Quote of the Week: Ted Haggard's New Church

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Deuteronomy 21:18
'If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen to the voice of his father..'...or his mother.'...even when they punish him.'...his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.''They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."''All the men of the town must then stone him to death. You must banish this evil from among you.'
Deuteronomy 13:6-8
'If your brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife tries to secretly entice you, telling you to go and worship other gods, gods of people living near you, or far from you, or anywhere on earth, do not listen to him.'You must kill them. Show them no pity. And your hand must strike the first blow.'Then the hands of all the people. You shall stone them to death.'
Deuteronomy 13:13-15
'If you hear that in one of the towns, there are men who are telling people to go and worship other gods, it is your duty to look into the matter and examine it.''If it is proved and confirmed, you must put the inhabitants of that town to the sword.'
'You must lay the town under the curse of destruction, the town and everything in it.'
You must pile up all its loot in the public square and burn the town and all its loot.''That town is to be a ruin for all time, and never rebuilt.'
Leviticus 11:3
'You may eat any animal that has a cloven hoof, divided in two parts, and chews the cud.''Regard the camel as unclean, for though it chews the cud, it does not have a cloven hoof.''Regard the hyrax as unclean, for though it chews the cud, it does not have a clove hoof.''Regard the rabbit as unclean, for though it chews the cud, it does not have a cloven hoof.''Regard the pig as unclean, for though has a cloven hoof, it does not chew the cud.''Do not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies. You will regard them as unclean.' Leviticus 11:9
'Of all that lives in the waters of the seas and rivers, you may eat anything that has fins and scales.''But anything in the seas or rivers that does not have fins and scales, regard as an abomination. Do not eat their meat and regard their carcasses as an abomination.''Of the birds, regard the following as an abomination and do not eat them: the eagle, the osprey, the kite, the falcon, the raven, the horned owl, the nighthawk, the sea gull, hawks of all kinds, the little owl, the cormorant, the white owl, the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.''Of the birds, regard the following as an abomination and do not eat them: the eagle, the osprey, the kite, the falcon, the raven, the horned owl, the nighthawk, the sea gull, hawks of all kinds, the little owl, the cormorant, the white owl, the desert owl, the carrion vulture, the stork, the heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.''Do not eat anything that crawls on its belly, whether it walks on four legs or more. They are an abomination.''There are, however, some winged insects you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. You may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper.''Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal.'

dj of GA 2:34PM November 06, 2009

You dont know jesus christ but you are typical of the types of people who believe these fairy tales. Just like the Taliban of Afghanistan you seek to retain the status quo of religious power so that you may impose your twisted will on others, even if they do not believe in ghosts and demons. There will not be peace on earth until GOD and ALLAH go to the same place as ZEUS and APOLLO, nothing but interesting relics of ancient beliefs when from people who either did not understand science or just refused to for their own selfish reasons.

RB of FL 2:26PM November 06, 2009

I don't know about the sincerity or not of Ted. But I do know Jesus Christ. Because of all that was written in comments before this, is why He came. Man is selfish and rebellious. We need a mediator, savior, and divine friend. He is my best friend and I know him well. I have repented and He has forgiven my sins. He has also healed me from pain and sickness many times. You can say it is just my imagination if you want to. But I say it is the power of His love. There are too many miracles for it all to just be coincidence. SD

Steve Deller of FL 10:30AM November 06, 2009

His action shows how easy it is to start "an establishment of religion." He has given it a name and a headquarters address. Next, he will apply for religious tax exemption. His parcel number will be removed from assessor's records. So his neighbors' tax bills will increase. He's another freeloader, expecting tithes to support him. He won't have a tin cup, but nice little pledge envelopes. He can buy them from catalogs of church supplies. They show why so many people support religion. Someone makes and sells big crosses for steeples, crucifixes for altars, linens for the table, urns, candle holders, candles always needing replacing, incense and burners, costumes and male millinery, fancy kneelers, olive oil, wafers, barrels of wine with small chalices for serving, and the rest of the paraphernalia always being increased by churches. These merchants have a good reason for demanding belief in a diety. I was in a large grocery store when four priests were given a discount on their purchase. If he does attract some suckers, and his neighbors complain about cars blocking the street, he may need to seek another spot for his racket.

aura dawn veirs of CA 12:08AM November 06, 2009

Scripture is a collection of pornographic dirty jokes, some based on incest: Lot impregnates both virgin daughters. King David snoops on nude neighbor at her bath, has her hubby killed, impregnates her & God aborts the baby AFTER it's born. God says "Thou shalt not kill," but he drowns all except 8 on the Ark. God must be white, like Cain, because God turns Cain black after he kills Abel. That part of Scripture establishes black slavery with its centuries of horrible treatment of blacks as laboring animals. Slavery's such a blessing for owners that God preserves it after the Flood. Ham sees drunken Noah napping nude. For that "sin," God issues the "Curse of Ham.' Not on Ham but on the sons of Ham's black Ethiopian wife. More incest in the Flood myth because God leaves only 4 blood related males to breed. All Ark descendants, including today's Christians, came from incest. Lot's older daughter gave birth to Ammon, founder of Ammonites. Later, Ammonite Ruth was great-grandmother of King David. Christ himself was a product of incest because he descended from David's line. Why is Scripture so full of these dirty stories? Why are children urged to read it and respect it?

aura dawn veirs of CA 11:57PM November 05, 2009

America was NEVER a Christian nation. Virtually all founding fathers were against America being a Christian nation
Quotes from the United States of America's Founding Fathers:
"As the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.
--Treaty of Tripoli in 1797, President John Adams.
And now we'll continue with the quotes:
John Adams:
" Consider what calamities Christianity, that engine of grief, has produced!"--John Adams
"But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed.--John Adams i
"The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity and a whole carload of other foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity." --John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
"Lighthouses are more helpful than Christian churches."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."--Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
"Christians are not, for our Republic, a good example." Benjamin Franklin, _Poor_Richard_, 1758
Christianity I found to be without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, and serves principally to divide us and make us unfriendly to one another."--Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson:
"Make no law respecting an establishment of religion, thus building a wall of separation between church and State."--Thomas Jefferson _
"Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, of Christianity, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry"--Thomas Jefferson
"I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with Christianity."--Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Samuel Miller, 1808
"No religious reading, instruction or exercise, shall be prescribed or practiced in the schools as it is inconsistent with the tenets of liberty." --Thomas Jefferson, _
" An amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority.
Thomas Jefferson, from his autobiography, 1821,
"Christianity has become the most perverted system that ever shone on man." --Thomas Jefferson,
"I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world, and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythology."--Thomas Jefferson
"The simple teachings of Jesus have turned into an engine for enslaving mankind and has, in fact, constituted the real Anti-Christ." -- Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
"The Civil Government have been manifestly declared to be founded and maintained by a TOTAL SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH FROM THE STATE."--James Madison
Thomas Paine
"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous ex

XX of DE 10:28PM November 05, 2009

The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes; fools and hypocrites. To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical

RE cool B of SC 10:23PM November 05, 2009

As a statement of non-belief, ‘atheism’ is not inherently arrogant.
Often when a disbelief in deities is attested, the faithful believer will assert that it is arrogant for anyone to claim an absence of god. Where atheism becomes misconstrued lies in what believers feel it asserts. Many individuals, who do not understand the terminology, (while working within the parameters of absolutism from their own worldview) inappropriately interpret the word to make an absolute claim on the existence of god. This understanding is a misnomer; merely the term states, “I do not believe”.
Now, an atheist may make a more assertive statement regarding specific ‘gods’ such as the Christian Yahweh or the Muslim Allah, because these characters have defined characteristics that can be proven to be highly contradictory, unlikely or wholly incoherent. Just as Christians, Muslims, Jews or another form theistic faith will label incarnations of god other than their own as false, the atheist simply acknowledges the same faults exist in all anthropomorphized deities, and disbelieves them all.
So, those who are ‘atheist’ do not assert absolute, universal knowledge. Many times it is the faithful who are arrogant in this manner, insisting their holy book is 'Truth', sometimes to the extent of attempting to silence opposing views. Is it not infinitely more arrogant to declare heresy, blasphemy and apostasy on those who use evidence to shape their understanding of reality? A reaction such as this displays an uncomfortableness with having one's beliefs challenged and thereby inferring a feeling of infallibility on part of the believer.
The one who says "I disbelieve" is not arrogant, it is those who postulate ownership of absolute "Truth".

REB of KS 10:19PM November 05, 2009

Christianity is the belief that some cosmic Jewish Zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

T of ME 10:11PM November 05, 2009

So Ted Haggard is starting a new church...and sadly, no - that's NOT a joke. :(
Besides gay, crystal meth-dealing, male prostitutes...who else would go to this guy for "spiritual counseling?" C'mon!!!

Hectorinho Claypool Jesus Da Silva of FL 6:08PM November 05, 2009