'Samaritan's Purse' is Franklin Graham's charity. He only pays himself a million dollars a year for running it. His mobile field hospital was kicked out of Central Park during the Covid pandemic because they refused to treat gay people. No religious institution should get one cent of pubic money for any reason.
When I was a kid the Catholic nuns ran a clinic that provided the only health care many of my neighbors could access and having earlier seen a neighbor who had his stitches ripped out by local doctor when they didn’t have enough cash to pay, I was initially appreciative of the religious who would care for the poor when no one else would. By the time I was a teenager I recognized the problem as one that could be solved if health were a right not a privilege and argued for single payer before it had a name and long before it came to be rebranded as Medicare for All. Nuns, pastors, etc can absolutely be healthcare providers but as employees of a secular institution where the decisions are not colored by religious beliefs but by what’s medically proven. And if they try to inject religious beliefs into healthcare decisions they should be disciplined by HR and, if necessary fired, for failing to uphold their duty to the patient.
'having earlier seen a neighbor who had his stitches ripped out by local doctor when they didn’t have enough cash to pay"
😲😲😲😲😲
Jesus Fucking Christ onna Harley, I hope that "doctor" was reported to AMA. That is a clear and egregious violation of the Hyppocratic Oath ("First, do no harm") and every medical ethics system I am aware of. That sadistic bastard should have had his license revoked.
Thanks, and hell yes. I didn't think all the way through to legal consequences, but they should be equally brutal. Legally speaking. That man's* actions were unconscionable.
*I refuse to refer to him as a doctor. He barely qualifies as human.
This was over 50 years ago, the patient was black and the doctor was white. My mother gave the patient what cash she had and she may have made some calls but if so I didn’t hear about it. If she were in any way successful she would have told the story so I suspect she wasn’t. It may have spurred a subsequent call to the FBI a couple of years later regarding a different and unrelated event. Remember, I grew up in the rural Deep South where poverty was considered a character flaw (for the poor but not for those who could help but chose not to).
The AMA IS a professional organization - a glorified lobbying group. They hold no regulatory power over individual physicians. That function belongs to the State Medical Boards.
It was definitely an influential learning experience for me. He had already used the time and materials to place the stitches and he just wasted them to be cruel. I had to think through that aspect (cruelty and racism were not new to me). After that I came to see most acts of cruelty were also incredibly wasteful though the perpetrators often claimed it was too expensive to be kind. Which is why my “oh, yea, I am 100% pro-life” rant in addition to Medicare for All includes school lunches for all kids, no debt, no forms to fill out, no stigma, just feed them so they can make the most of this opportunity to learn. Oh, and breakfast also for those who show up early enough. It is in fact expensive to be cruel and degrades the perpetrators as well. they are just too emotionally stunted to recognize it.
If anyone is in any doubt I’m pro choice - abortion should be legal in all cases. And the kids should have comprehensive sex education with a bowl of condoms on the nurses desk free for the taking no questions asked.
Yes, I helped and later organised the Shoebox appeal in my area for some years, filling many 100s of boxes. Then I read that the mission put tracts in them, telling islamic kids in particular to send in the reply form to get more info in how to come-to-jesus. This came from a FOI request and initially the odious FG lied about those tracts. In Wales, we all decided to send our boxes via another mission that didn't add tracts to boxes. And I petitioned our government to ban him from the UK. He was slated to hold big old fashioned gospel rallys in 6 venues. They cancelled his bookings when it was shown he was a horrible homophobe. Covid19 struck at that point so he never came. And yes, the $1m salary was made public around then!
When the Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," I'm pretty sure it also means that Congress shall make no law giving money to any form of religion. This includes Lance Wallnau and his organization. Trump, of course, is quite happy to ignore the Constitution anytime he feels as though it's inconvenient for him.
Trump and Wallnau both need to be reminded that this is not the case.
It’s basically fraud. You and I both know that religion is just a scam to get vulnerable people to accept the fact that the higher-ups (wealthy) will always run the show and they will always be the peons who get to pay for it.
"law giving money to any form of religion" Don't forget the United States military that spends millions of tax dollars on religions every year. The exact amount will never be determined because most funding is hidden away. There is no separation of church a state in this part of government.
"Because local commanders budget for religious facilities and programs out of localized base operations rather than a central pool, civil liberties groups like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) have noted that calculating the precise, absolute cost down to the dollar is nearly impossible without combing through local Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for every base."
All Trump knows is what he wants, and what he wants, he wants now. As for Wallnau, he clearly understands how to take advantage of a situation that potentially involves free money.
Whether he gets away with it or not is another matter.
I can't think of a single time Jesus prioritized converting someone. Plenty of times he met the needs of the people he met.
In particular, I'm reminded of the story of the Roman centurion who's slave (or lover) was sick and near death and he sent for Jesus asking to heal him. Jesus never said a word the man about his religion. He just healed the slave (or lover).
These assholes just want money and power. Helping others is a means or a ruse for men like Wallnau to try and acquire both.
For them, helping others is transactional. To get their help, you have to jump through their hoops. None of them will help just because help is needed. That's why the NSGOP is trying to force disabled people to work if they want Medicaid and SNAP.
Even as a young child I questioned the motivation of Christians “good works”. If you are doing it for your God (who is this guy?) or to get yourself into heaven, why should I trust you or your intentions?
This is why I argue that churches aren't really charitable institutions. Charity means getting something for nothing; that's not what churches are usually doing. Either you have to join, or you have to listen to a sermon, or you have to do something for the church to get help from said church. That's not charity; that's a my back/your back transaction. Such a transaction is fine provided it adheres to local law, of course, but it is not charity and should not be considered such.
All I need to do is walk through the local small-town cemetery, filled with 200 years of my family.
And every grave in competition with EVERY other grave to have the biggest and fanciest headstone, in order to be remembered FOREVER in a place that "supposedly" has no meaning other than as a stepping-stone to Heaven.
Nothing screams "rich white Jesus" much louder than that.
You make great points in your comment. There’s just one glaring flaw, that the story of Jesus is a concocted fairytale. Christianity, just like the Jesus story, was invented by the Council of Nicea from 312-325 CE.
You can find this accurate information on the web.
While using that money for proselytizing instead of helping is part of it, Wallnau gives the game away here. Transfer massive amounts of government money directly to (his) churches. He's not satisfied with the direct donations from people who believe the way he does, he wants a cut of 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 money.
The mask is off. They don’t have to pretend any longer that they are doing good work for humanity’s sake, but only in order to force desperate people to comply.
"... Throughout my history leading Samaritan’s Purse, we have always relied on God, not government, for funding. ... "
Well maybe The Donald could personally send them 2 billion dollars from his own personal fortune - no strings attached - rather than it coming from any government funds.
The Donald won't even pay out money he is legally required to (employees, vendors, contractors, the IRS) so voluntarily giving away money? Not gonna happen. Only with OPM will he be so "generous." And only when it benefits him in some way.
What a disgusting excuse for a human being. No one is getting saved or healed by Christians anywhere.
Although USAID probably needed reform and was somewhat (was) imperialistic in its nature, DOES NOT change the fact that the cuts from Elon and Big Balls will lead to MILLIONS and MILLIONS of deaths around the globe thanks to this Pro-death cult!
Any deaths of anyone outside their circle is a win to them. Something their minions and followers should really take to heart, unless they are looking forward to their faces being leopard treats.
If they want to be a good friend, then conversion is not required. Friendship with ulterior motives is at best being a bad friend, and at worst predatory, but what else can we expect from the original predators?
My tax dollars should not be going to proselytizing for any faith.
Foreign aid is a significant part of both our diplomatic efforts and our national defense. Unfortunately, we are bereft of leadership in both Defense and State Departments.
'Samaritan's Purse' is Franklin Graham's charity. He only pays himself a million dollars a year for running it. His mobile field hospital was kicked out of Central Park during the Covid pandemic because they refused to treat gay people. No religious institution should get one cent of pubic money for any reason.
When I was a kid the Catholic nuns ran a clinic that provided the only health care many of my neighbors could access and having earlier seen a neighbor who had his stitches ripped out by local doctor when they didn’t have enough cash to pay, I was initially appreciative of the religious who would care for the poor when no one else would. By the time I was a teenager I recognized the problem as one that could be solved if health were a right not a privilege and argued for single payer before it had a name and long before it came to be rebranded as Medicare for All. Nuns, pastors, etc can absolutely be healthcare providers but as employees of a secular institution where the decisions are not colored by religious beliefs but by what’s medically proven. And if they try to inject religious beliefs into healthcare decisions they should be disciplined by HR and, if necessary fired, for failing to uphold their duty to the patient.
'having earlier seen a neighbor who had his stitches ripped out by local doctor when they didn’t have enough cash to pay"
😲😲😲😲😲
Jesus Fucking Christ onna Harley, I hope that "doctor" was reported to AMA. That is a clear and egregious violation of the Hyppocratic Oath ("First, do no harm") and every medical ethics system I am aware of. That sadistic bastard should have had his license revoked.
And have been charged with battery.
Thanks, and hell yes. I didn't think all the way through to legal consequences, but they should be equally brutal. Legally speaking. That man's* actions were unconscionable.
*I refuse to refer to him as a doctor. He barely qualifies as human.
This was over 50 years ago, the patient was black and the doctor was white. My mother gave the patient what cash she had and she may have made some calls but if so I didn’t hear about it. If she were in any way successful she would have told the story so I suspect she wasn’t. It may have spurred a subsequent call to the FBI a couple of years later regarding a different and unrelated event. Remember, I grew up in the rural Deep South where poverty was considered a character flaw (for the poor but not for those who could help but chose not to).
The AMA IS a professional organization - a glorified lobbying group. They hold no regulatory power over individual physicians. That function belongs to the State Medical Boards.
It was definitely an influential learning experience for me. He had already used the time and materials to place the stitches and he just wasted them to be cruel. I had to think through that aspect (cruelty and racism were not new to me). After that I came to see most acts of cruelty were also incredibly wasteful though the perpetrators often claimed it was too expensive to be kind. Which is why my “oh, yea, I am 100% pro-life” rant in addition to Medicare for All includes school lunches for all kids, no debt, no forms to fill out, no stigma, just feed them so they can make the most of this opportunity to learn. Oh, and breakfast also for those who show up early enough. It is in fact expensive to be cruel and degrades the perpetrators as well. they are just too emotionally stunted to recognize it.
If anyone is in any doubt I’m pro choice - abortion should be legal in all cases. And the kids should have comprehensive sex education with a bowl of condoms on the nurses desk free for the taking no questions asked.
Sorry, I got carried away there.
Yes, I helped and later organised the Shoebox appeal in my area for some years, filling many 100s of boxes. Then I read that the mission put tracts in them, telling islamic kids in particular to send in the reply form to get more info in how to come-to-jesus. This came from a FOI request and initially the odious FG lied about those tracts. In Wales, we all decided to send our boxes via another mission that didn't add tracts to boxes. And I petitioned our government to ban him from the UK. He was slated to hold big old fashioned gospel rallys in 6 venues. They cancelled his bookings when it was shown he was a horrible homophobe. Covid19 struck at that point so he never came. And yes, the $1m salary was made public around then!
When the Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," I'm pretty sure it also means that Congress shall make no law giving money to any form of religion. This includes Lance Wallnau and his organization. Trump, of course, is quite happy to ignore the Constitution anytime he feels as though it's inconvenient for him.
Trump and Wallnau both need to be reminded that this is not the case.
It’s basically fraud. You and I both know that religion is just a scam to get vulnerable people to accept the fact that the higher-ups (wealthy) will always run the show and they will always be the peons who get to pay for it.
It’s a feudal system at its onset.
"law giving money to any form of religion" Don't forget the United States military that spends millions of tax dollars on religions every year. The exact amount will never be determined because most funding is hidden away. There is no separation of church a state in this part of government.
"Because local commanders budget for religious facilities and programs out of localized base operations rather than a central pool, civil liberties groups like the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) have noted that calculating the precise, absolute cost down to the dollar is nearly impossible without combing through local Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for every base."
[1] (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254284502_AN_OVERVIEW_OF_THE_US_MILITARY_CHAPLAINCY_A_MINISTRY_OF_PRESENCE_AND_PRACTICE), [2] (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-much-money-could-the_b_931436)
God Bless the United States Military?
Trunp lacks the intelligence, education, and empathy to understand such concepts.
Wallnau may or may not be the same, I can’t say.
All Trump knows is what he wants, and what he wants, he wants now. As for Wallnau, he clearly understands how to take advantage of a situation that potentially involves free money.
Whether he gets away with it or not is another matter.
tRump and Wallnau don’t care. As long as they get theirs, anything goes.
I can't think of a single time Jesus prioritized converting someone. Plenty of times he met the needs of the people he met.
In particular, I'm reminded of the story of the Roman centurion who's slave (or lover) was sick and near death and he sent for Jesus asking to heal him. Jesus never said a word the man about his religion. He just healed the slave (or lover).
These assholes just want money and power. Helping others is a means or a ruse for men like Wallnau to try and acquire both.
For them, helping others is transactional. To get their help, you have to jump through their hoops. None of them will help just because help is needed. That's why the NSGOP is trying to force disabled people to work if they want Medicaid and SNAP.
Even as a young child I questioned the motivation of Christians “good works”. If you are doing it for your God (who is this guy?) or to get yourself into heaven, why should I trust you or your intentions?
Yep!
I always wondered what happened when a prayer of mine didn't fit the divine plan. Would that prayer of mine SURPRISE God?
This is why I argue that churches aren't really charitable institutions. Charity means getting something for nothing; that's not what churches are usually doing. Either you have to join, or you have to listen to a sermon, or you have to do something for the church to get help from said church. That's not charity; that's a my back/your back transaction. Such a transaction is fine provided it adheres to local law, of course, but it is not charity and should not be considered such.
All I need to do is walk through the local small-town cemetery, filled with 200 years of my family.
And every grave in competition with EVERY other grave to have the biggest and fanciest headstone, in order to be remembered FOREVER in a place that "supposedly" has no meaning other than as a stepping-stone to Heaven.
Nothing screams "rich white Jesus" much louder than that.
You make great points in your comment. There’s just one glaring flaw, that the story of Jesus is a concocted fairytale. Christianity, just like the Jesus story, was invented by the Council of Nicea from 312-325 CE.
You can find this accurate information on the web.
"𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 $1 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ..."
While using that money for proselytizing instead of helping is part of it, Wallnau gives the game away here. Transfer massive amounts of government money directly to (his) churches. He's not satisfied with the direct donations from people who believe the way he does, he wants a cut of 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 money.
🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
The mask is off. They don’t have to pretend any longer that they are doing good work for humanity’s sake, but only in order to force desperate people to comply.
From white savior to white supremacist timeline.
We are now in the "Mirror, Mirror" universe, only worse.
77M+ Americans think think that EVERY American, looking in the mirror, should only see that they see.
"EVERY American" in America and the United States. 🤨
OT: long day of travel ahead. Vancouver to San Fran to DC and then a nearly hour drive home.
And then, for reasons that passeth understanding, I drive my bride to her hair salon for an 8 AM appt tomorrow.
Pray for me!
May your travels be safe. Ramen!
Because you loveth your lovely bride. That's sweet of you. Give yourself credit.
The train trip across is supposed to be spectacular. It’s on my bucket list. More expensive though.
That's a lot of driving for one day.
"Pray for me!" Praying to the almighty Vishnu. One of the better looking Gods. 🤪
https://hindupad.com/lord-vishnu/
"... Throughout my history leading Samaritan’s Purse, we have always relied on God, not government, for funding. ... "
Except for all the times when god provided funding through the government. All those don’t valuing because… reasons.
God needs a new advertising crew. Millions if not billions are spent every year, but membership is steadily going down.
Which is likely why Wallnau wants to suck on the government tit so badly. He needs to have his paddywhackers slapped and be firmly told, NO!!!"
I was about to say "because Christians suck" but you put it far more eloquently.
"... Throughout my history leading Samaritan’s Purse, we have always relied on God, not government, for funding. ... "
Well maybe The Donald could personally send them 2 billion dollars from his own personal fortune - no strings attached - rather than it coming from any government funds.
The Donald won't even pay out money he is legally required to (employees, vendors, contractors, the IRS) so voluntarily giving away money? Not gonna happen. Only with OPM will he be so "generous." And only when it benefits him in some way.
Funny how a great load of the folks they abandoned in Africa *already are Christians*! 🙄 or are they the ‘wrong kind’ (Catholic? Not culty enough?)
It’s really disgusting, isn’t it?
Too much melanin. Mark of Cain. Take your pick. All point to the same underlying hateful bigotry.
Ahh, yes, I always miss the obvious reasons 🙄
What a disgusting excuse for a human being. No one is getting saved or healed by Christians anywhere.
Although USAID probably needed reform and was somewhat (was) imperialistic in its nature, DOES NOT change the fact that the cuts from Elon and Big Balls will lead to MILLIONS and MILLIONS of deaths around the globe thanks to this Pro-death cult!
And they count that as a win.
Any deaths of anyone outside their circle is a win to them. Something their minions and followers should really take to heart, unless they are looking forward to their faces being leopard treats.
“You can befriend anyone that you're helping and these people are getting saved by the thousands because of Christians reaching out to help them."
Wallnau is confused about what friendship entails, what befriending means. I mean, when has befriending required religious conversion?
If they want to be a good friend, then conversion is not required. Friendship with ulterior motives is at best being a bad friend, and at worst predatory, but what else can we expect from the original predators?
Since Christians. And probably any other organized religious systems.
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧; 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨'𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯, 𝘐 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.” - Benjamin Franklin
Why doesn't your god open 𝘩𝘪𝘴 pocketbook, Wallnutz?
Let's look at the term "faith based".
"Faith" is a hope, a dream a belief someone chooses to wish to hope for.
"Based" means that it has "some" connection, however tenuous.
So "faith based" means "a hope of a dream with no strong connection to reality."
Tell me I'm WRONG, and then "love me or leave me and let me be lonely, MAGA!"
My tax dollars should not be going to proselytizing for any faith.
Foreign aid is a significant part of both our diplomatic efforts and our national defense. Unfortunately, we are bereft of leadership in both Defense and State Departments.
"You don't have to bow the knee to Baal ..."
Has anyone anywhere ever demanded that of American Christians?
Only in their Persecution Fever Dreams they martyrbate to constantly
Isn't it hard to bow the knee to Baal while you're doing the rusty trombone on Mammon?
I'm sure Soros/Obama/Biden has.
American Christians? 🙄
White folks in church to strengthen power connections, and to gossip.
(USA Americans, I mean.)
No, but they voluntarily and whole heartedly bow their entire selves to Mammon.