| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Robert the NOLA Atheist" |
| Date: |
10 May 2005 08:55:00 PM |
| Object: |
Pastor resigns after political spat |
Are you feeling the love of Jeebus yet?
Pastor resigns after political spat
Ousted congregants say he mixed politics and religion
WAYNESVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- A Baptist preacher accused of
ousting nine congregants who refused to support President Bush
resigned Tuesday.
"I am resigning with gratitude in my heart for all of you,
particularly those of you who love me and my family," the Rev. Chan
Chandler said during a meeting at East Waynesville Baptist Church.
Congregants of the 100-member church in western North Carolina have
said Chandler endorsed Bush from the pulpit during last year's
presidential campaign and said that anyone who planned to vote for
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to "repent or resign."
The church members said he continued to preach about politics after
Bush won re-election, culminating with a church gathering last week in
which the nine members said they were ousted.
Speaking from the pulpit Tuesday night Chandler opened the meeting
with prayer before telling the gathered congregation, "For me to
remain now would only cause more hurt for me and my family."
Chandler made no mention of Bush or Kerry, saying only that the
dispute was rooted in his strong feelings about abortion.
He then left with his wife and drove away from the church escorted by
police. A few moments later, about 40 of his supporters -- many in
tears -- came out of the church while other church members remained
inside.
"I don't believe he preached politics," said Rhonda Trantham, one of
Chandler's supporters. "I don't believe anyone should tell a preacher
not to preach what's in the Bible."
Tax scrutiny
Chandler attorney John J. Pavey Jr. said the pastor has not apologized
for anything he said and would continue to speak out against abortion.
He said the dispute inside the church had nothing to do with politics,
a contention seconded Tuesday by Chandler's supporters.
"The only thing I wanna say is that everything that's been in the
press is a lie," said Misty Turner. "I have never bowed down to Chan.
I've only bowed down to the Lord."
Asked if she would remain a member of East Waynesville, she said, "I'm
not going to serve with the ungodly."
Chandler's resignation came a day after a national group that lobbies
for church-state separation urged the Internal Revenue Service to
investigate the tax-exempt status of the East Waynesville Baptist
Church.
IRS rules bar clear-cut politicking by tax-exempt groups. Last
October, days before Bush won a second term, the IRS said it was
investigating about 60 charities and other tax-exempt groups -- about
a third of them churches -- for potentially breaking rules that bar
them from participating in political activity.
The outcome of those investigations is not known. The IRS is barred
from naming the organizations it investigates or announcing case
results.
At Sunday's service the 33-year-old Chandler said the flap over the
church members' dismissal was "a great misunderstanding," and he tried
to welcome them back.
"No one has ever been voted from the membership of this church due to
an individual's support or lack of support for a political party or
candidate," he said in a statement.
But the dismissed members, who attended the service with their lawyer
and other supporters, said there was no misunderstanding, and the only
way to heal the rift is for Chandler to leave.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
"[The Bill of Rights is] designed to protect individuals and minorities against the tyranny of the majority, but it's also designed to protect the people against bureaucracy, against the government." -- Judge Lawrence Tribe
.
|
|
| User: "Cary Kittrell" |
|
| Title: Re: Pastor resigns after political spat |
10 May 2005 08:59:27 PM |
|
|
In article <jdp281lj0vfc47hs0cdobhlrgb504hhib0@4ax.com> Robert the NOLA Atheist <nolarobert@yahoo.com> writes:
Are you feeling the love of Jeebus yet?
Pastor resigns after political spat
Ousted congregants say he mixed politics and religion
WAYNESVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- A Baptist preacher accused of
ousting nine congregants who refused to support President Bush
resigned Tuesday.
"I am resigning with gratitude in my heart for all of you,
particularly those of you who love me and my family," the Rev. Chan
Chandler said during a meeting at East Waynesville Baptist Church.
Congregants of the 100-member church in western North Carolina have
said Chandler endorsed Bush from the pulpit during last year's
presidential campaign and said that anyone who planned to vote for
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to "repent or resign."
The church members said he continued to preach about politics after
Bush won re-election, culminating with a church gathering last week in
which the nine members said they were ousted.
Speaking from the pulpit Tuesday night Chandler opened the meeting
with prayer before telling the gathered congregation, "For me to
remain now would only cause more hurt for me and my family."
Chandler made no mention of Bush or Kerry, saying only that the
dispute was rooted in his strong feelings about abortion.
He then left with his wife and drove away from the church escorted by
police. A few moments later, about 40 of his supporters -- many in
tears -- came out of the church while other church members remained
inside.
"Police"? For protection, presumably, since he was not being
evicted by the law?
Was he worried about bomb-planting secular humanists?
-- cary
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Brian E. Clark" |
|
| Title: Re: Pastor resigns after political spat |
10 May 2005 11:25:00 PM |
|
|
In article <jdp281lj0vfc47hs0cdobhlrgb504hhib0@4ax.com>, Robert
the NOLA Atheist said...
Speaking from the pulpit Tuesday night Chandler opened the meeting
with prayer before telling the gathered congregation, "For me to
remain now would only cause more hurt for me and my family."
It's all about *him*, from beginning to end.
--
-----------
Brian E. Clark
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "RobH" |
|
| Title: Re: Pastor resigns after political spat |
10 May 2005 09:16:02 PM |
|
|
Look for this wackjob to now become a martyr for the religious right. He
can now join the lecture circuit with Judge Roy Moore as they proclaim Bush
the new messsiah.
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Sarah Jaernecke" |
|
| Title: Re: Pastor resigns after political spat |
13 May 2005 04:52:50 AM |
|
|
Robert the NOLA Atheist scrawled the following into the Great Almanac of
alt.atheism:
Chandler made no mention of Bush or Kerry, saying only that the
dispute was rooted in his strong feelings about abortion.
*****. Anyone who has "strong feelings about abortion" should do his
damndest to support sex ed, access to contraceptives, health- and child
care for everyone, family-friendly conditions at the workplace, and
improving women's status in their respective societies. I'd be willing
to bet my right hand that this shitstain, like the overwhelming majority
of his loud-mouthed ilk, not only does not support any of these things,
but in fact opposes them. Pro-life my *****.
--
Sarah Jaernecke
Nightfire --==(UDIC)==--
Kookie Jar's quote of the day:
"Capitalisation is the only difference between 'I helped my uncle jack
off a horse' and 'I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse'."
- seen on the World of WarCraft forums
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "wcb" |
|
| Title: Re: Pastor resigns after political spat |
11 May 2005 12:04:21 AM |
|
|
Robert the NOLA Atheist wrote:
Are you feeling the love of Jeebus yet?
Pastor resigns after political spat
Ousted congregants say he mixed politics and religion
WAYNESVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- A Baptist preacher accused of
ousting nine congregants who refused to support President Bush
resigned Tuesday.
Bwahahahahahahahahah! Good riddance to insane right winger rubbish.
Congregants of the 100-member church in western North Carolina have
said Chandler endorsed Bush from the pulpit during last year's
presidential campaign and said that anyone who planned to vote for
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry needed to "repent or resign."
Well, look who resigned!
Chandler's resignation came a day after a national group that lobbies
for church-state separation urged the Internal Revenue Service to
investigate the tax-exempt status of the East Waynesville Baptist
Church.
IRS rules bar clear-cut politicking by tax-exempt groups. Last
October, days before Bush won a second term, the IRS said it was
investigating about 60 charities and other tax-exempt groups -- about
a third of them churches -- for potentially breaking rules that bar
them from participating in political activity.
The outcome of those investigations is not known. The IRS is barred
from naming the organizations it investigates or announcing case
results.
Whip it on 'em hard.
--
When I shake my killfile, I can hear them buzzing!
Cheerful Charlie
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
