First up from the God machine this week is an item on the ongoing failures of a group that claims to speak for the big guy upstairs.
The former Christian Coalition of Ohio has become the second state chapter this year to split from the national organization, which has been in financial decline and has taken some policy stands critics find inconsistent with traditional conservative values.
“From this time forward, we will be known as Ohio Christian Alliance (OCA),” said Chris Long, executive director of the new group.
“It was a sad day when our board found it impossible to continue a name that was associated with the national organization,” he said Wednesday, adding, “But the board felt it would rather function as an independent organization than an organization shrouded with perceptions contrary to Christian commitments, and it voted unanimously” to spin off.
In March, the Christian Coalition’s Iowa chapter, for years one of its principal powerhouses, reinvented itself as the Iowa Christian Alliance. As the Iowa group’s president said, “When your budget goes down from $26 million to $1 million (in a decade) … it indicates the grass roots no longer has faith in the national organization.”
And this news follows word that the national Christian Coalition we all know and despise can’t pay its bills, has massive debt, has lost most of its staff, and has struggled to raise money from what’s left of its membership base.
Note to Pat Robertson: it looks like God isn’t looking out for the Coalition after all.
From mixing religion and politics to mixing religion and commercialism, next up is an item about Christian retailers putting their faith up for sale — for cheap.
The fake rose petals strewn across the tablecloth gave Milton Hobbs’ booth a romantic aura. He stacked crystal-cut perfume flasks in a pyramid and set out pink candles tied with ribbon. The effect was almost sexy — at least compared with the other booths at the International Christian Retail Show.
Hobbs liked it. He needed a striking display to call attention to his most unusual product. “Christian perfume,” he said. “It’s a really, really new genre. We’re the first!”
Virtuous Woman perfume comes packaged with a passage from Proverbs. But what makes the floral fragrance distinctly Christian, Hobbs said, is that it’s supposed to be a tool for evangelism.
“It should be enticing enough to provoke questions: ‘What’s that you’re wearing?’ ” Hobbs said. “Then you take that opportunity to speak of your faith. They’ve opened the door, and now they’re going to get it.”
All of this, and more, was on display last week in Colorado for a conference to “showcase the latest accessories for the Christian lifestyle.” You could get flip-flops that that leave the message “Follow Jesus” in the sand or get golf balls with biblical verses on the side.
“I know where you’re coming from if you think it looks like we’re merchandising or trivializing Christ, but this is a way to connect,” said David Lingner, who developed the Christian Outdoorsman line, including a camouflage-print Bible cover.
It’s a way to connect with a customer willing to shell out cash for Christian kitsch, but if these guys expect to actually convert anyone with “Christian-lifestyle” products, they’re going to be deeply disappointed.
And, finally, in my favorite religion item of the week, a Florida evangelist who runs a third-rate creationist theme park was busted this week on tax-evasion charges. Wait until you hear his defense.
Pensacola evangelist Kent Hovind pleaded not guilty Monday to a 58-count federal indictment after saying he did not recognize the government’s right to try him on tax-fraud charges.
Hovind, who calls himself “Dr. Dino,” owns Dinosaur Adventure Land at 5800 N. Palafox St., Pensacola, a creationist theme park dedicated to debunking evolution.
For years, he has claimed that he is employed by God and has no income or property because everything he owns belongs to God…. Hovind’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kafahni Nkrumah, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Miles Davis at a hearing Monday that his client did not want to enter a plea because he does not believe the United States, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office “have jurisdiction in this matter.”
Hovind is accused of failing to pay nearly a half-million dollars in taxes and faces 44 counts of structuring financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
Asked in court where he lived, Hovind replied, “I live in the church of Jesus Christ, which is located all over the world. I have no residence.”
If he keeps it up, he’ll have a residence in a federal penitentiary fairly soon.