God's Ambulance Chasers Are Attracting Unwanted Attention

The number of hits our last article on GAC's has gotten a surprising amount of hits on OpEdNews. Again, does anyone out there know of any "faith-based" relief agency going to Japan to pummel the nation with Bibles and solar-powered Bibles?

God's Ambulance Chasers Rush To Japan's Aid, But Lady Gaga May Have Gotten There First

Will Japan's skies start raining Bibles?
Or Will Lady Gaga's Prayer Bracelet Obtain More Relief?

There's definitely going to be a battle between Lady Gaga and Pat Robertson. 


WTF? Yes. While the Christian Right will be scurrying to set up electronic Bible Broadcasters as they did in Haiti, Lady Gaga's "prayer bracelet" may be more effective in helping the Japanese recover from the latest disaster. You see, hers is a true prayer for Japan because it comes with cash for food, clothing, medical supplies. The poor "pagan" Japanese (Buddhist, Shinto, Confucian), alas, cannot wear, eat or apply Bibles to wounds. 


I know that sounds quite spiritually callus, especially coming from a Christian, but it's true. With the exception of Operation Blessing (which has largely divorced itself from founder Pat Robertson ever since the mining equipment scandal*), faith-based agencies will be under a very watchful eye (including mine). The Asian Tsunami attracted Jerry Falwell (who, along with supplies, sent 600,000 Christian tracts to Hindus and Muslims), Hurricane Katrina attracted Pat Robertson ( who immediately poured 40,000 Bibles onto people  - dead or alive), and Haiti brought out a Christian group that deposited electronic "solar-powered Bibles" (at $90,000) to blare out Biblical passages as people fought off disease. Years ago, I called the whole mess of missionaries "God's Ambulance Chasers." Since then, the article still comes out on top for Google searches. In fact, it may be the only phrase this poor writer will ever be known for. 


Disasters. They really do bring out the best in people, in humanity. But rushing to evangelize after a tragedy can be akin to circling vultures. It's no secret that I'm against proselytizing, but inundating people who have been devastated by a cataclysm, a people who are of a different faith, with pleas to convert is ...wrong. 


And soothing words are cheap. 


The rush to insult another religion is also wrong, but righteous arrogance is strong: Falwell couldn't understand why people were appalled that he sent so many leaflets about the "Word of God" to suffering Hindus and Muslims. The people, thankfully, summoned enough dignity to to reject the paper cargo. Falwell was not amused. Robertson was also criticized for his rush to rain Bibles onto New Orleans, then he compounded the insult by his "contract with the Devil" remarks. To be fair, while supermarket tabloids are now trumpeting Robertson's impending senility, many people have thought him senile for the last thirty years, so his actions are considered almost meaningless. As God's ambulance chaser, he's been retired. 


So with Robertson retired and Falwell long gone, who will take up the gauntlet and become the next ambulance chaser of natural disasters? Lou Engle? Sorry. Lou Engle IS a natural disaster (just ask gays in Uganda). Rick Warren? I don't think so. Warren's too busy creating "Purpose Driven" countries (again, just ask Uganda). My bet is on Franklin Graham and his group, Samaritan's Purse. He may try to weasel in a proselytizing rally or two after humbly distributing food. Did I say humbly? Hmm. Well, maybe not too humbly. 


From its website:

Staff members are on their way to the affected area. We will be working with Japanese Christians to distribute food, water, blankets, hygiene supplies, and other aid to people who have lost virtually everything.

Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham has conducted evangelistic Festivals in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Okinawa, and we have hundreds of church partners in the country.

On Samaritan's Purse efforts in Sudan:

Samaritan’s Purse has trained thousands of people from local churches to lead the reading groups. People who join the groups receive free Bibles. For many, it is the first they have ever owned. 

Yes, it may seem petty and anti-Christian to monitor such a group, but my premise lies hidden in the name of Graham's charity: the Good Samaritan of Christ's New Testament did not come back with a tract on Samaritan religion. The Good Samaritan, in fact, did not proselytize: he may have simply gone on his way doing good for others. Period.


All Hail Lady Gaga


No matter what I thought of him as an actor, Sean Penn captured my adoration in his valiant efforts in Haiti. Some movie stars are like that: combining their fame with the determination to get relief under way makes them more beautiful. And when a celebrity who has been endlessly pilloried by the Christian Right as being immoral performs a creative feat of fundraising for disaster relief, she becomes more than beautiful, she becomes ... stellar. 


The speed with which Lady Gaga came out with her "prayer bracelet" was amazing. The ingeniousness of the product was incredible: proving that spirituality can come in all forms and can transcend religion itself. 


Last year, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church (Fred We-Hate-Everything Phelps) put out a campaign, "God Hates Lady Gaga." And although being besieged by the Phelps clan has now become a badge of honor, Phelps' ubiquitous hatred mirrors the opinions of the Christian Right. Lady Gaga's response: 

“Do not interact with them, or try to fight. Do not respond to any of their provocation. Don’t waste your words or feelings, no matter what you hear or see… Be inspired to ignore their ignorant message, and feel gratitude in your heart that you are not burdened or addicted to hate, as they are.” 

Sounds as if Lady Gaga's words were straight out of the New Testament. 

If a heroic aura surrounds Lady Gaga at this time, it will be because of a simple humanitarian action. Many faith-based relief programs, however, have never taken the hint that actions can speak louder than Bibles.  

Below is an amazing video of the response of Operation Blessing. It is notable because it focuses ONLY on relief. Operation Blessing has learned its lesson.

*wikipedia:


After making emotional pleas in 1994 on The 700 Club for cash donations to Operation Blessing to support airlifts of refugees from Rwanda to Zaire, it was later discovered, by a reporter from The Virginian-Pilot, that Operation Blessing's planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation, a venture Robertson had established in cooperation with Zaire's dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Robertson had befriended earlier in 1993.

Solar-Powered Bibles: Misguided Donations To Haiti or Spiritual Shysters?

Stop The Disaster Relief!
Haiti Is Saved!
With Solar-Powered Bibles!?!

I'm not making this stuff up! Our thanks to Dr. Valerie Tarico for letting us know about this latest humanitarian miracle!

From Huffington Post:

Solar Powered Bibles for Haiti:
Why Some Christians Feel Compelled to Exploit Disaster

Physicist Steven Weinberg once said, "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

For solar powered Bibles or church-building to win out over food and medicine requires a religion that values conversion over compassion. But when we see this phenomenon at its worst, it is because someone in the thrall of a viral ideology has figured out some reverse alchemy that turns the precious gold of empathy into the lead of opportunism.

Dr. Tarico must have read my article about Pat Robertson and "God's Ambulance Chasers." Now I have a bona fide reference to turn to when arguing about some Christians' compassion. Even mainstream Christians are having a rough time over the "donations".

From Gizmodo

They claim that “the Proclaimer is self-powered and can play the Bible in the jungle, desert or… even on the moon!” I’m sure that it would be more helpful there than in Haiti. Because, in Haiti, a solar-powered Bible will be as helpful as the Genesis according to Eddie Izzard.

With the exception of some brave local affiliates and The Young Turks this situation has not gotten much coverage. I wonder why. Does the media think it's too lightweight? Or that any coverage would be insulting to Christians overall?

Perhaps it hasn't been covered because it would be an insult to Haitians. When the tsunami devastated southeast Asia years ago, Jerry Falwell dared to send 600,000 scriptural tracts and the response was a cold "thanks, but no thanks" by populations that were mostly Hindus and Muslims.

The maker and marketer of "The Proclaimer," Faith Comes By Hearing insists that relief groups are clamoring for it. The website shows a mass of people reaching for something being given out, but you can rest assured that it isn't an audio bible or that they're even near one.

Faith Comes By Hearing, an international Audio Bible group, is working with Convoy of Hope to provide spiritual relief in Haiti.

Unfortunately, Convoy of Hope would rather have the cash:

MSNBC:

Many agencies try to motivate donors with the mathematics of the situation. Jeff Nene, a spokesman for Convoy of Hope, a Springfield, Mo., agency that feeds 11,000 children a day in Haiti, urges cash donations that allow his group to buy in bulk from large suppliers and retailers.

“When people give $1, it translates into $7 in the field,” he said. “If they spend $5 for bottled water, that’s nice and it makes them feel good, but probably it costs us more than $5 to send it. If they give us $5, we can get $35 worth of water.”

Sending 600 "Proclaimers" to Haiti costs $92,000. I guess Faith Comes By Hearing wasn't motivated enough by the mathematics to just send cash.

Linked to the story of audio Bibles is another possible insult to the people of Haiti: Mars Hill Church ("The Cussing Pastor" Mark Driscoll). The goal of this Seattle megachurch and its crew is not to provide direct aid to the people of Haiti, but to help rebuild the churches as fast as possible. To some, this may be admirable, but to the people who are suffering for lack of food, water and medical treatment, rebuilding ministries and churches may be the furthest things from their minds. Just a guess.

Shysters?

I remember one week ago when George Bush told us to watch out for "shysters" when making donations to Haitian relief.While he certainly didn't mean people to steer clear of faith-based donations to Haiti, his comment could include "misguided" donations. We all have ideas as to what human beings need in situations like Haiti's, but I think that 99% of Americans will say that there's an order to the list: #1. Medical treatment and supplies. #2. Food. #3. Adequate shelter. Substituting any of these with Bibles, places of worship or ministers is not humane. AFTER these first three have been taken care of, yes, BUT NOT BEFORE.

Transporting, feeding, sheltering volunteers from ministries also takes money.

Update: The reaction to the donation (and the request for money to supply 3000 more - rough estimate: $460,000 or enough to feed 3200 people for one month) has been rather violent in tone, with some people sounding off on both sides:

- Maybe they can turn them into hotplates...

- Haitians aren't atheists like one outspoken DR poster. They have lost everything, including their Bibles.

- The inhuman wretches of this "church" should be marooned on an island with nothing but a pint of rum, one of their precious "proclaimers," and a pistol with one shot. The rum and pistol, in case you were curious, demonstrate that I am capable of more compassion than they could ever muster.

A good source to find out exactly what is needed is Good Intentions Are Not Enough.

There were supposed to be three videos accompanying this article, but I pulled on out at the last minute. It's a very sacrilegious take on the donation of solar-powered bibles featuring Hitler. It will probably be pulled from YouTube before long, if Faith Comes By Hearing has anything to say about it.

The first is a clip from The Young Turks which, in my opinion, is a "fair and balanced" attempt to look at the donation. The second is a gruesome look at the devastation citing a verse from the New Testament about the End Times as prophesied by Christ. It may help you decide whether or not the solar-powered Bibles are actually needed.

Just a thought.