Pastor John Hagee: Sodom and Gomorrah Was ‘God’s Pilot Study’ for Dealing with Gays

300px John Martin   Sodom and Gomorrah Pastor John Hagee:  Sodom and Gomorrah Was Gods Pilot Study for Dealing with Gays

Pastor John Hagee:  Sodom and Gomorrah Was ‘God’s Pilot Study’ for Dealing with Gays. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Right wing evangelical Pastor John Hagee says the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah was “God’s pilot study” for dealing with gays and lesbians. He made the ugly comments when asked on his Hagee Hotline if God would hold America accountable for legalizing gay marriage.

[Hagee said] that biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah was “God’s pilot study for his response to the homosexual society,” and warning that it was not a matter of the government approving it but rather “if the people accept it, and if the righteous accept it, judgment will come.”

I am truly ashamed to say that I listened to John Hagee from 1999 to 2000, until I saw the light after being turned off by his narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy.

 Pastor John Hagee:  Sodom and Gomorrah Was Gods Pilot Study for Dealing with Gays

Thank You from The Hinterland Gazette for a Very Successful 2012

thank you 300x201 Thank You from The Hinterland Gazette for a Very Successful 2012

Thank You from The Hinterland Gazette for a Very Successful 2012 (Photo credit:  Glitter Images)

After reading about blogger Andrew Sullivan’s decision to take his site independent and the outpouring of support he has received, I am encouraged by my decision to keep The Hinterland Gazette independent. When I started the Hinterland Gazette, formerly known as Black Political Thought, at the end of 2007, my goal was always to remain independent, where we wouldn’t have our style dictated by Big Sister or Big Brother. That will never change. Our voice is here to stay.

Though journey has been hard at times, we have always been encouraged and motivated our readers and the success we have had year after year.   Last year was our best year by far. We quadrupled our page views and readership.  We owe it all to YOU.

Going forward for 2013, we will  build on our success from 2012 with some bold and ambitious plans. We will offer more custom content, conduct more interviews and engage in more community activism for domestic violence, voting rights and missing children. We are laying the groundwork for our first documentary, featuring Jamaica from a social perspective. We will continue to bring you political news from a centrist point of view, as well as offer more statistical information about the issues, such as following the money trail in Washington D.C.

To help us accomplish all these great plans, we will hold our first fundraising drive in February 2013. We are also looking for freelance writers for our entertainment news section.

I want to publicly thank all our readers and promise that the best is yet to come. Together we can change the world!  The Hinterland Gazette wishes you a Happy New Year!

Rev. Ginger Strickland Allegedly Seduced Parishoner With Naked Skype Chats, Meet-Ups in Rectories

rev. ginger strickland Rev. Ginger Strickland Allegedly Seduced Parishoner With Naked Skype Chats, Meet Ups in Rectories

Rev. Ginger Strickland allegedly seduced parishoner with naked Skype chats, meet-ups  (NY Post)

Rev. Ginger Strickland, a lay pastor at Manhattan’s Church of the Incarnation is accused of seduction and sexual misconduct of a male parishioner, Erik Campano, after a four month affair that included naked webcam meetings on church computers and meet-ups in rectories, the New York Post reports. The church volunteer alleges in a report that Rev. Strickland, 33, used her religious authority to take sexual and emotional advantage of him before abruptly ending their relationship leading to his contemplation of suicide.

“God brought you to me,” Strickland told Erik Campano, 34, during their secret affair — using a line from a textbook on clergy sexual abuse. Their trysts occurred in a Paris rectory and on Skype video chats.

“On her initiation, we are naked . . . over church computers,’’ Campano wrote in a shocking complaint to church leaders obtained by The Post. They broke up about a month before her Dec. 11 ordination. It left him so devastated emotionally and spiritually that he considered suicide, Campano said.

“If you believe your relationship is blessed by God, a breakup means a failure to live out God’s will,” Campano told The Post. Strickland, from a Texas oil baron’s family, and Campano, from Queens, met in late 2010 at the American Church in Paris, where she held a job leading a youth ministry. He was going to medical school, attended services, and — at Strickland’s urging, he said — became a church volunteer. Source:  New York Post

Um, not to take Rev. Strickland’s side, but Erik Campano is a grown man and he knew what he was doing was absolutely wrong, so why let her “cajole” you into a sexual relationship? Why spill the beans when it ended? If the allegations are true, since Campano claims he kept emails and letters with x-rated statements, then Rev. Ginger Strickland is another pimp in the pulpit, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This sounds a lot like Mona Brewer trying to explain her 14 year adulterous relationship with the late Bishop Earl Paulk, who she claims told her he was her way to salvation. Um, really? She knew right from wrong and so did Erik Campano. SMH.

Popular Gospel Singer James Fortune, Wife Cheryl Sued by Son’s Biological Father Over Child Abuse Allegations

125x150 Popular Gospel Singer James Fortune, Wife Cheryl Sued by Sons Biological Father Over Child Abuse Allegations

Popular Gospel Singer James Fortune, Wife Cheryl Sued by Son’s Biological Father Over Child Abuse Allegations (Image credit: Getty Images)

JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL:  A civil law suit was filed in Houston against popular gospel singer James Fortune and his wife Cheryl Fortune for child abuse. According to MyFoxHouston, in 2001, James Fortune abused his stepson, aged four at the time, by beating the child while he was naked with a switch and holding him down in a tub of scalding water for coloring on the table at school. The boy was life-flighted to Shriner’s Burn Hospital, where he remained for 63 days with second and third degree burns over 74 percent of this body, MyFoxHouston reports.

Fortune reportedly pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child in 2003 and received six years of deferred adjudication. Now the teen’s  (now 15) biological father has filed a $5 million lawsuit to cover the costs of additional plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement stemming from the abuse.

How can one evolve from a hardened criminal into a person of such high standing in the religious community? James Fortune is also the former choir director at Houston’s Higher Dimension Church, MyFoxHouston reports. You see, this is why many people are turned off by organized religion. They are too quick to forget the terror James Fortune unleashed on this child. Cheryl Fortune is a disgrace for allowing her son to be abused and not taking steps to protect him, including filing for a divorce from her child’s abuser. If James Fortune could do that to a child, what would he do to his wife? Shameful. James Fortune should be behind bars for horrors he inflicted on this child and Cheryl Fortune should be right there with him too.

UPDATE#1 (06/26/12):  James Fortune issued the following statement:

James Fortune has released a statement on child abuse allegations:

I recently became aware of a civil suit pending against my wife, Cheryl Fortune and I, for an incident that occurred in 2001 involving my stepson. There was a criminal investigation and all matters were resolved in 2003. Since that time, my family and I, including my stepson, have continued with family traditions and always have a loving family environment.

We are shocked by this lawsuit but understand people are free to use the court system to pursue claims, whether they contain merit or baseless matters. We are confident through this process, if it proceeds to a judge or jury, the ultimate decision maker will render a decision that is favorable to the circumstances and timing surrounding this situation. We believe in our American justice system and know it will work for us as it has for millions of other Americans. I love all my children, including my stepson, and I ask for your prayers as we deal with this matter privately. Thank you for your continued support for me, my family, and ministry.” Source: Eurweb

 Popular Gospel Singer James Fortune, Wife Cheryl Sued by Sons Biological Father Over Child Abuse Allegations

Pianist Fazil Say Charged in Turkish Court with Insulting Islamic Religious Values on Twitter

2755v30 max 450x450 Pianist Fazil Say Charged in Turkish Court with Insulting Islamic Religious Values on Twitter

Pianist Fazil Say Charged in Turkish Court with Insulting Islamic Religious Values on Twitter (Image via CrunchBase)

WTF:  A Turkish court formally charged well-known pianist and composer Fazil Say, with insulting Islamic religious values in comments he made on Twitter. Say, who has played piano with the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, National Orchestra of France and Tokyo Symphony, is charged with inciting hatred and public enmity, and insulting “religious values.”

In one tweet cited in the indictment, Say said: “What if there is raki (traditional anisette drink) in paradise but not in hell, while there is Chivas Regal (scotch) in hell and not in paradise? What will happen then? This is the most important question!!” Source

Renowned Atlanta Pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, Says USA Heading for Socialism, Stands in Very Dangerous Position

Renowned Atlanta pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, who says USA heading for Socialism and stands in a very dangerous place, seems to have forgotten about scourge of racism & Great Trail of Tears that dogged America.

dr.+charles+stanley Renowned Atlanta Pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, Says USA Heading for Socialism, Stands in Very Dangerous PositionDr. Charles Stanley, a renowned pastor and author, has thrown his hat in the ring with his yarn about America heading to Socialism and currently stands in a very dangerous position. Really Dr. Stanley, more dangerous that the dark period of slavery, Jim Crowism and the reign of the Ku Klux Klan? More dangerous than the “Great Trail of Tears” that saw the forced relocation and movement of Native Americans, including members of the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole and Choctaw tribes from their homeland to Indian Territory in Western United States? Where was Dr. Stanley when America sank into the depths of a recession under the Bush Administration? He further warns that the country is turning away from God and says the consequences will be grave. It’s ironic that we didn’t hear peep out of Dr. Stanley when President George W. Bush literally made runaway spending an integral part of his Administration.

Dr. Stanley, who is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church of Atlanta, delivered this message last Friday and said it is not the “government’s responsibility to take care of us. It is to protect us. We are responsible for taking care of ourselves,” he added in addressing the idea of spreading wealth. To be honest, Dr. Stanley has been a part of my Christian education for a number of years and I have never heard him take such a position before. I read his “In Touch” devotional every day and I attend his son, Andy Stanley’s, church in North Fulton. I am very disappointed that both men, as evidenced from the younger Stanley Fourth of July sermon, have taken a position to dabble in political issues as opposed to telling us how we can improve our spiritual lives. I don’t need a pastor to tell me how I should view the actions of President Obama and his cabinet. I can make my political decisions myself.

Here’s an excerpt from Dr. Stanley sermon:

“There is a tide that has touched the shores of our land and reached the heart of our nation,” he said against the backdrop of the U.S. flag. “It is a tide that is bringing with it ideas and philosophies, actions and attitudes that will ultimately destroy the way of life that you and I have.” The influential pastor and founder of In Touch Ministries listed 12 things involved in the tide. Among them are the financial crisis and the move toward socialism……

“The tide is bringing in a control that will indeed attempt to silence the truth and will attempt to squash the religious devotion and worship of the people of God.” That tide began creeping in many years ago, he noted, when the government and the courts began banning prayer at schools and removing references to Jesus, God and the Ten Commandments from the public square, Stanley noted. “It is an attempt to destroy the Christian spirit in America,” he said.

“There is a war going on against Jesus,” he declared. “It’s part of the strategy. The primary reason for this war against Him is He is interfering with the plan to make this a socialist nation. Mark it down. It is the truth.”

Among the other elements of the dangerous tide are: terrorism, turning our backs on Israel, the announcement that the United States is not a Christian nation, increasing national disasters, a departure from the biblical view of marriage, and support for killing the unborn, Stanley listed. Source: Christian Post

So, I am guessing if Israel does something wrong, we should just give them a slap on the wrist and act as though it’s business as usual. Well, I believe the clergy should keep their policy issues and political positions to themselves and not try to indoctrinate their congregation to see things their way. Dr. Stanley has missed the fact that there is a growing disinterest in organized religion and he should seek to find out why. People are being turned off from attending church because of all the scandals emanating from pulpits across this country. This do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do mentality is adversely affecting the way people view churches. Dr. Stanley has called on believers to join him in 140 days of humbling themselves, repenting of sins and praying without ceasing to God. ”There has never been a nation like these United States. We do not want it to fail or to fall.”

To watch the sermon, CLICK HERE.

pixel Renowned Atlanta Pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley, Says USA Heading for Socialism, Stands in Very Dangerous Position