I Pass 3 Vans Full- Labeled (in Spanish) First Assembly Of God

[SPKrazy]

from Russellville, AR, a small city, or large town in Arkansas (about 25K people I think) while I'm driving down Interstate 40 today.

Anyway, it gets me to thinking paranoid. Are the fundies recruiting Hispanic immigrants to their fundy churches in order to amass an army of "cannon fodder" in case they have to fight a religious civil war in our country? (on edit: I hope this doesn't sound bad, because I really am concerned that these people are being exploited by the fundies in some way that I don't know yet)

I mean, 3 vans from a small place like Russellville is strange, when I bet they never had a need for 3 vans before for anything.

Am I just paranoid, or are they really out to get us?

[C_U_L8R]

1. or stacking the vote

[kdmorris]

2. 3 vans doesn't sound like a lot

I assume that you are talking about 3 15-17 passenger vans. Those are the kind they used to take our youth group to "field trips" in. When I was 14, there was 5 vans full of teenagers hitting the ski slopes in New York (complete with 2 adult chaperones per van, of course).

The recruit anyone and everyone they can. Usually they try to start with children, since they are way more vulnerable.

[SPKrazy]

8. You're In New York

We're talking about a 25 K town to start with

3 vans full of hispanics from a fundy church?

[kdmorris]

11. Well... no... I'm not in New York

I was from a (then) small town in Maryland and we WENT to New York to ski.

[SPKrazy]

12. Well My Mistake

I still find it unusual for a Church to be on a Saturday traveling in a caravan down the interstate with 3 vans full of Hispanics.

Maybe I'm "over reacting"

it struck me as odd

so, I guess that makes me........ an over reactor?

[LA lady]

3. Look it up

Assemblies of God Church originated in Arkansas and is HUGE in Mexico.

Doesn't surprise me at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assemblies_of_God

[Vexatious Ape]

4. Seen similar things here in Georgia

I heard a story on NPR that the Pentecostals are huge now in Guatemala. The idiot fundie memes are spreading south.

[SPKrazy]

14. Interesting How No One Jumps On Your Post

but leap to call me Xenophobic etc.

[cosmik debris]

16. If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question.

You asked: "Am I just paranoid, or are they really out to get us?"

The proper answer is: No you are not being paranoid, you are being xenophobic.

You know, the nice thing about an open door is that it works the same in both directions.

[SPKrazy]

18. No, The Answer Is Not That I'm "Xenophobic"

the answer is that you have no idea what you are talking about

my paranoia is about the fundies, not hispanic immigrants- in your zeal to jump on me I suppose you conveniently took that out of ?.....

I am far from Xenophobic my questionably intentioned fellow DU'er

I embrace immigration reform, and would in fact be for open borders instead of the insanity that we have where immigrants are exploited by corporate interests. No I'm not saying Hispanics are more likely to be exploited due to some reason other than they are willing to work, and they come here to work. They are exploited by some employers who pay them less than they would pay others. They are viewed as less than human.

So, call me Xenophobic if it makes your day to attack me personally, but that is way off the mark FYI, and I can only chalk it up to your lack of something in trying to comprehend my posts and interpret them in the way you want to.

so I asked jokingly, if I am just being paranoid.

I probably am.

Xenophobic?

No more than you would be espousing the virtues of religion Cosmik!

[cosmik debris]

19. A spirited defense indeed!

You got me there!

You questioned my motives.

You used the “it’s not about them, it’s about (insert red herring here)” defense.

You used a creative variation of the “some of my best friends are (insert minority here)” argument.

You used a vague ad hominem attack with the accusation of my “lack of something”.

And you closed with the “I was just joking” defense.

A rebuttal that airtight is just impossible to dispute. I give up.

Mercy!

[SPKrazy]

20. LOL

sure you do

[cosmik debris]

5. Am I mis-reading your intent?

You seem to imply the Hispanic immigrants are more susceptible to religious or political exploitation than other groups. Is that your feeling?

Also, you might put your observation into perspective. How many Hispanic Churches are there in Russellville? How many Church vans does the Anglo Assembly of God have? Three 8-person vans could hold 24 people. Not exactly an army of cannon fodder.

Edit: Research uncovered that there are 11 Assembly of God Churches and 12 Baptist Churches in Russellville. How many church vans do the Baptists have? More research required.

Second Edit: there are also 12 nondenominational churches. I wonder if they are active in a conspiracy?

Third edit: The 2000 census showed 1123 Hispanic persons in Russellville. Far more that three van loads.

[SPKrazy]

9. No, You Interpreted Me As Saying That

I implied nothing of the sort that hispanics are more susceptible to anything

stop putting your words in my posts

So you've now proven that I saw nothing out of the ordinary

glad to know that you are so well informed cosmik

live here, then you'd know it was not usual

you crack me up sometimes

[cosmik debris]

10. With over a thousand Hispanics in the town

You get freaked out when 20 or 30 of them get together?

To answer your original question, yes you are being paranoid.

Edit: Further research indicates that "xenophobic" would be a better descriptor that "paranoid".

[SPKrazy]

13. Xenophobic Huh

Aren't you going on vacation soon?

[SPKrazy]

15. My Gawd I'd Forgotten How

much I'd grown to despise this R/T forum

I see it's no different than the last time I posted

yes I'm whining

so what

[neebob]

21. Cosmik has a point there, SPK

I, too, wondered why you made the intuitive leap you did. You said the vans were labeled in Spanish. Were all the passengers hispanic? And if so, why would you assume they'd all been recruited for some nefarious purpose? Do you think hispanics are exceptionally gullible or impressionable or something? Maybe you need to examine your thought process.

[SPKrazy]

22. Oh For The Love Of Gawd

Cosmik has no point

I couldn't see in the windows they were tinted

I made no innuendo that hispanics were "more gullible"

you two have your fun

[cosmik debris]

23. Hmmm?

Yesterday in the OP, the vans were full. Today in retrospect, "I couldn't see in the windows they were tinted"

You don't suppose that our friend SPK got freaked out by three EMPTY vans?

Or did he just imagine them to be full of scary Mexican Christians? Nope, nothing xenophobic about that.

[SPKrazy]

24. Ummm, Did I Say They Weren't Full?

No,

I said I couldn't tell if they were all hispanic inside

the vans were full

:thumbsdown:


not even a good one this time Cosmik

[Ian David]

6. They really ARE out to get us. Ever hear of "Justice Sunday?"

Assembly of "God" is a nasty, sadistic and twisted quasi-religious political organization not worthy of being called a "church."

Be afraid of them.

I don't care if they're hispanic or not.

[Island Blue]

7. That doesn't surprise me.

There is a major outreach (if that's what you want to call it) by Fundie churches to Hispanic workers here in my little corner of NC. It isn't just the Catholic Church offering services in Spanish any more. I know some of the churches offer some services to help these folks out (in non-religious ways) but the whole thing makes me uneasy too for some reason.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. They may have been converted before they came here

Pentecostalism is growing rapidly within Latin America. One reason is said to be that people believe that they will get to have North American-style wealth if they follow that North American variety of religion.

[varkam]

25. Locking.

I'm locking this per the request of the OP.

Cheers,
varkam
DU Moderator