SNL sketch used as a basis for a sermon demonizing christmas

Hey,
This is probably going to be in the wrong forum, and formated all wrong but here it goes;

My father is/was a member of "The Restored Church Of God" cult. Before that he was a member of "The Worldwide Church Of God" wich actually is the cult I grew up in.. The whole not celabrating christmas this always bugged me, more because I hate being singled out than not getting gifts. Im not sure if anyone here is familliar with Armstronism or any of the crap that Davey Pack spouts to his zombies but over the past few weeks I have been trying to un-brainwash my father. Totally unsuccessful at this point, undoing 35+years of cult programing is harder than it sounds...
So anyway my father was over today just to hang out and I guess its my fault I brought up some foolish beliefs that this RCG cult spouts and my father starts quoting a "sermon" from cult... I had to stop him, I started to crack up... He was quoting Dana Carvey's "church lady" from SNL word for word. I cant believe people actually buy this garbage... I cant believe someone thought, hey its been 15-20 years since that sketch was put out, Ill just base a whole sermon on it no one will know, and they will eat it up... And they do?!? It makes me sad for humanity that people are so willing to believe what some crackpot wants them to and hey, they send him money too, not just small ammounts either 30% of their earnings and posessions... WTF?!? I noticed yesterday that this site advertises for this Dave Pack's cult in their banner adds, Do they think that conspiracy theorists are easy targets for their scams?
Anyway I wanted to share that with whoever cares, maybe Im just venting/ranting and this belongs in the rant forum --MODS if you feel that this is more of a rant then move it.

awh666
WTF?!? I noticed yesterday that this site advertises for this Dave Pack's cult in their banner adds, Do they think that conspiracy theorists are easy targets for their scams?

In a word...probably.

Its a common perception.

Cult is such a ugly word...."Advocacy group" is more politically correct

reply to post by Blowback


There in I think, lies one of the problems.
People are quick to make things sound less bad then they are.

Come on now,
If looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, it's probably not a potato.

Maybe not related to this thread, but on the topic of cults:
Allegedly Charles Manson took around 150 hours of Scientology training and ditched it because it was too crazy.

Just a little food for thought.

watchitburn

Allegedly Charles Manson took around 150 hours of Scientology training and ditched it because it was too crazy.

Just a little food for thought.

PMSL, now thats comedy.

reply to post by awh666


I wish I knew which Church Lady skit your father was quoting from, to truly appreciate the irony! Also, if you were to find it and play it for your father, it may go along way toward helping him see things from another viewpoint.

reply to post by awh666


Every religion started off as a cult. The only difference is, the "religions" of today grew larger.

First of all, no, you can't "unbrainwash" your father unless he's willing to listen.

Second, Dana Carvey's Church Lady was DEVELOPED FROM observing cult-think, and modeled on real behaviors of cultists -- not the other way around.

Third, the ads you see are personalized depending on what other sites you've been looking at. When I was shopping for shoes for a wedding I attended, all the ads were for shoes and dresses. When I looked up Southwest Baptist University, the ads then showed how to become a good Baptist.

The ads are driven by YOUR browsing, so what you see on ATS is a result of your apparent interests du jour.

reply to post by windword


It was the Santa/Satan skit, you know the one where he/she messes with the spelling of santa... I would have put up a youtube link but my phone with a busted screen makes it hard to post let alone link vids... Its a great skit... The size of the cult makes no difference, check out the worldwide church of god, they were still a cult and had a huge worldwide following. Bringing their apostle an insane ammout of cash annually so he could pay lawyers to bury incest charges and things of the sort. The leader of The restored church of god, Dave C Pack is exactly the same, actually he was a minister who was removed from the WCG.
I get that the adds target me and my search prefrences... I had thought about that but disregarded it because it had been cycling between the cult add and a sony add..

reply to post by awh666


SNL jokes on religion??? Say it ain't so....lol.

I grew up in Ohio not far from the headquarters of The Way International and everyone knows how The Way has always been classified as a cult and has been on the FBI watchlist for a long time. There is a lot of mythology surrounding them as well, and a lot of stuff is made up as well. But I have seen their compound, it isn't hidden.

Every now and then on ATS I would see posters showing videos of Michael Rood, and he's a member of The Way International. They don't seem to know or care he is in that.

reply to post by awh666


Well, knowing the origins of Christmas I can tell you, it didn't come from a jew. Christmas was originally called "Saturnalia" a pagan roman holiday celebrated on December 25th, the supposed birthday of the god Saturn. Now in the OT part of the bible, the Lord tells the Israelites not to take on the customs and traditions of the canaanites and other pagan peoples they would come into contact with. Naturally, they didn't listen anymore than anyone else who didn't like being told what not to do would. The funny thing is the jews like to point the finger at christians and they do the same thing at Chanakuh or "the Feast of Lights" minus the pine trees.

The word "Holiday" is derived from "Holy Day". If you believe in Christ then you should be aware of what his holidays are and celebrate only those since he is what matters to his people. However, as believers we should worship everyday in truth and in spirit and personally, when it comes to holidays, they're just another day to me, that I get to breathe air.

So don't let some weird cult's superstition slow you down.

reply to post by lonewolf19792000


Its really not all that weird to me, I grew up in a cult, I love e plaining that to people, lol. I was raised in the worldwide church of god, under HW Armstrong. pretty much the same, we didnt celabrate xmas, birthdays or any of it. Now, with a family of my own, I celabrate it all but I have a different perspective on it. Im an atheist, so really its just an excuse to get the family together enjoy great food(Im a chef) and drink our faces off. The kids get their gifts and time with their cousins. But thats it, I dont drag them to church and I certai.ly dont go telling them why they should or shouldnt be celabrating any holiday.
I was very aware how messed up my upbringing was while growing up (not celabrating holidays was about the least weird part of the cult).
I had never heard someone seriously trying to tell me that christmas was evil simply because santa and satan share the same letters, except for on SNL. I knew that the church lady was based on reality I just thought it was at least a little bit of an exageration.. And really the dude thats spouting that crap started his "religeon" in 1999 after the WCG split up, so it was well after the SNL skit.

awh666
reply to post by lonewolf19792000

 

Its really not all that weird to me, I grew up in a cult, I love e plaining that to people, lol. I was raised in the worldwide church of god, under HW Armstrong. pretty much the same, we didnt celabrate xmas, birthdays or any of it. Now, with a family of my own, I celabrate it all but I have a different perspective on it. Im an atheist, so really its just an excuse to get the family together enjoy great food(Im a chef) and drink our faces off. The kids get their gifts and time with their cousins. But thats it, I dont drag them to church and I certai.ly dont go telling them why they should or shouldnt be celabrating any holiday.
I was very aware how messed up my upbringing was while growing up (not celabrating holidays was about the least weird part of the cult).
I had never heard someone seriously trying to tell me that christmas was evil simply because santa and satan share the same letters, except for on SNL. I knew that the church lady was based on reality I just thought it was at least a little bit of an exageration.. And really the dude thats spouting that crap started his "religeon" in 1999 after the WCG split up, so it was well after the SNL skit.

Oh I am so sorry you grew up under Herbert W. Armstrong's teachings.

I know his church is very affiliated with White Supremacists in Arkansas. That one guy is still on TV I think, but right now I don't remember his name. I saw the guy one time and said "uh uh, this guy ain't right". Then I heard the audio of him shooting his gun in church. What is that dude's name?

Armstrong taught British Israelism and Replacement Theology. They are still trying to say America is Ephraim.

reply to post by WarminIndy


A fellow I work with used to be with them, until he started dogging the catholic church, of which 70% of his followers were former catholics until his doctrine went anti-papacy and he pissed them off and they went back to Catholicism.

Forgive my ignorance, but I read a book by Herbert West Armstrong called "Mystery of the Ages" and actually, I rather enjoyed it. Well written and thought provoking. I am not familiar with the man himself or his other works but that one was a good book in my eyes. I had no idea he was a 'cult leader' of any kind.