More rantings from the fringe:
Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, also sees God’s mercy in the aftermath of Katrina — but in a different way. Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.
The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as “Southern Decadence” — an annual six-day “gay pride” event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week — God’s judgment would be felt.
“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion — it’s free of all of those things now,” Shanks says. “God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there — and now we’re going to start over again.”
The New Orleans pastor is adamant. Christians, he says, need to confront sin. “It’s time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won’t have to deal with that wickedness,” he says.
Someone needs to kick that ‘Christian’ in the ass.
jobiuspublius
It’s also free of a few grandmothers and newborns. But, the abortion clinics and sodomites will rebuild.
erez
i find it odd that God would intentionally wipe out New Orleans because of the rampant sin, yet leave the French Quarter intact. Maybe I am being irrational, but it just doesnt make sense.
John Cole
That is what the fires are for.
Demdude
Thank God we have the basic sins of murder and greed to fall back on.
Brian
Along with the decadent city, it wiped out big chunks of Alabama and Mississipi. Oh well. Kill them all, God will know his own.
Pb
Let’s keep running with this and see what we can come up with.
New Orleans now is free of dry land. New Orleans now is free of habitable buildings. New Orleans now is free of electricity. New Orleans now is sanitation free. New Orleans now is order free. God (and by “God” of course I mean “Satan”) simply, I believe, in His mercy plunged New Orleans into chaos—and now the poor poor people there are totally fucked–the ones who survived, that is.
tBone
Totally tasteless, but made me laugh out loud. Glad to see you haven’t lost the snark.
docG
I am guessing, that by the same token, New Orleans is also churchfree at the moment?
Beej
Sounds a lot like that moronic Islamic cleric you quoted yesterday, John. These two should get together and figure out just exactly what evil the little children are being punished for.
S.W. Anderson
Evidently, God slipped up big time.
According to the mayor of New Orleans, the evil S.O.B.’s shooting at choppers and rescue vehicles trying to empty out ruined hospitals were crack addicts out of their mind for lack of a fix.
Or, maybe Pastor Shanks doesn’t have a problem with crackheads attempting murder, as long as they are gay or abortionists.
Ah, those down home, Christian values.
S.W. Anderson
Drat! Typo. Last line should end with “aren’t gay or abortionists.”
Jim Caputo
It would be nice to brush people like Shanks aside as being comical and insigificant, but as long as the Republican Party continues to genuflect to these people, we can’t.
The Republican party claims it stands for lower spending and less government, but the reality is they don’t do either of those things. Instead, they’re much more likely to bring us creationism, censorship, and homophobia.
jobiuspublius
It’s time for a conferance to determine exactly what 11th commanment the Ultimate Kahuna is spelling out for us this time.
jobiuspublius
*what is
*commandment
TallDave
Sheesh, it’s like my fellow Christians just want to embarass me. First the ID mess, then the Robertson insanity, now this.
I would like to point out most Christians and Christian orgs are trying to help, not gloating over the destruction.
Jim Caputo
That may be true, but the most visible leaders have a different agenda entirely.
Bob
SW Anderson, God works in mysterious ways, using crack addicts shooting at helicopters for a greater purpose we mere mortals cannot hope t comprehend.
DougJ
People say stupid things all the time. Why is that we only hear about it when their Christians?
I know, I know, John Cole posts lots of stupid things from the Daily Kos crowd too (though truthfully, I’d rather not be lumped in with them), so I’ll go one step further: plenty of people who aren’t Christian and aren’t involved with Daily Kos say stupid things all the time. Let’s hear about more of them.
Longshot
Well, you had expressed surprise that there hadn’t been more of this:
https://balloon-juice.com/?p=5453#comments
erez
Actually, John is pretty damn good at providing retarded quotes from our politicians, regardless of religious or political persuasions.
CrassP
DougJ,
I have no problem with exposing hypocrisy in any politician or religion.
But,
I read the christian holy book (I think they call it a “Bible”), and it seemed like they said something about loving your neighbor and helping the poor. I must have missed the parts where you thank god for killing a whole bunch of people, demographically probably christian, for the sin of not having a car to drive out of harms way……
If you’re a christian (one of the lovey-dovey types, not one of the he-man assasination calling for types) then you would probably say something like “Judge Not, lest ye be judged” or “Yeah as you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me.”
Or something. But I’m not one, so I don’t really know.
azureblue
Except God did not destroy New Orleans- Bush did, by cutting funding and not putting precautionary support in place before the hurricane hit. Remember, NO was more or less OK, until the levee broke after the fact.
DeMolay
You know who else is celebrating this hurricane as the rightful and overdue expression of God’s disapproval of the US?
Osamma. It kills me when the bible thumpers go out of their way to show us that all fundies are the same.
Bill Donahue
When Hurricanes come in February then you can talk to me about God.
Rob
I actually know Bill Shanks.
John Webb
Words escape me
Slowpoke
Everybody has an opinion to offer, but no one has offered any solutions! Therefore, I’m not going to opine, and I’m going to keep my solutions to myself!
Lib Pat
Slowpoke:
It’s too late for solutions now. Going forward the solution no more “pioneers or Rangers” at the head of FEMA. It’s too important a job. Appoint a pro like James Lee Witt or any one of many other qualfied big city fire cheifs. But then again, Mr. Bush, incompetence knows no shame. It’s on your head…no elses..blame away but we all know the truth. That is it’s too late for that now.
capnmike
Sure beats the heck out of me how anybody at all could take this idiotic huckster of lies and fairytales seriously. It is amazing how many emotional cripples who feel they must have a surrogate parent actually believe the total hogwash of religion. WAKE UP—AIN’T NOTHING OUT THERE TO PRAY TO, Just the ordinary forces of nature. Quit whining and blame-placing and get the fuck to WORK!
pseudolus
Well, CrassP, you got your New Testament Xtians and your Old Testament Xtians. The “OT” folks are big into that ‘smite the heathens’ crap. Lots of cities and towns falling under the sword for Yahweh. Killing and enslaving the sinners was big then.
Being a poor excuse for a Xtian these days, I may be wrong, but Jesus said that the old ways were done and the new ways were here with Him. And He gave us the Sermon on the Mount and “turn the other cheek” and “as you do unto the least of your fellows, you do unto me.”
The OT Xtians just have the loudest bullhorns. It’s easier to scrounge up funds from people with fear and loathing stories than it is with ‘love thy neighbor’ talk. It seems that the type of folks who will dole out their funds and not get their hands dirty will flock to that type of preacher. Whereas folks with less money who will actually roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help will cleave to the actual words of the NT and Jesus.
William
I would just like to say that I am a faithful Catholic, and I think that this Pastor Shanks is out of his mind. His comments reveal his theological ignorance. In some of the churches down there, one can pick up a Bible, read it, then declare that he is a pastor. To all non-Christians out there – please realize this guy is in the Christian minority, he does not speak for us.
Mike Hendryx
its just simply amazing how these morons come out of the woodwork…just like Pat Robertson saying asasinate the Pres. of Venuezala simply because he refuses to bow before the Almighty Bush agenda… I said it then and I will say it now….will someone explain to me the difference between a Muslim fundamentalist and a Christian fundamentalist? They both sound like Taliban to me….
ET
I’m from N.O. so I volunteer to do it.
Nathan Sellers
Bill Shanks is a cheap God hustler. He is pure clerical filth.
I live in the Greater New Orleans area, and I’m not sure what abortion clinic this God pimp is referencing. The one in Metairie is in an area that might not have received flood waters.
Bill Shank’s “church”, New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, is in the Lakeview area of the city. And that entire area was under water
If God is just, Bill Shank’s church (and perhaps his house) were flooded and ruined by Katrina’s flood waters.
He’s a biblical ‘temple dog.’
zazarirsel
nalgas grandes Her right into my cock. Hertongue met mine and the head.