The pastor of a Lansingburgh Baptist church plans to give away an AR-15 assault rifle to the winner of a free raffle at an upcoming Sunday service.
A provocative flier he distributed rallied supporters of gun rights and stirred controversy among anti-gun advocates and some who considered it un-Christian.
The Rev. John Koletas, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, said the service and gun raffle are aimed at "honoring hunters and gun owners who have been so viciously attacked by the antichristian socialist media and antichristian socialist politicians the last few years," according to a letter he posted on the church website.
Koletas, who works as a Rensselaer County court reporter, said he wanted to show support for Second Amendment rights.
"I'm just trying to be a blessing and a help to the gun owners and the hunters and give away a free AR-15," he said. "It's the right thing to do."
You know when much this same kind of thing happened in Kentucky I was ready to write it of as just a bunch of ignorant hillbillies who may not clearly understand the teachings of Jesus, but this church is in New York.
So apparently this is now a thing.
I could go on an atheist rant about the hypocrisy of something like this, but I am actually too saddened to bother.
Apparently if religion is going to die out in this country, it is not planning to go without a fight.
Shouldn't that read "My piece I give unto you"???
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it'd be de rigueur to try out that new AR-15 on the brick facade of Pastor Koletas' church...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that is hunted with an AR 15 is people. How about doing good by feeding the poor you worthless excuse for a preacher. Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteTake away the "R" in the headline of that poster and you have "FEEAR."
ReplyDeleteYup, exactly what Jesus would have wanted in his name.
Sheesh.
This is the problem with making religion such an easy money making scam -- everybody wants to get in on it.
ReplyDeleteAn AR-15 is a spendy little item. The raffle may be free, but you can bet the good Rev. Koletas has every intention of making his money back many times over. Damn, I wish I were more dishonest; there's gold to be made in them thar pews.
or maybe from shooting its own nuts off.
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, if the winner has dementia, Alzheimer's, a record of psychiatric problems, anger management issues, spousal abuse, etc. that pastor will be delighted to hand over the assault weapon. That pastor won't care if the new owner will properly secure the weapon, get appropriate training and maintain the weapon.
ReplyDelete'Cause Jesus would do that, right? right?
Jesus wept.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a believer, Id be more hoping that Jesus would come back and do to these fucks what he did to the money changers in the temple - in spades and with direct and immediate tickets to their deserved immortality in hell.
DeletePresident Obama‘s been a big promoter of science education during his time in office, and so he will be delivering a special introduction to the debut of Fox’s Cosmos reboot tomorrow. Fox is reviving the classic Carl Sagan series with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and it is executive produced by none other than Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/president-obama-introduce-cosmos-687009
America is one friggin' mess! I feel sorry for the folks that follow some of these extreme religious! When are they going to learn to think on their own?
ReplyDeleteAll these churches are preaching politics, might as well take away the tax-exemptions, we could balance the budget in a day.
ReplyDelete"but this church is in New York"
ReplyDeleteMost people think of NY as being a very blue state, and it is, but only because the population of the cities outnumbers the rest of the state. However, as someone who works in a blue city surrounded by some very red counties in western NY, I can tell you that this kind of thing is less surprising than you might think. Even the suburb where I live, just over the city line, is red.
As a New Yorker, I am extremely embarrassed by this kind of right wing spectacle.
Good Idea, give out free guns and give out bullets as "communion" That'll keep them filling the seats! Epic Fail and bad Optics for believers.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't north versus south, it is largely ignorant rural (not all rural = ignorant, but a large swath sure is) versus civilized urban (and not all urban is civilized, but a large swath sure is.) IW, NYState =/= NYC.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the weapon shown in the poster is NOT an AR-15.
ReplyDeleteVernD
Technically it's, "Thou shalt not commit murder."
ReplyDelete