Pastor Parsley says allegations over political activity baseless

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-22/1137776050202350.xml&storylist=cleveland

1/20/2006, 11:45 a.m. ET
The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A conservative pastor who is the subject of an IRS complaint filed by other clergy members said Friday he has done nothing wrong.

At a news conference, Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church in suburban Columbus said the complaint against him is without merit.

"The complaint was filed because a group of people apparently think that certain Americans don't have the right to religious freedom of speech," Parsley said. "It seems that if you stand for biblical values of morality, they would prefer you to simply be silent."

Earlier in the week, a group of 31 pastors sent a letter to the tax agency regarding Parsley's church and the Ohio Restoration Project, led by the Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster. The other pastors said Parsley and Johnson should lose their tax-exempt status because they improperly used their pulpits for partisan politics, namely the promotion of GOP gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell...

[mtnester]

1. Hey Rodney....

think you ought to go over to that old man's house on Wright Road and apologize to him for the MANY times you were in a car when someone turfed his yard back in the day? Wonder how many thousands of dollars he spent repairing his yard, his driveway, his house? Oh wait, is he still alive? Maybe not.

Oh and BTW...your security gates on your house, and your cars with the blackened windows, will NOT protect you from the many MANY cameras that are following you and watching you now, some openly, some not...you were WEAK back in the day, and you are still WEAK now...no way can you be good for long buddy. Plus, your own home town thinks you are a flake and wants to wish you into the cornfield.

[goodboy]

4. A good friend of mine worked for that sanctimonious prick for 13 years

oh the stories I could tell!!

[mtnester]

7. Hookup required at some point then Sir...n/t

[goodboy]

2. I was at a Pastor's Breakfast last spring and Johnson gave the opening

'prayer' and then introduced, "The next GOVERNOR OF OHIO, MR. KEN BLACKWELL!"

All the whites clapped wildly, and all the pastors from the African American churches sat motionless. A few of them half-heartedly clapped a few times so as not to stand out.

I made a thread about it here:

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3689667&mesg_id=3689667&page=

My company set up a booth for a Pastor's Breakfast at the Hilton at Easton in Columbus OH. I was conscripted into attending. So I get there at about 600AM, grab some coffee and wait for the pastors to enter at 630. 630AM rolls around, and here they come, 500 of them, strutting sanctimoniously, bibles in hand, hair neatly parted on the right, glad-handing PRAISE JESUS etc. The initial flood of piety began to break up once the doors to the banquet halls opened for breakfast, so I stood at the door listening for the list of businesses participating in the event. The first speaker was a pastor who introduced, "A great man..."


NONE OTHER THAN, ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?!?!?!?


SECRETARY OF STATE KEN FUCKIN' BLACKWELL!!!

to ROARING APPLAUSE! (except for you know, the representatives of the black churches, who feigned approval by politely, albeit nearly silently, going through the motions of clapping)

and this is the best part:

"...and I hope he can count on your vote for GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OHIO!"

Excuse me while I <there was a vomiting smilie here>

Whitewell just stood up and soaked it in. He didn't speak, at least not while I was there. I left shortly afterword.

Here's the real kicker? Ever heard of the "Patriot Pastors"???
I found this on Kos: (thanks Rene'in Ohio)
"Rising from the vacuum of prophetic witness, is the ultra-right wing politics of intimidation and hate. A movement calling itself "Patriot Pastors" is now mobilizing (mostly rural Christians) to gather thousands of " Ohio for Jesus" pastors and tens of thousands of lay people calling themselves "Christian Minutemen."

Called the Ohio Restoration Project, this group intends to take over the Republican Party in Ohio . Once they have done this through electoral primaries, they will also run all Democrats off the state map.


... These "Patriot Pastors" are a scary lot. Issue #1, which they say restored "Biblical marriage" to Ohio , was step one in their politics of fear and (so-called) "Family values." Issue #2 says Parsley is to take back the state."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/5/14/10582/0454

Well they were there in FULL FORCE, recruiting these poor saps for the Christian Taliban.
I left my booth and went home. My company is upset that we weren't told this was a Christo-Fascist-Political event. We're in the process of getting to the bottom of it right now. *shakes head* I'm telling you now, we gotta watch out for these people.

rant off/

[LibertyLover]

5. Hmm - Biblical marriage?

Would that be the Biblical marriage where the man has several wives and concubines? Or perhaps the Biblical marriage where all a man has to do to divorce his wife is to give her a writ of divorce but she cannot divorce him? Or perhaps Biblical marriages to cousins in any degree or to one of your brother's or sister's daughters? Are they going to bring back Levirite marriage where if your brother dies without children, you marry his wife, have children, except he is considered their father? So many Biblical types of marriage, so little time.

[RedEarth]

3. Many people think he's the new Pat Robertson..... OH and CO

the centers of the evangelical movements. Bill Moyers has said to watch out for this Parsley creep.

[progressivebydesign]

6. love how they scream "persecution" when they get caught.

Hand meet cookie jar. The things people do in the name of religion. Thank God I'm an athiest.

[f-bush]

8. Rodney's a lying sack of shit

and do you know how you can tell....when his lips move!!!

[theHandpuppet]

9. Read more on the "Ohio Restoration Project"...

... and then let Rev. Parsley tell us again he isn't usiong the pulpit for a political agenda! The evidence speaks for itself!

http://ohiorestorationproject.com/
http://blog.au.org/2005/03/ohio_restoratio.html
http://www.theocracywatch.org/ohio_patriot_pastors.htm
http://www.citybeat.com/2005-04-06/editorial.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

10. Ohio televangelist blasts clergy who criticized him

Ohio televangelist blasts clergy who criticized him
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - Central Ohio televangelist Rod Parsley, master of the military metaphor, returned fire at his accusers Friday, ridiculing "a consortium of liberal clergy" for filing an IRS complaint against him this week.

Parsley called a news conference at his mammoth World Harvest Church in Canal Winchester to rebut claims in the complaint that his church and the nearby Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster have engaged in "flagrant political campaign activity" and should have their tax exemptions revoked.

Referring to the complainants as "The Anonymous 31" because most of the 31 pastors who signed it have refused to identify themselves, Parsley said, "As far as I can tell, this group operates according to the credo 'ready, fire, aim.' But once again, they've missed. It seems that if you stand for biblical values of morality, they would prefer you to be silent."

The ministers chose not to release their names to keep the focus on the allegations and not on individuals and their churches, Eric Williams, senior pastor of North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus and spokesman for the complaining pastors, told The Associated Press.
(snip/...)

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/113783608956220.xml&coll=2

[RedEarth]

11. Ohio televangelist blasts clergy who criticized him

Ohio televangelist blasts clergy who criticized him
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Ted Wendling
Plain Dealer Bureau
Columbus - Central Ohio televangelist Rod Parsley, master of the military metaphor, returned fire at his accusers Friday, ridiculing "a consortium of liberal clergy" for filing an IRS complaint against him this week.

Parsley called a news conference at his mammoth World Harvest Church in Canal Winchester to rebut claims in the complaint that his church and the nearby Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster have engaged in "flagrant political campaign activity" and should have their tax exemptions revoked.

Referring to the complainants as "The Anonymous 31" because most of the 31 pastors who signed it have refused to identify themselves, Parsley said, "As far as I can tell, this group operates according to the credo 'ready, fire, aim.' But once again, they've missed. It seems that if you stand for biblical values of morality, they would prefer you to be silent."

............

Although Parsley's politics on social issues ranging from gay marriage and the teaching of creationism track closely with the Republican Party's right wing, he has tried to cast himself as a political centrist to deflect questions about his close relationship with Republican Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Blackwell has extensively toured the state with Parsley and is the only gubernatorial candidate to whom Parsley has contributed money -$2,500 last January. Parsley's "Reformation Ohio" project also has announced that it will feature Blackwell in upcoming "Ohio for Jesus" radio spots later this year.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/113783608956220.xml&coll=2

[BiggJawn]

12. Bob Tilton...Peter Popov...Jim Bakker...Jimmy Swaggart...Aimee...

Somebody puh-LEEEEZ find some "dirt" on this meglomaniac!

There's GOT to be somebody who knows something!

[sarcasmo]

13. The liberal clergy did it, LMFAO. The good thing is at least he didn't

blame Clinton.

[kurth]

14. IRS complaint to be dismissed, Gang of 31 investigated by FBI

God will protect him as usual.