Complaint filed with IRS after Tampa televangelist compares Romney to Satan

[Bluebear]

Keller

WASHINGTON _ Florida evangelist Bill Keller says he was making a spiritual -- not political -- statement when he warned the 2.4 million subscribers to his Internet prayer ministry that "if you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!"

But the Washington-based advocacy group Americans United for Separation of Church and State says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status of Bill Keller Ministries, nonetheless.

Keller, 49, who has a call-in show on a Tampa television station and a Web site called Liveprayer.com, on May 11 sent out a "daily devotional" that called Romney "an unabashed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago.
"If the former Massachusetts governor wins the GOP nomination and the presidency, Keller's message added, it will `"ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell."

In a letter to the IRS on Thursday, Americans United called Keller's message a violation of the ban on partisan politicking by tax-exempt religious groups. Keller, in a telephone interview, laughed off the controversy. "Let them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I would love that," he said. "Bring it on."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-601complaint,0,6093032.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

[MichaelHarris]

1. He's

going to hell just for that haircut.

[blogslut]

6. perm

total perm

[dave_p]

2. If they didn't exist...

... sometimes it seems you really would have to invent them.

OK, not quite. But they lurch so heroically into absurdist self-destructive parody there should be a place for them. In a glass-fronted case, of course. Precious.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Did Satan File The Complaint? n/t

[rawtribe]

4. The Mormon half

of my family gave me grief for sending money to

www.au.org

:rofl:

What's an atheist to do?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

5. Sounds like a cannibalization. Cool.

[elocs]

7. I've said it before: many, many evangelicals/fundamentalists believe Mormonism to be a cult.

They most likely voted for Bush in the past, but they will not vote for a Mormon. For them, cult does equal Satan.

[hobbit709]

16. By definition of cult, they all are

To the Catholic Church, all of them are heretics.

[Kansas Wyatt]

18. And I believe that evangelicals/fundamentalists are a Cult.

They get their marching orders and vote against their alleged Biblical teachings, because abortion and gays are the top and only priority in the Bible to them. After all, a lot of them know that there are NO 'Christian Democrats,' so they can only vote Republican.

[elocs]

19. So in that case, you would not be voting for one of them if they were your party's candidate.

Same thing. They won't vote for a Mormon, but they in all likelihood will not vote for the Democrat. They just won't vote for president (at least if they go to vote).

[SalmonChantedEvening]

8. it will `"ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell."

So he'll simply be carrying on the current administration's policies?

I see... :)

[ellisonz]

9. They're eating their own.

:applause:

[JI7]

10. hard to have any sympathy for Romney after what they did to Kerry

and especially since Romney is the type that kisses ass that hates Mormons in order to get ahead politically. so Romney is an empty suit whore also.

Romney has been kissing religious right ass and selling out gays and lesbians and others.

[Pace]

11. The Scriptures as funny papers

The problem with the societal pendulum, is that when it swings, it's a natural course for it to swing to the full range of it's travel, this is evidence of that problem; in a true Christian teaching, no christian would really be threatened by another person of faith, rather, it would be the duty of that christian to "spread the good news", which is the gospel.

I'll write the disclaimer here, this is an observation, not an endorsement.

Now, those in the church, or churches, who consider this kind of behaviour a "spreading of the good news", are sadly mistaken. I would argue that anyone who solely votes for a presidential candidate "specifically because of their personal faith", takes a dangerous step back towards a monarchy, in this case, a theocratic monarchy.

Because if the prevailing impetus is to choose one who believes personally as the individual does, then the element of "free will" as contained in the scriptures and indeed our own constitution is obliterated. In other words, a pre-destined choice is somehow presented in this particular model, which is not too unlike the development and creation of monarchies.

I am not impressed with Romney, I find his push to televise his attributes at this point a little too cloying, and he does run the risk of over-exposure.
Along with the impression that he is a "good businessman". Last time I checked, good businessman were considered one of the banes this country has had to endure, vis a vis, the good businessmen who run the oil companies.

So being a Mormon will neither help nor hurt him
being a good businessman will neither help nor hurt him

The question is, in this delusion that the republican party has become, it will boil down to "stage presence", and whether he can compete with Thompson for such an intangible essence.

Right now, I see Barak as the "new times kid", I really think the baby boomers have to get in the back seat and let the new millenium thinkers drive.

It's gonna be hard for them to allow that to happen, but they must understand, their cold war mentality, once an asset, is now a crippling liability to this country's future.

Regards
Pace

[peekaloo]

12. Ol' porcupine head is a larf-fest. He's now begging his viewers to support

his legal fund.

Whenever I'm in the Tampa area I try and catch part(s) of his show, in between Conan breaks, just to hear the goof calls that come in.

[tanyev]

13. Careful, Bill. Even George Bush said he regretted saying "Bring 'em on".

[mwb970]

14. He sounds like a typical religious zealot jerk.

But at least he is criticizing Mitt "Double Guantanamo" Romney, whose ascendancy would indeed be tragic, but not for the reasons Rev. Nutjob preaches.

And by the way, saying "Don't vote for Romney" is a political statement, no matter what this idiot claims.

[CurtEastPoint]

15. He's got them eyes squeezed shut like Robert Tilton (Farting Preacher)

[Solo_in_MD]

17. The use of IRS complaints will backfire when they start to get filed on black churches

the traditional political organizers of the black community. I hope people remember how Bill Clinton "preached" there during his campaigns. There involvement in local elections is much higher.

As for saying Mormons are not Christian (and therefore of the devil), their theology is seriously not compatible with historical Christianity. Mormons are at their core polytheists, consider Adam to be God and other oddities come to mind