian Coalition was alleged to be standing against for all those years?

(Well, as a follower of Christ, I always thought that the Christian Coalition was a bullsh-t organization anyway, which was only concerned with accruing political power. It had nothing to do with earnestly seeking after Christ and what He would have us to do in this world.)

Yeah, how is this different from aborting a child? The rationale that Robertsin is offering is the same as that for killing an unborn within the womb: that it is a life too "inconvenient" for those who would rather live life to their own ends.

Marriage is something that a man and woman enter into "in sickness and in health". When a person enters into marriage he or she is publicly declaring that it will be to the end, enduring all trial and hardship. Alzheimer's is not a "kind of death". It is a disease that gradually robs a person of precious memory and identity...

...and Pat Robertson says that if the other spouse cannot take it, then he or she is free to abandon his or her husband and wife and go after another?!

My God.

Whatever the hell it is that Robertson is espousing, it is NOT a love that is scriptural or suggested at all in the Bible. Love between a husband and wife is something meant to be patient, kind, and longsuffering. If a spouse falls victim to Alzheimer's or any other illness, the other spouse will never abandon and leave them. That is, if there was truly any real love at all.

To say this sort of thing is beyond the pale. I have been saying for years that if Pat Robertson was serious about making the Bible the pattern to follow in this land, then he should have long ago been taken outside the Virginia Beach city limits and stoned to death for all of his nutty false prophecies (made in the name of God). But now, there is no question: his family should take him off the air. And lock him down in the basement for good measure.

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"Gerrymandering is okay when WE do it!"

The Republicans in the North Carolina legislature should just say it and get it over with.

Matt Mittan was the first to bring my attention to the just-released maps for North Carolina's newly-redrawn congressional districts.

And how has the GOP now "controlling" (I have never liked how a party "controls" a legislature and I don't see how anyone else should like it either) Raleigh done, following decades of Democrat-led gerrymandering?

By doing their own gerrymandering!

From the original article at Carolina Journal...

(Carolina Journal) Three Democratic incumbents will face a tough re-election fights next year under new congressional maps released today by the Republican-controlled state legislature.

The redrawn maps significantly weaken U.S. Reps. Brad Miller, D-13th; Heath Shuler, D-11th; and Larry Kissell, D-8th. Republicans currently have six of 13 congressional seats. If previous voting patterns hold, the GOP could gain a 9-4 or even 10-3 advantage in 2013.

For Shuler’s diminished chances, Reps. Patrick McHenry, R-10th, and Virginia Foxx, R-5th, are the culprits. McHenry’s new district would cut into Buncombe County, a hotbed of Democratic votes, diluting Shuler’s base of support. In addition, Shuler picks up some conservative regions of Foxx’s district.

“The anchor for Democrats in this district has always been Buncombe County,” Davis said. “Not only has half of Buncombe County been put into Congressman McHenry’s safe Republican district, but several of the most Republican counties in the state have been moved from districts held by Congresswoman Foxx and Congressman McHenry to Heath Shuler’s district.”

I almost used the word "chutzpah" to describe what the Republicans in the legislature are doing. But let's call this for what it really is, folks: hypocrisy!

This country is facing trial and tribulation as it has never known in any recent memory. Perhaps any living memory. And the elected politicians continue to play their stupid little games of power: never mind that it was such shenanigans that in large part brought us to this place to begin with!

(Funny thing: I seem to remember many if not most Republican officials in this state complaining about gerrymandering and how they were against it. So what happened? Huh? Hello? Hello? Bueller?)

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Top 10 politicians' lines... and why they're always lies

Good friend Danny de Garcia II forwarded this piece from his own blog: "Top 10 Politician Lines (And Why They're Lies)". I am directing y'all to it in turn because I found it to be a brief but noteworthy essay detailing the most commonly heard cliches out of the lines of incumbents and candidates... and why we should never take them at face value.

Here's a sample...

4. “I’m a leader that people can count on.”
Technically speaking, if elected officials obeyed the Constitution, there would be very little evil that they would be allowed to work against the people. It’s a dangerous thing to believe in men.

5. “I’m not dominated by party politics.”
(Yet they’re running with a party label. ‘Nuff said.)

For more of the list visit The Official FALCON Blog.

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COCINO cult "tent meeting" a bust! Head magus Johnny Robertson preaches to the choir invisible (literally) as serial killer look-alike from Texas fails to bring in the crowds

It is by faith alone that we please God. It's just the conceited bastitches among mankind who keep insisting that we must please them with our works.

(Can't think of a better way to preface this post than with that thought from earlier this week.)

Yes folks, it's time to once again chronicle for posterity - in addition to laughing at - what is called on this blog and others the "Church Of Christ In Name Only" (COCINO) and the minions of Johnny Robertson.

A few nights ago numerous e-mails came in saying that I should check out what local cult leader Johnny Robertson - prime evil of the self-professed "Church of Christ" wacko fringe group - had brought in: some guy from the cult's breeding ground in Texas, not just for the group's annual "tent meeting" in this area but also, apparently, for the express purpose of "taking on Chris Knight" since this individual kept referencing me during his live appearances on WGSR.

(With so many of the cult's leadership in this area, I will ask them since they are obviously reading this blog: why are you guys giving all that money from the Lord's treasury to a habitual convicted felon, atheist, purveyor of immoral entertainment and BISEXUAL DEVIANT/PERVERT? If scripture commands us to have an answer ready for every question as it does in Colossians 4:6 and 1st Peter 3:15 then it's high time that this question be answered. Y'all accuse others of lesser things than this but when it's known that you are actively dealing with such a person on your own, you never seem to be able to 'splain that one to us. Reeks of hypocrisy if ya ask me...)

Anyhoo, I checked out what the hub-bub was about and found that Robertson had brought into town someone named Shawn Paden.

The first thought that entered my mind when I saw Robertson's fellow cultist was "this guy looks like John Wayne Gacy without the clown makeup!"

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy, executed in 1994 for the murder of more than 30 young men. Gacy was known throughout his Chicago neighborhood for his block parties and dressing up as "Pogo the Clown".

I don't have a photo of Shawn Paden himself at the moment, but just imagine "Pogo the Clown" without the makeup, focus on his heartless soulless eyes, and that is a pretty good image of Shawn Paden.

Anyhoo, Johnny Robertson brought Pogo Paden into town at presumably great expense. Once he got here Pogo Paden did nothing with his television airtime other than declare that people without water baptism were damned to Hell and that salvation is mostly a thing about works. Pogo Paden reiterated Robertson's "thousand dollar challenge" (which has long been answered but Robertson refuses to ante-up) to the belief that we are saved by faith.

Even while working on my new film last night, I was able to tick off the scriptural answers to Pogo Paden: Luke 5:20, Luke 18:10-14, John 3:16, John 6:28-29, John 5:24, John 6:40, John 6:47, Acts 10:43, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:28 (which reads "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith WITHOUT the deeds of the law."), Romans 4:5 (which reads "But to him THAT WORKETH NOT, but BELIEVETH on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith IS COUNTED for righteousness."), Romans 5:1 (which reads "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."), Galatians 2:16 (which reads "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."), Galatians 2:21, all of Galatians chapter 3, Ephesians 2:8-10 (which reads "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."), and numerous others which no doubt will also be ignored by Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, Mark McMinnis, Micah Robertson and Shawn Paden as they routinely do anyway.

(Do these people ever preach Christ and Him crucified? I've never heard them do it, not even once.)

But let's get to the really interesting thing, folks! Seems that earlier this week Johnny Robertson ran afoul of the City of Danville because - gasp! - Robertson and his cult failed to get the proper permits for their tent meeting. I didn't see it myself but I had to chuckle at all the reports of Robertson and his goons going on WGSR and blaming "the Baptist Mafia" at work in Danville for trying to foil his plans. Yup, "Baptist Mafia", that's what Robertson apparently said.

Well, Robertson did get his papers in order and the "tent meeting" began. Complete with associates of the cult from Texas including Shawn "Pogo" Paden. But how successful has it been?

Here are some screen captures from a videotape that somebody provided of a broadcast of the tent meeting on WGSR a few days ago. Johnny Robertson droned on and on for an hour, again claiming that without water baptism (and "proper" water baptism at that, meaning that all Baptists are going to Hell anyway) that one is damned without any possibility of salvation.

Here's Johnny Robertson of the Martinsville Church of Christ (which has nothing to do with the mainstream Churches of Christ that most people know and respect and admire) finally shutting up from his "inspirational" preaching. In the footage I thought I could make out Mark McMinnis and one other individual, and one person obviously running the camera...

And no doubt Robertson has been preaching his message to an enthralled, enraptured audience. Right? Right?!

A thoughtless panning of the camera to the right reveals the truth of the matter...

NOBODY HAS COME TO THE TENT MEETING! Johnny Robertson has spent an hour, possibly more, PREACHING TO EMPTY CHAIRS! Apart from his own followers (who are obligated to be in attendance because Robertson calls them out by name during "services" on Sunday morning at Martinsville Church of Christ if they haven't been "faithful" enough) no one from the general public has come to hear Johnny Robertson speak, at least at this particular "tent meeting".

I've seen tent revivals before, put on by churches and visiting evangelists. Not the "charlatan" types either that unfortunately do admittedly roam the land, but some obviously sincere folks. Those events always seemed to pack their respective tents. But here, at Johnny Robertson's "Church of Christ"? Not so much. Crazily enough, Johnny Robertson does sweep his gaze look up and down and across the empty chairs as if they had actual people sitting in them.

I am told by some who have eyewitnessed the tent meeting that there have been apparently less than a dozen people amassed beneath it at any given time during the past several nights.

Maybe that's why Robertson was so hot to locate his tent meeting next to a car dealership: because on camera it would look as though throngs of people beat a path to his sham. Trickery, trickery, trickery.

I guess the word really is out: nobody wants to associate with a cult that regularly harasses and intimidates people in their own homes and during the sanctity of their worship services, a cult that has already been found guilty in court once this year for criminal trespass, and a cult leader who has thus far accused at least two churches of child pornography without any evidence, among many other acts of irresponsible and unethical behavior.

Maybe Johnny Robertson just needs to bring more of his comic book collection to entice people to come visit "the tent".

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Robertson the Lesser is all kinds of incoherent tonight (and PROVES that Methodists, Presbyterians and Catholics are biblical!)

Yah, talking about Micah Robertson, son of local cult leader Johnny Robertson of the so-called "Martinsville Church of Christ". Someone sent me an e-mail saying that Robertson the Lesser was doing daddy's show tonight (why is it that Micah seems so ashamed to acknowledge that Johnny is his father?) and I was about to work on a video project and needed some background noise, so I dialed up the Martinsville feed of WGSR for chuckles.

Even while busy authoring a DVD, I was able to poke tons of holes in Robertson the Lesser's alleged "presentation".

First of all, I'm not at all convinced that Micah Robertson is completely confident in what he professes to believe. The guy comes across as too nervous, too insecure. He drones on and on like a monotone robot.

Well, when I tuned in Micah Robertson was claiming that pianos and guitars were carved idols and shouldn't be brought into churches. Ummm... ohhhkaaaaay...

Then a little later on Micah Robertson condemned churches that vote on memberships, saying that it's not scriptural. He then immediately followed that up by talking about how his so-called "Church of Christ" denies the Lord's Supper to those who the church believes doesn't deserve it. How is that at all NOT judging someone as being unworthy of fellowship?! Heck, even if there's not much scriptural basis for voting on church membership, what Johnny Robertson and his cult are doing is worse and even more un-biblical!

But as outrageous as that is, that's nothing compared to what took place a few minutes earlier, when Micah Robertson himself demonstrated that the Methodist churches, the Presbyterian churches and the Roman Catholic churches are scriptural and how his own "Church of Christ" is not!

Robertson the Lesser was using some Old Testament verses out of context to build up his cult's usual twisted case for legalism. As is often the case, this involves water baptism, without which the cult believes one is going to Hell (but you're probably going to go to Hell anyway).

And then Micah Robertson cited Ezekiel 36:25.

What does Ezekiel 36:25 say, per the King James Version that Robertson quoted from?

"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."

WHOA!!! "SPRINKLE" water?! You mean it DOESN'T have to be full immersion in water in order for one to be "clean"?!

That is what the Bible says, folks.

Now, who among our brethren in Christ are most known for sprinkling water? The Methodists, the Presbyterians and the Roman Catholics come most to mind, and there are a number of others.

In fact, nowhere in scripture are we told that a person must be dunked at all. We're told that people "came up" from the water, but that could mean any number of things.

The only logical conclusion, if we are adhering to a strict interpretation of scripture, is that Micah Robertson has proven tonight, if nothing else, that his own church is not biblical and has instead shown that Methodist, Presbyterians and Catholics are on very firm scriptural foundation. No doubt he didn't mean to, but hey: God can even work through the foolish.

I would say that I'm waiting for that $5,000 check from Johnny Robertson for showing how his son has proven that "denominations" are in the Bible, but I'm not gonna hold my breath...

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House of Reps restricts Presidential insults

Every time I read a story like this (getting to be all too often these days) the first thing that comes into mind is that line by Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men: "Who ARE these people?!?"

Now it's Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Politico is reporting that Slaughter has implemented some new guidelines for decorum among members of the House, particularly in regard to how representatives discuss the President of the United States (no doubt in response to Joe Wilson's crying aloud of "You lie!" during Obama's health "reform" speech last week).

So in case you're wondering, here is what is allowed...

- refer to the government as "something hated, something oppressive."

- refer to the President as "using legislative or judicial pork."

- refer to a Presidential message as a "disgrace to the country."

- refer to unnamed officials as "our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs."

And here is what is not allowed...

- call the President a "liar."

- call the President a "hypocrite."

- describe the President's veto of a bill as "cowardly."

- charge that the President has been "intellectually dishonest."

- refer to the President as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

- refer to alleged "sexual misconduct on the President's part."

To be fair, I can agree with some of Slaughter's rulings here, and only because I think sincere discussion of the issues doesn't warrant including words like "cowardly" (or "nitwits" either for that matter). But seriously: don't Slaughter and the rest of Congress have better things to do than play word games with each other and their constituents?

Of course, that's all this really is to these people: a game. One very big amusement that they get to enjoy, at the expense of the money, the liberties and even the very lives of those who sent 'em to D.C. to begin with.

America is at the mercy of a few hundred individuals with no principles, no spine, no vision and no conscience. But they do believe that it's majorly verboten enough to officially outlaw referring to an elected politician as a "hypocrite" or a "liar".

God help us.

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I'm having a damned hard time harboring any sympathy for people being abused by Obama's goons

And lemme tell you why.

Because as much as it does bother me to see those who have expressed outrage at President Obama's health care plans being labeled as an "angry mob" by officials and now being officially targeted by what can only be called Obama's own army of brownshirts...

...I have to remember that much the same thing was happening during the previous eight years during George W. Bush's tenure, what with "free speech zones" and loyalty oaths and people getting arrested for showing dissent... and sometimes arrested for no clear reason at all.

Hell, I was threatened with physical violence by one of Bush's thugs before he was President, just because I was a reporter with an independent newspaper (i.e. outside the grasp of Bush's control-freak nature).

I remember all too well telling Bush supporters what kind of a man he really was, and how the way he was treating American citizens wasn't the way that an elected official beholden to the people is supposed to be. Almost invariably I got that "empty glazed look" back in return. Like they didn't want to hear about it.

And now many of these very folks are getting much the same treatment from Barack Obama... and have no problem showing anger and indignation about it.

The only reaction I can muster is "Cry me a river."

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James Oldfield declares the Salvation Army is a work of evil on broadcast television

Folks, please understand that I am not on a "get the 'Church of Christ In Name Only'" binge tonight. Heck, I've so many projects on my plate right now that I'm pretty much relying on the reports that others have been sending me lately about the cult. Like earlier today when I posted that cult leader Johnny Robertson can't spell worth a hoot even as he condemns preachers of other (and in my opinion, legitimate) churches in the area.

And now later this evening, it is Robertson's chief henchman/second cousin who accompanied him from Texas, James Oldfield (heh-heh... bet y'all didn't know that the two were related, did ya?) who is up to no good.

Who is Oldfield and the "Church of Christ" cult (remember, it's not the real Church of Christ at all) going after this time? None other than the Salvation Army.

I came in from some errands tonight, and there were two e-mails practically screaming at me to tune in to WGSR Star 39. And I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it but sure enough, Oldfield is in "mad pit-bull" mode, assailing the Salvation Army for not being "the real church" and accusing them of all sorts of chicanery. Oldfield even used his hidden camera tricks on the head of the Salvation Army in Danville. As if that weren't bad enough, Oldfield told viewers that he and the "Church of Christ" do not boast about how they help people like the Salvation Army does... and then Oldfield went on to brag about how there was a frozen turkey in the trunk of his car that he was delivering to a fellow cult member!

I also happened to catch Oldfield condemning the Lord's Food Pantry in Eden. Which logically puts WGSR general manager Charles Roark in a bad position since apparently he was making a big deal about the Lord's Food Pantry earlier in the week, even staging a "telethon" to raise money for them to purchase food for needy folks. Which I think the Lord's Food Pantry is doing a good thing too. I think the Salvation Army has always been of immense service to others also, for the right reasons.

So why are James Oldfield and no doubt Johnny Robertson and the rest of the "Church of Christ" cult attacking them?

I can think of only one word at the moment: "jealousy".

Maybe Robertson and Oldfield should take the $15,000 that "the boys in Texas" send them for airtime each month, and put that money to some good use like the Salvation Army and the Lord's Food Pantry... instead of using it to harass and threaten others. They certainly have let it be known to enough people that they have no intentions but malicious ones.

(And some of y'all wouldn't buh-leeeeve what one person has told me in the past few weeks what he/she would do if Robertson and Oldfield came to their house again. 'Twould be enough to give one pause for sake of personal safety, no doubt.)

EDIT 11:02 p.m. EST: And what were Oldfield's concluding words on his broadcast tonight? "Don't put any quarters in those kettles."

A very wise man told me in recent days that Johnny Robertson, James Oldfield, and their cult were "of the spirit of the Antichrist" as the Bible puts it. If I had only their broadcast tonight to go by, I couldn't possibly doubt that.

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A church sign we'll never see in Jonesville, South Carolina...

Courtesy of Church Sign Generator. Credit for the idea goes to Ed Darrell who suggested it on Kevin Bussey's post about the Jonesboro Church of God, which has upset a lot of people with the ridiculous un-Christlike message on its church sign regarding Barack Obama.

Jesus and Usama... yup, per the logic of Jonesville Church of God, that's certainly suspicious.

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South Carolina church's sign shows un-Christlike attitude toward Obama

Could somebody please tell me where there is a scriptural mandate for what the Jonesville Church of God in upstate South Carolina is doing with their sign?

From the story at WYFF in Greenville's website...

Small Church's Obama Sign Causes Big Controversy

POSTED: 4:20 pm EDT April 21, 2008
UPDATED: 10:18 pm EDT April 21, 2008

JONESVILLE, S.C. -- The sign in front of a small church in a small town is causing a big controversy in Jonesville, S.C.

Pastor Roger Byrd said that he just wanted to get people thinking. So last Thursday, he put a new message on the sign at the Jonesville Church of God.

It reads: "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

Byrd said that the message wasn't meant to be racial or political.

"It's simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ," he said.

(snip)

Pastor Byrd, it's an open question as to whether we already have someone "in there" who seriously believes in Jesus Christ today. So why is your church showing such concern now?

And how is what this pastor and his church showing that they sincerely believe in Christ, anyhow?

I said a few weeks ago that this kind of thing was going to continue leading up to the election. And though I'm not now and never will support Obama or cast a vote for him, I'm not nearly so worried about what he might do if he were to become President as I already am about too many of my fellow Christians who are not only frightfully paranoid - when scripture tells us many times to not be afraid of the things of this world - but also show such selective myopia on the basis of worldly politics. George W. Bush is already the most un-Christlike President in American history... so has the Jonesville Church of God ever condemned him?

Pastor Byrd says that the congregation of Jonesville Church of God unanimously voted to keep the message. Too bad they likely never bothered to pray and study scripture about the issue before deciding to press forward.

EDIT 11:43 pm EST 04/22/2008: I couldn't help it...

Courtesy of Church Sign Generator. Credit for the idea goes to Ed Darrell who suggested it on Kevin Bussey's post about Jonesville Church of God's ridiculous sign.

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Baptist preacher on WPIP "conservative Christian" radio claims Obama is "Antichrist" and going to Hell

I've a nasty suspicion that this is only a taste of what's barreling toward us...

So I was headed west down I-40 from a day trip to Raleigh (which I'll be posting about tomorrow) this afternoon and around Burlington, I started flicking through radio stations.

And as I was going across the AM dial just after 5 p.m. I happened to catch some pastor preaching with all due exuberance and conviction that Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama is "the Antichrist". This pastor also added that just as the Antichrist does not have "a single Christian ounce in his body" that Obama is going to Hell.

I checked the frequency. It was 880 AM. Which means it was a broadcast of WPIP, a radio ministry out of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.

Not that this really surprises me.

Apart from sporadic music, from sunrise to sunset WPIP's broadcasting is pretty much wall-to-wall a network of "good ol' boys" who like to preach variations on (1) the King James Version is the only Bible and any other translation is a work of Satan, (2) independent fundamentalist conservative Baptist churches are the only real churches (similar to the local "Church Of Christ In Name Only" that's been talked about here lately) and (3) Democrats and "liberals" are evil and are all Hell-bound sinners.

You can get a sense of what WPIP stands for just from its bumpers. WPIP's staff likes to call it the "conservative Christian radio voice". Berean Baptist's head pastor Ron Baity is often heard proclaiming that WPIP is "the way radio ought to be": apparently holding to the notion that to contend for the faith means aping Rush Limbaugh. And then sometimes I hear this station boast that it sticks to the "old paths".

Yeah, they're "old paths" all right: as old as Babylon.

Any Christians that obsess on the American flag, American military might, love of George W. Bush, hatred toward "liberals", and electing Republican candidates far more than they do with serving Christ in love and humility, are not Christians that God can possibly bless the work of. I'm hard-pressed to believe that these "Christians" worship anything but power.

And part of me has to wonder how many of these preachers have truly experienced the salvation that can only come with the grace of God. Think about it: How can so many professed "Christians" in America be free from sin if they can't even be free from the Republican Party?

But then, any "Christian radio station" that sincerely believes the world needs to listen to a cult leader like the late Lester Roloff is hard to take seriously, anyway.

According to WPIP's program log for Monday through Friday, this would make the program that I heard this afternoon that of Meadowview Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. I found the church's website. If this is indeed the same show that I heard this afternoon - although this being AM radio and how lax WPIP seems to be in maintaining its website, this is not a confirmed certainty - then its pastor Robert Hutchens is apparently the one who's already consigning Barack Obama to Hell.

If you're a longtime reader of this blog, then you know where I'm coming from. I don't call myself a "liberal" any more than I call myself a "conservative". I don't profess to being an active supporter of any political party. I'm just a guy trying to do what's right and what God would have me to do. So nobody can claim that I'm trying to pursue a "political agenda" by taking these supposedly "God-called pastors" to task for their un-Christlike motives and methods.

First of all, it's not this preacher's place to already condemn someone to Hell. As long as anyone... any person... has breath in his or her lungs, he or she is free to call upon God for forgiveness. In rashly stating that Obama deserves Hell, this minister is forgetting that he himself deserves Hell also, just as we all do.

And it's a much worse thing to practically be gloating about Obama or anyone else going to Hell. Especially if the basis of that condemnation is something so silly as a political dispute.

But what bothered me especially is that this preacher, whoever he is, is way too consumed with the patterns and politics of this world. Now, I do believe that we as Christians should be fully active wherever it is that God puts us, and that if they happen to live in America then this means living up to the stewardship that God has charged us with over this land. But that means taking our roles as citizens seriously... and that's not something that's possible by blindly following a political party! And these "men of God" are trying to goad us into doing just that, when they seek to rile up our emotions.

For someone who claims to be a "man of God", this kind of vitriol is symptomatic of an unregenerate mind. A mind that is yet carnal and has not been transformed like unto that of Christ.

It's a shame that these "conservative Christians" are scouring the gutter. As it is, they show nothing in their actions that could convince the lost of the existence of a real and loving God. Not when they focus more on this world than they do on Heaven.

And I think we can expect worse from some of them as the months progress.

Maybe if they would repent of their own arrogance, their prayers that America as a nation might repent could come true.

Will that happen? Could these people do that?

Let's put it this way: I have faith in God. I do not have faith in too many of my fellow Christians.

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Fair warning to any other "soul winners" who come to my door

Before you even think of knocking, please know this ...

- "King James Version-Onlyism" is not only bullcrap, it is a doctrine bordering on heresy. I'm not talking about using the King James Version as a personal preference. I use it myself a lot of times. And no doubt always will. But to suggest that I'm a "lost sinner" because my main preference is the New International Version or some other translation is a lie from the pit.

- If you are doing this for your church or your pastor, you've already messed up. You're supposed to be doing it for Christ.

- Yes, I have a "home church". It is a real home church, in every sense of the term. If you believe that a "church" must have a building and a pastor, then you don't understand what church is to begin with. And it's not my problem if you can't comprehend that.

- If you don't even know why you are asking me "Are you saved?" then don't waste your time asking at all. Because I've been around the block enough to know that practically every time I get asked that, it's from someone who doesn't give a flying rat's butt about me or my salvation at all. They just want to know if I'm "of the same mindset" as they are and more to the point they want enjoy having a smug sense of superiority.

- If I tell you a story about Thomas Aquinas, it's only because I want you to think about it and if you understand the gist of it, then I hope you'll take it to heart.

- It's hard for me or anyone else to tell you that we're going to Heaven if it's too obvious that you are not sure if you are going to Heaven to begin with.

- I'm not interested in building up "your church". And I don't want to be bothered by people who are trying to grow a church either. I would much rather be visited by people who are sincerely interested in building the Kingdom of God.

- If you tell me that your church is "fundamentalist", keep on walking. Because you do not want me as a member.

- Understand that you are paying a visit to an irreligious follower of Christ, who is not interested in "religion" at all.

- I can spot the people who are witnessing for the sincerely right reasons a mile away. If that ain't you and you come here with the wrong motive, I will know.

- Realize that you are dealing with a guy who is fed-up with how a lot of Christianity is "playing games" and "putting on a show" more for our own sake than for God's.

Sorry I have to do this folks, but after what happened yesterday here, I'm compelled to post a notice to anyone else who may come a'knockin'. I'm thinking of making a sign of it for my front door too.

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Bush's "war czar" wants to consider a draft

From Breitbart.com...

Bush War Adviser Says Draft Worth a Look

Aug 10 06:25 PM US/Eastern
By RICHARD LARDNER

WASHINGTON (AP) - Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.

"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June ...

I will gladly support a draft. Provided that Jenna and Barbara and George P. Bush are the first to get inducted and put on armed patrol duty in Basra.

Or better yet, George W. Bush should suit up and take up the rifle on his own and set an example for the rest of us to follow. If Leonidas could lead 300 Spartans against two million Persians, certainly our own Commander in Chief can take point in his "surge" against a few dozen militants ... right?

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America is f***ed

And I don't know how to say it any plainer than that.

There is going to be amnesty for millions of illegals, as of tonight. That deranged man-child known as the President of the United States has seen to that and is practically laughing about it.

(And the Democrats in Congress were all too willing to help... with a little aid from too many Republicans.)

I have said it before, and I will say it again: if we cannot maintain strong borders and enforce them, then we are no longer a sovereign nation.

The two-party system is absolutely bankrupt of principle or any other value. I already knew that to be true of the Democrat party. And as of this week, it's glaringly obvious to all but those who choose to be most blind that it is true of the Republican party also.

Let's face it: when the "front runner" of the Republican party is a pro-abortion, anti-Second Amendment, pro-amnesty for illegals, pro-"nation building", pro-big government in every way, drag queen...

...there is something very, very wrong with things.

Oh, by the way, Republican party officials are trying to have Ron Paul BANNED from all future Republican presidential debates. Because Ron Paul (gasp!) had the audacity to tell the American people that our foreign policy is not working and perhaps, just perhaps, that is why bad things sometimes happens to America out there in the world.

Is "isolationist" really a bad thing to be? Is it too much to be expected of us that we kindly stay out of other countries' problems? Is it even meant for us to intervene in everything, anyway?

Speaking of the 2008 presidential race, James Dobson has said that he will not vote for Rudolph Guiliani. But it doesn't look like he's found anyone else to endorse, either. Which just indicates to me that much more that all this time, Dobson has been more interested in power than principle. There are at least two candidates just on the Republican side of things alone that should strongly merit his consideration, and quite a few other independents and "third party" candidates...

...except those are all "too fringe" to take seriously. Yes, a respected "Christian leader" has to greet the rich man and ignore those who are too poor: the ones who he has nothing to gain from by associating with them.

I can't believe that I almost went to work for that guy.

Hell I'll say it for all the world to see: I thank God every day now that He didn't let me go to Colorado to work for that hypocrite James Dobson. For one thing, because if I had moved out there then I would never have met my sweet and beautiful wife Lisa... who challenges me every day to live that much more for God. But for another thing, because I doubt if I would ever have been able to wash off the stink of Focus on the Family.

Don't think that my rancor at the Republicans exonerates the Democrats, bub. If "the drag queen" is supposed to be the GOP's cream of the crop, then I shudder far more so that it's Hillary Clinton who is expected to be on the Dems' side of the ticket come 2008.

I swear, if Hillary is elected President, I will expatriate my family out of the country and I will blast to Hell anyone who gets in my way.

Iraq is the biggest mistake this country has made of the past fifty years, and quite possibly more than that. We will be paying for that mistake for decades to come. The Iraqi parliament is about to take a two-month vacation. How many other people are inclined to believe that this is going to turn into an indefinite "leave of absence"?

There's more... oh yes there is much more... that I could rant about tonight. I mostly started this because I heard about the deal to give amnesty to the illegals. That was just in the last little while that news reached me about that. Before then I had spent a wonderful lil' evening with Lisa: talking about stuff, watching last night's episode of Lost again, having dinner. Seems like the bad stuff happens most when I'm not paying attention.

It's about time we all started paying some attention... what ya think of that?

Maybe more important than that, now that we know how totally screwed-up America is, and having come to realize that our political and even our religious "leaders" have utterly failed us...

...what exactly are we going to do about it?

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Gonzales, "attempted" software piracy, and Inslaw/PROMIS

Let me get this straight...

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wants to make "attempted" copyright infringement a crime.

Among other things, Gonzales is calling for life imprisonment for software piracy.

It logically follows, then, that the entire frickin' U.S. Justice Department - and a damn huge chunk of the rest of the federal government - should be sentenced to life in prison for its continued piracy of the PROMIS software.

To this day, the Justice Department has not paid Inslaw a dime for what was proven in court to be a clear case of software piracy by the federal government.

If this isn't a grandiose case of "chutzpah", I don't know what is.

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From the "Ape Has Killed Ape!" file...

James Dobson is saying that possible presidential candidate Fred Thompson is not a Christian:

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday.

"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."

In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith."

I've alluded to this before here, and I'll say it again: I'm damn thankful that I didn't wind up working at Focus on the Family a few years ago. It's true: I almost wound up in James Dobson's camp. But the Lord was gracious and started opening my eyes to a lot of things that are being done in His name... but are only about getting earthly power.

James Dobson is one of the worst offenders when it comes to "pimpin' Jesus for votes".

Well, turnaround is fair play I guess. So... I don't believe that James Dobson is a real Christian. George W. Bush has never acted like a real Christian at all. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell couldn't care less whether a soul is saved through their "ministries", just that their faithful all vote straight Republican.

There aren't that many real Christians in positions of authority in this country anymore. Ron Paul comes to mind as one of them. But he's one of a very few.

The time is coming, my friend, when we who are Christians are going to have to make a choice: seek the kingdom of God, or seek the influence of power. I don't think we're testing the spirits as much as we should be when it comes to figuring out if these "Christian leaders" are the men of God they profess to be...

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