Ooh, I'm so angry! I have had it up to the back teeth with bloody US
No, this is about the terrible spread of what would, in ancient times, be called "false prophets". I like to keep an open mind, and feel that I can learn from lots of belief systems. Even if I disagree, it means that I have to examine what I believe, and test it, which is no bad thing. However, I don't just disagree with almost allUS
What, though has made my blood boil? I have just watched, on God TV (it's up at the dusty end of the channels), a fat sweaty white man in a suit preaching to a crowd of thousands of black South Africans and making up scripture. As you know, I have a little experience of South Africa, and one of the major problems over there is black illiteracy. That's why getting the message out about prevention against HIV is so difficult - black people are more likely to be illiterate, so they can't read leaflets, illiterate people can't earn good wages so they're less likely to have TVs or radios, so they don't see or hear adverts.
Illiterate people can't read the Bible, either, so when some fat sweaty man tells them a story about Jesus, they believe him. If tonight's broadcast is anything to go by, they believe with much cheering and celebration... as they get poorer. Here's what fat boy said (not a transcript), after many quotes from the Bible, giving examples of the life of Jesus:
"There was a man who owned a hotel with ten bedrooms. One morning, he was woken up by a great banging on his door. He went downstairs and opened the door - and there was the Devil! Well, he tried to shut the door, but the Devil pushed as hard as he did, and they spent all day like that, the Devil trying to get in, and the hotel owner trying to keep him out. As the sun went down, the man finally won - he pushed the door shut and locked it. And then he prayed to Jesus and asked for his protection, promising Jesus that he would give him nine of the ten rooms in his hotel if Jesus would help him. Because he prayed, Jesus appeared! The man gave him nine rooms to stay in and went back to his own room, exhausted by the fight.
The next morning, he was woken by a bang on the door. Because he was the owner of the hotel, he had to answer the door - and there was the Devil again, trying to get in! Again, they fought all day, but the man eventually won. He turned to Jesus and said 'Why didn't you help me keep the Devil out?' Jesus explained that he couldn't open the door and fight the Devil, because it wasn't his hotel - the hotel owner had to open the door. 'But if you give me the tenth room', Jesus said, 'The hotel would be mine, and I would have to open the door.' So the man gave Jesus the tenth room.
The next morning, there was the same banging on the door, but this time, Jesus opened the door to the Devil. Seeing Jesus standing there, the Devil bowed low, and he went on his way.
If you give everything to Jesus, he will protect you!"
No, this is about the terrible spread of what would, in ancient times, be called "false prophets". I like to keep an open mind, and feel that I can learn from lots of belief systems. Even if I disagree, it means that I have to examine what I believe, and test it, which is no bad thing. However, I don't just disagree with almost all
What, though has made my blood boil? I have just watched, on God TV (it's up at the dusty end of the channels), a fat sweaty white man in a suit preaching to a crowd of thousands of black South Africans and making up scripture. As you know, I have a little experience of South Africa, and one of the major problems over there is black illiteracy. That's why getting the message out about prevention against HIV is so difficult - black people are more likely to be illiterate, so they can't read leaflets, illiterate people can't earn good wages so they're less likely to have TVs or radios, so they don't see or hear adverts.
Illiterate people can't read the Bible, either, so when some fat sweaty man tells them a story about Jesus, they believe him. If tonight's broadcast is anything to go by, they believe with much cheering and celebration... as they get poorer. Here's what fat boy said (not a transcript), after many quotes from the Bible, giving examples of the life of Jesus:
"There was a man who owned a hotel with ten bedrooms. One morning, he was woken up by a great banging on his door. He went downstairs and opened the door - and there was the Devil! Well, he tried to shut the door, but the Devil pushed as hard as he did, and they spent all day like that, the Devil trying to get in, and the hotel owner trying to keep him out. As the sun went down, the man finally won - he pushed the door shut and locked it. And then he prayed to Jesus and asked for his protection, promising Jesus that he would give him nine of the ten rooms in his hotel if Jesus would help him. Because he prayed, Jesus appeared! The man gave him nine rooms to stay in and went back to his own room, exhausted by the fight.
The next morning, he was woken by a bang on the door. Because he was the owner of the hotel, he had to answer the door - and there was the Devil again, trying to get in! Again, they fought all day, but the man eventually won. He turned to Jesus and said 'Why didn't you help me keep the Devil out?' Jesus explained that he couldn't open the door and fight the Devil, because it wasn't his hotel - the hotel owner had to open the door. 'But if you give me the tenth room', Jesus said, 'The hotel would be mine, and I would have to open the door.' So the man gave Jesus the tenth room.
The next morning, there was the same banging on the door, but this time, Jesus opened the door to the Devil. Seeing Jesus standing there, the Devil bowed low, and he went on his way.
If you give everything to Jesus, he will protect you!"
At which point, of course, the collection plates go round...
How wicked is that? Sub-Saharan Africans have a strong belief in magic, and to exploit poor, illiterate people in this way seems like the very worst thing that someone can do. It is absolutely *not* the way that Anglican, Methodist, or Catholic missions would ever be allowed to behave, but the pernicious Southern Baptist mob have no such scruples, it seems.
I suppose I'm annoyed on many levels, because apart from my feelings of outrage about black South Africans being exploited in this way, I'm also frustrated that I can't see any way of combating this evil - and yes, I believe it to be evil. I'm also not happy about such scenes being promoted on TV, because it gives a very skewed view of the relationship between Christianity and disadvantaged people. Anyone watching that sequence who didn't have a personal faith (fine by me, that's not the argument) might reconsider donating to charities that I know have achieved great things in Africa, like Christian Aid, the Salvation Army and CAFOD. If I were as evangelically atheistic as some of my friends, this would be one of my best arguments for opposing religion.
I hope that there's a very special hell set aside for such fat and sweaty men. They peddle an American Jesus, so I hope that there's an American Hell, where guns are theoretically available but nobody wants to buy one, where all the churches celebrate gay marriages, all the Bibles come with notes written by God ("You may think that this indicates a Rapture. It doesn't. No it doesn't. Look, it doesn't, not in any way you could possibly imagine. End of, right?"), where there are condom machines in every school and sex education consists of "Love everyone", whilst Love Education requires many years of hard study, and no matter who they vote for, a socialist government always gets in.
Thanks for staying with my rant, folks - it hasn't made me feel any better, but it's allowed me to blow off some steam. Your comments, especially from those of you who choose a faith other than Christianity, or choose not to have a faith, would be very welcome.
In the meantime, please don't watch God TV, because it doesn't represent any God that I'm familiar with. It's theological pornography for devout, money-loving, oppressing fundamentalist idiots, to put it tactfully.
How wicked is that? Sub-Saharan Africans have a strong belief in magic, and to exploit poor, illiterate people in this way seems like the very worst thing that someone can do. It is absolutely *not* the way that Anglican, Methodist, or Catholic missions would ever be allowed to behave, but the pernicious Southern Baptist mob have no such scruples, it seems.
I suppose I'm annoyed on many levels, because apart from my feelings of outrage about black South Africans being exploited in this way, I'm also frustrated that I can't see any way of combating this evil - and yes, I believe it to be evil. I'm also not happy about such scenes being promoted on TV, because it gives a very skewed view of the relationship between Christianity and disadvantaged people. Anyone watching that sequence who didn't have a personal faith (fine by me, that's not the argument) might reconsider donating to charities that I know have achieved great things in Africa, like Christian Aid, the Salvation Army and CAFOD. If I were as evangelically atheistic as some of my friends, this would be one of my best arguments for opposing religion.
I hope that there's a very special hell set aside for such fat and sweaty men. They peddle an American Jesus, so I hope that there's an American Hell, where guns are theoretically available but nobody wants to buy one, where all the churches celebrate gay marriages, all the Bibles come with notes written by God ("You may think that this indicates a Rapture. It doesn't. No it doesn't. Look, it doesn't, not in any way you could possibly imagine. End of, right?"), where there are condom machines in every school and sex education consists of "Love everyone", whilst Love Education requires many years of hard study, and no matter who they vote for, a socialist government always gets in.
Thanks for staying with my rant, folks - it hasn't made me feel any better, but it's allowed me to blow off some steam. Your comments, especially from those of you who choose a faith other than Christianity, or choose not to have a faith, would be very welcome.
In the meantime, please don't watch God TV, because it doesn't represent any God that I'm familiar with. It's theological pornography for devout, money-loving, oppressing fundamentalist idiots, to put it tactfully.
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