277 thoughts on “Rebuking the Scorner”

  3. I like that his twitter self description includes “Baptist Historian”. There’s no way to read that phrase to make it accurate based on the book he authored.

        1. Yeah maybe he really meant to say, Nicest People but spell check changed it to Narcissistic Psychopaths! It could happen.

  5. I knew there was something wrong with me – I just couldn’t pinpoint it. Thanks, Ted!

  6. Oh, and look, his most recent tweet is just adorable the way he implies his wife can’t drive a bus safely, cause you know, girl wise.

  7. Nice Twitter handle. Looks like Ted does indeed need revival. . . or at least a better education.

    2. Need revival? IFB? how can you revive something that is dead and rotting? Would you want to dig up and revive a zombie? *snark

    4. Revival is the adult version of youth camp, where we tell God “this time I’m serious about it.” And then forget about it a month later.

      1. I hate the term “revival.” It implies that the hyped up, ‘hooping and hollering, hillbilly-style mindless conformity while heavin’ the heathen is supposed to be the normal life of the church.

        It isn’t the “godly, peaceable life in all honesty” that Paul talked about.

        Fundamentalism is like a virus. It takes over the spiritual instructions to replicate itself like crazy, destroying what it has to in order to accomplish that purpose. The body is more agitated, more active and less productive at the same time. Normal processes do not get done. It does not make the body better; it makes the body sick.

        Fundamentalism is like a cancer. Its role in the body is to invade all the other parts, starving and driving out anything that is not itself in its quest to grow without bounds. It gobbles up the resources, poisons those that are left, destroys the ability of the body to function properly and, in due time, kills it. All in the process of exclusive self-replication.

      2. If God decided to pour out his Spirit, and the was a real, genuine Revival of His Church, (the Real Thing, not Hype) Ted Anderson would be the first to shout against it, and the loudest.

    1. I’d rather be a religious washout for Jesus than a pious baptist author against Jesus! 🙂

      4. Amen!!

        And it’s not just Baptists. Increasingly I’m finding that the pious-schmious crowd who specialize in being Jerks for Jesus are making me gag and barf. And believe me, it’s a phenomenon found in all Christian communions.

      6. Amen. Thirty years of IFB religion taught me that I was filthy and useless. I didn’t doubt my salvation; I was sure I could never be saved because no matter how many times I walked the aisle and prayed the Sinner’s Prayer, I still had sinful thoughts and an unclean heart. I approached God with the same combination of guilt and dread that I used to approach Disciplinary Committee during my stint at Fundy U. I finally gave up because I was never, ever going to get it right and I quit going to church and put aside faith and any hope of salvation.

        It was purely an act of the God I had decided couldn’t love me that led me to a Good Friday service at an Episcopal church a few years later. The Episcopal Church is where I have learned that I am a beloved child of God and that I am always and every day being saved by Him. Salvation isn’t a test to pass or fail; it’s a lifelong journey that I make in communion with Jesus and with his people.

        Team Religious Washouts, now and forever.

        3. In the Scripture reading today was the passage about the children of Israel complaining about no food or water, and God got fed up with them and sent snakes to bite and kill them.

          Then they came asking forgiveness. God told Moses to make an effort to image of a snake from brass and raise it up so that those bitten could look at the brass snake and live.

          The priest said this passage always bothered him because it says horrible things about God punishing his people for being weak. Those who wrote it didn’t understand how God is. So instead of taking it literally he looked at it allegorically and cast God as the helper, not the bully.

          But I was taught this is how God is. And you’d better be thankful for when He stops being angry at you unless you want Him to whup up on you some more. You’d better “get glad in the same pants you got mad in.”

          That was how my parents behaved, too. They were abusive while thinking they were kind and loving. Anything that went wrong was the fault in the children they could take vengeance on, but you’d better know and feel in your heart how much they loved you, even when they were consumed with rage.

          And I can’t call God my “Father” to this day.

          Fundy Leaders feed off this fear. Their displeasure is God’s displeasure, and (sing-song voice) “you’re gonna get a whoopin!”

          Anderson can only block you, but he is praying for you — to hurt, be in anguish, to PAY for questioning him, Him, HIM! Because he doesn’t love anyone as he loves himself!

        6. I love everything about your comment, RTG. I was struck today by the juxtaposition of the Old Testament reading and then hearing the Gospel reading that refers to it immediately after. The priest in my church talked about looking your fear and your pain in the face to begin to heal, which is something my therapist talks about, too. I’m just beginning to do that.

          I appreciate what you said about your parents a lot. Mine were also abusive in the pursuit of what they believed to be love – which I now recognize as fear. My mother led most of this and as I said below I now believe she probably suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. She passed away when I was in my early 20s so I’ve never been able to ask her about her motives, but honestly I don’t think that would have been a profitable conversation anyway due to her many issues. But I have tried to talk to my father about it and he is always baffled by the idea because he still thinks what they did was Godly parenting.

        7. When I talk to my parents about things they did in the past, my mother says they didn’t know any better (which I believe), and my father says those things never happened (which I think he probably believes on some level).

        8. Team Religious Washouts — love it.

          Very moving testimony. Thank you, seanchaigirl.

          rtgmath, I am reminded of the religion depicted at the beginning of C. S. Lewis’s “Pilgrim’s Regress” when the pastor’s would put on a scary mask to describe the landlord (or the king — the metaphor for God in the story).

  9. I do appreciate his advertising SFL to everyone on his Twitter feed.

    Welcome to all the new visitors!

        1. I’m sure I’m the next one, based on this. Yay me!

          User Actions
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          Ted Alexander
          ‏@NeedrevivalTed
          FYI:stufffundieslike is a website designed as a sounding board 4 religious washouts for Jesus
          These people are pure narcissistic psychopaths
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          jim harveyPaul BarnumBrandon RomackTimothy BlockBro. Jim WardJoel Basham
          8:09 PM – 8 Mar 2015

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          @NeedrevivalTed D’xing psych probs w/o examining patients? Bad! Since when do you believe in the DSM? It’s spiritual, not mental, you know!!

  10. Because there’s nothing narcissistically psychopathic about the assertion that Baptists built America

    1. “Don’t you dare hate us! We built this country! If it wasn’t for us you wouldn’t even be here, you narcissistic pig! Now come here. You know I love you, right? Give me a hug.”

        1. That’s exactly what I was thinking! Sounds hauntingly like some sermons, formal or otherwise, that I’ve sat through.

      2. Yes! That kinda crap is like straight out of The Godfather or something. I can say from first hand experience that THAT is what makes psychological abuse so powerful. You know it’s awful, you know it’s sick, but you feel like you’re in one of those nightmares trying so HARD to run from the villain, and all you can manage is a utterly futile slow-mo movement. Thanks for the flashback. 😛

    1. It’s always interesting to see two conflictingly crazy people interact. It’s like that one time they put two people who thought they were Jesus in a room.

      2. Today’s case though, is more like what Jon Stewart calls “a fight between a badger and a mongoose.”

        2. “Dr.” Eric – many of us have been chastised here for watching Jon Stewart. I won’t mention any names but the person who comes to mind rhymes with greg.

    2. And here I thought Ted Anderson was a “believe only” guy. Is he saying he is a works-righteousness person? Of course, all fundamentalism is, in a way. But maybe he does believe there is an added component to salvation.

      Faith only — in Ted Anderson
      Sola Ted Anderson’s Interpretation of Scripture
      Believe and be Baptist in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and Ted Anderson..
      In the Name of the Father, the Son, and Ted Anderson.

      It has that sort of ick factor, don’t you think?

      1. I don’t think he realizes that easy believism is a criticism of himself. He’s nothing if not oblivious. 🙂

  12. Psychopaths, huh? Well, we do tend to disagree a lot and sometimes we even don’t get along each other, but that sounds like we’re more of a family than a group of psychopaths. The wrongs and foibles and sins that are oft the post topic of SFL would more fitting to that description, methinks.

  13. He also hates Obama and hashtags him as a closet Muslim. sigh…….

    “Barack HUSSEIN Obama-the most lilly-liver, sorry excuse 4 a president America has ever seen. #closetmuslim”

    1. None of these people ever explain how Obama can be a ruthless, megomanaical tyrant AND a “lilly-liver (sic), cowardly, shrinking pantywaist at the same time. Or how he could be a liberal, pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-health-care socialist AND a militant Islamist extremist at the same time.

      1. This guy regularly demonstrates a very loosey goosey command of the english language, and very poor choices in what he thinks are insults. I sincerely doubt he knows that any of those are contradictory.

      2. There’s a sense in which “Muslim” is just a convenient word these people use. It doesn’t matter that they don’t really have a clue as to what Islam, especially radical Islam, is all about.

    1. My money says we’re good for at least five minutes of strutting and boasting in his sermon tomorrow.

  15. Mr. Alexander will probably say I’m a “narcissistic psychopath”, but:
    -15 years of missionary service overseas and in California
    -40 years of Christian education ministry in whatever local church I was in at the time (most of it in Spanish or with ESL learners.)
    -Loving Jesus more than I ever did when I lived in Fundystan because I’m free to do so.

    So, I will pray that Mr. Alexander gets a life, and continue enjoying my wonderful relationship with Jesus.

    1. Our pastor would always tell us to “end well” because one misstep (against the IFB church) could ruin a lifetime of ministry. It’s how they maintain control over a congregation. Sounds like your life is an example of how wrong that is – good for you!

      1. I don’t think they are capable of understanding anything Jesus said to the Pharisees because they are so pharisaical themselves!

  16. I’m afraid I just got blocked by the Baptist revivalist on Twitter. All I did was ask him a simple question. I may have gotten SFL blocked also, since I referenced it. I would copy our brief conversation, but I don’t know how.

        1. This guy tweets like a 13 year old girl in the middle of a drama involving her bff, her used-to-be-bff and the cute guy in History class they both wanted to sit next to.

      2. Gee, if Mr. Alexander keeps blocking everybody who asks questions or makes a less-than-glowing comment, he won’t have anybody left to talk to.

        3. I asked if he blocked the “5 scorning hyper Calvinists” because he had no response to their reasoning, then proceeded to tell him I thought that was a grown-up way to handle it.

  17. Oh snap!
    How Godly and Spirit-filled he must be to know that everyone on here are psychopathic narcissistic washouts.

    God is sure to bless him with a prime parking spot on his next visit to Sizzler for his faithful rebuking.

  18. He’s got a nice racket going. He can make up whatever “history” he wants and condemn and block anyone who calls him out on his nonsense.

    1. According to his website, the book is now available for $10.00, in case you want to be educated on US Baptist history.

        2. I doubt that there’s enough of a market for my musings on what I wish had happened in American history.

  19. At least we’re pure narcissistic psychopaths. We don’t compromise when it comes to our evil ways. >:)

  21. Looks like our good friends is doubling down:

    “Ted Alexander @NeedrevivalTed · 1m 1 minute ago
    Attack was orchestrated by stufffundieslike.Interesting that they think I’m so foolish,n yet they r dying 4 my attention.
    Def. narcissistic”

    I’m not sure if he understands who is being narcissistic here….

      2. They’ll be studying this attack right along side the battle of Cannae within 100 years.

    2. Narcissists don’t die for others attention, they are infatuated with themselves. I don’t think he understands what the word means.

  22. Darrell, are you denying that secret basement meeting where you gave us all assignments and sent us out to attack?

    1. I’m just amused at what he considers an “attack.”

      These brave Baptists who founded the country apparently didn’t pass down their thick skins or hearty constitutions.

      1. I wonder if his mom used to get notes from school saying “works poorly with others.”

      2. He should be thanking us. He can chalk up our “attack” (whatever that’s supposed to be) as persecution and use it to sell more books.

      3. Our Man of gid considered many things to be “attacks from the debbil” or “persecution”: fire and building codes, laws against child molestation, insurance company rules, speeding tickets, etc.

        1. Ahhh. Paul’s command to obey the rulers? As if the Man o’ Gid should have anyone to rule over him!

          Imagine! God doing the work of the debbil! Keeping the MoG from being the absolute ruler over all ! Denying him the powers of life and death, the ability to issue fatwas that all must obey! Living in a land where he is not dictator! Oh the agony! The Pathos! The Drama Queen!

      4. This is certainly not uncommon, misattributing disagreement for persecution.

        Such was the case when several families left my former fundy CEO’s little kingdom; He likened himself to Job.

        There has to be a fallacy (or maybe some false religion) that explains this type of erroneous thinking.

        B.R.1

        2. Straight from a nice grandma who moaned about persecution when I told her that putting a preschooler on the back of a draft horse, with no helmet, no way down for hundreds of feet in any direction, and nobody holding the horse’s bridle was special snowflake behavior, i.e., expecting God to protect other people from the results of her stupidity:

          “I am God’s special snowflake.”

          Ver-ba-tim.

          Oh and also I was part of a vast cabal that had painstakingly hunted her down after she posted the photo of her grandchild on that horse in a public blog that permitted replies from non-members.

        3. My former pastor (and his family members) likened himself to Moses. As in a prophet of God.

        4. Boils. Yes!

          However, that would be attributed to some bacterial disease, and not the devil. Being like Job is only valid when it involves someone who diagrees with you, not that which pertains to your current medical insurance.

          B.R.1

  24. From dictionary.com-narcissist:
    noun
    1.
    a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish.

    I think that Mr. Alexander needs some dictionary work, a trip to the Fundy woodshed (how thick is the dowel of corporal punishment?), and an apology to all the different groups he enjoys bashing.

    He especially needs to apologize for publicly running down his wife. And people wonder why I am still single!

  25. He said that we’re “pure”! So glad that this Man of gid approves of us here at SFLl! My modest pic must be working it’s fundy magic. 🙂

  26. I’m glad to see Ted shows such grace and mercy to those that may disagree with him on some points and nothing shall offend him.

    Seriously though, why does he even acknowledge this site? I had never heard of it until becoming disenchanted with fundyism and started looking for others. By tweeting anything about SFL he is simply making SFL more well known and read by more people. This will surely lead to people questioning their beliefs and being led away from fundy land.

    Hmm maybe he’s secretly helping people cast off fundyism!

  29. Sounds like he skipped over the verses about “judge not……” or something like that.

  30. I hate seeing the family photos on social media profiles of people like this. Fundamentalists by and large may have rejected Jesus and believe and practice the worst possible things…but there are so many people trapped in IFBland, whether they realize it or not. And sometimes…you can almost tell which ones are going to “rebel”.

    May they find peaceful deliverance.

  31. Ted…

    Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

    Now go continue to spit on your Lord.

  32. Yes, Mr. Ted Alexander, I must confess that I am a RELIGIOUS WASHOUT. Organized human religion is the scourge of mankind.

    I despise your religion of outward appearance and politics. I know a much deeper kinship to Jesus than I ever did amongst your crowd. I look upon Christ through the pages of Scripture and marvel at his grace, wisdom and patience with sinners. I also marvel at his pointed condemnation of the religious elite of His day. I wonder what He would say to you?

    B.R.1

    1. It’s such an interesting thing to accuse us of: being religious washouts for Jesus.

      “All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.” (Phil. 3:7-9, The Message)

        1. I agree. “Religious washouts for Jesus” fits as a great subtitle for SFL!

          Washed in the blood! (For those still speaking Christianese)

  33. I almost wasn’t going to comment, feeling that the stupidity of this guy’s comments doesn’t dignify a response. He means well, but he’s way out in ignorant redneckland. I can’t believe anyone takes this guy seriously, but sadly some do. I would ignore him and his “church.”

    2. Yes, you are right. His sphere of influence has only been increased by our discussion here.

      B.R.1

  34. I just came across this definition of narcisstic:
    Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a medical disorder in which people exhibit unstable and intensive emotions. The patient experiences an inflated sense of self-importance and superiority compared to others. Sounds like Ted Alexander to me, lol!

    1. I could never prove it, of course, but I have a hunch he may have learned the term “narcissistic” from some of our critiques on SFL of Fundy mennagawd.
      It’s quite a four-dollar word for somebody who gets both words wrong when he wants to call the President “lily-livered.”

      1. BG – You have change for a $5 bill? I’d like to use that word but want to make sure I don’t use it without properly paying for it. This ain’t no Napster.

    2. I came to say this. The IFB-sphere is a natural fit for individuals with NPD because it teaches in no uncertain terms that everything you do has the power to save or damn the world. You are responsible for the salvation of your neighbors, your community, everyone you come in contact with. Everyone is watching you, at all times, everywhere, to see Jesus. One drink from a suspiciously-colored root beer bottle could send a perfect stranger to hell. And then, of course, there’s the histrionics from the pulpit, tears and yelling, sobbing because not enough people are doing what you think they should to be saved. It’s like someone with NPD designed a religion as a haven for themselves.

      After years and years of therapy, I have learned that my mother was most likely NPD and it explains a LOT about the damage she did to me and my brother during our childhoods. She was also a rabid IFB follower – when it suited her. When she wanted to watch The Bridges of Madison County, she was more IFB-lite. But the IFB movement was perfect for her, because she could set herself up as the arbiter of truth and salvation for us kids and when she pitched a temper tantrum, it wasn’t because she hadn’t gotten her way – it was because she was concerned for our souls, and devastated because clearly she hadn’t modeled Jesus enough to us. Try debating your way out of that – oh wait, you can’t, because it’s based on emotion and logic is completely irrelevant. Much like Mr. Alexander here.

      1. Good comment! Very true. IFBers see themselves as the arbiters of right and wrong, and they get to be always right. Something like the banker in monopoly always being able to lend himself money when he needs it?

        It’s tough having family in the asylum.

        1. Thank you. I’m a sporadic lurker and even more sporadic poster but I’ve gotten enormous comfort over the years from reading here and realizing I’m not the only one who was scarred by fundamentalism. It occurs to me that there might be others lurking who are where I was a few years ago and might benefit from hearing my experience, so maybe I should make an effort to be more present.

      3. Seanchaigirl, great comment. Is your name derived from the Irish word for “Storyteller”?

        1. Thanks. It’s taken a long time for me to realize and be able to articulate why my childhood was so troubled because on the surface I had two parents who cared about me and that’s the ideal, right? Someone above said that their parents were abusive while thinking they were being loving – that’s the best description I’ve ever heard for IFB-style parenting.

          And yes, my username is from the Irish. I heard the term years ago on a trip there and thought the whole idea of an honored place in the community for the village historian was pretty cool.

        3. No. No. Talebearer is the better description. That implies lies and deceits. The StoryTeller in the ancient Celtic traditions is a noble and honorable person, reminding people of their heritage, their worth and their ability. The StoryTeller puts events into perspective, gives hope and lifts people up.

      4. NPD or BPD… both seem to be fairly common.

        A man of my acquaintance, who is a PhD in psychology used the quick test for mental disorders at Southern Baptist / conservative evangelical seminaries. He found NPD quite common among female students, and something like over half of male students had major depression.

        The tool isn’t accurate enough to be used to diagnose and individual, but presumably in aggregate numbers it is accurate enough.

  35. yup. u is reeligious washouts fur jebus too. Ted Alexander isn’t a washout. Heck, he hasn’t washed his brain in a long time, so it is all dusty an moldy an dried up an cracked.

    He blok u becaws u try to wash him up wif sum comun since. But true Baptists dont hav enny.

    1. rtgmath, I hope you keep the new moniker. It’s like totally cool. And ironic.

      the Admiral

  36. Narcissistic Psychopaths? That’s a new one. I am not well versed in such matters but is it even possible to be both?

    Not sure what being a religious washout for Jesus means. Washout….soil erosion usually caused by heavy rain or a medical term having to do with reducing the concentration of a substance. I suppose both definitions could apply to us but not in the way he might think.

    1. Good question. The current clinical term is Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASD), which encompasses DSM IV-TR classifications of certain mental disorders. Both narcissism and psychopathy are essentially colloquialisms, and when they are used in the professional literature they are sometimes used to distinguish certain traits. For example, a psychopath is unable or unwilling to delay gratification, while a narcissist has no such issue. Both psychopaths and narcissists lack empathy, but psychopaths are often sadistic. Again, these are spectrum disorders, so there is no black and whit definition. Generally NPD is on the less severe end of APD, while psychopathy is on the severe end.

  37. To call others “narcissistic psychopaths” is wrong for two reasons.

    1) You can’t make a psychiatric diagnosis without examining the patient.

    2) Fundies don’t believe in psychiatry.

  38. The more of this guy’s Twitter feed I read the more he reads like the poster-child for all that is icky about Fundamentalism. Bashing of everybody who disagrees with him? Check! Belittling women as humor? Check! Twisting history to his own ends? Check! Praising God for weird things like gifts of guns? Check! (I’m all for being thankful for anything, but specifically stating that God is good because somebody gave you a gun is weird to me….) Coming off as hopelessly unable to see any point of view except his own? Check. Using Jesus as some sort of figurehead but never mentioning him until you need to trot him out to back up a point? Check. Sad.

  39. You say he is “not our biggest fan”. I think it looks like he must at least be in the top 5. 🙂

      1. We have these in the hangar in which I work in central Georgia. I recommend them, if you need a fan for a very large area.

  40. This guy appears to be connected with the Baptist History Preservation Society, a group of IFBs who are interested in Baptist history in the U.S. Unlike the pan-Baptist American Baptist Historical Society and the Baptist Heritage and History Society, this outfit is oriented toward “Old Paths” thinking, and sponsors bus tours to historic Baptist sites. They came here to Maine three years ago, where they erected two large (and, I would guess, very expensive) granite monuments that I know of, one in honor of the Rev. Daniel Merrill, a prominent Maine Baptist leader of the early Federalist era, and the other outlining the early history of the Baptists in the state. I found it very interesting that both were placed near the entrances to two IFB-KJV Baptist churches that have nothing to do — perish the thought! — with the American Baptist Churches of Maine, which encompasses most of Maine’s older, historic Baptist churches. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

    1. Maine gave rise to Carl Stevens, who started out Baptist and then went full crazy.

      At some point he moved to the Massachusetts mountains and started a religious organization called “The Bible Speaks”. He did this in the wealthier towns and convinced the heiress to a department store chain to donate beaucoup bucks to his organization. Eventually she sued them for her money back and the court case was rather heated. She was awarded a settlement but Stevens and his henchmen claimed bankruptcy. As far as I know she never saw a dime.

      Stevens took his weapons cache (a veritable arsenal, so they say) and moved to Maryland, where he changed the name of his crazytown cult to Greater Grace World Outreach. He died a few years ago, but the crazy lives on.

      I betcha that group you mentioned doesn’t claim Stevens as part of their heritage.

  41. Let’s sing! First two lines indicate the tune and rhythm.

    John Jac ob Jin gle hei mer Schmitz
    Pure Nar cis ist ic Psy co Path

    His Name is my name too
    Ted An der son is one too!

    Whenever he goes out, the people always shout
    There goes Pure Nar cis ist ic Psy co Path!

    Da da da da da da da (Repeat)

  42. Re: “religious washouts.” This is a favorite fundy trope used to imply that those who have left the movement just couldn’t handle the pressure or take the heat. Rejection of their legalistic, judgmental system is seen as the ultimate weakness – after all, much of their pride is bound up in their self-perceived ability to bear the heavy burdens they lay upon themselves and others. Nevermind that Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden was light. (Although, I have to confess, I sometimes feel that a good deal of other New Testament teaching is at odds with Christ’s assurance on that point.)

    1. The thing is, when I left fundamentalism, I found that keeping commandments like, “love your neighbor as yourself,” and “do good to those who treat you badly” (looking at you Bro. Anderson) was much harder than following the fundy list of rules!

      1. Me too! As much as I didn’t like wearing skirts all the time or never going to movies, those things were EASY compared to actually being forgiving, patient, gentle, etc.

    2. That’s because you read it as a set of commandments, instead of how it was intended – personal letters to individuals and sometimes churches. It is interesting that James uses the imperative in his small letter more than Paul does in all of his letters combined.

  43. Hey Ted.

    You know who never washed out of their religion?

    The Pharisees.

    They were all about their rules and their religion. Just like you. They looked, acted, and sounded like you. They condemned everybody that wasn’t in their group, just like you do. I imagine that if you’d been alive in Jesus’ time, you would have thought the Pharisees were some great men of God. You’d have been just as wrong then as you are now.

    Now go thank God for not making you like all of us.

    2. Oooh, yes! The Standard Baptist Standards Standard, the Soviet-red banner with the Bible being burned on it!
      I’ll never forget it.

  45. Judging by his twitter responses, this guy is big on labeling people.

    “Hey, I don’t like your retweet. Allow me to list all the disagreeable things that you are.”

    1. Ad hominem responses are the easiest way to avoid dealing with the topic. If they insult you enough, you’ll go away. Then they won’t have to be reminded about how you questioned their manhood by questioning their beliefs. The two are intertwined. Losing belief means losing everything, so they can’t risk thinking about their beliefs.

  46. So this guy and Fugate have blocked SFL and a few likeminded individuals. Sort of at odds with the whole “we’re in a battle” motif in most IFB churches. You think they’d be happy to put the smack-down on criticism. But they’re like little yappy dogs that bark their heads off until you lunge at them a bit and they run back into their doghouses….
    I think the transparency coming from the Internet has pretty much resulted in IFB error being quarantined to those who really don’t WANT to know better.
    I’d call for letting the IFB movement wander off into the sunset if it weren’t for the fact that evangelicalism is undergoing a massive rightward shift and we already seeing a lot of the old IFB nonsense pop up in the SBC. Got to be ever vigilant.

    1. “if it weren’t for the fact that evangelicalism is undergoing a massive rightward shift and we already seeing a lot of the old IFB nonsense pop up in the SBC. Got to be ever vigilant”

      I am currently in an evangelical church and I have to say… Truer words have never been spoken.

      1. I speak of the overall evangelical movement, not specifically of the SBC. Not too familiar with that branch personally. Like I said in another comment below, I left the Baptists altogether when I left the IFBC.

      2. I’m in a conservative evangelical church and couldn’t agree more. Makes me sick and in fact I haven’t attended in months–since I started to notice how similar it was in spirit and attitude to my old IFB church.

      1. What has been happening is a very successful, long-term and multiple-pronged push by some intensely wealthy people to change the religious conversation to a social conversation.

        They have some very significant financing, and have been able to get people to direct their own financial strength to support their agenda.

        First, they began to equate conservative patriotism “true” Christianity. They conflated social conscience with Communism. Giving civil rights was communistic. Greed on the side of the White Anglo Saxon Protestant was suddenly godliness. Grace was cast aside by a demand that people “deserve” to have a living wage. Crumbs, grudgingly given were enough. People accepted lower wages, worse living conditions, and a harsher God with a much stronger Devil to fight. Every aspect of a social difference was made into an issue of right versus wrong, with some ministry or quasi-ministry group popping up with enough funding to make churches aware of The Threat to their Beliefs and Liberties.

        The push against gun control was part of this. Make a person willing to defend their property by killing others and you harden their heart to all other circumstances. You remove empathy. Violation of *your* rights becomes punishable by death, with you in the place of God to judge their hearts and destiny. You become greater than the Law, the Courts, or any evidence. You are removed from considering the good of anyone but yourself. And your perception of God follows.

        After all, we create Him in our own image, after our likeness. Our Theology also morphs. God has become more angry and less loving, even as we the people have become.

        Civil rights is cast as an attack on the rights of others for things to remain the same. Whites see their rights (to look down on and subjugate others) under attack as blacks demand access, education and opportunity. History is rewritten to cater to prejudices–and money pies in to finance the fake scholarship.

        Power and political goals are ultimately very long term manipulations. But look at the wealthiest in society and know they are aware of this. They aren’t where they are by honest competition. And while they don’t try to control things directly, it is enough to finance the manipulator a of facts and feelings.

        No wonder they feel like gods. In very real terms, they are worshipped and adored and their will is being done on earth.

  47. Dear Ted Alexander:

    Two questions:

    1] When were you appointed our official mouthpiece?

    2] If your assertions are correct, have you considered the possibility that we make better mirrors than whipping posts?

    Christian Socialist

    PS: I’m not mad … I’m just askin’.

  48. I’d say I’m more of a religious “burnout” for Jesus. But he was close. Burned out from trying to live up to the standards. Narcissistic? That was back before I burned out. Trying to live up to the facade of “no appearance of evil” sort of feeds into a narcissistic attitude. And I once shot a songbird with a pellet gun when I was a kid. Four decades later I still feel bad. So that about blows the psychopathy theory.

    Of course, I really don’t take these accusations too seriously any more. When I left the Baptists I went through all of this. One of my old pastors started spreading false rumors about my wife and me, as well as the church we chose to go to. And we didn’t even leave in anger. We left quietly and peaceably. When old friends would question us about the allegations, we would state the truth to them. Then we’d ask them where they heard these lies. They told us, “Pastor _______.”
    I would ask them why they think he would say something like that about us if it wasn’t true. Many would make excuses for him, but many have left the church since then as well.
    I don’t know him at all, but this seems to be the exact same spirit that Ted Alexander is showing.

    1. They see the Power to Hurt as a very Godlike power indeed. They would not take up the power to help or heal. No, they must lie with verity to turn their false words into God’s Truth.

      1. Your words have stuck with me: the power to hurt being chosen over helping or healing. I’ve seen that. Jesus is the perfect example of someone with the power to hurt who instead chose to help and heal, choosing gracious servanthood.

  49. Right, because the godly thing to do would have been to confess to my sin of being raped and then hope some guy would take enough pity on me to marry a fallen woman so I could fulfill my God-given duties.

    No thanks.

    1. No thanks, indeed. The comment I got from a so called godly brother when I told him of the sexual abuse of my daughter that started when she was three years old, “Did she lead him on in some way?” It is always the victim who gets the blame.

      1. I seriously wondered at the time…I’d worn a sheer shirt over a tank top, so my shoulders were only covered by sheer fabric, and I wondered if that had been what did it.

        1. You had been conditioned to think that, to seriously think it could be your fault. It happened to me. I did nothing but bury it and have episodes of rage from time to time that were punished “with love” and beatings. When it happened to my daughters, I had been pushed far enough and we called in the police. I still suffered from enormous guilt at having broken up the assembly and my family. It shows what early, lifelong conditioning can do. I hope you are well now, Jesec.

        2. They work hard at blaming the victim. The violator is overwhelmed by your lack of submission, pushed into an irresistible lust and does the Deed. It is Your Fault. All those scriptures aimed at the men, notwithstanding. After all, it isn’t really true that if a man resists the Devil, the Devil will flee. Not if a girl has anything to do with it.

          That way, men get to act out on their list, enjoy it, put the blame on you and excuse their sin. Sort of like those killings of unarmed black men by police officers. The officers were in terror of their lives, don’t you know?

    2. The Christian fundy cultural attitudes about women are no better than the Islamic fundy attitudes. The only difference is the force of law and Western liberal unreligious culture that views women as mens’ equals.

      Cut away the legal protections for women out of the law, and women will be in the same dire straits as they are under every fundamentalist system.

      1. The difference of law is, in many cases immaterial because for a woman trapped in a fundy home and mind set, there is often no ability to mentally go to “worldly” people for help.

  50. I have gone to “http://evangelisttedalexander.com/contact/” and left a little note for our errant brother.

    —

    From your advertisement: “American Foundations: This is the book the devil doesn’t want you to read.”

    Funny. I thought the Bible was the book the devil doesn’t want us to read.

    Do you understand how full of hubris your ad sounds?

    Up until Ted Alexander arrived on the scene and wrote his Book, the Devil must have had a much easier time of it. Why didn’t God bring this man around sooner?

    Maybe Ted Alexander needs to go to the Lord asking for Grace and Mercy and humility to do the work of the Lord acceptably, as Scripture commands. Without the helping of arrogance, the Lord might have more use for you.

    It is not our works, nor our righteousness that count for any thing.

    1. “American Foundations: This is the book the devil doesn’t want you to read.”

      Possibly the most immodest ad for a book I’ve ever seen– and I’ve seen plenty of immodest and wildly exaggerated book advertisements.

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