Fla. Church Has Followers Get '666' Tattoos

[The Straight Story]

Fla. Church Has Followers Get '666' Tattoos


DORAL, Fla. -- Surrounded by a mob of news cameras, a group of smiling, well-dressed church members crowded into a South Beach storefront parlor on a recent muggy evening and got matching tattoos of their prophet's symbol: 666.

Members of Growing in Grace, a controversial religious sect headquartered in Doral, said they were following the example of their leader, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, who has claimed to be Jesus and recently declared himself the Antichrist.

Critics have called De Jesus a cult leader who manipulates followers. Church members say he has brought them happiness and spiritual fulfillment.

"This is backing up what I truly believe," said Alvaro Albarracin, 38, who heads a film production company and joined the church more than a decade ago. He showed a bandage that covered the freshly tattooed "666" on his forearm. "It's like a brand. It's like a sign."

It's a sign most Christians would shun, because for centuries the numbers have been associated with Satan. But for the 30 or so church members who branded themselves with 666 and SSS -- the initials of De Jesus' motto, "salvo siempre salvo," or "saved always saved" -- it's a mark of their absolute faith in De Jesus.

http://www.local6.com/news/11103400/detail.html

[WinkyDink]

1. More proof that the supply of nut-jobs is inexhaustible.

[Lerkfish]

2. yeah, I gotta say I agree with you.

[The Straight Story]

6. More people we can sell things to on late night infomercials :) (nt)

[babylonsister]

3. I wonder who they all voted for.

:eyes: I know who they probably most identify with.

[Gatchaman]

4. This clown is really starting to get the publicity

I hope someone nips this in the bud soon, as there are enough gullible thumpers out there who will take this bullshit seriously. Real organized religion is bad enough, but this horseshit should not be tolerated by society.

[leomcgarrysghost]

5. Freedom means the freedom to be nuts and weird

[Avalux]

7. I saw a tv bit about this nut and his 'church' -

there is no belief in heaven, hell or sin - he teaches his followers that this is as good as it gets, so do whatever you want, as long as you worship him. It's definitely a cult. Listening to him speak, I can't believe he has so many followers as he's clearly delusional. He explained he's the antichrist, with 'anti' not having a negative connotation (hence the 666 tatoos). I really couldn't understand his reasoning about it all.

[daveskilt]

8. like most religions - if chewbaca is a wookie then this glove doesn't fit

OJ is innocent and Kyle didn't crap in the urinal.

The baffling logical fallacies when talking to religious nuts are way too much for me.

on that note I'm off to teach my Sunday School lesson.

[Maraya1969]

9. I have one thing to say about that

:crazy:

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Why not? Nothing has been "normal" since Bush came into office.

[The Straight Story]

11. We need a cult reality show sometime, but with a twist (fox could do it....)

After the guru gets people to give him the money, get tatoos, etc, we see him on camera telling them it was all a joke for fox....

Man, I can see them bastards doing a show like that too.

[malaise]

12. Have W and the

Dick of death (thanks for that one) got theirs yet?

[Phredicles]

13. Oh, they were born with theirs...

"Dick of Death" - truly inspired.

[malaise]

14. From No Surrender here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x284954