August 15, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, Grade of D as in David said: We really need to start taxing mega churches It’s way past time for that.
August 16, 20187 yr I met Olsteen by accident last year in New York. We had about fifteen minutes where it was just he and I chatting. He spent half the time complaining about the bad press he got over the hurricane issue. I despise televangelists with a passion, probably more than anyone or anything else on this planet.
August 16, 20187 yr My only airport religious event was when traveling with my teen son, and there was a very imposing nun sitting by herself, I guess because people are afraid of nuns. Well, we went and sat next to her and continued the Spades game we had kept going across 3 different countries. She was a hoot, from Ireland, about as politically correct as giving Guinness to a baby to make it sleep, and did not give a rip. Enjoyed talking with her.
August 16, 20187 yr Man, a lot of hate on this thread. I'm not religious. I know relatively little about Joel Osteen. I don't watch any televangelists. It is hard for me to understand why so many care enough to post their hate of him. Just ignore him and move on.
August 16, 20187 yr 23 minutes ago, Bevo said: Man, a lot of hate on this thread. I'm not religious. I know relatively little about Joel Osteen. I don't watch any televangelists. It is hard for me to understand why so many care enough to post their hate of him. Just ignore him and move on. Because he is a piece of shit and takes hard working people's money. He didn't want to help people during Harvey until he was shamed into it. He sucks ass.
August 16, 20187 yr 24 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said: Because he is a piece of shit and takes hard working people's money. He didn't want to help people during Harvey until he was shamed into it. He sucks ass. Oh, in that case, rage on. BTW, how much did he take from you?
August 16, 20187 yr 19 minutes ago, Bevo said: Oh, in that case, rage on. BTW, how much did he take from you? Fuck off you dumbfuck.
August 16, 20187 yr 28 minutes ago, Bevo said: Oh, in that case, rage on. BTW, how much did he take from you? You don't have to be taken by a con artist to despise con artists.
August 16, 20187 yr 24 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said: Fuck off you dumbfuck. I'm dumb because I don't give money to zealots, I ignore people I don't like, and I don't let the little stuff bother me? I'm good with that.
August 16, 20187 yr If you know nothing about the topic, why post? Thanks for stopping by with your nugget of ignorance of Osteen.
August 16, 20187 yr I'm dumb because I don't give money to zealots, I ignore people I don't like, and I don't let the little stuff bother me? I'm good with that.You’re a self absorbed jerk. These con artists prey on people to bilk them out of millions of dollars in order to fund lavish lifestyles and you don’t care at all? People like you are how things like Hitler happen. You keep your head up your own ass.
August 16, 20187 yr 27 minutes ago, Bevo said: I'm dumb because I don't give money to zealots, I ignore people I don't like, and I don't let the little stuff bother me? I'm good with that. How about you concentrate on ignoring this thread, jackass.
August 16, 20187 yr 22 minutes ago, Dbeasy said: You’re a self absorbed jerk. These con artists prey on people to bilk them out of millions of dollars in order to fund lavish lifestyles and you don’t care at all? People like you are how things like Hitler happen. You keep your head up your own ass. You know you've lost when you bring up Hitler. Interestingly, I had plenty of relatives killed by Hitler and I'm pretty sure I would have been one of the first to take up arms against him. But, that topic is for another day. Anyway, you would have been better off comparing Joel Orsteen to the Austin City Council. It is a much better comparison. Both take money from the people and use it inappropriately. One difference though is that one is a forced contribution and the other is voluntary. But what I find interesting, is all the hate for a guy you would never give money to. Moreover, you probably despise most people who do give money to him.
August 16, 20187 yr Why do you keep posting if you have no idea what the topic is about, and apparently refuse to devote any energy into why a lot of people hate the guy? It’s on the thread multiple times about his actions after Harvey. Those of us who lived through it have every right to hate him for it.
August 16, 20187 yr 20 minutes ago, ERhine said: Why do you keep posting if you have no idea what the topic is about, and apparently refuse to devote any energy into why a lot of people hate the guy? It’s on the thread multiple times about his actions after Harvey. Those of us who lived through it have every right to hate him for it. Yeah, he's an asshole.
August 16, 20187 yr 22 minutes ago, Bevo said: You know you've lost when you bring up Hitler. Interestingly, I had plenty of relatives killed by Hitler and I'm pretty sure I would have been one of the first to take up arms against him. But, that topic is for another day. Anyway, you would have been better off comparing Joel Orsteen to the Austin City Council. It is a much better comparison. Both take money from the people and use it inappropriately. One difference though is that one is a forced contribution and the other is voluntary. But what I find interesting, is all the hate for a guy you would never give money to. Moreover, you probably despise most people who do give money to him. It’s amazing how often I’ve seen this sort of thinking. With Hitler, with school shooters, terrorists, Stalin, the mob, a gang rape, you name it. It seems to presume that everyone who actually was there was a bunch of fucking cowards. All they needed was the A-Team, led by you and Hannibal. Maybe some of that is true. It sure seems unlikely that all of the good guys were spared and the pussies were the ones left behind, though. Just doesn’t make mathematical sense. But, hey, congrats on your hypothetical bravery.
August 16, 20187 yr 21 minutes ago, ERhine said: Why do you keep posting if you have no idea what the topic is about, and apparently refuse to devote any energy into why a lot of people hate the guy? It’s on the thread multiple times about his actions after Harvey. Those of us who lived through it have every right to hate him for it. Sorry, I didn't realize this thread was the affirmation thread. I though it was a discussion on surly.
August 16, 20187 yr You know you've lost when you bring up Hitler. Interestingly, I had plenty of relatives killed by Hitler and I'm pretty sure I would have been one of the first to take up arms against him. But, that topic is for another day. Anyway, you would have been better off comparing Joel Orsteen to the Austin City Council. It is a much better comparison. Both take money from the people and use it inappropriately. One difference though is that one is a forced contribution and the other is voluntary. But what I find interesting, is all the hate for a guy you would never give money to. Moreover, you probably despise most people who do give money to him. Look fucknuts, I am sorry you got duped into buying his books. No one hates the folks that go to his “church”. We may feel sorry for them that they buy his bullshit he is peddling, but we don’t hate them. We don’t like that charlatan for many reasons, most recently for him not wanting the folks that truly needed help, hope and a dry place to sleep until he was publicly shamed into doing so. Now this asshat has the ego to accept an award for helping them when he never wanted to in the first place. Are you able to understand that, or does the water on your brain prevent even that simple idea. Take your bullshit somewhere else.
August 16, 20187 yr You keep posting and adding nothing of substance. Do I need to fucking spoon feed it to you? Read the thread. Google his actions. Do something other than post repeatedly about how without having done anything to look into the issue you don’t understand why the thirty or so Houston posters on the thread dislike him. I don’t know why I’m even engaging with you because you’ll post some other equally worthless post about blah blah blah and you don’t get it. Whatever.
August 16, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, Bevo said: Man, a lot of hate on this thread. I'm not religious. I know relatively little about Joel Osteen. I don't watch any televangelists. It is hard for me to understand why so many care enough to post their hate of him. Just ignore him and move on. Do you not see the dishonesty about what people like him are doing? If you bothered to read the Bible itself even Christ and his apostles railed against those who would use religion to get worldly gain. 29 minutes ago, Bevo said: You know you've lost when you bring up Hitler. Interestingly, I had plenty of relatives killed by Hitler and I'm pretty sure I would have been one of the first to take up arms against him. But, that topic is for another day. Anyway, you would have been better off comparing Joel Orsteen to the Austin City Council. It is a much better comparison. Both take money from the people and use it inappropriately. One difference though is that one is a forced contribution and the other is voluntary. But what I find interesting, is all the hate for a guy you would never give money to. Moreover, you probably despise most people who do give money to him. Again, note the hypocrisy and dishonesty in what these charlatans do. It's antithetical to the Gospel itself.
August 16, 20187 yr Modern-day discussions of church and state issues typically focus on the church's influence on the state, for good reason, but the primary purpose of this separation is to protect religious institutions from the state. As for Osteen, I think the biblical description of him might be found in 2 Timothy 4:3 - For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. The always pithy Jesus described some teachers as wolves in sheep's clothing. The prosperity gospel preached by many of these TV preachers is far from Christian orthodoxy and is just another combination of American civic self-help religion and greed wrapped in a personal Jesus of self-actualization: moralistic therapeutic deism
August 16, 20187 yr 22 minutes ago, Mole said: Modern-day discussions of church and state issues typically focus on the church's influence on the state, for good reason, but the primary purpose of this separation is to protect religious institutions from the state. As for Osteen, I think the biblical description of him might be found in 2 Timothy 4:3 - For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. The always pithy Jesus described some teachers as wolves in sheep's clothing. The prosperity gospel preached by many of these TV preachers is far from Christian orthodoxy and is just another combination of American civic self-help religion and greed wrapped in a personal Jesus of self-actualization: moralistic therapeutic deism It goes both ways, It's also to protect our rights and freedoms from encroachment on them by religious institution. I've seen this first hand by not only my own church with Prop 8 but other organizations who tout "religious freedom" because they can't restrict the rights and liberties of others who don't share their beliefs. Again, it's a two-way street. Edited August 16, 20187 yr by Shmitty
August 16, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, RDCanecutter said: My only airport religious event was when traveling with my teen son, and there was a very imposing nun sitting by herself, I guess because people are afraid of nuns. Well, we went and sat next to her and continued the Spades game we had kept going across 3 different countries. She was a hoot, from Ireland, about as politically correct as giving Guinness to a baby to make it sleep, and did not give a rip. Enjoyed talking with her. This is allsome
August 16, 20187 yr 20 minutes ago, closetojumping said: It’s amazing how often I’ve seen this sort of thinking. With Hitler, with school shooters, terrorists, Stalin, the mob, a gang rape, you name it. It seems to presume that everyone who actually was there was a bunch of fucking cowards. All they needed was the A-Team, led by you and Hannibal. Maybe some of that is true. It sure seems unlikely that all of the good guys were spared and the pussies were the ones left behind, though. Just doesn’t make mathematical sense. But, hey, congrats on your hypothetical bravery. For starters, I'm Jewish so considering I would have been directly attacked I would have been incentivized to either fight or flee. And considering I was athletic and cocky in my youth and often stood up for guys being picked on, there is a pretty good chance I would fight. Shit, I don't even know you but I think you can tell from my posts that I don't back down from you and kind of enjoy watching you get riled up. So, I would think you would realize that there is a pretty decent chance that I would be at least somewhat likely to fight. Don't you think you would be likely to fight as well? Where it gets a little sticky is I enjoy life and I'm not one to lead a charge and take a bullet for someone. I would more than likely be the one building explosives and hiding them in Hitler's path.
August 16, 20187 yr 42 minutes ago, Bevo said: For starters, I'm Jewish so considering I would have been directly attacked I would have been incentivized to either fight or flee. And considering I was athletic and cocky in my youth and often stood up for guys being picked on, there is a pretty good chance I would fight. Shit, I don't even know you but I think you can tell from my posts that I don't back down from you and kind of enjoy watching you get riled up. So, I would think you would realize that there is a pretty decent chance that I would be at least somewhat likely to fight. Don't you think you would be likely to fight as well? Where it gets a little sticky is I enjoy life and I'm not one to lead a charge and take a bullet for someone. I would more than likely be the one building explosives and hiding them in Hitler's path. Not sure if serious or The Bear Jew
August 16, 20187 yr 47 minutes ago, Bevo said: For starters, I'm Jewish so considering I would have been directly attacked I would have been incentivized to either fight or flee. And considering I was athletic and cocky in my youth and often stood up for guys being picked on, there is a pretty good chance I would fight. Shit, I don't even know you but I think you can tell from my posts that I don't back down from you and kind of enjoy watching you get riled up. So, I would think you would realize that there is a pretty decent chance that I would be at least somewhat likely to fight. Don't you think you would be likely to fight as well? Where it gets a little sticky is I enjoy life and I'm not one to lead a charge and take a bullet for someone. I would more than likely be the one building explosives and hiding them in Hitler's path. I'm quarter Jewish (Polish-speaking great grandparents came here from Lithuania, holla!), so i guess that makes me Jew-ish?
August 16, 20187 yr Popular Post I don't know why you guys hate cancer so much. You don't have cancer. Cancer never took your life. I don't have cancer. I just don't see how anyone could hate cancer. But, know this, if I had cancer I would fuck that shit up. But I don't. So why hate cancer?
August 16, 20187 yr 43 minutes ago, Spankytoes said: Not sure if serious or The Bear Jew The Hebrew hammer!
August 16, 20187 yr On a similar note. Woodlands church. Once you get big enough to be an advertiser/sponsor (including tv slots)for the 2017 World Series Champion Astros -and remind you the church is tax exempt. You’re getting a little too big. Something just not right about it. Edited August 16, 20187 yr by KatHorn
August 16, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, Bevo said: For starters, I'm Jewish so considering I would have been directly attacked I would have been incentivized to either fight or flee. And considering I was athletic and cocky in my youth and often stood up for guys being picked on, there is a pretty good chance I would fight. Shit, I don't even know you but I think you can tell from my posts that I don't back down from you and kind of enjoy watching you get riled up. So, I would think you would realize that there is a pretty decent chance that I would be at least somewhat likely to fight. Don't you think you would be likely to fight as well? Where it gets a little sticky is I enjoy life and I'm not one to lead a charge and take a bullet for someone. I would more than likely be the one building explosives and hiding them in Hitler's path. Damn you sound awesome. Please tell us how you would have handled all of the major crises in history.
August 16, 20187 yr 51 minutes ago, Swearengen said: I don't know why you guys hate cancer so much. You don't have cancer. Cancer never took your life. I don't have cancer. I just don't see how anyone could hate cancer. But, know this, if I had cancer I would fuck that shit up. But I don't. So why hate cancer? There's a thread for hating cancer around here somewhere.
August 16, 20187 yr Even the Church of Scientology is impressed with osteen’s ability to grift cash from stooges.
August 16, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, Shmitty said: I'm quarter Jewish (Polish-speaking great grandparents came here from Lithuania, holla!), so i guess that makes me Jew-ish?
August 16, 20187 yr I presume his n his wife's books, xm station, etc. are personal, so I've always wondered how they support that campus (45 year old arena).Do people tithe or buy tickets and parking? Is there a foundation you contribute to in order to get the right to buy tickets? There must be some huge fundrsising infrastructure in place. Does Steve Patterson work there now?
August 16, 20187 yr 8 hours ago, Quagmire said: Why was this fuckface not run out of town yet? 7 hours ago, Neonmoon said: He’s the devil Houston is Hell so...
August 16, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, Swearengen said: I don't know why you guys hate cancer so much. You don't have cancer. Cancer never took your life. I don't have cancer. I just don't see how anyone could hate cancer. But, know this, if I had cancer I would fuck that shit up. But I don't. So why hate cancer? Didnt realize cancer was voluntary. Hate is a hell of a drug.
August 16, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, Bevo said: Man, a lot of hate on this thread. I'm not religious. I know relatively little about Joel Osteen. I don't watch any televangelists. It is hard for me to understand why so many care enough to post their hate of him. Just ignore him and move on. I know little about you also and I still hate you
August 16, 20187 yr 21 minutes ago, 52-80 said: I know little about you also and I still hate you Sounds legit. Don't care that you are surly. Not sorry for fucking your mom.
August 16, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, TexArcher said: Joel Osteen makes me wish Hell existed. It does. It's called TexAgs.
August 16, 20187 yr 7 hours ago, woohorn said: I presume his n his wife's books, xm station, etc. are personal, so I've always wondered how they support that campus (45 year old arena). Do people tithe or buy tickets and parking? Is there a foundation you contribute to in order to get the right to buy tickets? There must be some huge fundrsising infrastructure in place. Does Steve Patterson work there now? All I know is Chronicle's reporting said they spent $90 million in 2016-2017: Weekly services accounted for 35% of their spending TV ministry accounted for 28% Mission and outreach accounted for.... 1.3%. They spent almost 12x that on fundraising. They made $78 million in contributions. $2.8 million in product sales. $1.75 million in touring events. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4489169-2017-Financial-Statements-for-Lakewood-Church.html
August 16, 20187 yr 21 hours ago, Radical Larry said: I saw that on the news this morning. What a bunch of shit. you can say that again. And you can say "you can say that again" again and again. Edited August 16, 20187 yr by pyrohornIII Already pointed out by many...way fookin late to that party, I was
August 16, 20187 yr Somebody remind me how Osteen is no better than most organized churches in this country?
August 16, 20187 yr 15 hours ago, TwiceHorn said: Well, every piece of legislation reflects beliefs. Some are more commonly held than others. Some are more clearly identified with religious philosophy than others. The other reasons churches aren't taxes is that 99% of them, the ones you never read about, are a net social good, both for their own congregation and broader interests. I think they should be scrutinized carefully to make sure they aren't used as profiteering or political vehicles, but the vast, vast majority are not. 99% is a bit high of an estimate, don't you think?
August 16, 20187 yr 46 minutes ago, Lobo said: Somebody remind me how Osteen is no better than most organized churches in this country? We gotta start somewhere.
August 16, 20187 yr I think some people wanting to tax churches is because of their G&A. Their societal good is extensive and deep. From feeding the hungry, to clothing the poor, to counseling services for the anguished, and a breadth of healthcare services. Many organized faiths pick up where the local food pantry, goodwill, government social work clinics, and county ER's leave off. But where some of us begin to get skeptical is those organizations have nowhere near the overhead of organized religions. The local parish has to kick up to the diocese who has to kick up to the regional/national level who has to kick up to the Vatican. The facilities and offices they have kinda make the goodwill offices look paltry by comparison. My wife's priest's home costs more than ours, while the director of the Austin Food Bank likely lives on less than $75,000/year. Her church just completed a dome project with artwork costing several millions of dollars. While the Boys & Girls club had to hold a special fundraiser to get new lightbulbs and fix the 20-year old HVAC. If you don't want people wanting to tax you, quit flaunting your "ministry funds"
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