Search the Community

Ok I will say it:. I do.not.use.social.media.to.prosletyze. I am on Facebook to see your kids, cats, dogs, partners, cool stuff you are doing and keep up with neighborhood events. The fundies I know seem to think their Facebook page is a missionary moment. Which is vaguely amusing and sad at the same time. My friends honestly don't do this but fundies I sort of know do. Then they bitch and moan about persecution when questioned or when their millionth abortion post actually hurts a friend. I have LDS returned missionary friends who don't do that. And frankly I have a hard time not slapping them silly. Am I wrong? ?

I just saw this story on the BBC news site. I think I would have evacuated too if some creepy guy started reading the bible and talking about death. There's been so many terrorist attacks in Britain this year, no wonder the passengers weren't taking any chances. Luckily no one was hurt. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-41466140

So, I get these guys coming into my workplace every so often (I'm in Ohio if that makes any difference), asking to support their "youth group". They look to be in their early twenties, and usually are Asian. They are very polite, and always ask me to buy some sort of craft that they've made (today was window decor). I always say that I cannot purchase the item because I don't have cash on me (they said that they now accept credit cards) and the owner isn't in either and that they can come back and ask her on a day when she's in. And then they always tell me that they are "traveling missionaries" and that they are moving onto the next city tomorrow. What's the deal with this? Is it just a money scam or are there traveling youth groups like this? When I ask them what the money is for, I get vague answers about using the money to help the youth further their relationship with Christ.

According to her Facebook page, Debi Pearl went to China last week with son Nathan & DIL Zephyr (who now live on Kauai). They're there for 3 weeks without Mike, who stayed back in TN. They apparently have a full program of speaking & book distribution. Is it really now legal for foreign missionaries to proselytize openly in China & hand out their propaganda? Will there really be no repercussions on anyone, either the foreign missionaries or the Chinese citizens who attend these events? In other Pearl news, gleaned from FB pages, Pearl daughters Shoshanna (Easling) & Shalom (Brand) and DIL Zephyr are now into big time peddling of Plexus, son Gabe appears to be living on Kauai also, at least part time, and Rebekah & her nutwad "husband" Gabe Anast are still below the radar. Mike Pearl is still a fucking asshole.

From the Friendly Atheist http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyat ... ing-lunch/ News article http://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/n ... /18217503/

what is wrong with this picture? http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... ck_check=1 In an effort its spokesman has described as “outreach to rednecks,†the Kentucky Baptist Convention is leading “Second Amendment Celebrations,†where churches around the state give away guns as door prizes to lure in nonbelievers in hopes of converting them to Christ. As many as 1,000 people are expected at the next one, on Thursday at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Paducah, where they will be given a free steak dinner and the chance to win one of 25 handguns, long guns and shotguns. The goal is to “point people to Christ,†the church says in a flier. Chuck McAlister, an ex-pastor, master storyteller and former Outdoor Channel hunting show host who presides at the events as the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s team leader for evangelism, said 1,678 men made “professions of faith†at about 50 such events last year, most of them in Kentucky. In Louisville, he said, more than 500 people showed up on a snowy January day for a gun giveaway at Highview Baptist Church, and 61 made decisions to seek salvation. McAlister’s boss, Paul Chitwood, the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s executive director, said such results speak for themselves. “It’s been very effective,†he said in an interview. But other clergy question what guns and gun rights have to do with with sharing the Gospel.

This is just a beautiful story, someone posted the link at facebook and I had to share it. http://eyelid.livejournal.com/1468278.html

Has this been discussed in-depth here? The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children by Katherine Stewart. (Obligatory Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-News-Clu ... 356&sr=1-1 ) Someone mentioned it here a week or two ago, and I immediately ordered it through World Cat's interlibrary loan (I live in TN, my copy came from George Mason University in DC. Fascinating!). I'm just about finished with it, and it's one of the scariest books I've ever read. The sneakiness, the backhandedness, the absolute glee with which these people break the spirit of the law, it's horrifying. I've had to stop reading it a few times because it upsets me so much. This should be recommended reading for all FJ'ers, seriously. (Do we have a sticky book recommendation thread? I can't remember, as I'm typing this, but if not, we should. I've read some really amazing books that were recommended here, so thank you all for that!)

I came home from work to discover a voicemail message from Elder X in a neighbouring town, saying he thought I might be interested in hearing a bit more of the story of his church, and that he was interested in learning more about my beliefs. I have never heard of a call like this before- do the fundy missionaries cold-call people in the phone book and just leave messages? For some reason I thought the LDS Elders were a little bit more "low key" than that. Anyone else have any experiences?

The guy is an idiot NASA is not the place to preach creationism. Looks like hey annoyed everyone with his beliefs would not stop but then fired for no reason? LOS ANGELES (AP) - A computer specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is going to court over allegations that he was wrongfully terminated because of his belief in intelligent design. Opening statements in the lawsuit by David Coppedge were expected to start Tuesday morning in Los Angeles Superior Court after lawyers spent Monday arguing several pretrial motions. Coppedge, who worked as a team lead on the Cassini mission exploring Saturn and its many moons, claims he was discriminated against because he engaged his co-workers in conversations about intelligent design and handed out DVDs on the idea while at work. Intelligent design is the belief that a higher power must have had a hand in creation because life is too complex to have developed through evolution alone. Coppedge lost his team lead title in 2009 and was let go last year after 15 years on the mission. In an emailed statement, JPL dismissed Coppedge's claims. In court papers, lawyers for the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for NASA, said Coppedge received a written warning because his co-workers complained of harassment. They also said Coppedge lost his team lead status because of ongoing conflicts with others. Caltech lawyers contend Coppedge was one of two Cassini technicians and among 246 JPL employees let go last year due to planned budget cuts. The case has generated interest among supporters of intelligent design. The Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian civil rights group, and the Discovery Institute, a proponent of intelligent design, are both supporting Coppedge's case. The National Center for Science Education, which rejects intelligent design as thinly veiled creationism, is also watching the case and has posted all the legal filings on its website. Coppedge's attorney, William Becker, contends his client was singled out by his bosses because they perceived his belief in intelligent design to be religious. Coppedge had a reputation around JPL as an evangelical Christian, and interactions with co-workers led some to label him as a Christian conservative, Becker said. In the lawsuit, Coppedge says he believes other things also led to his demotion, including his support for a state ballot measure that sought to define marriage as limited to heterosexual couples and his request to rename the annual holiday party a Christmas party. Coppedge is seeking attorney's fees and costs, damages for wrongful termination and a statement from the judge that his rights were violated, said Becker.

So this has really been bothering me. Maybe I need a reality check on this maybe we are being too loud. Anyway, since my friend and I joined the gym to swim 2-1/2 years ago, this lady has been there swimming in the middle lane every Sunday week in and week out. The first few weeks all those years ago, she chastised us to be quiet because she said that she used her swim time in the pool to meditate. So everytime we see her now we are careful not to make a peep. So today, my friend brought her son because he's been putting on weight before his growth spurt and kids go free on Sundays. And the pool was full, very full. I noticed that everyone else in the pool was avoiding her as well and that she ends up getting the center lane to herself while we were even tripled up. My friend's son was excited about a new stroke he had learned and wanted to show me and his mom. I heard his voice booming from across the pool and my heart sank with worry. What would the fundy-lite" lady say? So here's the rant: I'm really unhappy that this woman feels that she needs to clip everyone's wings just because she wants to meditate. She should get her own pool or meditation room for that. Just stop using the Church of the Holy Gym. If she is supposed to be a witness for her faith, how come everyone avoids her like the plague? Don't you think that Jebus would want her to be a kind, giving person. There's backstory to this. My friend and I met in a cancer support group and we both have lymphoma. Really we are joyful just to be alive after five years and her son is excited too. Later we were talking about how very soon her son might become a brooding teen and we will lose all of that laughter. Do you think this woman is out of line for expecting quiet?

There was an ad in my local paper from the FLDS. Apparently they ran an ad in a bunch of papers. Friday it was in the Washington Post, NY Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Salt Lake Tribune, Idaho Statesman, among others. Basically it's telling people to repent and go to their website flds.org where you can order various proclamations and such. If you go to the website, that's all it is - an order form. So...are they trying to convert the rest of us? Or just get money out of us?

I honestly can't remember how I stumbled upon this last night. Apparently, Flirty Fishing was a name for prostitution as a way to gain converts to Children of God/The Family. They reference the "Fishers of Men" verse as a way to justify all this. I'm only now starting to dig around for more info, but it appears this started in the 70's and really only stopped because of the AIDS scare in the early to mid 80's. They have tracts (or what looks like maybe comic books?) about it and everything. Was this a well known, well publicized thing, or did it only come out after they stopped? I'm really interested in finding out more about how all this worked. Did actual money change hands? Was it set up like an escort service, or were these women more like streetwalker types? Were they forced into it or did they do it on their own (although I think I know the answer to that one already ). I'm usually not this fascinated by prostitutes, but compared to what I'm used to reading about all of our fundies, this is out there! This also makes me want to read more about Children of God/The Family (this is the same cult that a few celebrities grew up in right? I think Rose McGowen is one?) Anyway, enough with all my rambling. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about this, since I recall Children of God being mentioned a couple times.

I was just pondering if you ever hear of anyone being 'saved' through these Gospel/Bible Tracts you see many fundies handing out... A quick google search lead me to this document: http://www.pinpointevangelism.com/Gospe ... monies.pdf With Testimonies, which I'll leave you to pick apart their authenticity.... But at the end I was irritated at this brazen paragraph, and mainly the bold line... So seriously, WHO is to say that the waitress who just served you, or the person who just checked you out in walmart, are 'unsaved'??? That just really irritates me!!! Especially the fact that they are pointing out the (seen as) more menial and 'poorer people' jobs... I freely admit I am probably taking this personally, but its something that does irk me! Especially with fundies. Should just mention: I've work as a cashier for the last 7 years, and I love it most of the time, most people are really nice and I love to chat and meet people and swap stories. But this just really reminds me of SOME of the rare condescending types that you might get come through, who seem to think you are some type of TV caricature; uneducated single mother, who is only doing that 'menial' job because you can't do any better. (I've been to University and not a Mother by choice and choose to stay in this job because it suits me.)

"She is sentenced to hell." http://www.dreamindemon.com/2011/12/06/woman-hits-boy-with-car-tosses-christian-booklet-leaves-scene/

I found this article and it made me wonder. Is there any polite way to evangelize? The only method that I think is polite and respectful of others is to wait until you are asked questions. Every other method just seems disrespectful to the other person. know-will-dare.blogspot.com/2011/08/me-vs-born-againabout-christianity-and.html I broke the link but I don't think the writer would mind us discussing her article. The slight bit that I read on her site made me think that she would like Free Jinger