The Transformation

As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently sitting on the fence: I can either remain a nice atheist (accommodationalist) to a full fledged angry atheist. After reading this article, so it seems, the transformation is (almost) complete.

Evangelist Luis Palau is planning a super huge tent revival here, in my town, in Sac Town. Dude is huge in the Billy Graham way. He has had audiences of 900,000 in Buenos Aries, 250,000 in Huston and 300,000 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. The thingy that he is planning for Sac Town will have 400 local churches, an expected 175,000 evangelical weirdos participating and a budget of just over a million dollars. Leading up to the event there will be a 6 month community service effort that will help people struggling in these dire times; and ya know what, Nu Kriss is mad about that.

Like I said there is a transformation happening. Before I would say give credit where credit is due. These believers are a-gonna help the peeps: help the homeless and the poor and the struggling. No more. Sure these are worthy and honorable, but I can't help but be negative and think that there are alternative motives. After all, they are on a mission from God.

First of all there is the crafty language. Dude does not want to call it a tent revival or a crusade (which does describe the effort). Instead he wants to call it a festival. Call it what you will, it is evangelicalism, elitist, exclusive, and for the uninitiated... indoctrinating.

One local pastor said, "We want to show love and compassion and to show what we are for, rather than what we are against." Nu Kriss can see beyond that. So what that means to me is that they are going to hide their homophobia and Islamophobia. The very nature of Evangelical Christianity is intolerance. It is our way or the highway to hell (and there is no hell, only the use of fear to get you and I to comply to their doctrine.)

"If there is an atheist organization trying to meet the needs of the community doing service projects like this, I'd be happy to help them," the pastor said (Sac Bee)."

Ugh, is that propoganda, because I do not believe that at all. Sure they might welcome some atheist help, but that is when the converting happens. The article states that 95% of people are "spiritually hungry." Really, because my skeptic meter is going off. That is a tactic right outta the alternative healing and CAM camps. They make shit up and naive people eat that shit up and say, "There must be something wrong with me." 


"We are going to shake this town spiritually" the article says. I say that believers have hijacked the word 'spiritual.' One can be spiritual without religion and religion is not the only path to spirituality. They are not hand in glove. The Old Kriss would have taken that with a pinch of salt, hell, I might have even been apologetic about that statement. No more.


The article also said that changing the word 'crusade' to festival was with intent because the word crusade has negative connotations (ya think). And that is what Nu Kriss thinks is wrong. It is not honest, a word does not change a wolf in sheep's clothing. They are still elitist and homophobic and I do not care that they are helping people for that one weekend (welcome to Nu Kriss). They have a mission and their mission is to convert and indoctrinate. 


June 16-17 2012 will be a crappy weekend for Sac Town.


* Article Sac Bee


* Does anyone know how I stop the font changes after I quote from the paper. WTF. It's so bad. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa........................