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Harold Camping & Allison Warden #fundie tennessean.com

There are 24 shopping days left till Christmas.

And 171 days left until Jesus' second coming.

That's the message on 40 billboards around Nashville, proclaiming May 21, 2011, as the date of the Rapture. Billboards are up in eight other U.S. cities, too.

Fans of Family Radio Inc., a nationwide Christian network, paid for the billboards. Family Radio's founder, Harold Camping, predicted the May date for the Rapture.

Their message is simple — "He Is Coming Again" — and their aim is to get unbelievers to turn around quickly. But critics say the billboards are a waste of time, one more failed attempt to predict the end of the world.

The Rapture is going to be a great day for God's people but awful for everyone else, said Allison Warden, 29, who orchestrated Nashville's billboard campaign. She's a volunteer with WeCanKnow.com, a website set up by followers of Family Radio. She and other fans designed the billboards, along with T-shirts, bumper stickers and postcards to get Camping's predictions out.

Warden traveled from her home in Raleigh, N.C., to Nashville last week to check out the billboards, purchased through the end of the year. She wouldn't say how much they cost or name who paid for them.

She is absolutely sure that Camping's prediction is right.

"It's a certainty," she said.

Tennessee House of Reps #conspiracy tennessean.com

Tennessee lawmakers passed a resolution Thursday condemning a United Nations environmental plan as a “destructive and insidious” effort to advance a communist agenda through the guise of community planning.

The state House of Representatives voted 72-23 in favor of House Joint Resolution 587, which denounces the non-binding Agenda 21 plan adopted by a United Nations environmental conference two decades ago.

The plan called on members of the United Nations to adopt sustainable development principles to alleviate poverty and combat global warming. But the resolution approved by Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday depicts it as a plan for the “socialist/communist redistribution of wealth” through energy conservation policies, zoning restrictions and forced abortions.

“It reads well. It has nice words like sustainability and helping the poor,” said state Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin. “But what these people want to do is they want to cap the number of people this planet can have. — So ladies and gentlemen, if that doesn’t bother you, if those words don’t scare you, we’ve got to talk.”

Tennessee House of Representatives #fundie tennessean.com

The Holy Bible is the official book of Tennessee in the view of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Despite questions of constitutionality, lawmakers beat back an attempt to make Andrew Jackson's Bible the official book and voted 55-38 in favor of Rep. Jerry Sexton's original bill.

"History's going to tell us where we stand on this. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to have the side that I'm on," said Sexton, R-Bean Station, after the vote.

"It may be kind to me in the future and it may not be kind, and that's OK. I made a decision for today and I feel good about it."

Although a GOP-led effort, House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, was one of 20 Republicans to vote against the measure. House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, and four Republicans abstained. Only six Democrats voted in favor of the bill.

The bill faced a little opposition in the House, but sailed through one Senate committee easily when it came up for discussion.

Steve Simms #fundie tennessean.com

[Commenting on a news article on the Mercy Ministries abuse scandal]

A clear anti-supernatural, anti-Christian prejudice is displayed in this article. The accusation that people were "forced" to go through exorcisms in a free program. My, my. Free services often have rules and/or requirements. What is wrong with requiring someone who of their own free will participates in a free service to read a prayer saying "I cast you out in the name of Jesus."?

The Tennessean clearly states that this program is getting great results and then turns around and runs it down. And then they list the names of some of the contributors as if trying to associate those contributors with some kind of wrong doing.

Believing that demons can impact people in a negative way is not a strange or harmful belief. It is a Biblical belief. Jesus, Himself, believed in demons and drove them out of people. The Bible and Christinity both teach that demons are a reality and can have a strong negative influence on people's lives. They both teach that people can be set free from demons through the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus, Himself, taught that if a person is freed from demonic influence and allows that demon to return to hiis life, it will be stronger than it was the first time. An anti-supernatural prejudice, however, discounts and/or mocks these serious Christian beliefs.

If you don't believe in demons, talk to an addict. I counseled more than 1600 alcoholics and addicts and almost every one of them believed in the reality of demons. They knew it from personal experience -- a negative, compulsive force had control of their lives. Many found freedom through the supernatural power of Jesus Christ.

Casey Gillespie #fundie tennessean.com

A sergeant in the Tennessee State Guard has been reprimanded after engaging in a conversation on social media alluding to running over anti-fascist activists with a military cargo truck.

The Tennessee Department of Military confirmed that Casey Gillespie, who apparently took part in the public discussion with another man on Gillespie’s personal Facebook page, remains a sergeant in the volunteer arm of the department.

Screenshots posted online by Nashville Antifa show Gillespie posting about the anti-fascist group’s Jan. 3 clothing and food distribution initiative in downtown Nashville, apparently warning others to look out for the group.

The local antifa chapter, which put up antifa flags nearby, was joined that evening by fellow activist groups Nashville Anarchist Black Cross and Middle Tennessee Autonomous Network as they handed out food and supplies to the poor.

“Antifa in downtown Nashville on Capital Blvd.,” Gillespie wrote. “Theres (sic) not many of them. Stay Safe!”

Another man commented soon after, “Man I wish I could drive my deuce and a half LOL,” referring to a military cargo truck.

Gillespie replied that he had seen no counterprotesters.

“I wouldn’t be counterprotesting I’ll be looking for blocked streets LOL,” his friend wrote.

“That deuce could drive on through!” Gillespie replied.

Though Randy Harris, director of joint public affairs for the Tennessee Department of Military, said that the other man “sort of led the charge on this and Gillespie just sort of commented on it,” he added that Gillespie was still in violation of the agency’s policy and Gillespie's leadership had “counseled him and they have disciplined him.”

Screenshots of the since-deleted Facebook page show that Gillespie had identified on his public profile as being a sergeant in the Tennessee State Guard.

When reached by phone Thursday, Gillespie declined to comment or offer an explanation about the posts.

Harris confirmed that the other man was not a member of the Tennessee State Guard.

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary #fundie tennessean.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary offers coursework in Greek and Hebrew, in archaeology, in the philosophy of religion and -- starting this fall -- in how to cook and sew.

Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist seminaries, is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.

It will offer a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in homemaking. The program is only open to women.

Coursework will include seven hours of nutrition and meal preparation, seven hours of textile design and "clothing construction," three hours of general homemaking, three hours on "the value of a child," and three hours on the "biblical model for the home and family."

MichaelAllen #fundie tennessean.com

[After a Mercy Ministries abuse survivor wrote about what happened to her at Mercy then linked to the Mercy survivor's blog (http://mmoa2.blogspot.com/) in the Tennessean's article on the Mercy Ministries abuse scandal]

MercyMagnum.... you are pathetic. You are a disgrace to every woman that has every struggled with an eating disorder or addiction. My wife graduated from Mercy and swears it saved her life. She had been to FOUR other centers before Mercy. Stop trying to find ways to get your "five minutes of fame." let me guess... you made a web site and you are trying to advertise it on hear because you have your own issues that you are trying to deal with. Well, deal with you own problems and leave the ministry out of it. And I plan on contacting my attorney as soon as I get the chance to take a look at your nice little blog, and make sure you are not breaking the law in any which way. If you are, maybe I will get the pleasure to meet you in court. I also plan on notifying Mercy about your ridiculous site. Go after a real issue, drunk driving, sex offenders,government corruption... our society is full of problems, I think you can find something actually worth fighting for. If it wasn't for Mercy I would not have my wife or three kids. I thank God everyday for them and for the ministry that saved my wife's life. THOUSANDS of girls have graduated from the program yet you are the only one complaining about it. IT WAS FREE...if you didn't like it, you should have LEFT. PERIOD!!!! It's amazing, Nancy started this ministry to HELP YOUNG WOMEN, how dare you say anything different. And if I am not mistaken, isn't Mercy Ministries a place for depressed young women to go for help? If so, I am sure there are times when issues arise but obviously it couldn't have been a big issue or the ministry would have faced a lawsuit and a criminal investigation. So all your points are INVALID.

[Note: The Tennessean left this comment up but took down MercyMagnum's.]

Walter Slonopas #fundie tennessean.com

A Clarksville [Tenn.] man said that he quit his job last week in order to save his soul.

Walter Slonopas, 52, resigned as a maintenance worker at Contech Casting LLC in Clarksville after his W-2 tax form was stamped with the number 666.

The Bible calls 666 the “number of the beast,” and it’s often used as a symbol of the devil. Slonopas said that after getting the W-2, he could either go to work or go to hell.

“If you accept that number, you sell your soul to the devil,” he said.

Bob LaCourciere, vice president of sales and marketing for the Revstone Corp., which owns Contech Casting, said that Slonopas’ W-2 was labeled with 666 by the company that handles Contech’s payroll. It refers to the order in which the forms were mailed out, he said....

Slonopas, though, said he has no interest in suing anyone. All he wants is for his former employer to give him a new W-2 without a Satanic number on it. Otherwise, he said, he can’t file his taxes.

He shakes his head when asked if he’d go back to work for Contech, even if the company gives him a new W-2. That would send the message that he sold out his faith for money.

“God is worth more than money,” he said.

His wife, Anna, said the couple will be fine. She said God will take care of them.

theanswerman #fundie tennessean.com

(replying to Steve Simms, who suggested that money spent on building two Bible theme parks would be much better spent on inner-city Christian ministries and helping the poor)

Steve Simms... what if we just took all business profits and put half that money to inner-city missionaries? Then you could be Barack Obama! That's just as dumb an idea as yours. An individual has a right to build a business, make a profit and decide ON THEIR OWN how much, if any, of that profit will go to inner-city missionaries or anywhere else.

I wish I understood why liberals have such a problem with a business making money. When a business makes money, liberals get jobs. Everybody gets jobs, even if you're evil and make $100,000 a year or more! If liberals have such a problem with how much money a business makes, they should go start their own business, make scads of money, and give half of it to inner-city missionaries or, like George Soros, to every socialist political organization they can find. If they want to hand over their profits to the government or whomever, that's their choice. But it's a mandate, not a choice, to dictate to any business that it has to give up more of its profit to the government!

Like what Obama and Democrats want with the oil companies. Does anyone honestly think that's going to make Exxon lower the price of a gallon of gas? If you do you need to pull your head out of your butt. All it will do is cause thousands of layoffs to make up for the lost revenue.

If someone wants to build a Bible park, we ought to applaud them for wanting to spread the Word of God and trying to restore some morals to a nation that is increasing becoming void of them.

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