Price of your ticket to heaven: $91
By Hemant Mehta
The Friendly Atheist (3/17/20)
If it involves the Trump administration and a crisis, you know there’s probably grifting involved.
Enter Paula White, Trump’s “spiritual adviser” and the head of the White House’s “Faith and Opportunity Initiative” program.
During a roughly 30-minute Facebook prayer session this afternoon, White talked about how the Bible can help us through the coronavirus quarantine… before making a direct request for seed money from everyone watching. Because what good is prayer without profit?
Here’s the relevant portion:
“Churches do so much. Not just from a humanitarian standpoint, but the greatest thing we do is bring spiritual truths that transform. What we do as ministers of the gospel is so vitally important, because every single day, we are a hospital to the sick.
“Not necessarily the physically sick. Though we also help take care of that. Many churches have health centers, etc. But we are a hospital for those who are soul-sick, those who are spiritually sick, because we bring forth the word of God, and we bring for truth that gets deep down in your soul in the way you think and you feel about things.
“Maybe you’d like to sow a $91 seed, and that’s just putting your faith with Psalm 91. Or maybe $9. Or whatever God tells you to do. If you want to be a blessing to Paula White Ministry or City of Destiny, you can go to the website at PaulaWhite.org.
“We would love for you to help us and stand with us. We’d love for you to stand with your church. Don’t forget: Now is not the time to abandon your covenant with God. It’s a time that you go deeper. Stand with your pastor.”
It’s one thing for a run-of-the-mill televangelist to do something like this. But White is no longer merely a televangelist. She’s literally working for the administration and using her access to the White House to personally profit from it. It’s despicable in general. It’s especially awful when the nation is in a state of emergency.
Link To Story And 1-Minute Video
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Baton Rouge Pastor Defies Order & Communit Care To Holds Service Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak As He Claims: ‘The virus is politically motivated’
By Sky Palma
Raw Story (3/18/20)
In a direct contradiction of an order from Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards against large gatherings in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, a Baton Rouge area church welcomed in hundreds of parishioners for a service this Tuesday.
Speaking to WAFB, Rev. Tony Spell said that police warned him that the National Guard would break up any future services that hold more than 50 people. But according to Louisiana National Guard Colonel Ed Bush, that claim is not accurate.
“The National Guard has not been tasked with enforcing any of the curfew, social distancing or meeting requirements as set by the governor,” Colonel Bush said. “Our focus right now is completely with helping state agencies with preparedness and medical readiness.”
Despite numerous churches across the state shuttering their operations, Spell says he’s not concerned.
“The virus, we believe, is politically motivated,” he said. “We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.”
According to WAFB, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore says those violating the governor’s order ultimately could face prosecution, but Spell is holding firm, even bragging about the number of attendees he’s bringing in.
“I had 1,170 in attendance Sunday,” Spell said. “We have 27 buses on Sundays picking up people in a five-parish area.”
He then took his bragging a step further, claiming that those who attend his church can be healed of an array of sicknesses. …
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BUSTED: ‘Dead Sea Scroll’ Exhibit At Right-Wing Supported Museum Of The Bible Is Filled With Fakes
By Sarah K. Burris
Raw Story (3/13/20)
The National Geographic revealed in a story on Friday that what the Museum of the Bible has claimed are fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are a complete fraud.
The museum, founded by Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green, already faced problems when they were “forced to forfeit thousands of cuneiform texts from Iraq, and pay a $3 million fine for illicit importation,” reported Politico.
Now the museum is back in the news as independent researchers funded by the museum announced that all of the 16 fragments are forgeries. The museum says that they were duped by the collector and Green, as well as biblical scholars. … Read The Rest