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On Friday night, Bill Maher delivered a great New Rule blasting conservatives who call themselves Christians, and yet show themselves to be little more than selfish assholes, notably when it comes to tipping the wait staff.
And finally, New Rule: It's OK if you don't want to feed the hungry, or heal the sick, or house the homeless. Just don't say you're doing it for their own good. Don't say you'd like to help people, but your hands are tied because if you did, it would cause a culture of dependency, or go against the Bible, or worst of all, rob them of their freedom... to be sick and hungry.
Just admit you're selfish, and based on how little your beliefs mirror the actual teachings of Jesus, you might as well claim to worship Despicable Me.
Now I bring this up, because last week new food stamp cuts went into effect, and Congressman Steve Fincher, a Republican from Dogpatch, justified the cuts by quoting the Bible — "The one who does not work shall not eat." And it reminded me that I keep seeing stories in the news about Christians stiffing servers in restaurants. Like the Applebee's waitress in Missouri who got this note from a church pastor.
Written on the check, it said, "I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?"* Prompting the question, who ordered the piping hot asshole?
This is what Jesus would do? I doubt it. I think what Jesus would do is move the hell out of that part of Missouri. And if you're a waiter or waitress in the Bible Belt, you may very well have seen one of these.
It's a phony $10 dollar bill that Christians sometimes leave on the table in lieu of an actual tip. It looks like a $10, so you get the benefit of giving poor people hope, and then crushing it, but on the back it says, "Some things are better than money ... like your eternal salvation that was bought and paid for by Jesus going to the cross.
Yeah, well, Jesus didn't have to put gas in the donkey.
I don't know what the snake-handlers have against the food-handlers, or when restaurant receipts became the new bully pulpit, but there was another story recently, this one from Kansas, where instead of a tip, a Christian family left their server, who they knew was gay, this note:
Thank you for your service, it was excellent. That being said, we cannot in good conscience top you, for your homosexual lifestyle is an affront to GOD. Queers do not share in the wealth of GOD, and you will not share in ours.
...
Now, I am sure there are millions of Christians who try to actually follow Jesus, but you gotta admit, conservatives always seem to have a reason why they would love to give, but they just can't. We would love to help the unemployed, but it would discourage working. I believe in charity, just not for people who need it. Of course we'd like it if everyone could see a doctor, we're not monsters, but if the government does it, it will destroy our way of life. Plus, the website is glitchy, which leads to Stalinism. Oh sure, we'd like to help people who are starving, but what if they use the strength from not starving to take drugs?
Yes, there's always a good moral Christian reason to tell everyone you meet to (snip)-off and die.
Fair enough. But if you're a waiter, and you ever get one of those fake $10 dollar bills, do me a favor, and next time you're in church, drop it in the collection box.
Bell, a pastor at Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries Church, was not amused, and she called Welch's manager to complain.
“[It was] a lapse in my character and judgment,” Bell told the Smoking Gun, adding she did not expect her easily recognizable signature would be, as her friend informed her, “all over Yahoo. You went viral!”
[Related: Pastor leaves waiter note on receipt: ‘I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?’]
“My heart is really broken,” Bell added. “I’ve brought embarrassment to my church and ministry.”
A spokesman for Applebee’s said it apologized to Bell for violating her "right to privacy" and confirmed that Welch “is no longer employed by the franchise."
Welch was surprised that Applebee's fired her, "especially because there was nothing specific in the employee handbook admonishing this behavior."
"I had no intention of starting a witch hunt or hurting anyone. I just wanted to share a picture I found interesting," she said. “I come home exhausted, sore, burnt, dirty and blistered on a good day. And after all that, I can be fired for ‘embarrassing’ someone who directly insults their server on religious grounds.”
Greed and Hypocrisy. That is what the Christian religion is ALL about.
raised as Church of God in the south.
I love IHop and have many young friends who worked there.
Certainly there are more dangerous places for a young person to get lost.
IHOP, south Kansas City’s evangelical missionary movement, was created 13 years ago by a man who grew up in the Center School District. It’s one man’s version of religion made big.
The suspicious have long leveled the charge of “cult” against IHOP (International House of Prayer). That will likely increase in light of recent news coverage.
A young woman with ties to IHOP was found murdered at Longview Lake. A young man with ties to IHOP is charged with suffocating her.
IHOP, it should be emphasized, isn’t accused of anything criminal in the murder. Only those eventually charged will bear that burden.
But the praying elephant in the room is that this religious movement is the perfect cover for the sort of wickedness outlined in court records describing Bethany Ann Deaton’s murder.
Below I have listed some common signs of cult operation. Below them I cite in underlined text short examples of my personal experiences as IHOP which illustrates these particular signs in IHOP’s day to day practice. After 6 years of being out of IHOP I still hold to my position that it is a dangerous place for people’s hearts and I have seen much destruction of families, relationships and marriages of those who have been involved with this movement.
wildtimes
reply to post by WarminIndy
I love IHop and have many young friends who worked there.
I was referring to the International House of Prayer
COMMENTARY
A dark side to International House of Prayer’s allure
Certainly there are more dangerous places for a young person to get lost.
IHOP, south Kansas City’s evangelical missionary movement, was created 13 years ago by a man who grew up in the Center School District. It’s one man’s version of religion made big.
The suspicious have long leveled the charge of “cult” against IHOP (International House of Prayer). That will likely increase in light of recent news coverage.
A young woman with ties to IHOP was found murdered at Longview Lake. A young man with ties to IHOP is charged with suffocating her.
IHOP, it should be emphasized, isn’t accused of anything criminal in the murder. Only those eventually charged will bear that burden.
But the praying elephant in the room is that this religious movement is the perfect cover for the sort of wickedness outlined in court records describing Bethany Ann Deaton’s murder.
Read more here: www.kansascity.com...=cpy
Is IHOP a cult? One intern's story This article is an excellent example of the same kind of 'control' that so many "churches" and even colleges and universities that identify as "Christian" practice. Total control.
Below I have listed some common signs of cult operation. Below them I cite in underlined text short examples of my personal experiences as IHOP which illustrates these particular signs in IHOP’s day to day practice. After 6 years of being out of IHOP I still hold to my position that it is a dangerous place for people’s hearts and I have seen much destruction of families, relationships and marriages of those who have been involved with this movement.
It's an excellent "whistle-blower" piece that includes "cult" behaviors. IHOP is awful.
But the IHOPancakes is pretty good.
And as of this weekend, I'm old enough to order off the "old folks" menu!!
Yay?
schadenfreude
reply to post by wildtimes
Actually my very first job at 17 years old was as a busboy, so yes I know that servers don't get paid minimum wage.
How is that the customers' fault?
The bottom line here is that restruants have been able to put one over on servers for awhile now by not having to pay minimum wage. On the plus side however, (obviously) servers can also clear in one night what the other positions make in a week.
Oh boo hoo.
WarminIndy
schadenfreude
reply to post by wildtimes
Actually my very first job at 17 years old was as a busboy, so yes I know that servers don't get paid minimum wage.
How is that the customers' fault?
The bottom line here is that restruants have been able to put one over on servers for awhile now by not having to pay minimum wage. On the plus side however, (obviously) servers can also clear in one night what the other positions make in a week.
Oh boo hoo.
I, as a customer, do not ask the server how much they already made that week and tip them by that. It's not my responsibility to determine their wages.
I don't know if that server was new, been on the job for a week, or even if they missed 4 days that week due to a child's illness. My responsibility is to pay for the food, that I ordered, and then tip the server for service. That's what you are paying for, service.
But also no one wants a server with the attitude "pay me a big tip or else". I worked one time as a taxi driver, and we made good tips also, however taxes are also taken out of tips whether or not the server got tips. When I got home, half of what I earned had already paid for gas for the taxi and for the taxi rental. But I never stood there with my hand out waiting for the tip, if they gave it, they gave it, if not, then oh well.
But tipping is just simply good manners. That's the point she was trying to make.
Step 1. Do NOT believe face value, any anti Christian article in the paper without understanding that for every 1 Christian jerk there are 10 non - Christian jerks ( like Mr. Maher) who do the same. Its the anti God media / government that constantly tries to stirs up passions to keep us all divided, otherwise we just might all wake up and realize we are being corralled like cattle.