Matt Taibbi: An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee

[babylonsister]

An Atheist Goes Undercover to Join the Flock of Mad Pastor John Hagee

By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com. Posted May 5, 2008.


The following is an excerpt from Matt Taibbi's new book, The Great Derangement" (Spiegel and Grau, 2008).



I pulled into the church parking lot a little after 6:00 p.m., at more or less the last possible minute. The previous half hour or so I'd spent dawdling in my car outside a Goodwill department store off Route 410 in San Antonio, clinging to some inane sports talk show piping over my car radio -- anything to hold off my plunge into Religion.

There was an old-fashioned white school bus in front of the church entrance, with a puddle of heavyset people milling around its swinging door. Some of these were carrying blankets and sleeping bags. My heart, already pounding, skipped a few extra beats. The church circulars had said nothing about bringing bedding. Why did I need bedding? What else had I missed?

"Excuse me," I said, walking up to an in-charge-looking man with a name tag who was standing near the front of the bus. "I see everyone has blankets. I didn't bring any. Is this going to be a problem?"

The man was about five feet one and had glassy eyes. He looked up at me and smiled queerly.

"Name?" he said.

"Collins," I said. "Matthew Collins."

He scanned his clipboard, found my name on the appropriate sheet of paper, and X-ed me out with a highlighter. "Don't worry, Matthew," he said, resting his hand on my shoulder. "A wonderful woman named Martha is going to take care of you at the ranch. You just tell her what you need when you get there."

I nodded, glancing at his hand, which was still on my shoulder. He waved me into the bus.

I had been attending the Cornerstone Church for weeks, but this was really my first day of school. I had joined Cornerstone -- a megachurch in the Texas Hill Country -- to get a look inside the evangelical mind-set that gave the country eight years of George W. Bush. The church's pastor, John Hagee, is one of the most influential evangelical preachers in the country -- not because his ministry is so very large (although he claims up to 4.5 million viewers a week for his Sunday sermons) but because of his near-absolute conquest of a very trendy niche in the market: Christian Zionism.

more...

http://www.alternet.org/rights/84043/?page=entire

[xchrom]

1. recommend

disclaimer -- i am not an atheist.

[Solly Mack]

2. I'm laughing my ass off here

[zanne]

3. OMG!

"My father was a circus clown who used to beat me with his oversized shoes"! I couldn't decide if the article was real or satire.

[DemReadingDU]

7. except for the time...

another passage from the book...

"I soon found myself reading aloud a passage from my "autobiography" describing a period of my father's life when he quit clowning to hand out fliers in a Fudgie the Whale costume outside a Carvel ice cream store:

I laugh about it now, but once he chased me, drunk, in his Fudgie the Whale costume. He chased me into the bathroom, laid me across the toilet seat and hit me with his fins, which underneath were still a man's hands.

Again no reaction from the group, aside from an affirming nod from Jos at the last part -- his eyes said to me, I know what you mean about those fins."



It's a long article, be sure to read about the Encounter Weekend

[Canuckistanian]

8. You DO get the point of this article,don't you?

This is the story of a journalist POSING as someone who is seeking a religious experience.

It was probably a stupid thing to say, but.... they bought it.

[uberllama42]

20. I strongly suspect the clown-shoe thing is fictional

Taibbi is a "gonzo" journalist. It's common in his field to interpolate fictional details to make the story more "interesting." For my money, the clown-shoe story is there to make a point rather than report something strictly factual. Tell the truth without actually saying something truthful, as it were.

[madrchsod]

4. i am going to break down and read this book.....

i have no use for this brand of "Christianity"...this goes against everything that was written of Christ`s message...

[DemReadingDU]

5. I always wondered what happens at those Encounter Weekends

I read the whole article, truly crazy

:crazy:

[Mist]

6. Well, that was interesting. "In the name of Jesus, I cast out the

demon of hand-writing analysis." Can we be certain this isn't satire?

Well, this much is true: "...it's all a con that is done with the consent of the conned."

[Frustratedlady]

9. No, it is for real. We have a neighbor who is deep into the exorcism/talking in tongues

and he brought me a tape of his minister to listen to. This minister was quite a performer and I'm sure he convinces many who are weak to begin with. Not only did he convince my neighbor that he needed to be exorcised, but that his daughter (who was single and pregnant) had become pregnant by the devil and that to stop this cycle, they must exorcise the devil from her before the baby was born AND that they must exorcise the baby.

My neighbor leaves each weekend to go to Minnesota where his son is a minister. Together, they spend the weekend exorcising people who have been overtaken. These are serious people and they think they are doing God's will. With the price of gas, I'm not sure if they can continue, unless their "benefactor" is willing to pay the expenses.

They have them rolling in the aisles and yelling all kinds of strange noises as they wave their arms and writhe.

Never underestimate these people. There are more than you realize.

[ladywnch]

16. things like "cast out the demon of intellect" and

........I'm sure he convinces many who are weak to begin with.

all go to show how important it is that our children develop strong minds and intellect to be able to resist such lunacy as this. If these clowns have their way, we'll all be back living in caves wearing animal skins grunting like rutting pigs (cause I'm sure language is a demon) and marveling at fire.

[Warpy]

10. I used to listen to Garner Ted Armstrong on the AM radio

late at night when I was a kid. I thought it was the most delicious sendup of tent meeting religion I'd ever heard, truly brilliant satire.

Imagine my utter shock to find out old Garner Ted was absolutely sincere in his off the wall ranting and raving and that the world was full of suckers willing to pony up the $3.95 for his book to get them into heaven! That was the beginning of my total disillusion with the human race.

The point is that evangelists do say these things--and worse. In fact, I found myself marveling at the restraint of the fulminating jock in not saying things like "cast out the demons of waxy yellow buildup!" and worse.

There is no way to satirize these people. They will always outdo the craziest thing you can come up with.

[Luminous Animal]

14. Handwriting analysis

Some Christians believe that it is a tool of the occult.

[formercia]

11. North Korean re-education camp

Replace God with 'Dear Leader' and the course is like the curriculum of a school for communist cadre.

[sharp_stick]

12. Brilliant Work

I'm buying this book. I've considered doing something along those lines here, just to see what's behind the curtain and what the overwhelming draw is for some people. But I'm honestly afraid of those people and don't want to get too close to them.

[FredStembottom]

13. The entire article is long - but reading it might be the best thing I did today!

I would recommend (as I always do) following this up with The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. A calm explanation of the True Believer type of personality that is found in a thousand different forms from Christians to Marxists.

The book is so sound and even-handed as to recognize a need for such people at times. You'll never forget this book.

[janetle]

15. McCain's extreme superstitions need to be cast out

I read this whole thing. Wow! Although from some of my past naive involvements in right wing Christian organizations, I do know about some of this stuff.

But McCain's superstitions are considered of the devil by these people. Hagee needs to take McCain to one of these weekends so he gives up his lucky feather.

[ladywnch]

17. yeah I heard about McCain's superstitions.....the lucky penny,

the lucky nickle, the lucky quarter, (now I know how he is planning to fix the economy!!!) the lucky feather and the lucky 4 leaf clover!!!!

Batshit crazy doesn't even BEGIN to describe him! I can just see it now: and al quada video tape showing them holding McCain's captured feather with a lit match next to it threatening to set it on fire. McCain would SO push the button! Do we really want someone that crazy running the country.....again?!!!!!!

[Usrename]

18. Matt Taibbi sure does have style.

A big K&R!

[emperor124]

19. In the name of Jesus I cast out the demon of Philosophy?

Good god, what's the matter with this guy??