studiorat Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Back in '04 when I was going to school in Orlando, I took a part time job with CSC - or EVENT STAFF. It was pretty cool... I got to see pro and college games (football & basketball), concerts, theater, etc... Pretty easy money for guarding staircases and telling people to sit down. One day, I got a phone call. It was my supervisor seeing if I wanted to work the Benny Hinn gig at T.D. Waterhouse Arena. It was a gig that paid a bit more per hour, and it was a longer than usual gig as well (mo' money!), so I said "sure" and went to the arena. So - upon arrival, I was immediately filled with the sense that "I'm gonna HATE this". The place was absolutely packed. In fact, there were too many tickets sold, so not everyone had a seat (an usher's nightmare). Now, I'd been to this arena about a dozen times previously and had to deal with REALLY drunk Orlando Magic fans... but I'd take those drunk bastards happily before I deal with the raging asshole christians again. For example - there was a family of about 5 sitting on the steps of the aisle, which is a big no-no. I politely told them that "due to the fire codes you cannot sit here because you were blocking exit access". Let me add that they weren't just sitting - they had bags and coats and other crap that they just piled around them like it was a bleacher seat. The well dressed, christian father stood up, and in front of his christian wife and kids (let alone the tons of other fine christian families in attendance) he basically started screaming at me about "where the FUCK is my FUCKING family supposed to sit you FUCKING PRICK!" Thankfully, my supervisor happened to be walking by just as this happened and had the "gentleman" escorted out. Sheesh! I'm sure you've all caught at least a snippet of the "Benny Hinn Experience". Now imagine being trapped for 3+ hours listening to shitty music that even Yanni would have rejected, speaking in tongues, faith healing, an massive tithe donations... The healing drove me bat-shit crazy. There was this poor guy in a large wheelchair (it almost looked like a stretcher). He was hooked up to breathing apparatus and monitors, he had braces on his torso and neck, all in all - not good condition. When the healing frenzy began, I stood and watched in utter shock and revulsion as his family TOOK OFF his braces and monitors (while simultaneously speaking in tongues), tried standing him up, prayed furiously - laid hands on him, jibber-jabbered like kung fu movie played too fast... and let him go. He collapsed onto the floor. Meanwhile, Benny's band played on... Before that night, I had my doubts about the church, but hadn't really gave it too much thought. It wasn't my world, and I figured "who's it hurting?" When I saw that poor guy hit the concourse floor, I realized just who. At the end of it all, I had to stop on the way home to get a drink. It was a crystallizing moment for me. I really saw first hand what a SCAM the evangelical thing really is. I really got pissed that assholes like Benny Hinn were getting filthy rich at the expense of that poor guy (who surely left more injured than when they showed up) that fell from his delusional family's grip. "What the FUCK is wrong with these people" I thought. I still wonder. Anyways - I just thought I'd share that with you all. I'd love to hear from you if you've had similar experiences. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Now, I'd been to this arena about a dozen times previously and had to deal with REALLY drunk Orlando Magic fans... Suffice to say I'd rather deal with the really drunk orlando Magic fans, too. I can't think which movie it was, but I love the scene where Chevy Chase is somehow mistaken for a Benny Hinn-like preacher and bullshits his way through. I feel sorry for the guy on the stetcher too, assuming he really was sick - that's bad to say I know, and I'm not saying people don't get healed by things we can't explain, but I've always suspected fake sick people are planted in audiences so the preacher can 'heal' them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiorat Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 No - the guy was genuinely in bad shape. I think he may have had MS or something. That, and he never even came close to the stage. I was working the upper level. They basically just dropped him on the floor! WTF!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 No - the guy was genuinely in bad shape. I think he may have had MS or something. That, and he never even came close to the stage. I was working the upper level. They basically just dropped him on the floor! WTF!! wtf indeed. Preying on people in bad shape (be that physical, mental, spiritual, or any way else) is not good in my books Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 The well dressed, christian father stood up, and in front of his christian wife and kids (let alone the tons of other fine christian families in attendance) he basically started screaming at me about "where the FUCK is my FUCKING family supposed to sit you FUCKING PRICK!" Thankfully, my supervisor happened to be walking by just as this happened and had the "gentleman" escorted out. Sheesh! Wow, that dude really had the indwelling of the holy fucking ghost! Just goes to show when push comes to shove christians have the same tongues as non-believers do! I can't stand Benny Hinn. Back in the mid-90's when I was an Assembly of god deacon Benny and his boys had just switched to the Assemblies denomination. Everyone in our church and our denom was exited about it how this would bring a fresh wave of the holy spirit into our lives. I had a good friend and his wife who had a severely disabled child of about three years old. In and out of hospitals all the time. Out of desperation and no fucking answers from the lord god they went to a Hinn crusade in Indianapolis for a specific healing. I didn't go but was later informed that they actually got on stage and had Hinn lay hands on him. Anything happen? Of course not. The holy spirit can push a lot of people down with a wave of Hinn's jacket yet he can't take the fucking time to heal a little boy in desperate need! Needless to say my friends were heartbroken and their little boy died of his ailments a few months later. After several deaths in our church body around that same time period, after months and months of fervent prayer in some cases, people just died anyway. Not one fucking miracle. Oh, but the lord did help someone in our church with a job promotion! So after that, even my pastor began to question why there were no healings after all the prayers. Yet the usual excuse, god's plan seemed to satisfy. Not me though, it was the beginning of the end for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 ...the usual excuse, god's plan... This is why prayers answered are the same as prayers unanswered. It's all god's plan. You get identical results praying to a rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobbler Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 ...the usual excuse, god's plan... This is why prayers answered are the same as prayers unanswered. It's all god's plan. You get identical results praying to a rock. Hmm... a triune rock god! Boulder, Rock, and the Holy Gravel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japedo Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Thanks for sharing this story and welcome to ex-c!! I'm glad the filthy mouthed god warrior was tossed out on his holyass. That breaks my heart about the crippled man, lots of travesty's like that go on in healing/praise services, it's disgraceful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eejay Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I can't say that there is any one thing alone that caused my deconversion, but the unanswered prayer thing, really got my attention. Why, I ask myself, are people so gullible that they continue to support assholes like that? Hinn is such a phoney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hereticzero Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I've seen the faith healers in live performances. They use 'plants' who are in the audiance and come forward to be healed and they pretend to be healed in order to encourage others to come forward. Mass hysteria goes a long way at a healing festival. I always hear of someone's auntie who gets healed of her cancer at a healing but never someone that has no limbs or has cerebral palsy. Apparently the christian god is as limited in power over physical ailments as he is unable to defeat an army equipped with iron weapons (according to the OT)--I wonder if god really does have an iron allergy since he could not rip the nails out of his own hands and feet! Everything has its limitations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnacle Bill Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I think if they ever did a remake of Barbarella, Benny Hinn would make a GREAT Durand-Durand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Sideways Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Now, I'd been to this arena about a dozen times previously and had to deal with REALLY drunk Orlando Magic fans... Suffice to say I'd rather deal with the really drunk orlando Magic fans, too. I can't think which movie it was, but I love the scene where Chevy Chase is somehow mistaken for a Benny Hinn-like preacher and bullshits his way through. I feel sorry for the guy on the stetcher too, assuming he really was sick - that's bad to say I know, and I'm not saying people don't get healed by things we can't explain, but I've always suspected fake sick people are planted in audiences so the preacher can 'heal' them. National Lampoon's Vacation, after they drop off the grandmother at Ellen's brother's house in Phoenix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Sideways Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 ...the usual excuse, god's plan... This is why prayers answered are the same as prayers unanswered. It's all god's plan. You get identical results praying to a rock. Or by talking to yourself, which is really what prayer is. Talking to yourself in a schizophrenic manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakefoot Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Hmm... a triune rock god! Boulder, Rock, and the Holy Gravel! Holy crap, that was terrible...but I can't help myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I can't think which movie it was, but I love the scene where Chevy Chase is somehow mistaken for a Benny Hinn-like preacher and bullshits his way through. Fletch Lives The best part is when Fletch switches the information around so the preacher tells the guy to expose his problem to the congregation, when the guys problem was hemorrhoids! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Sideways Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I can't think which movie it was, but I love the scene where Chevy Chase is somehow mistaken for a Benny Hinn-like preacher and bullshits his way through. Fletch Lives The best part is when Fletch switches the information around so the preacher tells the guy to expose his problem to the congregation, when the guys problem was hemorrhoids! Oh and here I was thinking that it was that scene in National Lampoons Vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakefoot Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I will believe in god, Hinn, and all other "faith healers" and all associated therewith the moment one of them produces a bona fide, provable case of the retorative healing of an amputee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trev Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yes that's right I knew someome would know it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakefoot Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I will believe in god, Hinn, and all other "faith healers" and all associated therewith the moment one of them produces a bona fide, provable case of the retorative healing of an amputee. Reminds me of a response to a blog I was reading last night. The blogger asked why god doesn't heal amputees. Some fundy replied that we rely on doctors too much but it happens all the time in third world countries. LOL! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've seen healing service atrocities. The one that made me cry was when the pastor drug a newly paralyzed man to the front of the sanctuary out of the blue and had a bunch of people start babbling over him. It was upsetting to me. Yeah, I've heard/read the same BS. It's always in some remote African villiage or whatever. Well, I still need to see the video AND read a peer-reviewd journal report (JAMA, The Lancet, et al) before I swallow it. I'd also accept the restoration of sight to one born without eyes. I will NOT be holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Reminds me of a response to a blog I was reading last night. The blogger asked why god doesn't heal amputees. Some fundy replied that we rely on doctors too much but it happens all the time in third world countries. LOL! Ah yes. Third world countries. Those people get all the breaks. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakefoot Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 (somewhere a christain just screamed hallelujah and thanked god that I provided an answer for them.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kozimoto Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 I always thought it desperate how preachers always get a 'word of knowledge' about healing someone with a generic condition, like "women's troubles" or bowel problems or back problems - things that are quite common, so that they have someone to take the bait. And then, when I was in School of the Spirit (please don't ask, it was so lame), the preacher told us to say that we felt someone had one of those kinds of conditions, so that someone would come up, and people's confidence to come for prayer would increase, and we could "begin to flow in the spirit". Which made me think... at what point did you stop following the script and actually start flowing in the spirit? Maybe never?? Mmmm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaGman Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 he basically started screaming at me about "where the FUCK is my FUCKING family supposed to sit you FUCKING PRICK!" Thankfully, my supervisor happened to be walking by just as this happened and had the "gentleman" escorted out. Sheesh! >>> Awe give him a break.... His welfare check ran out, and he's out of beer and just in Jonesing mode. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Sounds like fun. I am glad I never had the urge to go to a Hinn gathering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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