It was recently announced by New Life Church, the mega church founded by disgraced pastor and former head of the National Association of Evangelicals , Ted Haggard, that he had dropped out of "Spiritual Restoration"--you know, that magical process which was supposed to cure him of his addiction to meth and sweaty man-on-man-in-cheap-hotel sex with male prostitutes? Not to say that Pastor Ted isn't a fully recovered, God fearing heterosexual again, but as far as the church is concerned, he's probably not, since the restoration process, which included counseling and prayer for at least five years or longer, was not completed. And in the forgiving and loving tradition of evangelical Christianity, the church made it clear that even if he were "fully restored," he would not be welcomed back to the pulpit! Jimmy Swaggert was curiously unavailable for comment!
8 comments:
Ooooh Betty, thou temptress!
I have a big exam tomorrow, I'll be back to comment after it.
Once again, proving that your biggest homophobes are homos themselves. Pathetic, trapped, brainwashed buttheads . . . their entire lives have been a lie. Also another example of organized religion run amok. All these televangelists make me wanna heave. Well, except Tammy Faye, Higher Power rest her Maybelline-drenched soul.
Once again the perennial question arises- is this life imitating art, or did art imitate life? I'm referring (of course) to the classic South Park Episode "Cartman Sucks" where...'Butters has to go to a special camp where they "pray the gay away"'
IF you've not seen it, you can apparently view it online at http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/1102/Cartman-Sucks.html
(We have every South Park DVD collection yet issued, right next to our complete Python and Black Adder collections.)
(I got a 92 on my bio exam, incidentally, but now I have to focus on habling espanol, where I've been totally tanking.)
As for the issue at hand...As a child, I went to a few Christian camps, where Dobsonian pseudo-psychology was mixed liberally (the only thing liberal about the experience, *grin*) with religion. I was horrified and disgusted then, and now that I know a bit more about BOTH theology and psychology, I'm troubled and disturbed by it.
I don't know enough about the people involved or organization to comment intelligently, but I will offer this general comment-
pop-theology &
pop-psychology
are dangerous... would you trust your body to someone who just dabbles in medicine but hasn't gone through all the proper schooling, internship, residency, etc, and relies instead on "folk remedies?" Some people do, and their mortality rate speaks sadly to its efficacy. (There's a South Park on this too- http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9418.htm)
Regardless... MOST people wouldn't let someone who dabbles in medicine come near them with a scalpel, so why turn to pop-theology or pop-psychology?
When it comes down to it, all three fields are ARTS with a certain amount of scientific or intellectual underpinning. That's why counselors and doctors and pastors in most denominations are required to both study the subject matter AND practice it under intense supervision.
The best religious implementation of this... not surprisingly... comes in chaplaincy training, which generally happens in a health care facility. There, you write verbatims where you record not just what you said, but what you were thinking and feeling at the time, and why you said and did what you said and did. This is then cut apart like a cadaver at an autopsy by your fellow students AND supervisor.
GENUG... its off to pick up meds for tess, and a new toilet seat. I plan- of course- to turn the vinyl from the old one into a rug.
Just make sure you use some lysol on the toilet seat soon to become part of a rug. LOL
!Por supuesto!
I won't even touch most fixtures in a public restroom without a paper towel... if none are available, I use my hat, and I always purell-off afterwards.
Though Mythbusters did show that the toilet seat is often the LEAST germy place in the bathroom!
I'm not surprised to hear that about the toilet seat (least germy). But then, once you take a look at an Anvil toilet seat, you'll be writing a letter to Mythbusters telling them what morons they are . . .
I have no intention of EVER having anything to do with that room of the Anvil... unless its to shoot a horror movie!
(In some ways, I make Felix Unger look like an easy going slob.)
There's nothing I would never need to do which couldn't wait 1/4th of a block!
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