Jimmy Swaggart is an idiot
 

It scares me that people with influence still say this sort of thing:

"I'm trying to find the correct name for it . . . this utter absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men. . . . I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died."

Hey, being gay is a choice, right? Simple!

Also ripped from the 80's dept.:

Maybe we could get Jim Bakker to weigh in as well. :p

I'm not sure Jimmy Swaggart still has any real "influence", JohnGalt. And you're right... that's an absolutely idiotic comment to make.

Now I'm no religious expert (it kind of comes with the territory when you C of E) but surely god would know what you have done. Unless he is suggesting that god only listens to the 'right' sort of people...or maybe god is just nice and trusting like this. You can only imagine how overworked he is so when Jimmy walks in and says 'Yep...erm...he just died...of self-inflicted gunshot wounds....to his back' then god is cool with this...hmmm, scary...

sounds like Jimmy's got some repressed homosexual feelings to me...

Jimmy Swaggert is an idiot and should not be taken as any representative of the religious population in the U.S. And I agree that the comment was idiotic. The thing about killing him and telling God he died is a somewhat popular phrase, however. I've heard it many times. It's a joke of sorts, although not a very good one.

If God knew everything that we did, Jimmy would have been struck down by a lightning bolt years ago!

I stopped reading at "people with influence..."

Jimmy Swaggart hangs out with hookers and makes streets get renamed. :(

Well, from what I can tell, he still has quite an audience around the world (if not the US): www.jsm.org (of course this is his website).

Either way, he is a homophobic dumbass.

Normally, I hate the word homophobic because it's used far too frequently to describe people who have moral objections to homosexuality, but you're absolutely right on with this one, I think. And he may have a large following, I honestly don't know, but I just hope that people realize that he's not representative of most Christians in my view.

Audience doesn't equal influence. And yes, he's a homophobic dumbass. We got it already John.

I think his web site is actually Jism.com....

The funny thing is, Jesus hung out with hookers as well. If Jesus 1st Appearance had been today, I'm sure many of his friends and followers would have been gay. This isn't saying that Jesus would approve of their lifestyle or even being being married, but he was not the type of person to turn people away or be rude to them (unless they were religious zealots).

This is who Jesus is. He said very clearly that he didn't come to earth for the people that thought their ticket to heaven was sewn up, but the people who needed what he was offering the most....the sinners.

I think in this case, Jimmy Swaggert falls clearly into the religious charlatan (read:Pharisee) camp.

My family has been deeply affected by this issue. While my family (an I to this day) have always been Christian, my older brother died of "The Virus" back in the mid-90s. I, nor any member of my family, would have ever acted like Mr. Swaggert did in the comments above.

I think, Jesus' message was clear..."Hate the sin, but not the sinner".

I heard the clip on the radio this morning. It was even more frustrating to hear the crowd of people cheering him on.

Swaggert just don't get it and never has.

Christ hung out with the lowest of the low on the social scale. A tax collector, a fisherman and a prostitute among others. He turned these men and women into his disciples. These were people that were the posterchildren for sin. People that no one in their right mind would willfully associate with.

It really irks me that people can take the most basic essense of biblical scripture and completely ignore it.

Swaggart has a posse.

Can you explain this one to me? I'm not sure how the fisherman is the lowest of the low.

Yes the man is an idiot, but I think there are far more hate-worthy people out there. :)

Sad, sad little man.

Well you have to go back and consider the times, but a fisherman (and laymen in general) would be the equivalent on the social scale nowadays of a janitor.

No offense to any janitors here, just trying to explain. :)

Think Cliff Claven from Cheers.

I get it now. But wouldn't they have had dudes who picked up donkey shit off the streets? Wouldn't they be lower than fishermen?

You ever heard the phrase "curse like a sailor"?

I think, at least in biblical times, fisherman were regarded as the people with the least amount of social latitude. They were always stinking, their mouths ran non-stop, and they had no manners. Peter was the perfect picture of this social stereotype.

I would think having audience is exactly the same as having influence. Am I missing something?

Swaggart hasnt had serious audience with mainstream individuals in years.

That's Aquatic Animal Retrieval Technician to you, sir!

That might be the saddest thing I've read in this thread. People still buy into this guy.

But really JG, you don't have to worry about Swaggart having any real credibility with the christian community at large.

There must be some kind of serious forum technical error, because the obligatory rolleyes smiley did not show up in this post. Let me try it: :rolleyes:

We get it, Buddy. You don't like homosexuals. :rolleyes:

Can you even possibly think I was serious?

dont forget Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Sun Myung Moon!

Jimmy Swaggart is merely delivering the peaceful, tolerant, and loving message of Christianity.

No he isn't but there are many, many who are. Why give credence to this guy and why pick out anything he says and display in a forum. Maybe someone(s) wants to prove that the message of Christ is bad? JG: stop being a stupid tabloid reporter and go find positive messages instead.

Where was it said that he was trying to prove that the message was bad?

It is, but I didn't see that come through anywhere in this post.

Coming from you (who epitomizes negativity), this is a very odd directive.

I find it strange that I post about a man who has said something ridiculously offensive, who has a TV show aired around the globe (although I admit I thought he had a larger influence in the US), and people attack me for it. I just don't understand. :(

But JG, don't you know... Christianity is under attack! :rolleyes:

And another for effect.... :rolleyes:

John:

Anyone who makes a comment that outrageous is only going to be taken seriously by those who are so hate-filled that they are beyond being swayed by any meaningful dialogue anyway. He has become a voice that is WAYYYY out on the fringe--and you know just as well as I do that the fringes are virtually unreachable by any sort of logical discourse.

I don't disagree with anything you said. As I said, I thought he had more influence in the US (because I'm not in touch with "mainstream" Christian speakers). With that being said, I posted not out of hope he could be reasoned with, but because I think non-Christians and Christians should condemn such things being said (and because I was sad that someone in this world uses a TV show to say such things).

Fair enough, but I can see how many would view this thread as a waste of time. I do find it akin to posting; "David Duke is an idiot." Pick your hatemongerer and fill in the blank.

Convince me that to love one another is bad and I'll renounce his crusade immediately.

I give you 33 years. Begin.

I suppose Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell don't spread the message of Christianity either, eh? They say things that are just as bad.

hxxp://www.oliverwillis.com/node/view/660

John, if it makes you feel better, as an ordained minister, I condemn it.

-Anxiety

I'm afraid to look at the link - is it Swaggart's posse?

It does.

I guess so.

Now that I've looked I'm sorely disappointed. Somebody, show me a posse, please!

;)

Well he did apparently have a crowd cheering him on.....I was stretching it a bit.

Once again, you miss the point. It's not about me being negative (most of the time) or positive (occassionally), but of highlighting those who are truly loving and caring for others as servants of Christ. You only choose to specifically, in a thread, to highlight one bad apple. But not once have you looked at the thousands of servants and the positive work they are doing. Such an example is this one http://www.compassion.com/sponsordon...ies/053104.htm
But perhaps such a testimony doesn't fit your agenda?