"Man Who Claims to Be Prophet Muhammad Alive and Well in Hoboken, Says It's Cool to Eat Pork"
Imagine that headline on ABCNews.com. And imagine the story included no Muslim imams or scholars to denounce the charlatan. Well, that's pretty much what ABC did today on an old story front-paged on its Web site today (see screencap on the right), only the religion in question was Christianity (and the fake Jesus in the story lives in Houston).
Here's the headline for the March 6, 2007, story by Jim Avila (yes, the dateline is correct, this story is over a month old):
Nowhere in Avila's three-page story are any Christian scholars or preachers consulted for comment or to condemn Jose de Jesus for blasphemy. In fact, this is the closest Avila gets on that point:
There are no rules in de Jesus' church. Anything goes when you follow "Jesus of Suburbia." But he is serious about being the Second Coming of Christ. And along with his followers, he also has many detractors. Some who think he's the devil incarnate and others who think he's just a charlatan and a con man. One of the things that makes him so hated, so controversial, is that he preaches the Catholic Church is evil, and his followers burn pictures of the pope and hold protests outside churches.
Granted, most everyone who reads this story will automatically think de Jesus is a few cans short of a sixpack, or a very good scam artist. But given the fact that orthodox Christians get skeptical treatment from the media while gnostic nonsense like "The DaVinci Code" gets hyped, isn't is only fair that orthodox defenders of historic Christianity get some ink in a story about a cult?
And one more thing for Mr. Avila. Christians do believe Jesus Christ is alive and well, in a physically resurrected body, and coming again soon to judge the living and the dead. The language in Avila's lede seems to suggest that Jose de Jesus is unlike the historical Jesus of Nazareth by being alive and well presently:
A few weeks ago, in a tattoo parlor in the hip art deco district of Miami Beach, people were lining up to get "666" tattooed on their bodies, and then smiling through their pain. But these are not devil worshipers. They see themselves as devout followers of Jesus Christ. But the major difference that separates them from other Christians around the world is that the Jesus Christ they worship is alive and well -- and living in the suburbs of Houston.
It's a 2,000-year old faith, Mr. Avila. It's not that hard to do your homework on the basics.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
..many false prophets will co
April 30, 2007 - 12:01 ET by bassndude..many false prophets will come in my name. Do not be decived...
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
...Christian rioting to follo
April 30, 2007 - 12:37 ET by TruthMonger...Christian rioting to follow...not:)...
Excellent catch, Mr. Shepherd...
"7Look, he is coming wit
April 30, 2007 - 14:12 ET by Avatar"7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. "
The Avatar
Wide is the road that leads
April 30, 2007 - 13:00 ET by Dan The Man 2Wide is the road that leads to hell; narrow is the road to heaven. People always want easy answers but there are none in life, it all has rules to follow.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
"Wide is the road that
April 30, 2007 - 13:04 ET by MightyMouth"Wide is the road that leads to hell; narrow is the road to heaven."
Now there is some decent traffic engineering for ya. I wish the Lord would give us some of those guys for TexDot. :-)
"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...
This is the left's ideal. A
April 30, 2007 - 13:17 ET by jdhawkThis is the left's ideal. A God that, " . . . Drinks, Smokes and Claims to He's [sic] the Second Coming." And a church where, "There are no rules in de Jesus' church. Anything goes when you follow "Jesus of Suburbia." " That is, at least so far as this country is concerned.
Meanwhile, the leftist favorite religion other than liberalism itself, is Islam. Of course, it has none of the above attributes. In fact, by some in Islam, the reporter, obviously a non-believer, would be marked for death if they had their way.
The Anti-Christ is supposed t
April 30, 2007 - 13:36 ET by ForeverOnTheRightThe Anti-Christ is supposed to rule the world or at least the know world at the time the book of Revelation was written. Now lets see this guy do that. On top of that the Anti-Christ was supposed to deceive the world with false signs and wonders, where are those? He is also supposed to “receive a mortal wound” and rise from the dead. Maybe one of his followers could shoot him and they could hide the murder for three days then IF he rises from the dead the follower who murdered him would no longer be a murderer. Ha, what a farce. To me it’s obvious that his followers don’t have a clue what the Bible does say. The Anti-Christ is a man possessed by Satan himself. I think the MSM write about this guy because "He's fascinating" and they are clueless about the book of Revelation
Good Old ABC
April 30, 2007 - 13:43 ET by c5thennever miss an opportunity to bash Christianity. It seems to be part of their creed.
You can watch the Web-cast on
April 30, 2007 - 13:43 ET by Michael ChapmanYou can watch the Web-cast on ABCNews.com. That ABC actually put time and money into this is pathetic. That ABC "reporters" actually worked and appeared on the broadcast is embarrasing. It's a hilariously stupid story. Wood Allen couldn't have made this up. ABC is truly scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with a story.
I think it would have been
April 30, 2007 - 13:50 ET by Ken ShepherdI think it would have been funnier if the guy lived in Hoboken. Just sounds funnier than Houston.
If I'm not mistaken (and th
April 30, 2007 - 13:57 ET by sarcasmoIf I'm not mistaken (and this does sound like the same nut from your blog, but I haven't looked yet) he was originally from Hialeah, FL (supposedly a Miami suburb, but it's all one big city up to Ft. Lauderdale now). If you're from South FL, that's pretty funny, too.
JMR
Jesus de Hialeah.Kinda catchy
April 30, 2007 - 14:21 ET by Ken ShepherdJesus de Hialeah.
Kinda catchy.
Your last line in the story i
April 30, 2007 - 14:46 ET by mattmYour last line in the story is so key. Either the writer is journalistically negligent in failing to do basic research, or he doesn't care enough about accuracy when it comes to stories containing some element of Christianity.
But to an unbeliever anyone w
April 30, 2007 - 14:55 ET by Dan The Man 2But to an unbeliever anyone who says the ya are Christian if you say so. So this guy is a Christian, but if you are a Christian and denounce sin, well thats very un-Christain. Go figure.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
I don't necessarily want th
April 30, 2007 - 15:34 ET by Ken ShepherdI don't necessarily want the media being an arbiter of Christian doctrine, but the difference between a cult and historic, orthodox Christianity is pretty clear.
Avila shows that this guy is out there with his theology, but having some traditional Christians say that in the story would be nice. And again, the whole "alive and well" thing is annoying. Maybe Avila didn't mean to construct the sentence in a way that suggests Christians don't believe Jesus Christ to be alive and well, but even then it's sloppy writing.
Ken, the last time anyone saw
April 30, 2007 - 15:40 ET by bassndudeKen, the last time anyone saw Jesus Christ here on earth, He was alive and well, and assending to the Father. Jesus is alive and well, and sitting at the right hand of God.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!
Yes some cults are clear, but
April 30, 2007 - 16:00 ET by Dan The Man 2Yes some cults are clear, but then we get into doctrine and therein lies the problems. For some like tummy anyone outside of Catholocism is a cult, and for those like me a Southern Baptist by choice a cult is Mormonism that defines extra books and flexible theology. Heck even Catholcism as practiced by some is a cult.
Yes im with you on the fact the media should not decide wht Christianity is but with so many definitions and the flakey doctrine unless you are a believer you really dont know. I think to most unbelievers that works defines what a Christian is and then the works are like saving the enviroment or loving your neighbor or not going to war to save lives even though going to war is the choice that will save lives.
I was an unbeliever til the age of 33 and believed some of the false indicators of what Christianity is or was also.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
Jose de Jesus Drinks, Smokes
April 30, 2007 - 20:38 ET byJose de Jesus Drinks, Smokes and Claims to He's the Second Coming
He's got the "behold a winebibber and glutton" part down, lets see how he does with the rest of the attributes?
Supreme Court, National Security, Borders, my litmous test for President. BT(adapted)