Okay, so AW doesn't "do" the Mormon thing. To each their own, but take a look at this clip anyway. Compared to the old-time WCG it's pretty tame I guess. Remember the punch up in the Ambassador Auditorium when Spanky C. Meredith - to cries of "shame, shame!" - physically stopped Wayne Cole from speaking at the onset of the receivership crisis? In our own delightful tradition, the pastor, confronted with a member exhibiting public integrity, would have motioned a couple of burly deacons to sic 'em without delay. Of course the "bishop" does put a directing hand on the speaker's shoulder, but then settles for the mic off-switch. One the hapless brother has finished, the gestapo do indeed escort him out of the building.
6 comments:
How dare he question the authority of gawd's church and its wisdom to spend his money in any way that headquarters so chooses?
Since they spent a bunch of money on a political issue though, their tax exempt status should be revoked.
Other than that, they should have shot the young man down like a dog returning to his vomit and a sow wallowing in the mire.
Oh yeah, I forgot, the latter day saints are already well known for a certain massacre of a whole wagon train of people.
Let by-gones be by-gones, I guess. After all, those people didn't believe the same nonsense as the Mormons did.
Interesting video, but not quite as exciting as the events of January 1979, when the entire receivership fiasco took place.
I was sitting in the Auditorium - about 20 feet or so from the speaker's podium - when that event took place right after Rod Meredith finished speaking, disfellowshipping and marking a number of men, some who had been my instructors.
A couple of uniformed campus security officers quickly got up on the stage and physically blocked Wayne Cole as he attempted to get to the podium, but before he even got near the podium, several Auditorium staff members began quickly unplugging and dismantling the microphone setup and rolling the podium away.
It was kind of a sad, undignified thing to have to witness, actually - and not one of my better memories of AC days.
I can't say for sure, but I suspect the people who attended that meeting didn't come to hear a disgruntled member voice his complaints against the church and its leaders. I also suspect that most did not appreciate his comments, and some may have found it upsetting that someone would use (misuse?) the occasion that way. Yet, the people in charge appear to have been very gentle in dealing with him. I didn't see anything remotely resembling abuse or mistreatment, except possibly the speaker's misuse of the occasion and lack of consideration for the sensitivities of his audience. But, again, I can't say for sure.
And now, we have the Kanye West incident to consider!
I recall the days at Pasadena City College, after the untimely interruption of my AC education. Granted, this was the time period when the bathless types were trying to take over the country, but there were some good concepts to emerge from the era. At PCC, we had a "free speech" area. Anyone could get up in front of the microphone during lunch hour to express any opinion or topic on his/her mind, with no fear of recrimination or censorship. I never took advantage of this freedom, but students lambasted the war, the president, the college administration, and many other institutions and issues. And, I believe that this was healthy. Certainly, nobody but the most brainwashed of the zombies would ever dare to assert that freedom of speech was ever practiced at AC or the WCG! Most of us kept our opinions to ourselves, flying well below the radar.
I was long gone by the time of the sit-in demonstrations protesting receivership, but was amazed at how quick the church was to adapt a hippie technique when it suited their purposes. We'll never know what Wayne Cole might have said during his planned address, because he was silenced and censored. I doubt that he could have said anything that would have exonerated the church, at least in my mind. I knew some of the people who had instigated the receivership, and they were sincere people who did what they did to promote reform and accountability. For all of the years since this event, I've believed that Wayne Cole saw merit to the receivership process. Those who removed him were not interested in reform. They preferred that business continue as usual.
BB
UK "back to Church Sunday" campaign
“You don’t have to be booted and suited” to go to church
http://blogs.reuters.com/uknews/2009/09/21/you-dont-have-to-be-booted-and-suited-to-go-to-church/
The Church of England should shed its "booted and suited" middle-class image, a British bishop says.
"Even today I meet people who think you have to be highly educated or suited and booted to be a person who goes to church" the Reverend Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading, in southern England, said.
The comments come as Christian churches throughout the UK and other parts of the world launch a week-long "back to Church Sunday" campaign, an attempt to encourage people of all social classes to go to church this Sunday.
Up to 16,000 Church of England churches as well as Churches Together in Scotland, the Church in Wales, Baptist, Methodist, United Reformed, Salvation Army and Elim Pentecostal churches will be taking part as will Anglican churches in Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada.
A poll in 2007 showed the social breakdown of congregations in Britain was evenly spread, but drawing on a shopping analogy, the Bishop likened the church's image to that of middle-class Marks & Spencer rather than the more downmarket supermarkets Asda and Aldi.
"How did it come to this, that we have become known as just the Marks and Spencer option when in our heart of hearts we know that Jesus would just as likely be in the queue at Asda or Aldi? " he asked.
"That's so frustrating. Jesus got us started with church simply. Like this: sitting us down in groups on the grass and telling simple stories. Not simplistic. But certainly not complicated. All his first disciples were down-to-earth people who wanted to know what life was all about."
Anonymous 1:53 wrote:
"A poll in 2007 showed the social breakdown of congregations in Britain was evenly spread, but drawing on a shopping analogy, the Bishop likened the church's image to that of middle-class Marks & Spencer rather than the more downmarket supermarkets Asda and Aldi."
Actually, Christian churches in England are more representative of "Rosco" the local street vendor in the ghetto sections of town pushing stolen wrist watches.
Anonymous 1:53 also wrote:
""That's so frustrating. Jesus got us started with church simply. Like this: sitting us down in groups on the grass and telling simple stories. Not simplistic. But certainly not complicated. All his first disciples were down-to-earth people who wanted to know what life was all about."
Well, are you really interested in the kind of intellects who bought into these stories? Then Google and actually READ the excellent article "Kooks and Quacks of the Roman Empire: A Look into the World of the Gospels." This will give you a feel for the enormous gullibility in the crowds of that period.
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