Another Pray Away the Gay Scheme: This Time Guess Where (Hint: I'ts somewhere In A Big Cold State!)

Pray the Gay Away!!!-----For answers on how to cure homosexuality, open this picture and see instructions
Originally uploaded by Rod Lightning

An Update on the Epidemic...
of Crazy Pastors

Sorry these photos are so blurred, but the one on the left really does read "Camp New Grace "Pray the Gay Away"

Thanks to Rod Lightning for the photo and for this bit of advice on how "Pray the Gay Away.":

Step 1: Contact a ministry that specializes in curing homosexuality
Step 2: Pray really hard
Step 3: Follow what the Pastor/Priest/Rabbi says to the letter of the law
Step 4: Shoot yourself in the head

...or you can just be gay and enjoy the ride!

This just in from AP (Rachel D'Oro)

“You’ll be encouraged by the power of God’s love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality,” according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshipped for about six years.

Focus on the Family, a national Christian fundamentalist organization, is conducting the “Love Won Out” Conference in Anchorage, about 30 miles from Wasilla.

Palin, campaigning with McCain in the Midwest on Friday, has not publicly expressed a view on the so-called “pray away the gay” movement. Larry Kroon, senior pastor at Palin’s church, was not available to discuss the matter Friday, said a church worker who declined to give her name.

Hmmm. First the McCain campaign refuses to let Palin be interviewed by the mainstream media, now they've alerted her pastor and his staff not to speak. The question here is: WHO? Could it have been the Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler of Colorado Springs, James Dobson?

The choice of Sarah Palin keeps looking weirder and weirder. Her choice appeals to: the radical Religious Right (Christofascists), the NRA, Fox News, pregnant moms who will vote for the first time and have almost zero education and anybody who lives in a single-wide. What about the media and the rest of the country?

As one of Palin's campaign staff told two reporters, "Who Cares?" Palin looks more and more like a right-wing, watered-down and less savy version of Hillary Clinton. And make no mistake about it, people will be making the comparisons.

Just a thought.

It's an EPIDEMIC!! Palin Has a Crazy Pastor Too!!!

Maybe Not in the Mold of Wright, Hagee or Parsley, But Hey, It's a Start!

Thank you, Andrew Sullivan! I saw your piece on Rev. Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church and couldn't resist it:

[In his July 20, Sermon] ...Kroon placed Zephaniah in a modern context, warning that the sinful habits of Americans would invite the wrath of God. “And if Zephaniah were here today,” Kroon bellowed, “he’d be saying, ‘Listen, [God] is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here — there’s none. It’s all.’”

Now this statement doesn't exactly make him a CRAZY pastor, or one that's saying "God Damn America!" but it does sound a bit Christofascist. From the Wasilla Bible Church Statement of Faith:

We believe that based upon Christ's death for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. We believe that all people are lost and without God in their natural state; but by the grace of God those who exercise genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved - justified, baptized into his death and born again, from above, by the Holy Spirit.

Jn 1:12,13; 3:1-21; Rom 3:23,24; Eph 2:8,9; 1 Pet 1:23

The Statement of Faith declares the Wasilla church to be absolutely inerrantist. In other words, the Bible is right in EVERYTHING it says, including miracles and doctrine (and the sun revolving around the earth, at least according to Joshua) The website smacks a bit of misogyny: it has a workout class for women but not for men (they don't need it - they're men!). It's not (gasp!) a megachurch (no fog machines or skateboard parks). It doesn't have a "campus", but I think it has a parking lot. All that will change, however, if Sarah Palin becomes Vice President. People will make pilgrimages to WBC and Rev. Kroon will be broadcasting hellfire and brimstone to millions. Here's his take on "sin":

Sin is saying, ‘I’m not going to listen to the voice of God.’ And there’s nothin’ more personal than sayin’ ‘I don’t want to hear You.’ Sin is saying ‘I want to do it my way;’ and there’s nothin’ more personal than saying ‘I don’t trust Your way.’

Hmmm. Then what about Original Sin? Does the fetus tell God, "Hey, I want to do it MY way, and I'm not coming out until I want to!" Yes, Kroon's sermon (and possibly, doctrine) was full of holes, but so what? He's speaking for God and you never ever question God.

The sparse website and this one sermon gives us very little to go on, but I'll venture a guess that Rev. Kroon is thoroughly Christofascist.

Just a thought.