The biggest problem with institutional Christianity is (re:Robertson)

[Perky]

that there is no ecclesiastiacal authority out there that can take an idiot like Pat Robertson out to the woodshed and give him the Biblical whooping he deserves.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/02/robertson.predictions.ap/index.html

:spank: :banghead:

[Warpy]

1. That's the greatest strength and greatest weakness of Protestant

sects, the lack of any central religious authority. On the one hand, they're not bound by centuries of infallible but contradictory pronouncements by central leaders and don't have to support a princely aristocracy; on the other, they have no one to discipline demagogues who manage to give the whole sect a bad reputation.

[jwirr]

2. I hate fundies and their lies but I also do not want a pope. Real

Christians will recognize that the leaders like robertson are idiots and false teachers and ignore them. Fundies know how to quote their Bibles and leads chapter and verse BUT they haven't the slightest idea what all those verses mean. I think many have awakened because their idiot leaders are so blatantly outspoken with no brains at all.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007?

Same shit, different day. What do you call the hundreds of thousands we have killed in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last few years?

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. No, US would experience a mass killing in 2007.

Just like Disneyland will be destroyed by a hurricane in 2003, and a tsunami will hit the east coast in 2006.

One of these days he's going to get lucky, and everyone will call him a prophet, and the land will be awash in prophets and his coffers in profits.

Never mind all the times that he was wrong. Who's the greater moron - the moron or those who follow the moron?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. As the Rev. Donald Morgan said...

"Christians say that--without exception--their God answers all of their
prayers; it's just that He sometimes says "yes" and other times "no,"
"maybe," or "wait." Of course the same could be said of the rain-god,"Bob."

[PurgedVoter]

5. False Profit or Prophet, either way.

The man makes money on human suffering. He has stated many times that God has told him things. This simply put means he claims to be a Prophet. These same claims have been wrong repeatedly. This makes him a False Prophet.


Deuteronomy 18
20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 13
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

There is your authority, KJV and all.

[xchrom]

6. while i fight bitterly with the catholic hierarchy -- male dominance,

hatred of gay folk, etc -- what i admire is many of the ideas that come from st francis or the desert fathers -- the many, many years of study that it takes to become a priest{ordain women!} , priests that actively study and participate and add to human knowledge, etc.

if the church could see it's way to another reformation -- i think it would/could create another Renascence of a sorts.

[BoneDaddy]

9. As an ex-Catholic I can relate

CAn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Some elements of the Christian and Catholic traditions have merit and universal value, especially among the mystics who have had the ability to transcend dogma and institutionalization.

[xchrom]

12. indeed.

there's what it could be versus the shortsightedness and politicking that all to often consumes it.

i'm an episcopalian.
and i love the liberal version of it -- like i admire so much of liberation theology that sprang up in the sixties and seventies in the catholic church.

anyway...

[BoneDaddy]

13. I am a big John Shelby Spong fan

Great stuff.

[xchrom]

15. very cool.

[RiverStone]

8. The woodshed is out there...

...that there is no ecclesiastiacal authority out there that can take an idiot like Pat Robertson out to the woodshed and give him the Biblical whooping he deserves.

Lets pray for one!

[Jacobin]

10. As long as there are legions of stupid people

there will be Pat Robertsons and his ilk

[verse18]

11. The biggest problem with institutional Christianity

is that it is false and used by a select few to manipulate and control the many, as well as separate them from their money.

[Critters2]

14. My tradition (UCC) has an authority to whom I'm expected to submit

The real problem is lay people who don't respect this authority. For instance, I know of a guy who lost his standing (most extreme form of discipline--no longer a minister in the denomination) for both sexual misconduct and lying about it to the Association. Associations don't pull standing without GOOD reason, for fear of lawsuits. We lose our pension if we lose our standing, so it's a very serious matter, and clergy who lose standing for no good reason would sue in a heartbeat. If a pastor loses standing, there's good reason for it. Anyway, this bozo goes back to his congregation, tells them the big, bad Association is picking on him. They believe it, and he's still serving the church. Because of our polity, the Association can't tell the church to fire him, though the church would if it had an ounce of sense--he's likely to "re-offend" and they'll be out there on a legal limb all by themselves, since they kept him without ecclesiastical authorization.

In general, people don't like authority, and won't take it seriously, even when it's there to protect them. But those who don't do the wise thing end up reaping what they sow. I believe it's called karma.