Vigile Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 http://www.letmewatchthis.ch/watch-2726309-National-Geographic-Pint-Sized-Preachers National Geographic Pint-Sized Preachers: Still only a pre-schooler, Kanon Tipton takes the pulpit at his family’s church and like a seasoned evangelist fervently preaches the gospel, mopping his forehead, shouting, waving his arms, the congregation hanging on his every word. But he’s just 4-years-old. NGC’s Pint-Sized Preachers goes inside the controversial world of child evangelists to follow two rising-stars and one established child minister as they spread God’s word and bring congregations to their feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Requiem Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 This is rather disturbing and fucking sick. These kids must be an example of christian inoctrination at its worst! Wonder what type of parents create such wackos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Requiem Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Wacko fundie homeschoolers create this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noggy Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Being a preacher is the best damn job ever. You walk around, wipe your forhead, yell a little bit, tell people how to run their lives, get paid for it, and still feel like your completely in tune with "God". I can't see a better job out there, really. Not if you honestly believe that shit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thackerie Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Being a preacher is the best damn job ever. You walk around, wipe your forhead, yell a little bit, tell people how to run their lives, get paid for it, and still feel like your completely in tune with "God". I can't see a better job out there, really. Not if you honestly believe that shit. It's even better if you DIShonestly don't believe that shit ... that is, if you only pretend to be a believer so you can keep your cushy job. That way, you can continue to lord it over the churchgoers and steal their money without experiencing the guilt and fear of Hell that you instill in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracked Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I've got a cousin that started preaching as a child. Most of the family is sooo proud of him. Of course I can't say I feel the same. He is a nice person to talk to, but honestly, he doesn't seem very bright to me. I guess tards teaching tards is the wave of the future 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Being a preacher is the best damn job ever. You walk around, wipe your forhead, yell a little bit, tell people how to run their lives, get paid for it, and still feel like your completely in tune with "God". I can't see a better job out there, really. Not if you honestly believe that shit. It depends. Maybe if a person is "specialized" kind of preacher like an evangelist or some sort of self-appointed prophecy "expert" with a limited repertoire and plenty of time to focus on things like delivery and fund-raising it is a Christ-fest. But pastors have to live in the communities in which they preach - often seeing little to no results for all their efforts. If you are a pastor ad sincerely believe that shit, you and your family are on constant display and the subject of endless critique. When you do something right, it's no big deal. A pastor should do the right thing. When you do something wrong it's an endless ass-chewings from deacons who are friends or relatives of the people who have complaints, but are too mousy or scared to talk to you themselves. You never go to bed at the end of the day ever actually knowing if you accomplished anything and constantly questioning if you handled things in just the right way. The charismatic, mega-church, filthy rich preachers and pastors you hear about are actually the exception. And of course there are many less glamorous pastorates where the preacher has found their niche and despite the stresses and heartaches. But many a sincere, honest pastor is forced to live thankless lives of quiet misery while keeping a smile on their face and belching out scriptural platitudes and stolen jokes. The only thing that keeps them going is the belief that God "has their back" and will some day, some how reward them for their toil. Of course, I eventually quit the ministry and even later de-converted so maybe my viewpoint is jaded. But the most miserable time in my life was when I pastored in East fucking imaginary god-forsaken east Texas and later in northern arm-pit of hell Oklahoma in communities that were on the decline in every way possible. I wouldn't have envied me and I certainly honestly believed every word that rolled off of my deluded, naive tongue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Being a preacher is the best damn job ever. You walk around, wipe your forhead, yell a little bit, tell people how to run their lives, get paid for it, and still feel like your completely in tune with "God". I can't see a better job out there, really. Not if you honestly believe that shit. It's even better if you DIShonestly don't believe that shit ... that is, if you only pretend to be a believer so you can keep your cushy job. That way, you can continue to lord it over the churchgoers and steal their money without experiencing the guilt and fear of Hell that you instill in them. But then you have to deal with your own guilt, knowing you are bilking others. If you don't have your own guilt, you are probably a sociopath, which I believe means you also won't feel much or enjoy life the way we non sociopaths can and sometimes do. It's lose-lose I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Maybe if a person is "specialized" kind of preacher like an evangelist or some sort of self-appointed prophecy "expert" with a limited repertoire and plenty of time to focus on things like delivery and fund-raising it is a Christ-fest. I stopped going to church when a buddy of mine pointed out the delivery methods to me. I sat in church for a few Sundays watching the pastor use the same tricks, while my blood boiled hotter each week until I just threw in the towel. I didn't really deconvert until a couple of years later, but that was a major blow to my faith. I think what's interesting about this doc is it shows how easy it is to learn rhetorical/emotional tricks preachers use, given even a 4 yo can master them. Yet the tricks are so powerful, they work on large swaths of adults. If you listen to his words, he doesn't say anything. He merely pulls their emotional strings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddbird1963 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Maybe if a person is "specialized" kind of preacher like an evangelist or some sort of self-appointed prophecy "expert" with a limited repertoire and plenty of time to focus on things like delivery and fund-raising it is a Christ-fest. I stopped going to church when a buddy of mine pointed out the delivery methods to me. I sat in church for a few Sundays watching the pastor use the same tricks, while my blood boiled hotter each week until I just threw in the towel. I didn't really deconvert until a couple of years later, but that was a major blow to my faith. I think what's interesting about this doc is it shows how easy it is to learn rhetorical/emotional tricks preachers use, given even a 4 yo can master them. Yet the tricks are so powerful, they work on large swaths of adults. If you listen to his words, he doesn't say anything. He merely pulls their emotional strings. In seminary, one of my Christian Ministry professors talked about a phenomenon he coined "dramaturgy" that members of the clergy can lapse into. To him "dramaturgy" - a combination of "drama" and "liturgy" was the emphasis on form - or advancing the persona that you were expected to have in your role as a preacher or minister. That's why sometimes you can spot the persons who are the preachers in a crowd. And it's why many preachers seem interchangeable - even the "dynamic" or "charismatic" ones. They can play their role, but they may lack the inner truth or character to actually embody that role. Of course my professor thought that there should be authenticity or substance to a minister. And I agree with that. Everyone should have authenticity and substance to their character. But I also think the pull is both ways - the preacher pulls the emotional strings of the congregations but the congregation pulls the preacher's emotional strings through their "amen's" and tearful confessions as they advance forward to the altar at the front of the church, hopefully for an intense and tearful expression of repentance. The congregation can make the preacher do what they want to pull their emotional strings. I even had congregants talk about how I didn't shout enough or pound the pulpit enough. "Have you noticed how few 'Amens' people shout when you preach?" This congregant was trying to shape me into a person who would pull his emotional strings so he could feel like he had participated in the narrative of the ideal worship experience. It's all about making this ideal narrative or mythological picture come true within the walls of a particular sanctuary on a given Sunday morning. The current iconic "frieze" of the evangelical mythos comes from the days of Jonathan Edwards or Charles Finney. The congregation plays out their drama, the minister his (or hers) and becomes all one big play of the revivalist movements' vision of the perfect conversion experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 The pastor who got me to quit was really a master. The church, like most, would start the service off with fun hymns and then before the sermon began, the hymns had progressed to soft, emotional worship hymns. The pastor would then kick it off by talking in a soft, loving voice, gaining access to the congregation before he slowly built a climax, where he would make everyone feel guilty, breaking them down, eventually reaching a point where he was yelling and speaking with command. He would then rebuild the audience as he grew softer and more loving again. When I saw this, I realized I and everyone there were being intentionally brainwashed. I was shocked I hadn't seen it until it was pointed out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phanta Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I only went to one of these drama charismatic churches once as an adult, a couple years ago. The preacher was a grown up. He would be very quiet and then start raging about something. Then he would get all quiet again, and then all ragey again. It was weird. I decided he was so worked up because he was having personal problems with the stuff he was talking about...and that he was, perhaps, drunk or suffering from some kind of severe mental illness or possible anger management deficiencies. I really felt sorry for the guy. Then he gave me the cold shoulder at the end of the service. Weird. Then I came here and you guys told me he was trying to manipulate people by acting like that. Man, I really thought the guy was on crack or a bender or something... Phanta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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