Suicide at LA's Crystal "Cathedral" -

[UdoKier]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20041217/ap_on_re_us/church_shooting

Yet another whose problems were NOT solved by the phony televangelists.

Why do people buy into these TV preachers' boiler-room scams?

[ck4829]

1. I bet if you read the message board, you will see that some idiot is...

probably blaming Liberals, Jews, and/or Muslims for this person's death.

[Jesus H. Christ]

2. With all those coke-fueled orgies in the lavatories...

this was bound to happen sooner or later.

[Straight Shooter]

4. Dear Jesus H. Christ, I have a question.

I was just asking my friend the other day, "What does the H. stand for in Jesus H. Christ"?

Well, it's a miracle, here you are and can answer that question for me. What does the "H." stand for? Horatio? Hallelujah? Hi-Ho?

Thanks so much. I've been curious about this for many, many years.

Respectfully,
Straight Shooter

[Jesus H. Christ]

5. Hallmark.

Because God cares enough to send His very best.

[Straight Shooter]

9. Oh. Okay. That makes sense. Hallmark is a right-wing company.

Did you know that, Jesus? They donate strictly to Republicans.

At least you had the wisdom to choose a donkey instead of an elephant :D

[AlienGirl]

16. I thought it was Haploid?

[indigobusiness]

19. Human

[GreenArrow]

3. I like the way you put "cathedral" in quotes

That thing has got to be one of the ugliest, tackiest, vulgarest, and most conspicuously ostentatious structures in the entire Us of A.

[yellowdogintexas]

14. "cathedral" in quotes is appropriate, simply because

a cathedral by definition is a church with a bishop as pastor. The term technically only would apply to Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican and the Orthodox Christian groups.

Methodists can have a bishop in residence, but since he is not the pastor of that church, we don't call it a cathedral. (even though ours sort of looks like one, and the bishop for our region does attend)

I think I have this right, please correct me if I am wrong.

Schuller is not a bishop, nor could he ever be one.

[GreenArrow]

15. no, you are right

Schuller is not a Bishop. He is arguably not even Christian.

[whistle]

6. P.T. Barnum explained it over a century ago, "There is a...

...sucker born every day. Since then the American population has tripled and I would guess that the number of suckers has risen more than exponentially.

[w4rma]

17. Actually it was a competitor of Barnum that said that about a scam that

Barnum stole from him.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. The Crystal Cathedral is Orange County...not LA

[UdoKier]

8. I know. I paraphrased the Yahoo header

But LA, Orange, Riverside, San Bernadino - it's all one metro area. Garden Grove is an LA suburb.

Same as the Bay area up here.

[VaYallaDawg]

10. That operation is a classic example of marketing showbiz as religion.

On second thought, maybe it's the other way around - religion as showbiz. Whatever it's a huge scam. Sad about the musician killing himself.

[Historic NY]

12. or a form of science............

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/recoveredmemories/schuller.html

[Straight Shooter]

11. At least the Rev. Schuller had the grace to attempt to save him

The 78-year-old Schuller, who was at home when the shooting happened, came to the command post police set up near the cathedral and taped a message for Carl. Police did not have the chance to play it or another message from the Carl's wife, but they did play one from a friend who had helped Carl in the past, police said.

Can you just imagine Falwell doing anything? He would turn it into a circus for Gawd.

[UdoKier]

13. Yes, Schuller is more about quietly raking in the money

than he is about phony fire-and-brimstone speeches on CNN and Fox, but I'm sure he met the guy numerous times before when it could have made a difference, and offered nothing but the meaningless platitudes that preachers always like to dispense.

Then he went back to his sprawling mansion.

[David Zephyr]

18. Schuller is a Fraud.

The Los Angeles Times and others have exposed this ego-maniacal and predatory criminal for fraudulent fund-raising over and over again for three decades. I live out here. Robert Schuller is a very hateful man...just ask the airline steward that he attacked.

In any event, the poor man chose the most damaging time possible to create havoc just as Schuller was ramping up his annual entertainment program, "The Glory of Christmas." Schuller sells tickets to the program just as concert promoters do and the IRS has formally and correctly ruled that it was "entertainment" and therefore was taxable.

This depressed man, Johnnie Carl, without a doubt, deliberately chose when and where to do this...right at the so-called cathedral when Schuller makes the most cash. He did this to hurt Schuller.

There's a story behind this story.

Robert Schuller did not go to the scene of the crime because of any "grace", but to protect his investiment, his business. Nothing more. Greed.