| March 13, 2004 - What would JOHNNYLEEN do? |
| Dear Friends, recently I was playing around on the internet when I ran across the phrase "WWJD". I had noticed it in several places before and had always wondered what it meant. I was almost convinced that my webpage had increased ever more in popularity and that it stood for "What would JOHNNYLEEN do?". Imagine my surprise when I found out it actually means "What would Jesus do?". Apparently this is a concern to quite a number of people, hence its continual reference on various internet sites. But I have to admit I was heartbroken to discover that it wasn't referencing me. However, my disappointment soon turned into amusement as I looked at what this particular webpage had to offer. The address is www.ship-of-fools.com and it has all these links to people who practice less than orthodox versions of Christianity. One of the links on this page was to "Gadgets for God", a listing of bizarre religiously themed products, games, and toys that you can purchase for your own pleasure or sell as a means of raising money for your church. I think the most ludicrous item for sale was a Jesus that you put on top of your Christmas tree, and with a light bulb shining up under it, beams of light go out through holes in his hands where the nails were! Another equally stupid, and somewhat morbid, piece of junk was a "Nail" ornament. This lovely item was a steel spike that you can hang on your Christmas tree to remind you of the crucifixion! Aren't families dysfunctional enough at that time of year without providing them with one more weapon to use on one another? I've mentioned on my site many times that I feel people, well, particularly Americans, are gullible when it comes to the latest religious "movement". Well, a link on Ship-of-Fools led to a piece about Paul and Jan Crouch, who are the hosts of "Praise the Lord" on TBN. TBN, foolishly or naively, makes transcripts of every "Praise the Lord" broadcast and mails them out to anyone who wants them. Some of the transcripts are just unbelievable. For example, they had a faith healer named Benny Hinn on their show who told his viewers that if they had a dead relative, not to bury the body, but to hold the cadaver's hands up to the TV screen and as Benny said a prayer, the dearly departed would suddenly revive! Paul and Jan preach a "sow and ye shall reap" ministry, a quaint way of saying you have to spend money to make money. God doesn't want you to be poor, but to reap financial success you have to invest financially in His Divine Stock Market; namely, you have to send a healthy donation in to TBN. The premise is that you'll then reap tenfold whatever amount you have "sown". Now the Crouches are so tight with God, that He even acts as their cosmological Maytag repairman. According to one blurb, the Crouches were about to head off to Jerusalem for one of their "revivals" when their washing machine broke down in the middle of a wash. Jan put her hands on the washing machine and prayed that the Lord would fix it so that they could continue with their packing. Amazingly, in the midst of wars and famines that might be more of an attention grabber for a deity, God fixed the Crouches' washing machine! And He wasn't even a member of a union! Oh, Dear Friends, there were equally weird links all over Ship-of-Fools. There are people who believe that Jesus was an alien; that demons are lurking right around the corner to possess people; there's a man in Washington state who has crowned himself pope since Vatican II set up a false regime; there's a guy who believes government should be based on the Ten Commandments and the rules in Leviticus. While he expounds at length on the dealth penalty for gay people, I assume he also believes a rape victim should be forced to marry her attacker. That is as long as she was raped in a rural area where no one could hear her scream. If she was raped in an urban area, then she should be stoned to death, because, presumably, she didn't bother in her lust to scream loud enough to attract a rescuer. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was it Pat Robertson who said that 9/11 was the fault of gays, feminists, and abortion providers? Perhaps, Dear Friends, 9/11 was God's way of saying He's sick of self-appointed divine mouthpieces and their gullible followers. They've become the self-righteous, more concerned with their neighbor's transgression of obscure Levitical rules than with their own trangression of a gospel that they've hijacked for their own greedy purposes. At least JOHNNYLEEN admits he's self-absorbed! As well I should be; after all I'm fantabulous! Next entry Previous entry Go to diary entries Go back home |