Seriously, GOP? Really?

[giblets]

How about someone who listens to a lecture by said crazy person at least once a week over the course of twenty years, voluntarily and not as a form of entertainment??

We don't know if it was entertainment and don't even know what percentage of those lectures were crazy. I mean, someone can have a few crazy ideas and still come across as reasonable on other issues.

[rah]

Am I'm sure he saw going to church every week as a duty and not voluntary at all. Like most church goers.
And I'm sure most people wouldn't totally support what they heard in a sermon every week. It's not like you hear a few bad sermons and decide to change churches (assuming you're even listening in the first place) I was always more concerned with his association with all the crooks that make up the Chicago Machine.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Rah pointed out on a good issue. People go to the church not necessarily for the pastor, but for the other people in the congregation that they know. Fellowship is important. And while what the pastor says can be a massive component, most church goers tend to filter out the times when their pastor is spewing craziness in favor of the 90% of the time he's good.

[The Mad Monk]

I'm still waiting for the 90% that is good from this guy.

[Imran Siddiqui]

You obviously won't know if there is or isn't until you sit there on Sundays and listen.

[The Mad Monk]

I suppose Oral Roberts is good the 90% of the time God isn't trying to kill him?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I was always more concerned with his association with all the crooks that make up the Chicago Machine.

Why is the crook and preachers thing a mutually exclusive thing? Seems the gist of the community service/orgainization was simply focussed at shakedowns of local business.

[rah]

I wouldn't know if they are mutually exclusive. I'll admit the last few years I actually attended church, I really wasn't paying attention to the sermon. And in the burbs where I grew up, the priests weren't as obvious when they tried to get you to contribute to the cause.

[The Mad Monk]

Given his preaching style, how do you not pay attention?

[rah]

Trust me, after a long saturday night out boozing, the preacher could be screaming at the top of his lungs and I'd still be snoozing.

And besides, even as much as I am not an Obama fan, the preacher thing was the least bothersome crap as far as I was concerned. Which surprised me since it seemed to get more traction than the REZKO bit. Which as far as I was concerned was much much more damning.

[Imran Siddiqui]

To give an example, I frequent two churches. One is a Pentecostal one, where I usually attend the youth & young adult service on Wednesday nights. Now the church is pretty conservative and from the pulpit have heard passing references to: homosexuality being a sin, abortion being a sin, evolution being wrong, etc, etc. But 90%+ of the preaching is on caring for other people and showing the love of Jesus or (sometimes unfortunately) personal piety, in terms of spending time with God & living honorably. The preaching is usually simplistic, but sometimes very good. I usually go for the people I've met there and the love of God among the members. If someone were to exoriate me for what the pastors said in the >10% times they talk of social issues, they'd not be getting a good view of why I go there.

[rah]

Yes, even better than my example. Just more reasons why I never really had a problem with his preacher.

[Hauldren Collider]

I have two words: **** Gingrich.

[giblets]

I have two words: **** Gingrich.

I wish I knew why some people seem to like him, like this loon:

http://apolyton.net/showthread.php/192089-Gingrich-says-he-s-considering-presidential-run?p=5833250&viewfull=1#post5833250

[Jon Miller]

To give an example, I frequent two churches. One is a Pentecostal one, where I usually attend the youth & young adult service on Wednesday nights. Now the church is pretty conservative and from the pulpit have heard passing references to: homosexuality being a sin, abortion being a sin, evolution being wrong, etc, etc. But 90%+ of the preaching is on caring for other people and showing the love of Jesus or (sometimes unfortunately) personal piety, in terms of spending time with God & living honorably. The preaching is usually simplistic, but sometimes very good. I usually go for the people I've met there and the love of God among the members. If someone were to exoriate me for what the pastors said in the >10% times they talk of social issues, they'd not be getting a good view of why I go there.

Very well put.

I have never agreed with a preacher more than 95% of the time.

JM