Beating people to a pulp for Jesus

[moobu2]

MEMPHIS — In the back room of a theater on Beale Street, John Renken, 42, a pastor, recently led a group of young men in prayer.



“Father, we thank you for tonight,” he said. “We pray that we will be a representation of you.”

An hour later, a member of his flock who had bowed his head was now unleashing a torrent of blows on an opponent, and Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.

“Hard punches!” he shouted from the sidelines of a martial arts event called Cage Assault. “Finish the fight! To the head! To the head!”

The young man was a member of a fight team at Xtreme Ministries, a small church near Nashville that doubles as a mixed martial arts academy. Mr. Renken, who founded the church and academy, doubles as the team’s coach. The school’s motto is “Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide.





NYT.com

[pleah]

1. That is creepy. n/t

[nosmokes]

2. I'm just a switchblade for Jesus and I'm here to cut your heart out...

[dhill926]

3. words fail me........n/t

[JamesBurnham]

4. How bout Germany 1936?

A lot of words don't fail me at the moment...images too.

[DeSwiss]

5. K&R

- Guess he ran out of cheeks......

[Silent3]

6. Well, at least it's not a Wiccan fight team.

They'd be out there dismembering each other! ;)

[MorningGlow]

7. SO not funny. n/t

[Silent3]

8. Oh, come on.

At least I'm not suggesting that Wiccans eat babies like we atheists do.

[nilram]

14. But only dead babies, right?

Um... right?

[Silent3]

15. Yuck!

They have to be fresh. VERY fresh. :evilgrin:

[rd_kent]

10. Sure it is. Quite funny, actually!

[ThomCat]

9. Under What interpretation of the wiccan rule of three

would that be possible?

"Mind the Three-fold Laws you should, three times bad and three times good"
or more simply put
"An' it harm none, do what thou wilt"

:shrug:

It doesn't seem like beating the shit out of people for the glory of the Goddess would be a very Wiccan thing to do.

[JoeyT]

11. A Wiccan would be ok in there.

They'd just have to work hard at being a counter-puncher.
Every time their opponent swings they're allowed three swings in return.

[Silent3]

12. Did you notice the little winking emoticon?

This thing? -> ;)

Did you see the other related thread?

It's a joke, guy. Lighten up. :)

[Laura902]

13. Theres a church youth group in my area

and the guy who runs it has people hit him with a chair to show how tough he is, works out so much that he can't keep his arms straight at his sides and makes a load of money.