Ghostly Pillars of Creation. NASA
“Predators never expect to be hunted.” ―
This weekend, after serving at an event at our church, Bill and I decided to watch God Forbid, The Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty, the Hulu documentary. “God Forbid” highlights the perversions of the Falwells, who pretend to care about and uphold the moral standards of the students who attend Liberty University. I wasn’t sure I wanted to watch it, given that I wrote extensively about the fall of Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife, Becki, during the incidents In question.
For me, it started when Robert Downene retweeted this pic of Falwell.
Downen discovered it was taken at a costume party, so he thought it might not be relevant. I, along with others, urged him to look into the picture, which proved to be the beginning of the end for Falwell.
Was this about sexual abuse? I believe that it was.
I will take a different approach than NPR in A new documentary follows an affair that felled evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr.’s career. I do not believe this was simply sex between consenting individuals, as NPR claimed. They seemed to want to focus on how the Falwells were merely poor role models for the LU community. Yes, they were terrible role models, but they were far more. They were predators.
This documentary does not set out to kink-shame the Falwells. Spend your money, go party, have consensual safe sex – that’s great. The issue is the hypocrisy. They are punishing people and they are threatening their financial security because there are fines for violating the Liberty way. They are threatening their academic future. They ruined people’s lives for holding them to a standard that the Falwells themselves never lived up to.
If one watches the entire documentary, one will see evidence that the Falwells utilized their power and influence to keep the pool boy on the hook, sexually servicing both Becki and Jerry. Let’s go back to the beginning.
What was this about a pool boy?
Salon posted The 6 most shocking Jerry Falwell Jr. sex scandal moments from Hulu’s “God Forbid” documentary. Granda was 20 years old at the time.
While working as a pool attendant at Miami Beach’s luxurious Fontainebleau hotel, Granda met Becki Falwell, who he said was sitting by the pool and taking photos of him from afar. Granda recalled that Becki had told him, “Don’t waste your time with the younger ones, they don’t know what they are doing.”
Becki and Jerry allegedly invited the pool boy to have sex with Becki while Jerry watched and masturbated.
That night, Granda received a phone call from Becki via a blocked private number. She asked that Granda meet her and her husband at a nearby Days Inn instead of at their Fontainebleau room because their children were staying there. Granda met Becki in the lobby of the hotel, where she gave him a cup of Jack Daniel’s whiskey to calm his nerves and proceeded to stroke his inner thigh.
“I was a horny 20-year-old. There really is no other explanation other than that,” Granda sheepishly confessed in the documentary.
Granda said that when he and Becki went up to her hotel room, Jerry Jr. was laid out on the bed with his jeans unzipped and a drink in his hand. While Granda and Becki had sex, which was “anything but penetrative,” Jerry Jr. took off his jeans and masturbated in the corner.
Becki and Jerry admitted to her relationship with Granda but denied that Jerry ever watched.
All news outlets reported this. According to People Magazine:
The Falwells have previously denied Jerry’s involvement and accused Granda of trying to blackmail them, which he has denied.
Strangely (Actually, everything about this story is strange and yucky,) Becki allegedly claimed she loved Granda within three weeks of meeting him and reportedly began to sleep with Granda on the bed while Jerry slept nearby on a couch.
Granda claims he and Becki would fall asleep in bed, while Jerry would stay on the couch
“The sleeping arrangement was, I slept on the bed with Becki, and you know, Jerry slept next to the bed,” Granda said. “Thinking back, it’s kind of strange.”
Granda alleges Becki told him she loved him only three weeks after meeting
“Becki was the first person … outside of my family to say ‘I love you,’ and it’s just three weeks after meeting them,” Granda said.
Eventually, Granda claimed there were three-way sexual encounters with Becki and Jerry.
Granda becomes like “one of the Falwell kids” and got involved in a business deal with Jerry.
According to the NY Post in ‘God Forbid’ doc reveals Trump’s surprising role in Jerry Falwell Jr. sex scandal:
From there, Granda, who was then earning $200 a day as a pool attendant, says in the doc that the wealthy holy rollers roped him into an emotionally-charged sexual relationship, luring him in with trips on their private jet, interludes with their high-profile friends like Trump and promises of 50% equity share in a $4.65 million hostel in the heart of Miami.
An enchanted Granda leaped on the deal. “It felt like I was living in a movie,” he says. .
And he got to meet Trump, whom he admired.
Then, in July 2012, Granda tapped a friend to help him land the commercial property that would become the Miami Hostel. The vibrant property was furnished with an Italian restaurant, a liquor store and accommodations for overnight boarders, but the friend soon became suspicious about his relationship with Jerry and Becki.
“[He was] very curious about what was going on [between me and the Falwells],” says Granda. “[I’d say] ‘They just want to help me out,’ but obviously that didn’t make sense. They were convinced that there was more to it, and they were right.”
And as Granda’s alleged sexual and professional dealings with Jerry and Becki grew, so did the role that he played in their lives.
Rather than being a secret lover that they kept out of sight, the Falwells showcased him like a trophy. Granda says in the doc that he became close to their kids — with whom he was already close in age. He joined their family on holidays and special occasions.
And when Trump gave the convocation address at Liberty University in September 2012, Granda sat front row.
Add to this is Michael Cohen (Yes, that one) reportedly got involved to deep-six some unseemly pictures that Granda’s friend had. You can’t make this stuff up.
Back to the Salon article, which focused on Falwell appearing to threaten Granda.
This sure sounds like a threat to me.
Granda recalled that the Falwells owned a 500-600 acre farm with a Confederate cemetery and a shooting range in their backyard. He added that Jerry Jr. had once told him, “Well, the good thing is now I know if Becki were to run away with someone, I know who it is. If that were to happen, if she tried to divorce me, I’d probably have her killed.”
Granda had enough and decided to expose the Falwells with Becki’s nude video.
Granda kept many of the texts and videos they shared over the years. However, one was both eye-opening and damning. In the documentary, Granda played a video of her that he kept on his phone in which Becki strips naked and takes him on a tour of all the places they had sex in their home, including in the kids’ bedrooms. Jerry makes a brief appearance.
According to Newsweek in Where is Giancarlo Granda Now?
n an excerpt of his book provided to People, Granda wrote: “Beyond my own complicity and moral failings, there was the fact that the Falwells had half a dozen tapes of Becki and me having sex, and those were just the ones I knew about. Aside from the embarrassment and chaos they could unleash, they also represented an unspoken form of blackmail, since implicitly, I had to do whatever they wanted. And what they wanted was to keep having sex.
“This eventually would reach a breaking point, and it turned out this was it. When our story finally went public, I said they had been blackmailing me the whole time, and I stand by that, even if they might not articulate it the same way. They always had these tapes hanging over my head, and for every second of that time, I carried a gnawing fear in the pit of my stomach that this would be my downfall. It almost was.”
All of this got exposed in 2020 in a Reuters article: Business partner of Falwells says affair with evangelical power couple spanned seven years. In the film, Granda said he was having trouble getting jobs after graduating from Georgetown.
Granda first emerged as a figure in the Falwells’ circle two years ago, when BuzzFeed News reported that the couple had befriended Granda and gone into business with him, buying a Miami Beach youth hostel in 2013. At the time of the BuzzFeed article, a representative of the Falwell family said Granda was “offered a share” in Alton Hostel LLC because Granda lived in Miami and would act as a manager of the youth hostel. Corporate records show that Granda currently has a stake in that venture.
There seem to be more and more long-term sexual predators being revealed in the evangelical world.
This long-term sexual affair with Becki Falwell, and allegedly with Jerry Falwell Jr, carried on for seven years. The Falwells supposedly represented Christian values and ethics due to their position at Liberty University. They were also supposed to be the faces of the quasi-evangelical movement and were profound failures. Becki would later be accused of having a sexual encounter with a LU student. Both she and Jerry appear to be sexual predators.
The Falwells used Jerry’s position to carry out their strange proclivities with pool boy. I’m not at all convinced that this was completely consensual for Granda. The Falwells appear to have used their position and money to influence Granda unfairly. That may mean this was not a simple consensual affair due to the power differential.
Ravi Zacharias went to his death with 100s of pictures of women on his phone. It is hard for me to imagine that the Falwells and Zacharias were Christians. The fact that these activities continued over long periods with no expressed remorse is indicative of their faith which appears to be dead and buried.
Warning to naive Christians: wake up and smell the coffee! Predators are targeting gullible Christians as well as those outside the church.
Jesus told us that there would be wolves who would attempt to harm the sheep. We assumed they would be around, teaching wrong doctrines like “denying the Trinity.” Instead, these wolves are men and women who look to harm folks. Never forget that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Some have sinned and have long left behind the faith they pretended to profess.
1
Grifters… so many are Grifters.. or preditor/grifters..
Good post, Dee, about another unsavory situation among Evangelicals.
Recently, I commented with a link to a free documentary on youtube about the Falwells (“The Scandalous Rise and Fall of Jerry Falwell, Jr.”), at a channel called: NOT THE GOOD GIRL: Scams, Cults, & Cautionary Tales.
The same producer has also produced a documentary about Hillsong’s Carl Lentz: “The Scandalous Downfall of Justin Bieber’s Pastor and Hillsong Church”, https://youtu.be/kng12Bc3y4k .
The segment where she notes the lifestyles of the rich and famous celebrity pastors (not like us normal people) is particularly revealing. She says it’s all just a money-collecting business, and business as usual for these people: scams (they don’t work, they grift money off of others with their “non-profits”), sex, high society living, skimming all they can off the top from their “ministries”. And, of course, the cool factor. They only wear certain labels, always fly in private planes, etc.
Warning to naive Christians: wake up and smell the coffee! Predators are targeting gullible Christians as well as those outside the church. A sadly true warning that will be ignored, again.
You have to wonder what sort of teaching the pew sitters are receiving that they are willing to welcome back pastors and leaders caught in graphic sexual sin. Immorality, let alone long-running affairs, should bar anyone from returning to Christian ministry. Dee, I agree, the not-so-subtle threat of bodily harm and/or blackmail, would indicate this was not a consensual relationship.
Can I be honest here?
This whole sordid imbroglio is more ludicrous and funny than it is anything else.
Muff Potter,
I know what you mean but it is very dark. Granda is onto a good thing by discerning and talking to us. Dee, I am so glad you are highlighting abuse of power differential. I want to see more comment about Falwell Senior the materialist exceptionalist. The dominionists gave worldly power to the world. They intended it as “merely” an advertising ploy, i.e a lie. They are going to be asked questions in the next world – yes the “respectable” Senior, and Roman equivalents – about why they set the teeth of the world’s children on edge. Poor people live in glamorous places as the “prey” caste.
And “having” sex (whether at anyone’s expense or not) in one’s children’s rooms is sick.
From September 26, 2020:
‘President’s Viewpoint — In a time of transition, the mission remains unchanged‘
https://www.liberty.edu/journal/article/season-of-renewal-new-president-upholds-his-promise-to-carry-out-the-original-goal-training-champions-for-christ/
“Some have voiced concerns that Prevo had worked too closely with Jerry Falwell Jr. in the past to lead Liberty University well today, but it’s clear he’s his own man, and his first priority is to honor God. One of the leading forensic teams in the world has been retained by the Board of Trustees to conduct a thorough investigation into university operations during Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president. Prevo is ready for it.”
“ TO THE EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY:
“You might not know me. You might only know the name of Liberty University, and what you’ve seen in the news has saddened you. It’s broken any trust you may have had in a big Christian institution like ours.
“It’s easy to make assumptions when you’re looking in from the outside. But what’s been in the spotlight is not who we really are.
“I’ve believed in the mission and vision of this school for decades, but as I’ve gotten to know the faculty, staff, and students who are here right now, who make up the Liberty community today, I want you to know they are extraordinary. They serve one another. They pray for one another. They love the Lord Jesus Christ, and they love each other. They are the church of today becoming the church of tomorrow. And it’s such a privilege to know them.“
“So please don’t let your assumptions about Liberty University expand to include them — they don’t deserve it.“
What is written appears to point to thoroughly addressing actions that the writer indicates may have broken trust, specifically in the evangelical community looking in from the outside.
So…
Where are any hints, words, reports, findings, conclusions, follow up actions, stakeholder discussions, etc. two years after this claim that the Board of Trustees retained “one of the leading forensic teams in the world” in order “to conduct a thorough investigation into university operations during Falwell Jr.’s tenure as president”? Why don’t we start with the name of this leading forensics team, or is that too hard?
Perhaps part of the answer is elsewhere in the article:
“Recent events involving Liberty’s fourth president, Jerry Falwell Jr., have broken trust for most in Liberty University, and some question Liberty’s commitment to its nearly 50-year mission of Training Champions for Christ.
“Prevo acknowledges their frustration. Then he shifts the focus.“
Might some be apt to contend that what was done by someone — who just about a month before had chaired the Board of Trustees and thus known and worked with the person in question — has seemed to largely amount to letting people talk for a while, letting the talk die down, letting time pass, and shifting the focus? I’m open to be persuaded otherwise, but the radio silence seems deafening — that, and further flares of what may be deemed a prairie fire, such as this return in the public eye to this matter in a big way.
Muff Potter,
I agree…. EXCEPT….. as Dee points out, LU imposes “extreme behavior standards and pious Christian beliefs”, completely inconsistent with how the leaders behave/act..on students…
50 years ago I was subjected to this, and it does a lifetime of damage…. or at least a lifetime of processes what following Christ really means…. Given disgusting state of US Christianity, I prefer to use the phrase of “following Christ”…. Until they really contaminate that “phrase”..
JDV,
Yup… you nailed it…. try sweep it under the rug, nothing to see here, move on….
And you d$mn well students that in the past, and probably currently, that “got hammered” by LU for some “infraction” are not give the same “sweep under the rug treatment”…. Unless they were a “golden boy” of some one famous….
AND this guy Prevo had to know things were “rotten inside” way before it blew up publicly…. so he is complicit, or, ….. totally incompetent
Jeffrey Chalmers,
lifetime of processing, not “process”
Rich White Trash cosplays Poor White Trash.
And the CHRISTIAN Cuck and Cougar Show rolls on to the tune of Praise & Worship choruses.
“TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED!!!!!!!”
“RIGHTEOUS AND PIOUS ARE WE, ARE WE —
THE MORAL MAJORITY!
(to the tune of Silent Night)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WKuYQ-2Ydc
I’ve been kinda busy the past few weeks, so I had to carve out some time to sit down and watch it. I had been following the story, and getting all the propaganda letters as an LU alumnus, so I knew the story already. Part of me was sitting there during convocation flashbacks thinking Please don’t show me. Please don’t show me!
I think they did a very good job of showing the evidence that Junior supported the former president because he was blackmailed into it. I think he would have supported him anyway, but maybe not to the level that he did.
I also think they did a very good job of showing the lurid behavior of Christian leaders as opposed to what they expect from their members, in this case, students at Liberty that have to follow “the Liberty way”. I enjoyed Dustin from Save 71’s perspective and as an alumnus, I liked that they had a strong alumnus voice, because he echoed the views of a lot of alumni.
One big problem with the whole concept of Liberty is that they promise parents that their kids will be protected and become “good Christians” by paying a lot of money to go there, but a school can’t do that. LU students are adults anyway, as much as many parents who want to send them there wish to keep them sheltered. You can’t force someone to be a Christian, much less.whatever a “good” one might be. But I have heard LU officials promise that (including Senior) and there are a lot of parents who send their kids there believing it.
I wish they would have done more to show how LU pushed Christian nationalism via the Falkirk Center. They referenced it, but I think they could have done more there. For example, the LU newspaper became heavily censored at that time, as did views of dissenting students uncomfortable with the former President, even if they were still wanting to vote for.a Republican.
I think they could have been much, much stronger in including the women who are suing Liberty over their mistreatment in rape and assault situations. They did reference it, and had a few statements, but that situation is heavily tied to the behavior of the Falwells. I know they really wanted to focus on the politics of it, but I wanted a stronger message that evangelical Christian leaders are not interested in the safety of women or children and will not represent them.
I also would have liked a few more questions about where this will all go. I think documentaries excel in those types of questions, but I found the ending a bit weak. Honestly, I think they could have a made a series out of this, because there’s so much there that they didn’t touch on.
Liberty has been anything but a place of liberty. Forcing everyone to agree with you because you don’t want to be forced is being hypocritical. Forcing everyone because you already have the money and power to do so — I would argue that it makes your faith questionable.
It’s as crushing as any despotism the world has seen.
Muff Potter,
Yup..
“The more adjectives about Democracy in a country’s official name, the nastier a Dictatorship it is.”
— TV Tropes, “People’s Republic of Tyranny”
Up to this level, Ishy?
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61L7NZJCkXL.jpg
(Actual Book)
Headless Unicorn Guy,
P.S. Ishy – your handle is one letter off from “Ishi”, the Yana word for “Man”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi
(The Semitic name “Adham” (Adam) also means “The Man”.)
Up to this level, Ishy?
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61L7NZJCkXL.jpg
(Actual Book)
I believe the word in “Kinky”.
“RIGHTEOUS AND PIOUS ARE WE, ARE WE —
THE MORAL MAJORITY!”
Headless Unicorn Guy,
Junior would write that about himself… but so would the great orange one.
“Ishi” also means rock in Japanese.
I watched it and what really was made clear was the last 15 minutes that showed how the politicians played the Christians for their vote.
I dislike the church getting in bed with politicians as the church always loses. I do believe in voting and I study the issues but society will be changed, if it can be, by believers living radically different lives , loving refugees, helping the poor , caring for the environment and helping working men and women and not by politicians.
Appears that “the Anointed” was touched lots, no doubt with oil.
Praise be…
Headless Unicorn Guy,
Wow…..
Chuckp,
“society will be changed, if it can be, by believers living radically different lives , loving refugees, helping the poor , caring for the environment and helping working men and women and not by politicians.”
++++++++++++++++++
i see people doing these very things not in the name of God or Jesus Christ or any religion, but simply out of kindness and good citizenship.
the atheists, agnostics, and muslim people i know are especially attentive to these things.
the influencers and citizens of christian culture are too preoccupied to care about these things.
preoccupied mostly with fear of sex and fear of women (as well as being in denial about having these fears, because they are afraid of having these fears)
neuroses grand central.
ludicrous, indeed.
Chuckp,
“society will be changed, if it can be, by believers living radically different lives , loving refugees, helping the poor , caring for the environment and helping working men and women and not by politicians.”
+++++++++++++
i do appreciate your comment Chuckp, …but i’ll go farther.
society will be changed, if it can be, if believers get over themselves and consider emulating the kindness, sincerity, and humility demonstrated by many atheists, agnostics, and muslims.
Just reading the story about the Falwells makes me want to take a long, very hot shower and then douse myself with Lysol . . .
Luckyforward,
Just think… they were looked up to as some of the “Leaders” of evangelicalism!!!
Exactly . . .
Luckyforward,
The codependent dominionists / resurgents like Falwell Senior gave sacred force to blaspheming of boy and girlhood (by their shaming body ideology strategy now scaring atheist boys into the arms of power-hungry classroom conversion therapists offering fake inclusion).
But dominionists / resurgents thought they were only pretending they could give sacred force to things. That was “meant” to be an advertising ploy which is supposed to be lies right? So that’s all right right?
The only way agnostics of goodwill can counter the sorcery of the dominionists / resurgents will be if we show we are determined not to drive wedges but mentor them in becoming (even) better agnostics.
GAWD’s Anointed Court Favorites (all bow before their Godliness and RIGHTeousness)!
GAWD’s Perfect Examples of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood!
“RIGHTEOUS AND PIOUS ARE WE, ARE WE…”
“The Holier their Righteousness, the greater their Perversion.”
Remember the interpretation of Revelation where The Beast represents a corrupt political system and The False Prophet a corrupt religious system in cahoots?
Look back into your End Times Prophetic fiction (long before Left Behind):
Which of them is ALWAYS the Boss and which is ALWAYS the Fawning Flunky who THINKS he’s the Boss?
The Beast leads the False Prophet around on a leash while the False Prophet piddles on the floor and Yap-Yap-Yaps “I’M IN CHARGE! I’M IN CHARGE!”
(Like Tsar Putin and Patriarch Kyrill.)
When being Cyrus isn’t enough…
Revelation 13:15 ring a bell, anyone?
I first heard about this book on YouTube (Telltale Atheist channel, which scrutinizes religious extremism in general), and confirmed with an Amazon search that it was for real.
My information comes secondhand but seems to indicate the book’s jumping-off point is the two Jewish archetypes of Messiah: The Suffering Messiah (which the book calls “The Son of God”) and the Conquering Messiah (called “The Son Of Man”).
The Son of God is the Meek and Mild First Coming presenting the Plan of Salvation.
The Son of Man is “Turbo-Jesus” from Left Behind Volumes 12 & 13, the Second Coming in Power and Might to SMITE! SMITE! SMITE! PUNISH! PUNISH! PUNISH! the Other, “Cleansing” the Earth for His Millennial Kingdom. “HE SHALL RULE THEM (NOT US) WITH A ROD OF IRON! AND WE SHALL SIT AT HIS LEFT AND RIGHT HAND! AND HIS KINGDOM SHALL HAVE NO END!”
IN early Furry Fandom, such a use of oil was (jokingly) called “A Wesson Oil Party”.
But JFJr?
Not only do his acts have no name among the Goyim (1 Cor 5:1), they have no name even among the Furries!
I like it that in the midst of the ‘shaming’ of the evangelical moniker by Falwell, Jr. et al, and by ‘the anointed one, the orange Jesus’ with his paid mistress, three wives, and hate rallies,
that Dr. Roger Olson tries to remind us that not all people who are evangelical have jumped on the trump wagon or supported the ‘Falwell’ heritage as it is presented now in the photo image of Jerry Jr. and ‘friend’ with unzipped pants . . . (costumes? come on folks! don’t believe what you see?)
It is important to realize that before the times of Pat Robertson, and all the hate-mongers who followed and mixed politics with religion,
there really was a time when evangelical people from even the days of ancient Church who brought ‘the Good News’ to those people of like-minded good will in this world.
I hope someday ‘evangelical’ will find its way back in meaning to those people of good will and ceases to be a ‘monicker’ that now sadly identifies some of the most evil hate-mongers and idol worshippers (the ‘golden statue’ at CPAC?) AND ‘christian'(?) dominists who now run with that term as their identity.
I thank people like Dr. Olson who are trying to keep the old term unsullied by reminding us of its heritage, before the ‘old boyz club’ of power seekers and grifters took it to its present ‘meaning’.
The ONE THING that the grifters lack: ‘good will’ . . . without which the term ‘evangelical’ means nothing.
The writers of the Holy Gospels of Our Lord were ‘evangelists’ and without the Word of God, there is only the darkness. Someday, we will recover the true meaning in the Church. Someday we must.
End of rant. Written from a deep place of sadness, but not without hope for better to come.
“Rather than being a secret lover that they kept out of sight, the Falwells showcased him like a trophy. Granda says in the doc that he became close to their kids — with whom he was already close in age. He joined their family on holidays and special occasions.”
This is some of the hardest stuff to read and TRY to fathom . . .
if THIS is what Falwellism preaches openly now, I fear for their followers’ young people.
Whatever happened to the so-called evangelical efforts to ‘protect our children from the culture’ when ‘solution’ looks worse than anything the culture is throwing out there to ‘trap’ their kids?
And HOW does Falwell’s ‘followers’ find their way out of this maze????
I’m confused. Why the Falwell juniors do this to their OWN kids?????
Is there some kind of ‘teaching’ among neo-Cals that says ‘once-saved, always-saved AND you are ‘elect’ and cannot possibly go to hell as much as you sin openly, even when your example HARMS people closest to you???
?
Dark stuff, this.
I mean, their kids were adults or close to being adults. And they grew up in lavish wealth being able to do anything they wanted, pretty much. I don’t suppose it’s much different from secular uber-riche parents with questionable morality.
I never thought Junior was an upholder of morality, even way back when before he had kids. I don’t think anybody did, even his dad. Liberty put him in because that was his dad’s wish and because he was good at business connections that lead to more money for the school. It wasn’t about Christianity and even the most staunch board members knew it. A lot of students knew it. Their parents might have been more fooled, as well as Christians outside, but anyone intimately connected to Liberty probably didn’t think of Junior as a moral leader. He wasn’t ever that.
The Falwells are traditional freewill Baptists, though, and not New Calvinists.
As long as it’s safe, sane & consensual, I don’t care what people do in their bedroom.
But when you’re getting a payday playing the morality card then you should be judged by those standards.
This only solidifies my assertion that Christianity is only one “truth” among many.
Will the real Slim shady please stand up?
christiane,
Just like the stuff that good old Ravi did… sigh…
What is even worse is all the “inner circle” people that knew, or had their heads in the sand… that is even darker…
Headless Unicorn Guy,
Maybe true, however, in Jesus’ day, the religious elite conspired to terminate God’s Son and the local politicals reluctantly cooperated.
Same situation with the arrest and imprisonment of the Apostle Paul.
The real muscle is with the pols but the religious elite guide them to target their enemies or competition (which was actually God Himself).
As a follower of Jesus, IMHO, what the government does pales in comparison with what the religious elite do to anyone they feel threatens them and their enterprises (power, profits, and privilege to do vice and get away with it) the USA.
Sounds like it will be as brutal a dictatorship as any the world has seen.
Yes. I was explicitly taught this in the early 1970s when “Calvin” wasn’t a word. I have always seen it in all denominations that I’ve known (and with hindsight before then too), with only a few individuals not conforming to it.
“The future is a worn out promise” – A. Anaxogorou
As for me I call myself an agnostic in order to signal that:
– no promoters of their concept are entitled to expect me to package deal,
– and that my looking for meanings in Scripture, trusting Holy Spirit (Jesus’ twin) and going cafeteria (using my own degrees of inference and my soul competency) makes me free like Jesus intended.
Falwell Senior WAS immoral because he held that Scripture is without meaning.
You want to know how the “great commission” is supposed to work?
On her dad’s side, my wife’s family background is Muslim/Buddhist. After her grandfather died, her aunt’s , who were teens at the time, heard a Christian street preacher and checked out his church. They were greeted with kindness & acceptance. They brought their mom & brothers. The whole family converted and have been devout Christians ever since.
Some background. Her grandmother was wife #2 – as in the grandfather was married and supporting another family as well. This wasn’t considered adultery in both the Muslim and Buddhist tradition. She was 17 and married with the family blessing.
Kindness and acceptance. Not judgement.
I hate the “holier than thou” crud.
And the Christians will chorus “AAAAAAAA-MENNNNNNN! NOW *WE* HOLD THE WHIP!!!!”
And within one or two generations in such a Godly Christian Nation, the name “Jesus Christ” will acquire the exact same baggage as the name “Adolf Hitler”.
Headless, there are women in our nation with severely toxic ‘pregnancies’ (the fetus is dying or dead) who cannot get medical help and are in danger . . . I guess for the suffering women and their worried families, the time you mention has already appeared on the horizon. It may be that the ‘failed’ RED WAVE occurred because there were some trumpists who failed to show ANY compassion for this severe medical situation which places a woman’s life in danger as a result of compounded infections . . . voters were sickened by the ‘hubris’ and cruel comments of them what advocated no abortion under ANY circumstances.
It ain’t over, this nightmare, no. But there ARE some signs that there may be a core of ‘real’ Republicans who do not follow the trump mindlessly, and maybe that will be the beginning of the restoration of the REAL Republican Party as it was during the time of John McCain when it still had integrity and showed some sense of honor and loyalty to the Constitution instead of only to ‘the orange jesus’.
We shall see.
Ava Aaronson,
AVA, concerning ‘the religious elite’ and ‘the pols’,
one sometimes wonders if the tail is waging the dog.
Have you seen the very strange post on Patheos Evangelical Blogs by Gene Vieth, this:
‘The Claim That Trump is the Christ’ wherein Vieth mentions writer Helgard Muller and describes some of Muller’s thoughts which Vieth acknowledges are idolatrous indeed?
Vieth does list some of the ‘considerations’ (that Muller proposes as ‘evidence’), and it is rough to see the kind of thinking that trump-worshipers ARE doing . . .
(?)
Jack,
“They were greeted with kindness & acceptance.”
+++++++++++++
That’s beautiful.
kindness for its own sake is a beautiful thing.
in my experience of my religion, it’s sort of like ‘quid pro quo kindness’… like i’m being sold to, and i have to buy the goods in return.
i have to buy in to loyalty to the party line, and do things to prove it.
And Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
They don’t want the Democracy we’ve enjoyed for generations.
They want something like Snow in The Hunger Games.
Jack,
JACK,
I say ‘yes’ to kindness, as so much of ‘we are better than those other sinners’ has led to the kind of living hell created by ‘christian’ leaders who have perverted the mission of the Church to satisfy their own ‘needs’ of sex, power, and money . . .
I do believe that in all religions, that if there is good, the credit for that good belongs to God. I’m thinking of St. Paul’s speech at the Aeropagus, yes.
There IS in my own faith a desire to examine the ‘truth’ in all cultures of humankind and what is discovered is often that there is something ‘universal’ about how the Logos (The Word) conveys ‘the truth’ as God Himself implants His ‘law’ on the hearts of ALL mankind and gives to ALL a ‘conscience’ as guide to help direct one towards the good and away from what is evil . . . . a universal phenomenon, yes, so that God is the ONLY judge of any human soul
so much for the ‘finger-pointers’, the ‘self-righteous’, and the judgemental what thinks they can see exactly what God sees in the hearts of others who are different from themselves . . . how little they know
Because they KNOW They Will Sit at His Right and Left Hand as Court Favorites, part of His Inner Ring.
A position to which they are Entitled.
And they get to Watch their Enemies Killed, just like the Raptured in Heaven looking down at the Tribulation and (later) Hell.
Headless Unicorn Guy,
Back when Internet Monk was active, their resident South African “Klaasie Kraalogies” once commented “I grew up in a Fascist country [Apartheid-era South Africa], and you don’t want to. Not even when you’re one of the Elite on top.”
I’m sorry the power differential is legit in some situations, but this.ain’t.it. Granda was a nobody pool boy, who, as he said was just a horny 20 something who wanted to hook up with a cougar. Then it turned into something much more lucrative for him. Jeri and Becky had INFINITELY more to lose than a pool boy by going public.
Not a defense of the Falwell’s in the slightest. They were probably victims of blackmail, but in no other sense were they victims, and they deserve everything that they got. And with the clear lack of repentance, I don’t see how I could consider them fellow believers.
But Granda is no victim either.
S Wilson,
I allowed this comment but not your second comment. Your comment towards another commenter in which you accused another commenter of lying was out of line. The person who said this is not known as a liar. Learn to make your points more carefully. Your comments will be held for approval for a short period to see if you just had a bad day.
I’ll try again — Christiane this simply is not true. Even the most restrictive laws allow for ending pregnancies where the baby is dead or will threaten the life of the mother. These ban elective abortions. It is a myth that the left has perpetuated to mislead voters ahead of the midterms. And it appeared to have worked. But it’s simply not true.
Well. Sort of. Look at Tennessee.
While technically true the doctor is presumed guilty of a felony. Which puts a big bump in the road. The doctor has to make a judgement call and if wrong they can either be charged and convicted of a crime or the mother dies.
The source of this information is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Tennessee
S Wilson,
Mr & Mrs Falwell Junior could have negotiated a less onerous and almost as lucrative career choice. Being cleverer than all the students at their university, they could also have got a degree of grip on their “sex lives”. They could also have avoided casting suspicion on an associate’s pregnant wife. Granda was firmly invited. What life experience did Granda have? Granda is the victim of the warped and commercialised public consciousness created by the prayerless Falwell senior.