Quick recovery Dee

Johnny Hunt… “The SBC ruined my reputation.”
Dude, you ruined your own reputation.
That is the most laughable, pathetic ridiculousness. It shouldn’t have taken $3 million for a court to have thrown that thing out on its ear.
Not that I can feel sorry for the SBC over it all either, though. It’s all a slime fest.

Our current weather situation gave an idea for a way Hunt can start working on his poor ruined rep. …..

I’m sitting smack in the middle of what weather people are calling a “generational flood event”.
Parts of Hopkinsville, Cadiz, and Bowling Green, KY, and Clarksville, TN are under water. Tornadoes were on the ground yesterday in Caldwell, Trigg, and Muhlenburg counties in Ky and several counties in Tennessee. Roads are under water and bridges are out, buildings and homes are damaged..……. Some roads very near me are under water. In our county seat of Elkton, the streets are under water and debris has washed on the bridges – people and buildings are okay.
I’m describing only a very small portion of the territory that is being hit by this storm…. places I am very familiar with…. My county and the towns and counties that surround me, my where I have friends, family, etc.
This narrow storm band stretches for more than 1000 miles.

Maybe Johnny boy needs to put his waders on and actually help some people recover from floods, storms, etc,. Not really here, but anywhere. …… just stop whining, leave the suit and tie at home, and a do some hands-on, boots-on-the-ground, sacrificial service for others! The mud will wash off and the blisters will heal. (Okay, I know Hunt ain’t no spring chicken, but he could organize and supervise a team.)

so sorry about the fall, dee! i fell a few months ago – my foot was asleep and simply didn’t function. oh, man…. it was difficult to breath for a bit. so much worse than when i was 8.

i hope any pain doesn’t last long.

R: Johnny Hunt… “The SBC ruined my reputation.”
Dude, you ruined your own reputation.

When you point a finger, three are pointing back at you.

I took a bad fall a couple of years ago. I got so damned tired of saying ” I tripped over my own feet”.

Everyone with the bad weather, snow, ice ,flooding, etc. please stay safe. Stay on TWW and entertain Dee.

Dee, praying you get better soon. Nancy2, praying for your area. We love vacationing over there and thrifting. Enjoy watching Little Blessed Nest and pray they are all ok.

We are sort of stranded at home. We are on high ground, but are also experiencing that dangerous flooding. Can’t get to town, all roads closed, in town the streets are flooding.

Ya’ll pray: I can reschedule wallyworld, the eye doc, the new truck tires, but I really need to get to town this week and file my taxes!

well, i want to bring back discussion of this thing called “Gloo”.

i have the same sick sensation as my memory of smelling formaldehyde in 8th grade biology class.

the recent post “Women are Outpacing Men in the Race to Stop Attending Church”, the Baptist Press article describes Barna and Gloo in a partnership of some kind, collaborating on publishing their analysis.

so, what is Gloo?

a data mining operation that sells personal information of vulnerable people to local churches for evangelization purposes. (or growing their marketshare)

Gloo purchases meta-data from a variety of groups like He Gets Us, K-Love, Barna Research, and other organizations, to create a database of potential targets and then they sell that data on their platform to more than 38,000 churches who sign up for their “Explorer” program.

–christian organizations advertise “get prayer support” on social media, where people give their name, cell number and zip code.

–they then sell this information to an organization called GLOO, who then sells that information to local pastors seeking to grow their churches.

Per the Patheos article below:

“Anyone can sign up for a GLOO account at http://www.GLOO.us

No one at GLOO asked if I was a pastor, or if I was on staff at a church, or if I had a 501C3 or any other documentation to prove I was representing a church.”
.
.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keithgiles/2024/05/betrayal-from-he-gets-us-to-he-tricked-us/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1cmg3rn/how_christian_organizations_like_klove_and_he/

Dee – may your healing accelerate, and may you be back to normal faster than expected!

Random question (and feel free to moderate if this is not the time or place)… how does one go about getting the ball rolling to introduce legislation in a state to make Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse a criminal offense? I understand there’s already 13 or 14 states in the US with laws against it, and where I live, Massachusetts, does not have such laws. I’m just one person, and it feels like it would take an army to undertake such an endeavor. Anyone have any thoughts or experience in this?

Dee –
I would tell you to have a glass (or 4) of wine, but my daughter who is a neuro NP says that is not a good option. Take care of you.

After 4 days of constant tornado warnings in Nashville, I am weary and punchy. After reading that this is about Johnny Hunt, my first thought ran to Ed McMahon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZKmsA8bzao

Luckyforward,

I’m with you on the weather….. I’m weary…. and aggravated. I’m in KY, NNW of Nashville, a 20-25 minute drive from the state line. We’re all getting hammered! We’ve all been under some kind of watch or warning for days.

Ariel: Random question (and feel free to moderate if this is not the time or place)… how does one go about getting the ball rolling to introduce legislation in a state to make Adult Clergy Sexual Abuse a criminal offense? I understand there’s already 13 or 14 states in the US with laws against it, and where I live, Massachusetts, does not have such laws. I’m just one person, and it feels like it would take an army to undertake such an endeavor. Anyone have any thoughts or experience in this?

I note Massachusetts considers the age of consent to be 16 so even older high school students and a teacher or youth minister can legally have sex. I also note that a proposed bill, H.1634, is being considered that covers 16-18 and those in authority (which includes mandated reporters and clergy are mandated reporters in Massachusetts). See https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H1634 The people sponsoring the bill and those pushing the bill might be a good first source for info.

elastigirl: so, what is Gloo?

I was curious when I saw that in the earlier post.
Reminds me of a gentleman I worked for (for a short time) in 1989. He was the creator of the original old-fashioned DialAPrayer, which had made him a millionaire. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe he sold the system/prayer recordings to churches who could put an advertising blurb out for the callers. IE “… and may we be ever needful of the minds of others. Amen and hallelujah! For more prayer support call us at 1st Baptist of Poughkeepsie, or visit us at 11am Sundays!” For my employer, it was strictly a business enterprise.

Stavros49: After many of these disturbing situations, many just choose to stop attending anywhere…they are not “nones” but they are taking an extended sabbatical from organized churches.

Perhaps the largest growing segment of the Christian population in America are the “Dones” (rather than “Nones”) … done with organized religion, but not done with Jesus. They are sick and tired of authoritarian pulpits, aberrant theologies, subordination of female believers, Christianity Lite, and a host of other reasons where doing church without God has drained the spiritual life out of them. So they become “done” with it all and retreat to Jesus to find healing and refreshing in the presence of the Lord.

Max: Perhaps the largest growing segment of the Christian population in America are the “Dones” (rather than “Nones”) … done with organized religion, but not done with Jesus.

I appreciate you writing this. It took longer than I care to admit for it to sink into my head. I just assumed ‘none’ and ‘done’ were interchangeable synonyms.

They might be closely related in effect, a distancing from the church, but quite different in how people get there. At least in my mind, I am thinking of ‘nones’ as people who feel that religion or its practices do not add value to their lives. While ‘dones’ can be deeply religious people who question the way religion is practiced… leading to a separation from their church.

I think the demographers use the generic ‘none’ because it is hard, if not impossible, to tease out the difference using standard polling questions.

And I have to admit, my personal experience has probably been shaped by the fact that I currently live in a swing district in a swing state. Over the last month, various groups spent over $100 million convincing us to hate each other… A very large chunk of that is focused on cultural and religious differences.

So, what I am seeing and experiencing might not be present in other regions. I lived in Western GA for a bit less than a decade, but as a single soldier who lived on base and deployed frequently, my contact with Southern Baptists was limited.

Ian Docker: cunning opportunistic religious entrepreneur

… who is also called “pastor” in the Christian Industrial Complex

Max: … who is also called “pastor” in the Christian Industrial Complex

Don’t forget “Apostle” or “Head Apostle”.

Get better soon, Dee!

I went in for a physical today and the PA conducting it noted that I’d be 65 soon and asked if I was going on Medicare. I said, “No, not part of the plan right now.” “Well, if you do go on Medicare, let us know because there are special exams we have to do for Medicare patients,” and then he went on to tell me it included a report on “how many times you’ve fallen in the last 3 months” or something like that. So yeah, if you know, you know.

readingalong: don’t forget Drawing the clock with a specific time on it, and remembering 3 random words!

“Man. Woman. Person. Camera. TV.”

Stavros49: After many of these disturbing situations, many just choose to stop attending anywhere…they are not “nones” but they are taking an extended sabbatical from organized churches. In another year or so, some journalist should write this up with what happened and lessons learned.

The “nones” get a lot of mention, and with decreasing church attendance their numbers will increase, with fewer children raised in church families. But I think not enough attention gets paid to the “dones.” These are former church members or attenders that you have described, who have been burned, and you are right, it’s a huge potential for journalism now and for chapters in church history books decades from now.

Headless Unicorn Guy: “Man. Woman. Person. Camera. TV.”

HUG, you are not allowed to get political on this blog. 🙂

linda: Dee, praying you get better soon. Nancy2, praying for your area….pray they are all ok.

That.

We are sort of stranded at home. We are on high ground, but are also experiencing that dangerous flooding. Can’t get to town, all roads closed, in town the streets are flooding.

Praying for you as well, linda. 🙂

Ya’ll pray: I can reschedule wallyworld, the eye doc, the new truck tires, but I really need to get to town this week and file my taxes!

Praying for you….and praying that if for some reason you can’t make it into town to file your taxes that the tax people are forgiving of you (and other people) in your circumstances. 🙂

Ted: The “nones” get a lot of mention, and with decreasing church attendance their numbers will increase, with fewer children raised in church families.But I think not enough attention gets paid to the “dones.”These are former church members or attenders that you have described, who have been burned, and you are right, it’s a huge potential for journalism now and for chapters in church history books decades from now.

I think the nones are followed closely because it is easy to think about and easy to measure. It is a binary decision. Yes — No.

Done is a much more complicated group. I expect that ‘dones’ exist on a spectrum from starting to disenaged to totally disengaged. Social scientists attempt to measure various things.

Attendance. How often do people attend church: every week, once a month, a couple of times a year?
Importance: How important is religion in your life?
Volunteering. How often do you volunteer for or at your church?
Donations. How much and how often are you donating to a church?

Then there is a second set of questions around private practices.
Prayer: How often do you pray?
Study: How often do you study religious texts?

Because of all the nuance in the ‘done’ category, it is really hard to nail down with reasonable specificity.

Overall, the data over the last 40 years indicates that disengagement is rising faster than nones. At least to me, that indicates an increasingly large group is progressing through the group we might label ‘done.

researcher: That.

I’ll let readers “fill in the blanks” with their own sense of humour. I’ll start off with:

Celebrity “pastors having “generational” events exposed.

How many “Christians” blame natural disasters on “the vengeance of God”? But then, “the vengeance of God” only comes up if it targets THEIR enemies.

After all, the devastation of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina was due to all the hedonism and promiscuity, according to the late prophetic genius Pat Robertson and others. /sarcasm