Recemtly, I posted one of the most unpleasant pieces I've logged since I began blogging in 2006. By no stretch did I take particular satisfaction in publicizing a former SBC president's representative participation in a legally questionable pyramid scheme, nor in raising ethical concerns about the appearance of exploiting pastoral authority to potentially squeeze money from unsuspecting church goers. Even so, it was the right thing to do even if it was the painful thing to do. We now discover Alice's evangelical rabbit hole goes deeper still >>>
Note the list of participants in the dubious FHTM financial fiasco below. Among the "partial, but growing, list of notable celebrities," whose name sticks out in shocking color?
•Rai Glover - Former VP at Bank of America
•Woodson Gardner - Who's Who of Luxury Realty, Featured in Forbes magazine
•Jerry Falwell, Jr - Attorney and Chancellor of Liberty University (color & embolden added for emphasis)
•Pat Rogers - Owner of numerous Harley Davidson and car dealership
•Barbara McKay - WSOC Ch 9 TV Personality in Charlotte, NC
Do we not hope it's a mistake? A misprint? A bad joke? A slanderous effort by some unscrupulous Liberty dropout who wanted to get back at LU for its supposedly narrow, godless, legalistic fundamentalism?
We do.
Oh, we so do!
But it's doubtful.
As was James Merritt's John Henry, Jerry Falwell, Jr.'s name is on one website after another as one of the "growing" list of "celebrities" who apparently holds membership in the morally questionable FHTM*.
Whatever happened to avoiding even the appearance of evil? Is Biblical separatism a completely foreign moral ideal even to fundamentalists who have championed it so well and so often for a century or more?
A full generation ago, British professor Harry Blamires penned with keen insight,
“There is no longer a Christian mind. There is still, of course, a Christian ethic, a Christian practice, and a Christian spirituality... . But as a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization" (Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind: How should a Christian think? Ann Arbor: Servant Books 1963, 3-4)
The evangelical mind disappeared.
Similarly, we may now safely but sadly muse, so too, the fundamentalist soul.
Maranatha.
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
With that, I am...
Peter
*to my knowledge, there are thankfully no videos to self-indict Falwell like there were with Merritt. In addition, as did Merritt, Dr. Falwell may very well suggest he no longer holds membership and has not for quite some time. Even so, like Merritt, one website after another is exploiting his name as if he does hold membership. Hence, if Falwell is *not* a member, these websites need immediate correction
I'm not sure your post intended to imply that the Falwell name was emphasized on the list, but it's not as of now. And, the site linked states it's "... not an Official FHTM Corporate Website". Which would make one wonder whose it was.
If you want a real view of what can happen in MLM. Google "Glenn Turner" and/or "Koscot Interplanetary". And in those cases, the MLM scheme was selling a product with a scintilla of uniqueness. FHTM doesn't seem to sell things you can't already buy elsewhere, which leads me to wonder if the sale of product is the objective of FHTM.
Posted by: boB Cleveland | 2011.08.12 at 09:20 AM
Brother Peter,
We were told that Dr. Merritt was out of FTMH and all of the videos were down. However, if you go to the FTMH Testimonies website he is still being promoted by the company. You can see his testimony http://pgs.ash.com/Testimonies.html>here.
Blessings,
Tim
Posted by: Tim Rogers | 2011.08.12 at 10:27 AM
No.
The red is mine. Nor am I unaware that the site is not officially FHTM. In fact, none of the Merritt videos I found were on the official FHTM website. Rather the FHTM reps used the videos as promotional tools on their personal sites to lend credibility to their cause.
With that, I am...
Peter
Posted by: peter lumpkins | 2011.08.12 at 10:34 AM