Christian + Insanity = Stupid Negros Supporting Rapists, Predators, and Charlatans

It's been nearly 3 weeks since my last post. I don't have a very good reason for having nothing to write besides being too lazy to sit down and put my thougts together for a post. I could use work for an excuse and although I've been busy, I just haven't felt like writing much of anything.

That brief hiatus ends today. So many of you have been visiting my blog quite frequently to read a series of posts I wrote in February of this year discussing the failures of the Black Church and its leaders and layity. One post was about Bishop Frederick D. Kelley in the COGIC being convicted of molesting and raping his foster daughter. From that sexual impropriety (that his wife was complicit in hiding) a child was conceived and Kelley and his wife took the child from their foster daughter and reared it as their own. Kelley was sentenced to 35 years in prison and is serving out his sentence in a Georgia State Correctional Facility. I'm sure someone is busting that ass wide open as we speak!

I went to the Georgia Department of Corrections website just to verify that this man of the cloth was incarcerated -- and as it turns out, he IS! He will not be eleigible for parole until 2043. Don't you just love that?

Recently, Mr. Juanita Bynum - Thomas Weeks III lost his church for refusing to pay his bills. He was approximately 400K in arrears when the Gwinnett County Sherriff's deputies came to evict Weeks' and his flock. They apparently interrupted Weeks from his weekly "Fleece the Flock and take advantage of the Greedy and Stupid" meeting, AKA Church Service. Regrettably, no one in Weeks church took the hint from God to stop supporting him. People in his church still stood in line at a rented ball room in a Holiday Inn Express to give him money. How irionic is that? I thought being at a Holiday Inn Expess made people smarter, not gullible... Bless their stupid little hearts and even tinier brains.

I have been constantly pained by other stories as well. While I am completely against the "gay panic" defense, a COGIC pastor was murdered by one of the victims he molested. As you'll see in the video contained in this post, another pastor raped and sexually molested the church's secretary and of course who can forget about the Apostle "Jesus loves Coochie and Spankings" Sherman Allen of Irving, TX? How about Donnie McClurkin's support of a man accused of sexually assaulting at least a score of black women over the course of the last 20 years? And Christians, PARTICULARLY BLACK ONES, have the nerve to be pre-occupied with Gay Marriage and abortions? WTF? You wanna protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, but turn a blind eye and issue forgiveness to sexual deviants because they have a collar around their neck?

Any rational person would ask, why do we continue to support these types of people? However, I don't think that's the question that should be asked anymore. Let's allow the stupid and greedy to "get got". The question for those of us with common sense should be, "How long will we allow these bloodsucking leeches to exists?" It is apparent that not even church folk can depend on other church folk. christians, believers, etc. to keep them from being victimized. Truthfully, I group all of them together until I can see a clear distinction among the "wheat and the chaff". I don't see more black christians being involved in advocay groups that raise awareness about abuse in the black church. What I see is excuse making and passive aggressive acquiesence. Many of the self-professed "true beleievers" will acknowledge the shortcomings of the black, but that's it. They do nothing the keep the experiences of the victims of the black church from happening to other people.

They typically twist scriptures to justify their apathy and sloth. They incorrectly apply the "judge not, lest ye be judged" idiom to relinquish their responsibility to their fellow believers to question the egregious conduct of their leaders. I get it, No one wants to be responsible for the implosion of their church or denomination. The cost of preserving a traditionalist institution that relies on blind faith and complete abandon of critical thinking, far outweighs the far reaching impact that spiritual mutilation has had on the lives of many parishoners/believers.

Those who choose to do the opposite of the true believers are ridiculed, condemned, and are often the objects of vicious personal attacks and vitriol... all from the hands of true believers.

This video embodies the unpopular view of the black church. It emphasizes the experiences of the victims over the lives of leaders and the foundations of churches. (Hat Tip to Kevin AKA NotYourTypicalNegro on youtube)




What say you? I must warn you though, if you come to this blog expecting to defend the black church's foolishness, be very ready to be torn a new one. I will only allow such stupidity to be displayed in one or two comment posts at the most.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA From Alice Walker

Nov. 5, 2008

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

FINALLY.... Congratulations Mr. President and First Family

It's TIME.... Let's DO THIS! GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO THE LAZY AND TRIFLING: Get up off your Lazy Ass and VOTE!

I hope you didn't think that I was going to be anything but "polite" about this year's election season. Your votes make a difference between who wins and loses and in this case, whether or not we progress or remain stagnate.

I am not naive enough to believe that Barack Obama's election will act as a magic wand to right every wrong in the world, but I do think that he is the best candidate to lead our country at this time. If you can still vote early, PLEASE GO DO SO NOW! If you cannot or if you choose to vote on tomorrow, please be prepared to wait more than the 2 hours allowed by Federal Law. It's very likely that you'll be waiting in excess of 3 hours. Many jurisdictions have elected to not extend polling place hours, but if you're in lined by the time the poll close, you must be allowed to vote.

If you are black, spare me the faux soul searching and subliminal self-hatred that compels you to stay at home because you don't believe that Obama is "black enough" or that he hasn't laid out an agenda for black people. No other politician, black or white, has done so either. I never read about Clinton's agenda for blacks, nor have I seen ANYTHING that the Congressional Black Caucus has done to move black folks forward collectively.

If you are white and lacking self-awareness about your racism that compels you not to vote for Obama, would you vote for him if he were white?

The bottom line is that if you are a Democrat, Progressive, Liberal, or just plain tired of the last 8 years, vote for Obama. To do the opposite means that you have been paying attention and that you shouldn't be voting at all.

If you don't know where your polling place is, please visit your County Board of Elections website or go to the Vote For Change website here.

If you have already voted, sign up to volunteer, make phone calls, or drive people to and from the polls. We need everyone out in full force. The lead in the polls ISN'T accurate. We must do all that we can to ensure that Obama and the Democrats are victorious on November 5th.

To inspire you just a bit, I am reposting a piece that I wrote for another blog that I used to run before blogspot became so popular.

Today is November 7, 2006; the day of decision... the day when we as a country can take back the broken system of American politics and replace it with the same idealism that compelled our ancestors to die. Sound romantic, doesn't it? If only our democratic republic were so pure. The fact of the matter is that Americans have no real choice. Each major political party is greatly influenced by wealthy special interest groups and an elite ruling class. The myth of one vote, one voice is outdated and probably never existed anyway, but it sounds so good, huh? How else would one explain the founding of a democracy by men who thought it was their right to deprive other men of those same rights? I'm not a cynic; contrary to what I used to believe about myself, I'm quite the idealist. However, my vote this election cycle is based on practicality more than idealism. Like me, countless Americans who consider themselves independent are typically forced to choose the less worse of each party as a candidate.

My grandmother's saying rings true today as it did when I voted for the first time in 1993. She said that, "What it really boils down to is what white sons-of-bitches get to fuck us better. As long as this [political] system stays the way it is, we are always gonna have to choose the less evil of two lessers." Of course, she would talk to me about these things after taking a shot of Glen Fiddich and dipping some snuff. One thing I gleaned from that bit of drunken southern wisdom was this, she ALWAYS voted... even if she felt like both candidates were awful. Like her, I sometimes feel the same way, but unlike her, I have hope.

The following excerpt came from an essay written to inspire the electorally apathetic (can I even use that term?). Although its factual basis is bogus, it romanticizes our democratic republic and the wonderful right and privilege we have. Even if you feel like your vote would be wasted, I challenge you to put your apathy aside and head to the polls to choose the less evil of two lessers.

• In 1645, ONE VOTE gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
• In 1649, ONE VOTE caused Charles I of England to be executed.
• In 1839, ONE VOTE elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts.
• In 1845, ONE VOTE brought Texas into the Union.
• In 1868, ONE VOTE saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
• In 1876, ONE VOTE changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
• In 1960, ONE VOTE change in each precinct in Illinois would have defeated John F. Kennedy.

Okay, I'll leave the soapbox now.