Rev.s and Dr.s these days likely as not to be frauds

Today's JG Rant

There are all kinds of “Rev”s out there.  There are those who got their divinity degrees online in 15 minutes. There are the congregation-less “Rev”s like race-baiting, anti-Semitic religious profiteers “Rev”s Jackson and Sharpton.  There are “Rev”s, “minister”s and religious “leaders” with cult like followings like Jim Jones, David Koresh and Marshall Appelwhite who apparently love their cult followings so much that they destroy them.  Then there’s a another category of hate-filled “Rev”s and “ministers” like “Minister” Farrakhan and “Rev” Jeremiah Wright. 

Sadly, these days, when some someone puts “Rev” in front of their name, there is probably a 50-50 chance that they are likely as not of the hate-filled, for personal profit type of “Rev.” When I see “Rev,” I think Reagan, trust but verify. 

The same goes with “Dr.” these days.  Anyone with a doctorate in the sciences from a reputable institution where the “Dr.” actually has to know something or in the humanities where the holder actually has to explain or interpret something can probably be trusted.  

If anyone takes the time to examine a large college catalog of courses they will find degrees can be had in anything from horseshoeing to puppet arts.  We used to call these activities trades and hobbies not a course of serious study.  

Then there’s the whole new line of “social justice” degrees where the primary requirement is lock-step conformity with the new Liberal orthodoxy. Anyone who dares to deviate one mil right of the orthodoxy is labeled a racist hater and shamed and banned. 

The point is that there is a long line of “Dr.”s teaching this mumbo-jumbo.  

So color me skeptical when I read “Rev. Dr.” Thomas E. Sagendorf’s letter of Jan 13, 2019, “Trump fans must know as little about the Bible as he.”  Segendorf immediately gives himself away when engages the exact childish behavior he charges PDJT with. 

Then the learned “Rev. Dr.” cites a poem placed on the Statue of Liberty as if it were federal code. It isn’t.  It’s a poem.  

But the “Rev. Dr.” proves he might have missed or skipped a few classes at whatever divinity college he attended when he displays his ignorance on walls in the Bible.  He obviously missed the day they covered the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was tasked with rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.  He must have also missed the day they covered Luke’s admonition to us to “enter by the narrow gate.”  What, pray tell “Rev. Dr.,” are gates generally, usually, almost always attached to? That’s right a fence or a wall.  Even heaven has a gate and a wall. 

Now just take a second to consider history, “Rev. Dr.”  In the days of the old city-states, during the Renaissances, these city-states typically had barriers.  “Rev. Dr.”, were the churches typically located inside or outside of the barrier? 

“Rev. Dr.” Sagendorf may be a most educated man.  His letter is a fraud.  It fails in tone for a real Rev.  It fails in logic.  Most importantly, it fails in fact.  It’s not worth the ink to publish it. 

Because the letter is a total failure “Rev. Dr.” Sagendorf desperately tries to boost his stature by placing letters in front of his name.  20 years ago that may have worked.  Today, that desperation just triggers justified skepticism. 

Lex

HCRD (High Commissioner on “Rev.”s and “Dr.”s)

Formerly of, parts east, west, north and south 

Trump fans must know as little about the Bible as he

Our nation has been held hostage by a president who once again is acting like a spoiled child. The object of his tantrum this time is the proposed wall along our Southern border. A wall intended to keep homeless refugees – men, women and children – out.

Forget the Statue of Liberty and its promise of a new life for the homeless, tempest-tossed. That was yesterday's America, says the president. Today's America is elitist. We have no taste for the homeless, the hungry, the poor who long for a new life.

But there's a caveat. It's called the Holy Bible – a book with which the president shows almost no familiarity. Many who support the president's ideas claim to be Bible believers. But they appear to be enamored with the idea of the Good Book, not its teachings.

For in the Good Book, there are no less than 36 admonitions for believers to welcome the stranger. Pretty hard to claim fidelity to biblical teachings and deny this. Either you're led by biblical demands or your claim to biblical fidelity is phony.

In the 25th chapter of Matthew, the Christ is pictured returning to Earth to separate the nations into sheep and goats. The sheep are welcomed into an eternal kingdom. The goats are dispatched to eternal punishment. And the criterion for judgment? “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

For those of us who claim to be believers, the idea of a wall is in violation of everything that the Bible teaches. Regardless of presidential tantrums, the idea of a wall is evil. For people of faith, there is only one command. A Godly command. Embrace the stranger. Forget the wall.

Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Sagendorf

Sandusky, Ohio, formerly of Hamilton