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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2006 : 17:41:33
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I think most of you here know of Benny Hinn, the multi-zillionaire faith healer. His crusades attracts thousands of xtians. He's one of the big-time teleevagelists I'd love to see take a great big fall, i.e. Swaggart, Bakker, Haggard, etc.
Just noticed at his website, his show is rolling into my neck of the woods, south of Austin in San Antonio in a few days.
I was recently surfing around youtube.com, and came across the 20/20 report from a couple of years ago about Hinn and his ministeries. Below is the video stream of the report in two parts....
20/20 report on Hinn, Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t0zb0EROOE&mode=related&search=
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEM1gz4azmE&mode=related&search=
Just for grins...here's two short pieces someone has edited and dubbed in some music. I think the first one is the better of the two. Watch the wacked out dramatics on stage. How people believe this crap is real, is beyond me.....big time placebo effect. I've seen crowds get hysterical at rock concerts in my earlier years. Mass appeal; some real crowd psychology/showmanship going on here...
This is a riot!... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok4Hv0LQiIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2tsDLzOaVM&mode=related&search=
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"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?" -Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2006 : 19:38:32 [Permalink]
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quote: Originally posted by Randy
Just noticed at his website, his show is rolling into my neck of the woods, south of Austin in San Antonio in a few days.
http://www.remingtonle.com/rifles/700p.htmquote: Originally posted by Randy This is a riot!...
This from Wiki: quote: In January 2005, Hinn's ministry organized a trip to Bangalore, India, and a prayer meeting attended by various politicians and high profile people. Hindu groups objected to this stating that the meeting was a front for mass conversion by controversial means. The news website Rediff.com India reported: "Hinn claimed that he had cured several people of ailments with the blessings of Jesus Christ, but hundreds of disabled and sick people returned disappointed, without getting any remedy." The report also mentions "A doctor, meanwhile, lodged a police complaint against Hinn and the organizers of the show, seeking action for what he said was the death of a man due to cardiac arrest after being pushed by Hinn on the stage on Saturday".
[My emphasis]
And the Reverend Hinn says of his critics: quote: Don't touch God's servants; it's deadly...Woe to you that touch God's servants. You're going to pay. 'And the day will come.' The Lord said that to me. He said, 'The day will come when I will punish instantly. Woe to those who touch my chosen.' They will fear us.
Hinn is one spooky conman. He's more "funny, peculiar," than "funny, ha-ha."
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Robb
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2006 : 14:34:58 [Permalink]
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I do not trust any christian preacher that has million dollar homes and expensive cars. I do trust preachers like Rick Warren who gives over 90% of his earnings to various charities and churches. |
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2006 : 22:38:25 [Permalink]
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Not only that, Robb, but the man paid back 25 years of salary! How very extremely cool of him! I mean, the only money of his "reverse tithing" I would consider "wasted" (and that's just by my standards, of course, and not intended to be offensive) is that which he donates to training church leaders in developing countries, but the rest is going towards fighting HIV/AIDS and other diseases, illiteracy and poverty. I think only the most cynical or bitter of the secular world would condemn this guy (SeanSinjin, for example, would make Warren a criminal).
That said, it's funny, Robb, that you bring up Warren in a thread about Hinn, because according to Wikipedia, "Rick Warren has also come under fire for his appearance at the 2006 Centenary of the Azusa Street Revival, which also had Word of Faith preachers such as Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, and Creflo Dollar as guests" (my bolding). Quelle coincidence! |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail) Evidently, I rock! Why not question something for a change? Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Robb
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2006 : 06:30:22 [Permalink]
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quote: Originally posted by Dave W.
Not only that, Robb, but the man paid back 25 years of salary! How very extremely cool of him! I mean, the only money of his "reverse tithing" I would consider "wasted" (and that's just by my standards, of course, and not intended to be offensive) is that which he donates to training church leaders in developing countries, but the rest is going towards fighting HIV/AIDS and other diseases, illiteracy and poverty. I think only the most cynical or bitter of the secular world would condemn this guy (SeanSinjin, for example, would make Warren a criminal).
That said, it's funny, Robb, that you bring up Warren in a thread about Hinn, because according to Wikipedia, "Rick Warren has also come under fire for his appearance at the 2006 Centenary of the Azusa Street Revival, which also had Word of Faith preachers such as Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, and Creflo Dollar as guests" (my bolding). Quelle coincidence!
I was talking about Warrens apparant faithfulness and sincerity to God versus Hinns apparant deceiptfulness. I do not agree with all of Warrens idea's but I do beleive he is a Christian trying to do what God askes of him. |
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. - George Washington |
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austin
New Member
10 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2006 : 12:41:49 [Permalink]
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Most of us Christians consider Benny Hinn to be a heretic and a maniac. The people who attend his crusades are mostly seekers and overboard Pentecostals. Pentecostalism is a relatively new denomination, so discrediting them barely scratches the surface of discrediting Christians. |
"Nietzsche is dead" -God |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2006 : 12:56:56 [Permalink]
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So time believed equates to actual legitimacy, those damn Zoroastrians we're right all along.
I believe the Pope is a maniac and time served means jack squat. |
"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History
"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2006 : 13:49:09 [Permalink]
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quote: Originally posted by austin
Most of us Christians consider Benny Hinn to be a heretic and a maniac. The people who attend his crusades are mostly seekers and overboard Pentecostals. Pentecostalism is a relatively new denomination, so discrediting them barely scratches the surface of discrediting Christians.
To my mind, the very fact that so many Christians like yourself would use a bizarre word like "heretic" so blithely in this day and age is just another sign of religious madness.
History tells what the standard treatment is for heresy. The word that comes immediately to mind is "burn." The next words are "wars of religion." I suspect that only secular law restrains heretic-burning, even in our 21st Century. And if you would condemn as "heretical" other faiths that so closely resemble your own (at least in the eyes of outsiders untutored in the finer points of sectarian hatred), what might you do, if unrestrained, to a pagan, or an atheist? One needs to ask.
With you folks throwing such charged insults as "heretic" at your coreligionists, can't you imagine why secular people, humanist Christians, or religious non-Christians, might get a bit nervous in the crossfire?
Why not condemn Hinn simply as what he is, a con-man, a liar, and an embarrassment to religion? No Dark Ages "heresy" insults required.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 11/13/2006 15:48:19 |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2006 : 18:41:32 [Permalink]
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quote: Originally posted by Ricky
quote: I suspect that only secular law restrains heretic-burning, even in our 21st Century.
Was this a joke? I see no other way of interpreting it, unless you actually think even a small minority of the religious population supports burning at the stake, which is of course just absurd.
quote: No Dark Ages "heresy" insults required.
Heresy, while it is a loaded word, does not have to imply the dark ages and burning at the stake. By all purposeful definitions of the word, he is a heretic. He went against two of the central tenants of the denomination of the religion that he followed.
Yes! I do think a "small minority of the religious population" would not only openly support burnings at the stake, but would add stonings to the mix as well, if they felt they could get away with it. And they would swiftly be performing these acts as well. I'm not claiming this degree of bigotry is big even within the Fundamentalist movement today. But, if unrestrained by law, I think it swiftly would be.
Have you read of the Christian Reconstructionist movement? Or, even worse, the neo-Nazi Christian Identity movement? Both groups advocate killing many of those they see as sinners, and in the case of the latter, those they see as members of subhuman or Satanic races.
I continue to feel heresy is not only a "loaded word," as you concede, it is a word used primarily by fanatics and historians. I don't fault the historians, by the way.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 00:29:26 [Permalink]
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quote: Yes! I do think a "small minority of the religious population" would not only openly support burnings at the stake, but would add stonings to the mix as well, if they felt they could get away with it. And they would swiftly be performing these acts as well. I'm not claiming this degree of bigotry is big even within the Fundamentalist movement today. But, if unrestrained by law, I think it swiftly would be.
Have you read of the Christian Reconstructionist movement? Or, even worse, the neo-Nazi Christian Identity movement? Both groups advocate killing many of those they see as sinners, and in the case of the latter, those they see as members of subhuman or Satanic races.
I don't deny that such people exist, and that there are certainly more than I wish existed. But can you really be arguing that "...only secular law restrains heretic-burning, even in our 21st Century"? Such radical groups will be the loudest, but it does not mean that they are any where near the majority, or even minority.
I could not find numbers on the Christian Reconstructionism, however the wikipedia claims the Christian Identity has 2,000-50,000 members. Even assuming 50,000, that is about 0.0001667% of America. 2,000 members is 0.000006667 of America.
Edit: Missed a part
quote:
I continue to feel heresy is not only a "loaded word," as you concede, it is a word used primarily by fanatics and historians. I don't fault the historians, by the way.
I completely agree, it is mostly used by fanatics and historians. But even when a fanatic says it, most of the time they are not secretly wishing to burn them at the stake. At least that I my experience with fanatic Christians. |
Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov |
Edited by - Ricky on 11/14/2006 00:32:58 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/14/2006 : 00:57:47 [Permalink]
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I think it may boil down, Ricky, to our differing ideas about whether the very small numbers of really dangerous nut-job Fundies would or would not burn and stone their enemies if they got a chance. I imagine it would happen, you imagine it wouldn't. Let's just agree to disagree on this, and be very thankful that our theses are presently untestable.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 11/14/2006 00:58:20 |
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard
USA
4907 Posts |
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard
3192 Posts |
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