Hofenung Jews Can Believe In

The State of Israel turns 60 this year. Gliklech geboirn-tog, Israel! To mark the occasion, let's engage in some Barack Talk. What does one thing have to do with the other? Oh, nothing more than the urban legend that Senator Obama is a Muslim who is hostile to Jews and to Israel, and that is enthusiastically perpetuated by neoconservative Zionists here in America. Meet two members of the American Jewish community on a paranoid mission to uncover Barack Obama's "deception" about his Muslim identity and anti-Semitic tendencies.

• Debbie Schlussel: Debbie's a classy broad. See the URL for her "I-heart-Barack" page? She calls him Barack Hussein. Get it? Emphasis on the Hussein. Good one, Debster. Classy touch.
• Daniel Pipes: Debbie baby, you gave paranoid hatred a run for its money, but like any good conservative woman, you should know better than to try and out-do a man. Meet Daniel Pipes. If you enter "Barack Obama" into the search engine of his blog, your resulting hits will reveal the unhinged writings of a man obsessed with Senator Obama's supposed Islamic identity.

Thankfully, there are other American Jews who take a more reasoned and objective view of Senator Obama, and who are not willing to engage in the gutter art of character assassination in order to malign him with false accusations and allegations. For example:

• My Neighbor, Barack, by Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf (The Jewish Week, March 19, 2008). Consider Rabbi Wolf's insightful comments with regard to Rev. Wright: "Of course, race is only one issue on which Wright has stepped beyond the bounds of civil discourse. He's frequently made statements regarding Israel and the Jewish community that I find troubling. But to limit our understanding of Obama to the ill-conceived comments of the man who once led his church is dishonest and self-defeating." Indeed.
• Obama on Zionism and Hamas, by Jeffrey Goldberg (AtlanticMonthly.com, May 12, 2008): "The point is, if you look at my writings and my history, my commitment to Israel and the Jewish people is more than skin-deep and it’s more than political expediency."
  

Why all the blood, sweat and tears to promote the lie that Obama is Muslim, even that he is hostile to Jews and to Israel? Does it have anything to do with his willingness to exercise any amount of objectivity in evaluating any of Israel's policies and actions? I think it does. Is that sufficient reason to attempt to defame and malign the man with lies and inneuendo? I don't think so at all. These actions are indefensible, and add nothing constructive to any dialogue having to do with the security of Israel and peace and stability in the Middle East.

"Heil y'all doin'?"
All this ink spilt to promote the demonstrably false story that Senator Obama is a Muslim, along with all of the Rev. Wright guilt-by-association tactics. All this energy perpetuating lies and distortions. Meanwhile, Senator John McCain is endorsed by one of the most dangerous, war-mongering, meglomaniacal "religious" figures in the country, Rev. John Hagee. Yet as it happens, Rev. Hagee, who has described "how Jews are cursed collectively because the ancient Hebrews once worshiped idols," is embraced by the same neocons who castigate Senator Obama. Why? Because Hagee is the leader of a movement called Christian Zionism, and specifically an organized movement called Christians United for Israel. Obviously, this terminology gives the appearance that Rev. Hagee and his followers are ardent Judophiles. However, take a listen to some of his rants, and suddenly Rev. Jeremiah Wright seems like one of the more lucid, rationale minds of our time.

Talking Points Memo TV:
John McCain Continues to Embrace John Hagee


Hagee and his followers may try and pass themselves off as supporters of Israel and friends of the Jewish people. But anyone who wants to take the time to look will find loads of evidence pointing to their ulterior motive, i.e., the restoration of the Jewish State of Israel, which will lead to Armageddon, which leads to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which leads to all non-Christians converting to Christianity, and and all non-believers will be torn to shreds and eaten alive a la Left Behind, et cetera, etc., The End.

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized
Christians United for Israel Tour


How can anyone honestly think that poisonous gasbags like Hagee and his ilk are concerned with Israel's well-being for its own sake? That is a seriously dangerous delusion. Given that, Joe Lieberman apparently has one of the softest, most malleable minds on all of Capitol Hill, or one of the most duplicitous. He has either swallowed all of this Christian Zionist tripe, hook, line and sinker, or he is willing to join the ranks of someone as odious as Hagee to promote his own personal political agenda. This one-time Democratic nominee for the Vice Presidency has endorsed John McCain for president- just like Rev. John Hagee! Senator Joe Lieberman wants to bomb Iran back to the stone age- just like John Hagee! And Senator Joe Lieberman fervently awaits the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the conversion of all Jews to Christianity- just like John Hagee! Oh, um, maybe not so much on that last one. But, hey, two out of three ain't bad. And what's a small difference of opinion among friends?

Whatever else can be said about Barack Obama, either good or ill, he is not a Muslim- not that there's anything wrong with that. And even if he was a practicing Muslim, so what? Would this automatically make him a radical terrorist, or an anti-Semitic foe of Israel? No, and those who conflate the two do nothing but poison the atmosphere and choke off the possibility for rational, constructive discussion of the important issues facing our country. Barack Obama is a friend to Jews and a supporter of the State of Israel. Those who disagree with his positions as a presidential candidate do a disservice to him and to political discourse in this country when they smear him with unsubstantiated charges of Islamic radicalism and anti-Semitism.

From my point of view, the candidacy of Barack Obama represents hope - hofenung - for all Americans, Jew and Gentile alike. The ranting, fear-mongering and saber-rattling of Pipes, Schlussel, Hagee and others is garbage- opfal- we should all beware of. Israel is a beautiful country that is entitled to exist in peace and to defend itself against aggression and terror. It is also entitled to better friends than Rev. Hagee, Debbie Schlussel or Pipes, friends who are willing to be honest in both their praise and their criticism of Israel's actions. Friends like Senator Barack Obama. Shalom.

- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE (Updated May 22, 2008):

Barack Obama Video:
Hope Changes Everything (YouTube.com)


John Hagee Loves Hitler More than McCain! (Wonkette.com, May 21, 2008)

Obama Admires Bush, by David Brooks (New York Times, May 16, 2008)

McCain in the Mud, by Richard Cohen (The Washington Post, May 13, 2008)

ChristianZionism.org- Challenging Christian Zionism and Apocalyptic Rapture Teachings on Israel and Palestine

A Jewish Renewal Understanding of the State of Israel, by Rabbi Michael Lerner (Tikkun.org)

The Cynic and Senator Obama, by Charles P. Pierce (Esquire Magazine, June 2008)

Where Wright Goes Wrong, by Eugene Robinson (The Washington Post, April 29, 2008)

Obama at a Crossroads, by Horace Campbell (Tikkun.org, March 20, 2008)

Barack Obama is Building a Religion (Wonkette.com, March 7, 2008)

What'll It Be, America? Religious Pluralism or Apocalypse Now? (UnkosherJesus.com, November 27, 2007)

Religious Pluralism Part II: Overcoming the Conservative Hate Machine (UnkosherJesus.com, November 29, 2007)

Survey SAYS!...

An open letter to My followers, by Jesus Christ

Hey everyone, Jesus here. I know I don't usually communicate with you this way, but after I read USA TODAY this week, I knew it was time for me to just come out and put some stuff to you as plainly as possible. I'm usually happy to let you simply analyze My teachings and come up with your own conclusions about what I want from My followers, but, well, let's just say I'm rethinking the wisdom of that whole approach, given how things have gone for the past 2,000 or so years since I left.

People, I'm going to come straight to the point and say that some of you are simply not cutting it as My followers. If you keep it up I'm going to have to sue for defamation of character, or unauthorized use of My name, or some such. Seriously, people, have you seen this recent survey? This thing was conducted by LifeWay Research (Biblical Solutions for Life)- not exactly the kind of outfit with a hidden agenda to defame Christians. Yet it's right there in their findings:

"A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" Stetzer said. "At the same time, however, 71 percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus ‘makes a positive difference in a person’s life’ and 78 percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity."

Um, excuse me? Seventy-two percent of those polled think the church is full of hypocrites?! Now, I didn't actually author the gospels myself or anything like that, but don't they tend to describe hypocrites as, like, the type of people I completely could not stand? Yeah, I think they do, and yet here American poll respondents are telling YOU, certain members of My American flock, that somehow the guy who despised hypocrisy more than any other guy in, like, all of history, is worshiped by none other than a bunch of hypocrites. Great job, people. Thanks. I'm sure My message of peace, compassion, love and forgiveness- oh, and that other part about don't be a hypocrite- will be really well received by people who think My messengers are a bunch of hypocrites.

Oh, and could you be any more clueless about yourselves? "What is it about the faith we live that causes our culture to like Jesus but reject the church?" asks LifeWay Research Director Ed Stetzer. Try this on for size, jefe: maybe people have a favorable impression of me, Jesus Christ, because I'm, you know, the all-forgiving Prince of Peace, while you and your church are the ones running around separating My Dad's world between those who are "churched" and "unchurched". I mean, duh! I look in the dictionary for the definition of obnoxious, I see a picture of some evangelical "Christian" pounding his version of My message into some poor guy's face. Yeah, what is it about preachy evangelical Christianity that people are completely sick of and fed up with? Yeah, I wonder.

Look, I apologize for being harsh and a little sarcastic. It happens when I lose My temper, but still, My bad. Thing is, though, My message is as important to Me today as it was to Me when I first preached it over 2,000 years ago. I mean, I was flogged and crucified for that message, and don't go thinking that 2,000 years is enough time to ever forget about THAT. Point is, I love you all, I really do, but I have to tell you, you need to find another way. The world has some huge problems, my message was intended to provide a way for people to solve problems though acts of love, forgiveness and selflessness, and yet you're clearly falling down on the job. I mean, the United States is teetering on the brink of recession, for one thing. Think that might have an impact on the quality of life for people around the world? Yeah, so do I, especially poor people. And working overtime to convert non-Christians helps to address this problem how, exactly? Oh, and thousands of people are leaving their homes and streaming into the United States every week in search of a better life. They're called illegal immigrants. Maybe you've heard about this problem? I thought so. Now, flash quiz: ever hear of the Corporal Works of Mercy? Good, then maybe you know the one about Welcoming the Stranger. OK, I know, it doesn't say Welcome the Stranger in there, not word-for-word, but still. How you doing with that one, America?

OK, now I'm rambling. Look, I know that there are four pretty lengthy gospels that you use to read about My teachings. On top of that, if you ever took the time to look you'd find that there are even other versions where I do and say a whole bunch of other stuff they don't tell you about at church every Sunday. For all that has been written, though, I don't think it's real hard to boil My message down to its essence. Someone once asked Me, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" I replied, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

OK, so, to recap: Love God with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. The message is simple, but I never said that living it would be. That goes especially for those of you (you know who you are) who think that all you have to do is "get saved" by Me, and then you are basically scott-free from any responsibility for your actions for the rest of your life. Seriously, that is the most obnoxious cop-out and the world's lamest excuse to be a self-righteous load I ever heard of. Talk is cheap, and what I am really interested in seeing are love, forgiveness, and compassion in action. I didn't live and die the way I did in order for people to talk about loving one another. I was hoping to motivate them to actually do it. Oh, and newsflash: when you're running around trying to convert non-Christians, this can actually get in the way of actually loving and relating to them as one human being to another. I don't need you all working to make everyone else a true believer: I need you to work together WITH EVERYONE to make the world a better place FOR EVERYONE.

This week's survey findings and my little op-ed will hopefully serve as a wake-up call for y'all. You know I'm here to help. Just lay off of the conversion angle. Believe it or not, I love everyone, and no, I don't just mean Christian believers. And yes, just so you know, the same goes for my Dad. Lay off of the obnoxious proselytizing and just focus on the core of my message: love God, love your neighbor as your love yourself. You get that down, the rest ought to become a lot clearer.

Peace, love and happiness,

Jesus Christ

(PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This piece not actually written by Jesus Christ.)

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

Survey: Non-attendees find faith outside church (USA TODAY, January 10, 2008)

Is Christian Proselytizing Linked to Religious Hate Crimes? (ReligiousTolderance.org)

Ex-Jews for Jesus

Maryknoll: The U.S. Catholic Mission Movement

The Squandering of America, by Robert Kuttner

Peace Corps

AmeriCorps

Idealist.org (Action Without Borders)

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

And so, this is Christmas.
And what have we done?
Another year over,
A new one just begun.

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.

- John Lennon

Here comes 2008! Of course, as a part of the annual New Year's festivities we'll be inundated by retrospective analyses of the past year. Some such reporting will focus on pop culture and other superficial aspects of daily life, while other programs and commentary will be reserved for the political and cultural events that have had an impact on the daily lives of millions of people around the world.

Looking backwards, of course, is just a part of the process of looking ahead: to best know where you're going you need to be aware of where you're coming from, where you've been. By that standard, it might be fair to say that 2008 has the potential to be a rough year. Instability and division continue to plague communities and societies around the world. The United States is highly polarized around the issues of politics and religious affiliation. Sadly, this seems to be the case elsewhere around the globe.

• The Iraq Surge may have brought some measure of stability to Baghdad, but the divisions between Shiite and Sunni Muslims there have pretty much ensured that the new found calm will not be put to any productive use. The Iraq war will enter its sixth year this coming March.
  
• The Bush Administration's refusal to engage the Iranian government in constructive diplomatic negotiations appears to have led the Iranians to seek comradeship from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Putin's government is now arming the Iranians, apparently as a means to reigniting Cold War animosities with the West.
• Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated earlier this month, martyred for the cause of Pakistani modernity and democracy. With her death, the hope for stability and democracy in Pakistan grows dim, while Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda remain at large and the Taliban regains strength in neighboring Afghanistan. U.S. forces have been in Afghanistan since November 2002.

This is but a mere sampling of the growing threats to peace and stability in our world today. Heck, these are just a few of the examples from one part of our world! Never mind what's happening right here in the U.S. of A. with wages stagnating, millions of Americans who lack medical insurance, and a higher rate of HIV and AIDS infection in Washington, DC, than in some Third World capitals.

Of course, if you only look for stories that are sad and depressing, you will likely experience a 100% rate of success. Thankfully, the same goes for looking for those stories that provide hope. We'll need a good deal of that as we begin 2008. Hope is the motivator to continue to strive for peace and justice when times are hard and the outcome is uncertain. In this year of violence and instability, let's remember that the following things also happened:

• 190 nations agreed to a the terms of the framework under which international policies will be developed and implemented to combat the growing threat of global warming. These will be negotiated during an agreed-upon two-year timetable. (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Bali, December 3 – 14, 2007)
• North Korea and South Korea pledged to work together to forge a lasting peace between the two nations. North Korea also agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program by December 31, 2007.
• After three decades of bloody armed conflict and vicious sectarian strife, Catholics and Protestants joined forces to inaugurate the first power-sharing government in Northern Ireland's history as a member of the British Commonwealth.
  

I find that in order to shed the emotional weight that bad news brings, and to soak in the hope that glad tidings bring, it is good to find a quiet place to be still, to contemplate, to listen. It probably doesn't hurt to have a good prayer or two handy to help center my thoughts, to keep me focused. So, as we prepare to leave 2007 behind and begin 2008, I offer you the following prayers to take with you to your own quiet place. Before 2008 ramps up and is off and running, take a few moments to look these over, to think about what you are doing to contribute to peace, love and happiness right where you are. If 2007 is any indication, 2008 is going to need every bit you've got to offer. And, if 2007 is any indication, your efforts can definitely pay off. Happy New Year to you and yours from Unkosher Jesus. Peace be with you.

- Doug L.

Hindu Peace Prayer
Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality.
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.
Oh Lord God almighty, may there be peace in celestial regions.
May there be peace on Earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent
beings bring peace to us.
May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself, bestow peace on all and may that peace come to me also.

Jewish Prayer for Peace
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

Islamic Prayer for Peace
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other. If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things. And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say "Peace."

Happy Xmas (War Is Over), by John Lennon (Karaoke Version)


FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

A Human Approach to World Peace (DalaiLama.com)

Prayers of the Day: Peace (BeliefNet.com)

The Peace Abbey Multifaith Retreat Center (Sherborn, MA)

Community Dialogue (Northern Ireland)

Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA)

Mediate.com: Solutions for Conflict

Amnesty International

John Lennon.com

Catholic Church Declares War on Sanity

SATAN, I mean War on Satan. My bad. Anyhow, "Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan," reads Saturday's headline in the Daily Mail. I just don't know what to even say about this one, other than that it has truly been a red letter year for Pope Benedict XVI. First, he reinstates the Latin Mass. Then, he declares that the Catholic Church is the only TRUE Church. Now he's ordering Catholic bishops worldwide to line up "exorcist squads" because, according to head Vatican exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, "Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist." This need to "hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist" is apparently tagged to a supposed increase in worldwide occult activity, which in turn has been blamed by the Vatican on those who have lost faith in the Church. In its efforts to continue obliterating the legacy of Pope John XXIII, the father of the Modern Church and leader of the Second Vatican Council, the Church is reinstating a particular prayer that had been discontinued as a result of the Vatican II liturgical reforms:


St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

I guess just mark me down under Skeptical on this one. For one thing, the actual need for an exorcist to actually expel a demonic presence is a rare thing indeed. The majority of cases that diocesan exorcists are asked to investigate are ruled to be something other than demonic possession of a human being (and are typically mental-health related behavioral issues). For another thing, unless the Church can put up some hard numeric evidence to prove it, I highly doubt that people are leaving the Church in droves and fleeing into the waiting arms of Satanic occultism. Now, don't get me wrong, people are leaving the Church, but for reasons such as the clergy sex abuse scandal, and for its increasingly conservative positions on social issues such as abortion, gay rights, and female clergy.

Yes, we make house calls.

At any rate, if the pope wants to initiate his own surge against the forces of evil, that's certainly his prerogative. In the meantime, while he is busy making important decisions about Latin liturgy, who is and isn't a Church, and deputizing a whole slew of Catholic GhostBusters, social issues that the Church used to confront head-on continue to plague people and societies across the world. Poverty, the expenditure of tax dollars on exorbitant defense budgets, and the stagnation of wages for working people are but a few of the issues with a direct impact on peace and prosperity that were once of great concern to the Church.

So, the list of Church priorities continues to expand in favor of a narrowing scope of beneficiaries (e.g., liturgical fetishists and the demonically possessed). In the meantime, the peace and justice issues of our times, and those that Jesus spoke most often and most passionately about, are left to others to sort out. Perhaps Jesus' condemnation of his Pharisaic contemporaries applies to today's Church leaders as well:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE (UPDATED, January 1, 2008):

Pope calls gays a threat to world peace (365Gay.com, January 1, 2008)

A Return to Tradition (U.S. News and World Report, December 13, 2007)

How Exorcism Works (HowStuffWorks.com)

NETWORK: National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Voice of the Faithful: Keep the Faith, Change the Church

SocialAction.com: An Online Jewish Resource for Repairing the World

Rerum Novarum: The Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor (Pope Leo XIII, May 15, 1891)

The Exorcist (WarnerBros.com)

Ghostbusters (Sony Pictures.com)

Tough As Nails, Dumb As a Bag of Hammers

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Who is the candy-ass who came up with THIS stuff?? Oh, right. Jesus Christ. What a hell of a guy. Those are great sentiments, really sentimental and touchy-feely. Good thing he ain't peddling that hippie peace, love and happiness crap here in the modern-day U. S. of A., though, bub. I mean, it was nice of Jesus to (supposedly) start a whole new religion and all and comments like these certainly had relevance in the pre-9/11 era. But I believe it was George W. Bush who said it best when he commented, "I think we agree, the past is over."

He-Man vs. Jesus Christ? No contest, dude!

Some modern American Christians may be interested in winning your heartfelt conversion, but only after having first administered a down-home, Old Testament-style ass-kicking. Take the GodMen ("Where Faith Gets Dangerous"), the heir apparent to that creepy stadium movement of the 1990s, the Promise Keepers. GodMen "creates an environment familiar with and conducive to the way men are made comfortable and the unique way men interact." Now, there are lots of ways to possibly interpret this, including:

• GodMen is about groups of men gathering together to watch ESPN and soft-core porn as a means to promoting a male-centric brand of spirituality;

• GodMen is about groups of men gathering together to prepare and consume a huge steak dinner, complete with brandy snifters, Cuban cigars, and the dank residue of English Leather heavy in the air; or

• GodMen is a homo-erotic, Jesus-centric version of Fight Club.

Whatever the hell GodMen is, it AIN'T got anything to do with establishing a community of believers whose daily lives are modeled on the teachings of Jesus Christ. You know, with these guys peddling this fabricated macho, Iron John spirituality as a form of Christian fellowship, I think that instead of GodMen what you have are MadMen: "What you are, what you want, what you love doesn't matter. It's all about how you sell it."

GodMen may want to kick each other's asses in the name of Jesus, and possibly yours too, you heathen scum. Not to be outdone, however, Justin Fatica wants you to kick HIS ass- in the name of Jesus.



Um.... OK. Clearly Justin is an evangelist in the mold of the lesser Baldwin brother, Stephen, aka "psycho for Jesus": "I represent the new breed of Christians, baby, that are gettin' ready to kick ass in the name of the Kingdom." So, if you follow Brother Justin or Brother Stephen, kids, looks like you'll be trading in your Jesus sandals for some steel-toe shit-kickers. I'm sure it's all right there in black and white in at least one of the Gospels...

I don't know where these lunatics get off promoting this hyper-aggressive brand of physicality as a form of Christian worship and fellowship, but I don't like it. What good can come of it? I mean, if this keeps up, the next thing you know Jesus' own birthplace in Bethlehem will be the staging ground for a mano-a-mano gang brawl between priests. Oh, snap!

- Doug L.

FOR FURTHER REFERENCE:

Justin Fatica, Hard As Nails Ministry (ABC News Nightline, December 17, 2007)

Brad Stine's 'GodMen': Promise Keepers on steroids (MediaTransparency.org, December 24, 2007)

Dude, Where's My Cross? (Salon.com, October 19, 2006)

There's No Way I'm Saving that Guy, by Jesus Christ (The Onion, June 28, 2006)

Cuernavaca Center For International Dialogue and Development (CCIDD)

The Catholic Worker

The Complete Bushisms (Slate.com, edited by Jacob Weisberg)