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• 

  book review: First Fruits by Paula White

  Posted: January 27th, 2008, 8:44am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  Title
  First Fruits: From Promise to Provision
  
  Author:
  Paula White
  
  Publisher:
  Paula White Ministries
  
  Date of Publication:
  2006
  
  ISBN:
  978-0-9792092-0-8
  
  Rating:
  0
  
  Summary:
  The book is a drawn out justification for you why you should give, in addition to your tithing (a full 10%), your first month's salary to Without Walls International Church (or whichever prosperity gospel church or megachurch you belong to).
  
  Review:
  I attended a meeting at Without Walls just to see what all the fuss was about. On my way out someone handed me a copy of this book. It was free. I took it. I didn't want it, but they gave it to me anyway. I took the 20 minutes it requires to skim the book and realize what it says (see my summary above). It probably wasn't worth my 20 minutes (and my additional 20 minutes to write this review) but hey, why not?
  
  Just so people know I'm not making up what the book's message is, I have a few quotes for you. From page 85, “People ask me why my husband and I set January aside as a season of private and corporate fasting, giving, and prayer. God set the Feast of First Fruits as the beginning of things for Israel... We are offering up that first month unto the Lord to establish what happens in the rest of the year... By presenting God the firstfruits: the first part of your day, the first month of the year, the first of your increase, you are saying “I present this as holy, consecrated to the Lord... and I cannot touch it.” It governs everything else that operates in your life.”
  
  So, technically, what Ms. White (not Mrs. anymore) is saying is that you can determine what your “firstfruits” are going to be: one day's salary, one week's, one month's, etc., but you have to give it in order to be in favor with god. If you don't, well, that's when she introduces the guilt complex (just 7 pages later), from p. 92, “I never want to experience the Lord's absence. I cannot imagine trying to do anything without the Lord being with me.” And from page 93, “When we obey, we are blessed; when we do not, we open ourselves to demonic activity...” If you don't give us your fucking “firstfruits,” god will curse you. Give us more, more, more!!!!!
  
  Oh, and in case there is any question as to who actually gets what you donate, here's her subtle clarification, “But – what happened to all those baskets of fruit afterwards? [the ones donated by the Israelites as firstfruits] They were not consumed by fire. God didn't come down and eat them. So who did? The priests did.” (p. 113) In other words, Give us more, more, more!!!!!
  
  But don't think Paula doesn't give, too, “At the beginning of every year, in the month of January, Randy and I, along with our entire congregation, dedicate ourselves to a holy consecrated fast and the offering of first fruits... We also present our first fruits of the year to the Lord in the form of one day's salary, one week's salary, or even one whole month's salary as each person has the faith and ability to give.” Of course, for Paula, she gives herself her salary, so that's kind of convenient. I wonder how much she sucks out of unwitting victims in a single day?
  
  At the end of the book Ms. White gives examples of people offering their first fruits. Some give tons, others give a little, but not to worry, “God says that all first fruits belong to Him, great or small.” And by “God” Paula means “Paula. She'll take your money if your rich or poor. Doesn't matter to Paula, 'cause it's all about the money.
  
  Usually when I read a book I use a pencil to make very small marks around the paragraphs of interest then indicate where they are with removable post-its. In her book, I used pen and dog-eared the pages. Then I threw it away. You should do the same.
• 

  moved

  Posted: January 24th, 2008, 1:15am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  I haven't posted anything here in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been posting. I've just moved - maybe temporarily, maybe permanently - to a new site: http://latterdaymainstreet.com
  
  I encourage any long time readers to check things out over there. I may come back and post here occasionally, especially if it is on a topic unrelated to Mormonism, which is the focus at the new blog.
• 

  the cat's out of the bag

  Posted: December 1st, 2007, 1:32am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  The New York Times today has a great article on the failed fundamentalist Islamic revolution in Nigeria. Apparently the primary advocates of Shariah law were money-grubbing politicians who were using the fundamentalist push to enrich themselves. Hmmm... Where have I seen that before? That sounds an awful lot like just about every television evangelist in the U.S., e.g., James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Paula White, etc. Religion's true nature - enrich preachers and impoverish followers!
• 

  WWIC co-founder Paula White changes the question

  Posted: November 30th, 2007, 1:00am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  Paula White was recently on Larry King's show talking about the investigation into her former church's finances. But, as any good fraud will do, she changed the focus from her and her husband spending millions of dollars on themselves to the old religious standby - this is an attack on faith, our faith in particular.
  
  When asked directly about the finances, she spun like a good little fraud,
  

  King asked whether the church had paid for White's plastic surgery. "We're
  going back to those questions," said White, who said she paid for the plastic
  surgery herself.

  
  I'm sure she did pay for it herself, out of the salary she got from her church! It's not like she has other sources of income.
• 

  Pope Benedict insists people need god...

  Posted: November 30th, 2007, 12:55am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  Now there's a shocker! Here's a direct quote from his new encyclical, "Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope." This leads me to wonder, "Does Pope Benedict stand to benefit at all by insisting that man needs god?" As Daniel Dennett so compellingly argued in his latest book, you can learn a lot by asking the simple question, "cui bono" (or "who benefits"). If people stop "needing" god, Pope Benedict is out of a cush job. Of course he's going to say the world needs god. And of course he is going to rail against atheism. His cush lifestyle depends on it!
• 

  WWIC - still fleecing the sheep

  Posted: November 11th, 2007, 12:24am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  Here's a good MSNB article on Without Walls International Church. I particularly love this line, "But then, he [Randy White] can't walk away from his calling - or his sheep." Brilliant! No sense hiding what you're doing - the members are sheep, straight up! The church is all about money, and fleecing it from those sheep...
  
  In a really ironic twist, Randy's has recently started a "fundraising campaign." This while they drive around in luxury sports cars and own multi-million dollar homes. Maybe the shrinking attendance is a good sign that the church is foundering... and will eventually whither away and die... And maybe the investigation will result in criminal suits as well... Here's to hoping.
  
  Oh, and in a real twist, two scam artists and devotees of the religion are quoted as supporters - Nga and Anthony Robles run an illegitimate travel operation out of Tampa that is currently under investigation by the Florida State Government for illegal business practices. I guess birds of a feather flock together.
• 

  a little Catholic hypocrisy never tasted so good

  Posted: November 11th, 2007, 12:17am EST by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  Philip Pullman, author of "His Dark Materials" trilogy, has been continuously under fire now that his book series is being turned into a movie (the book series is really good, by the way). What I love about the criticism is that it is coming almost exclusively from the Catholic League. Of course, it's being carried by the mainstream media as well (always a bit pro-religion). But here's they hypocrisy - Did the Catholic League step up to the plate when "The Massacre of the Jew by Nefarious and Evil Jews" (a.k.a. The Passion) was released? As Mel Gibson, a follower of an obscure, ultra-conservative Catholic group, flouted his anti-semitism, the Catholic League remained silent. So, an atheist who wrote a compelling children's book that includes hints of atheism should be attacked in the press, but a Catholic who produced an openly anti-semitic, violent, ultra-gory movie about the killing of a Jew should be praised? Hmmm.... Seems to me the Catholic League is worried about their relevancy in the modern world.
• 

  Paula White - formerly of Without Walls - is now of Alpha Centauri

  Posted: October 16th, 2007, 2:29pm EDT by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  I couldn't help myself - I saw a few too many pictures of Paula White and began to think what she would look like without her makeup.
• 

  God is in my hat...

  Posted: October 8th, 2007, 3:20am EDT by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  I caught this Scientific American article on Slashdot and thought it worthy reading for all my atheist friends. The article talks about how "spiritual" experiences are basically replicable by stimulating areas of the brain. Big shocker ;) (pun intended)
• 

  James Dobson whimpers for a little attention

  Posted: October 4th, 2007, 1:36am EDT by exmoron

  Tags:    [edit]

  The NYTimes let little Jimmy Dobson stand up on his soapbox for a few minutes today with an op-ed piece. Jimmy tried to turn his soapbox into a bully pulpit; he threatened to not support either the Democrats or the Republicans if they don't do exactly as he wants. And what, exactly, does little Jimmy want? Here's the short list:
  
  

  • abortion should be banned, so we can have more botched, illegal abortions like the one in this photograph (that is Gerri Santoro, who bled death as the result of a "back-alley" abortion in 1964, when abortion was illegal in the U.S.)
  • the candidate must support the archaic familism of conservative Christians, which according to Brad Wilcox's recent book (Soft Patriarchs, New Men), means: traditionalistic gender-roles, higher frequency of corporal punishment (spanking and hitting) compared to unaffiliated fathers in the U.S., and a slightly higher incidence of yelling at one's kids (again, compared to unaffiliated fathers)
  • a return to "fault-only" divorce; women, if you find your husband to be abusive, you better get pictures before you try to leave - no walking out as soon as the abuse starts; no maam, that just won't do
  • oh, and whatever else Jimmy decides is "pro-family", which probably includes: banning atheism and secular humanism and making everyone a Christian

  Newsflash for Jimmy Dobson: Yeah, Republican politicians are fidgeting with trying to appease you and your chronies, but they don't have a prayer in the upcoming election. Eight years under the current administration, which worked hard to appease religious extremists like yourself, has illustrated to the rest of the country that we aren't interested in what you have to say. Thanks for your thoughts, Jimmy, now hop off that soapbox and go play with the rest of your conservative friends... Somewhere far, far away.