tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post4655312636610965911..comments2024-03-25T17:35:02.238-04:00Comments on Debunking Christianity: The Rise and Fall of Todd BentleyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-90215910603384562412009-03-29T19:22:00.000-04:002009-03-29T19:22:00.000-04:00Greetings John, I took some time to read this part...Greetings John, I took some time to read this part of the Blog so far -- I found out about this through one of the Charisma forums you seem familiar with. You've raised some excellent points about Christianity being subjective, so intellectually, you're on some strong ground. But what really surprised me was that no one seems to be able to see from the "gold tooth" video that Bentley was lying and he knew he was lying at the time!<BR/><BR/>My goodness, are most people so gullible that they can't spot such blatant insincerity?!? I never liked Bentley, and never will, but he does serve as a classic example of the necessity of keeping your brain turned on even when you're out to be spiritual! Being spiritual and getting stoned actually are different! Beyond that, just because someone can say Jesus out loud, doesn't mean they represent Him. Knowing someone's name, and actually knowing someone are very different things; this is going to make yiou angry, but it sounds to me like you were depending on canned prayers at best and that you really missed the genuine spiritual intimacy with Jesus Christ that is a hallmark of a genuine relationship with Him...Meghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664441667663184500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-85629661349204106902009-03-25T09:21:00.000-04:002009-03-25T09:21:00.000-04:00Many Christians do not believe Bentley is a Christ...Many Christians do not believe Bentley is a Christian any more than a whale is a fish. There are similarities but they are just not the same.<BR/><BR/>There is nothing about his behavior that indicates he is a Christian.<BR/><BR/>As a Christian I applaud ABC for exposing him. <BR/><BR/>To judge Christianity by a proven fraud like Bentley is unfair to Christianity and yourselves.Steve Pagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06633648815356461778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-48784175068880215642008-08-21T12:45:00.000-04:002008-08-21T12:45:00.000-04:00"there is no god" makes more sense than any other ..."there is no god" makes more sense than any other answer to these questions of why some appear to be healed and others are not. "there is no god" makes even more sense when you find out the actual healings are all fakes or mistaken beliefs when the person figures out later that nothing is really different. <BR/>and we are back at 'show me the evidence. any evidence at all.'goprairiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532311590000341237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-56274222713101636732008-08-18T23:11:00.000-04:002008-08-18T23:11:00.000-04:00goprairie,Yes, that's the dark side of spiritual h...goprairie,<BR/><BR/>Yes, that's the dark side of spiritual healing, accounting for those who aren't healed. It can't be God's fault, unless you are a Calvinist, then the kid with the tumor had it coming just like everyone else, one way or another. <BR/><BR/>No, pretty much the faith healing proponents just put there hands in their pockets and draw in the sand with their toe, mumbling something between "I don't know" and "keep believing" with maybe some "It's just God's will" mixed in. The discomfort is palpable when the mom who's three year old dies from a tumor cries out in anguish: "How much more could I have prayed? I believed, God knows my heart, my faith, we've been praying without ceasing for months, dozens of us".<BR/><BR/>Unavoidably, it's just not enough. Should way say instead God isn't in control, or isn't just or compassionate? <BR/><BR/>Well, that *would* provide some explanatory relief, wouldn't it? Especially if we understand "isn't in control" to be obtain from God's non-existence.Touchstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03733806892886921425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-3081962423321089402008-08-18T22:20:00.000-04:002008-08-18T22:20:00.000-04:00"those healings are problematic (the healed are ov..."those healings are problematic (the healed are overjoyed, but those who got passed over...)."<BR/>I read somewhere online an account of someone who watched the people in the audience wait for their illness or that of their sick child be called so they could go up for healing and when that malady was not called, blaming themselves for not having faith strong enough to deserve to be healed. that kind of sadness and emotional damage is pretty sad. I was intially thnking maybe if some yoohoo had found a way to tap into placebo effect, fine, but then i started to read about the disappointment of the 'not healed' and that seems cruel. far more disappointed each night than healed. but we do so want to believe that something like this might be the proof that there is a god. even if the god seems unfair and arbitrary, we'd rather have that than no god. i have had seemingly sane and rational people tell me this must be real because what about the people coming to life and the xrays proving the healings. massive numbers of regular people believe in this and want to keep believing.goprairiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532311590000341237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-6316263215622522312008-08-18T16:23:00.000-04:002008-08-18T16:23:00.000-04:00Hey Touchstone...great post. And, in a way, I rej...Hey Touchstone...great post. And, in a way, I rejoice to see yet another fraud be exposed, and to know that one more time a possibly fatal wound has been given to some who have built their lives on an illusion. I know - from personal experience - that this will be painful and even soul-shattering to some, but I also know it can lead to deliverance from Christian religion...and that is worth it.<BR/><BR/>One comment/observation - the issue of God making gold teeth appear in one man's mouth and not healing a child down at the hospital...for most Christians, that is not and cannot be an indictment of God or His failure - but instead an indictment of the Christian's lack of faith. Assholes like Bentley and the smaller people who ape his stuff love to quote this verse..."behold, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain 'be taken up and thrown into the sea' and it shall be done." YOUR FAITH - not God's character - is the dynamic that brings the release of the power of God. His power has been given to all - it is YOUR FAITH that releases it and brings the miracle to pass. AND THAT FAITH IS BEST EXHIBITED WHEN YOU GIVE MONEY TO ME!! (I can do this shit, man! I was good at it, and still am!)<BR/>By the way, I wrote a story about a sick perverted serial killer preacher man whose name was Bentley...and I swear I did not know this guy existed. I been out of touch for awhile. <BR/><BR/>Thanks, Todd, for screwing around!Don Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10624128241297548817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-34028165563793995412008-08-18T11:44:00.000-04:002008-08-18T11:44:00.000-04:00Along these lines, someone should write a serious ...Along these lines, someone should write a serious how-to book on pulling off such a "ministry". A "how I did it" would be even better. I don't know why Gortner didn't go into much more detail than he did on that.<BR/><BR/>Who wouldn't be morbidly interested in such a thing?ismellarathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798650524118603772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-6103595778978235522008-08-18T11:38:00.000-04:002008-08-18T11:38:00.000-04:00Ed Babinski seems to be the best record keeper aro...Ed Babinski seems to be the best record keeper around here, so I'll ask him (but if anyone else has a clue, please speak up):<BR/><BR/>Bentley seems to be just as big a fraud as Marjoe Gortner was, but have you collected any testimonies from those audience members from various such shows, who at one time publicly told these tales of having had visions/been healed, who now no longer believe they did? <BR/><BR/>(Plus maybe some accounts by those who'd been paid to spice things up by shilling with phony stories, like one lady apparently did, who was exorcised SEVERAL TIMES on different Bob Larson shows - after he was confronted with it, I think the explanation went something like the demons had attacked her again, and so she needed several treatments.)<BR/><BR/>I'd love to see some YouTube accounts of people comparing <BR/><BR/>1. what had been going through their minds at the time of their testimonies and what they *thought* they had experienced, and<BR/><BR/>2. how they explain the same supposed event now, when they no longer believe it happened.<BR/><BR/>If you could find a good number of these people, all debunking their former selves and spotlighting big-name fraudsters, that would be a hell of a subject for another book, and I'd think it would be about as successful as one of those "Magicians' Secrets Revealed" titles. <BR/><BR/>How can such testimonies not have the pull they do, and who wouldn't love to impress their friends by pointing at the screen and being able to explain how the next big-name scammer pulls it off?<BR/><BR/>It's time you became a household name, man! :)ismellarathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01798650524118603772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-49627017024060423802008-08-18T10:16:00.000-04:002008-08-18T10:16:00.000-04:00Takeo Kuroda,One of the implications of an "involv...Takeo Kuroda,<BR/><BR/>One of the implications of an "involved", immanent God is that when this God does deign to heal someone miraculously, he's demonstrating not just his power to heal that one person, but also validating his refusal to heal everyone else who languishes with whatever ailments they have. When God gives gold teeth to a Pentecostal insurance salesman at Bentley's revival, he's also NOT healing the kid with the brain tumor up the road at the children's hospital.<BR/><BR/>It is, indeed, a difficult set of choices to reconcile with the idea of a good and just God. Many Christians point to miraculous healings as one of the things that most commends God to them, but when you think about it, those healings are problematic (the healed are overjoyed, but those who got passed over...).<BR/><BR/>John,<BR/><BR/>I think you are right. The last six months have been a rocket ride, and Bentley's gotten some "rock star" to match his tattoos, now. One of the reasons Bentley got where he is, risen *and* fallen, is because that part of Christendom is acutely lacking in any kind of accountability. He's got to lay low because of the bad PR on the wife thing for a while, but we've not heard the last of Bentley...<BR/><BR/>-TSTouchstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03733806892886921425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-38834145944745826302008-08-18T09:58:00.000-04:002008-08-18T09:58:00.000-04:00Gullibility, and sex, are forever.Gullibility, and sex, are forever.zilchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01695741977946935771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-82332606306342013702008-08-18T09:39:00.000-04:002008-08-18T09:39:00.000-04:00Interesting that when ABC's Nightline tried to ver...Interesting that when ABC's Nightline tried to verify a healing, they could not find ONE. This would have been their mainstream media breakthru and they could not hold up to it. But yeah, I think we are gullible enough to let him come back and continue to 'heal'.goprairiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00532311590000341237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-66413478742077984042008-08-18T09:27:00.000-04:002008-08-18T09:27:00.000-04:00I wonder if the church shoots their own wounded he...I wonder if the church shoots their own wounded here, what might happen to Bentley? A probability: He's tasted power. He will not want to bow for long under the wings of people who'll tell him what to do. When he thinks he's good to go and they don't, he'll start a rival ministry without their approval, which is what some others have done.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-72245721084001537942008-08-18T09:14:00.000-04:002008-08-18T09:14:00.000-04:00Excellent post. Thanks.Excellent post. Thanks.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03469718358131331499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-15083889231652725562008-08-18T08:50:00.000-04:002008-08-18T08:50:00.000-04:00Here is what I don't get. God is supposed to be th...Here is what I don't get. God is supposed to be the "great physician." Any doctor worth his salt will do everything in his ability to save someone(whether they like it or not). If God is supposed to be able to heal anyone and doesn't, then God is no physician. God does not keep his promises; ergo God is not who he claims to be.Takhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14275244570849738634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21219785.post-90407028937802614872008-08-18T07:42:00.000-04:002008-08-18T07:42:00.000-04:00Agreed.How long before he gets saved again, become...Agreed.<BR/><BR/>How long before he gets saved again, becomes reborn and marries the new woman? 6 months? And then he'll claim it was a heaven sent trial...BahramtheRedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13723284453543057245noreply@blogger.com