Good Grief - Pastor killed by crocodile while baptising

a bucket of water and a ladle...

in the military in the Mideast. Lots of ways to skin a cat.

I am a Lutheran so we just pour just a little bit of water.

always win.

That croc must have been rather annoyed not to have been able to take its prize back into the lake. Did this pastor not know there are crocs in those waters?

.... Bread/of the flesh, Wine/of the blood. Maybe the crock was Catholic ?

...and took it.

and humans will always think they can avoid what is instinctive....

Horrible death, for sure...

The surviving relatives of dinosaurs are birds. But birds are just as bad ass.

A cassowary, ostrich, or even an ordinary goose, if you cross them, will be quite happy to mess you up bad enough to leave you dead for the vultures to eat.

I've caught all my parrot friends looking at me one time or another like "if a huge meteor struck the earth today destroying human civilization I'll bet you'd taste like bacon."



wikipedia

the scene that writes itself

have the rest of the script. It sure writes itself.

Lake Chamo is filled with Nile crocodiles.

Just saying.

Tragic (and it is) but not entirely Ripley's.

Perhaps they need to build a baptismal font.

I would recommend it.

Given the proximity to Nile crocs, Darwin may have struck.
I'm just glad the sheeple weren't dinner for that croc.

The pastor was the most stationary target though.

The odds were not in his favor.

People gathering around a croc hole is no different than any other animal stopping by for a drink...to the crocodiles anyway.

they aren't called sheeple for fun - they even agreed to be dunked in the lake.

Let me be nice.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/804685/crocodile-attack-zimbabwe-pastor-walk-on-water-Jonathan-Mthethwa

It’s a fake story.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44366360

And the link in Amheric, the official language of Ethiopia.

https://www.bbc.com/amharic/44355105

Google Translate gets it a little odd, but okay, here's a few differences between the fake story about Zimbabwe (which for some reason first appeared in English) and this.

1) Baptisms aren't events of hubris, like claiming that a person can walk on water.

2) The large number of people to be baptized isn't unusual, whereas pastors preparing to show congregants a miracle, fasting and praying and then "walking out 30 meters before trying to get to the surface" certainly is. If you were able to walk on water, shouldn't you have started at the beginning?

3) There's no suggestions that the lake was considered unsafe by natives in the original version or the BBC English version of this story -- in fact, fisherman were mentioned in both the original and the English BBC version, using nets. You don't get to do much fishing on lakeshores with nets without getting your feet as wet as a person would using that location for baptisms. In the urban legend, there's the note that he deliberately chose a river called the "Crocodile River".

4) Part of the original foreign language version states that a funeral was held for the pastor, and people were trying to save his body from the crocodile -- and were successful at that, though not at killing the crock. In the urban legend, the only things left allegedly were his sandals and underwear.... conveniently floating atop the surface like he'd allegedly intended.

----

Now, whether this actually happened or not is something none of us can know, as apparently there wasn't video of the incident.

Is this some propaganda attempt to scare people off of being baptized? Possibly.

Are DUers making fun of full-immersion baptisms falling prey to the same type of thing that made the obvious urban legend spread like wildfire, including cultural insensitivity/supremacy? Perhaps.

But this one has the ring of tragedy, not trying to teach some moral lesson on pride -- which in the "walk on water" UL was clearly an integral part of the story, even if it had the "dumb people from Africa" trope also for the setting they chose.

I tracked down the email address of someone in their humanities department, and have inquired whether one should take this story as fact. If he writes back, I'll post.

I still remember that fab photo array of yours, in that national park — I don't recall where — wish I still had the link. It was wonderful!

I love that drive.

Mother nature’s rules. Mother nature’s selection.

Huge fish - the largest we caught was 80 lbs.

The lake is crawling with crocodiles and hippos. We would take the boat out at night and the glowing eyes would be everywhere.

That must have been quite an experience

just a wonderful country populated with incredibly friendly people. We returned a couple years back and ran into some folks we knew while living there in the '70's. I was a tennis coach at the private school where we taught. One of the ballboys while we were there is now the school's coach. It was wonderful catching up with him and reminiscing about some of the finer players from those days.

We were also able to track down the house we lived in. That was no small task considering the changes in the past decades plus the lack of street names in the city. But we found it (with the help of a driver) and the current resident was kind enough to invite us in for some pictures and conversation. It was a surreal experience.

Have a good friend who returned home recently after several years there - she loved it.

there is a facebook group that you might find interesting - Historical Photos from the Horn of Africa. Some remarkable photos are posted there. I have learned a lot from the group.

There's a plumber in my little town who lived there during Selassie's reign. His dad was in the service.
He said he loved Ethiopia.

it is tragic what happened there for the next few years under the Derg

I remember him saying that when he went horseback riding in the countryside, they stopped in a village and there were two pictures on the wall of the hut they went into, Haile Selassie's and JFK's.

we had several horses and participated in organized gymkhanas as well as riding the countryside - as did most of the expats.

Truly a shame what the Marxists did to that county.

last week's target.

If you go to be baptized and the minister dies during the ceremony, are you considered baptized or do you have to go back?

or would you read the 'sign' and run.

Just can't help it. Baptism of Blood.

Yeah, it did. Fake story. Funny, though.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/06/05/no-an-ethiopian-pastor-didnt-get-eaten-by-a-crocodile-during-a-baptism/

Stories like this appear all the time. They’re never true. Just last year, we heard about a Zimbabwean pastor who tried walking on water, only to drown and get eaten by crocodiles. That story also had alleged witnesses… and no proof. Snopes later said it was false. Even the Daily Mail, which usually spreads falsehoods like that, admitted the story originated on a satirical site.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pastor-eaten-by-crocodiles/

Someone is testing their fake news spreading system.

It was even on local news

You didn’t bother to read the article I linked, obviously.

That's why this one - JUST LIKE THE LAST ONE - is taking off through lazy media.

Even here at DU:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1218250234

A Zimbabwean church pastor attempting to demonstrate how Jesus walked on water by crossing a river on foot was eaten alive when he was attacked by three crocodiles.

Jonathan Mthethwa of the Saint of the Last Days church brought his congregation to the area known locally as Crocodile River before attempting his biblical recreation.

According to witnesses, the pastor entered the water and waded out approximately 30 metres before attempting to make his way to the surface. Unfortunately for the pastor, three crocodiles pounced and devoured him.

Only his sandals and underwear were recovered, according to a report in the Daily Post.

...and it links to the Daily Mail.

This shit happens. There's a reason why it happens, and gets passed on so gullibly - even by "real media".

It plays on stereotypes to a "funny" effect - i.e. that Africans are dumb, because this type of story is always placed in some remote area of Africa where there is not going to be any realistic fact-checking about it.

But, you know, since "Oh, those Africans are dumb", it's believable to a lot of "smart" media people.

But you are really going to sit there and say that "Oh, see, the one about the pastor being eaten by crocodiles while demonstrating his faith in Zimbabwe was a fake one. And this TOTALLY DIFFERENT one, about a year to the day, about the pastor being eaten by crocodiles in Ethiopia - yeah, now that's the REAL one."

You actually believe that?

because in Latin America, South America and the Caribbean there are lots of river baptisms.

I've read of lightning hitting pastors in churches too - some of them happened - some didn't.

Yes, there are river baptisms in the US (particularly the south too), but I'm not particularly aware of crocodiles in Jamaican waters.

People who are raised somewhere know the hazards.

When you are making wreaths, do you use the small limbs of manchineel trees, or sit under them in the rain?

No, of course you don't.

Pretty sure that people who live to adulthood in areas with crocodiles are not so stupid as to have baptisms where they know there are going to be crocodiles.

of any race with too much sense.

That said even the sheeple would know the terrain.

https://caymannewsservice.com/2018/05/another-visitor-dies-after-snorkelling-trip/

Another visitor dies after snorkelling trip


Okay, so they are up to 7 so far this year, and they usually run in that range. But its the comments that get me. Middle aged and older guys who sit around all year go down to Cayman, usually go out snorkeling on their own, and turn up dead. It's like a HUGE mystery to some folks down there.

This one is not rocket science. No mystery there.

Because they are shocked every time it happens.

a very rare croc attack is more likely

Because until five minutes ago, I would not have known that Jamaica has crocodiles.

So all of those pictures in the tourist brochures of people bathing in mountain streams and pools are just there to keep them fed?



Dang.

I was in Nairobi National Park (much smaller than other parks, but I had limited time) and the guide took my wife and I down to the river with the oldest, rustiest rifle I ever did see, and I thought we were going to go look at some giraffes. At a bend in the creek, on the high undercut bank, there was a German couple who were getting really close to about an 8 foot dropoff on that side of the creek. I couldn't tell what they were looking at, and the guide gestured for me to go over and take a look... and then I see there's a crocodile chilling out right under the dodgy mud bank that they were standing on. I was like, oh hell no, I'm getting back in the van.

I think that's how they keep them fed there.

I don't know how fast they can move or how far they can get in a hurry, but I do know they eat things that are a shitload faster than I am.

Tourists are mostly on the North Coast. We took one of my siblings and her family on a tour of the Black River some years ago - saw two huge crocs.

Great story in the park

Where there will be crocodiles. Could do one that takes place on Oz too

https://www.andrews.edu/library/car/cardigital/Periodicals/Record_SPD/1994/1994_01_29.pdf

God is going to keep the crocodiles in their place!

but they are not in all rivers - they are mostly on the south coast and attacks are very rare. Indeed they are protected although there are morons who catch and eat them.

I saw a news story where an Australian got killed by one that was unexpectedly far up the river!

like floods, a few end up in strange places.

it's like lightning hitting one of the snake oil salesmen.

Just because it happens fairly regularly does not mean it is not true.

Now I look like a hack and an unrepentant punster!

It’s also not a safe practice where crocs live.

Sorry. I am a terrible punning person.

I miss Pinboy3niner

Puns always make me think of him!

A surfer had been bitten by a croc a short while earlier.
When we went across the river to surf to the north, we took a boat, only two bucks.
The crocs didn't go out into the ocean, but came close.
Lots of crocs and iguanas everywhere-- and howler monkeys, and good beer and music.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country full of lots of critters

for the people who were there and saw it.