dr. gene scott (mostly for tonyjeffers)

iwbiek
atheistSuperfan
iwbiek's picture
Posts: 4298
Joined: 2008-03-23
User is offlineOffline
dr. gene scott (mostly for tonyjeffers)

hey tony,

i noticed in the atheist timeline thread that you were involved in scott's movement.  i've been somewhat intrigued by him for the last 6 years or so.  i've seen all the typical youtube videos as well as werner herzog's fabulous short documentary "god's angry man."  the man was definitely charismatic is this twisted, dostoyevskian/kafkaesque way. 

despite all of this, it's been surprisingly hard to find a systematic presentation of his unique teachings, if such a thing exists.  i once streamed one of his old videos from his website and found it a tremendous mindfuck, complete with an enormous whiteboard that looked like a jackson pollack painting, that i had to turn off after 15 minutes in order to avert a migraine.  from what i've heard, his ex-porn star wife turned successor is not any better.

would you condescend to tell us a bit about your experiences in his movement and what drew you there, kept you there, and eventually made you move on?  did you actually attend his church in los angeles?  i would honestly appreciate it.

"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson


tonyjeffers
tonyjeffers's picture
Posts: 482
Joined: 2012-02-14
User is offlineOffline
All you will find on youtube

All you will find on youtube is a few clips of his antics or that herzog temper tantrum in his earlier years.  I believe the only way to get him online is thru Melissa Scott's site where he is on 24/7 stream  http://www.pastormelissascott.com/dr-gene-scott.shtml

I've clicked on the stream a few times and it was always from his early years and he really hadn't perfected his craft.  His sermons are still available on that site thru Delores Press "Sunday at the Cathedral". I'm sure they only sell the good stuff. That's probably why only old footage is online for free. The crap you see on youtube is nothing like one of his full sermons.

I first got into him thru his teaching on shortwave radio on the University Network recommended by an old friend who was not your average christian.  He would teach about a great many things outside of the bible. - mysteries of ancient man, archeological artifacts, supernatural phenomenon, pyramids, e.t. life, folklore, myths, etc.

In fact, when I first listened to him I couldn't even tell he was a preacher. His voice was captivating and he would talk in a softer consoling voice. And then after that voice had sunk it's teeth into me, it eventually led back to the bible. And when I saw a video tape of him, that was it. I was hooked. At that time he had long flowing grey hair , white beard and piercing blue eyes. Modern day Moses. I got my old bible out and started all over from scratch and thought I saw things in a new light. For me, and countless others, he was a back-fall(for lack of better words)

I didn't fit in with christianity before him.  I was very young and wild then.  He spent much of his time condemning traditional fundamental christianity and every other preacher out there, so he appealed to my rebellious ways.  He caught me when I had tried to casually walk away from faith but had not quite shaken it off completely. He came as a tremendous relief in thinking that I had not been wrong about god all along and finally there was a side to faith that had been hidden from me.

His perfect audience were those who were about to take their last step towards reason. He always referred to his teachings as "University level"  He never allowed children under 12 in his sunday service. Although those antics you saw on youtube were not uncommon for him, they really only reflect on his eccentric personality, not his message. - the teachings of Paul.

Paul was everything to him. He would even point out error in the bible(usually meaning lost in translation) and had the most clever ways of justifying anything thru Paul.

And, of course, "giving" was right up there with Paul.  He once spent an entire year teaching only on giving. And boy did he receive. He had a vast empire complete with ranches filled with million dollar plus horses. And he wasn't shy about it in the least bit.

He would give regular reports and videos on the horses and new purchases, but supposedly the church owned everything. No one had the right to question his extravagance. It was all glory to god and he didn't have to explain himself to anyone.

His sunday sermons were quite something. And those whiteboards that gave you a headache could probably sell at auction for a high price had they been saved.

I do believe he also spent another entire year solely on the resurrection of christ and the historical research of it. He once said he would not debate christianity with anyone who had not spent at least three hours researching evidence of the resurrection.

He was no dummy. I know he had a Ph.D from Stanford, but I don't remember much about any of his standings as a college professor. 

I've watched a few clips of Melissa and she is absolutely nothing like the Doc, but man is she hot.  She's just raking in the cash flow still generating thru his legacy and sales from his extensive library.  I don't think anyone could fill his shoes.

Anyway, even tho W. EuGene Scott prolonged my miserable time in the prison of religion, there is one thing even a master craftsman cannot compete with. - Reason.  Tho I would not have wanted to battle in debate with Gene.  He'd tell you to go fuck yourself in god's name.

Every once in a while I get out one of my old vhs tapes of his sermons just for entertainment and to remind myself of how far I've came. I would think quite a few here would find him entertaining and probably would see a side to christian faith rarely seen by most atheists. or christians for that matter.

One of my favorite sermons is "Grace even for assholes"  If you are really interested I'd be happy to mail you my tapes and you can ship them back when you're done. I think I have three left. Just send me a private message with your address.

I'm glad you asked about him tho. When I wrote about him before I was kinda surprised no one else had anything to say about him.  Now you got me wanting to watch psychotic old Mean Gene in action.  What I would really like is to hear his teaching(outside of the bible) that he used to broadcast. If you come across it let me know. He had some fascinating stories. I think if he would have went a different path with his career he would have a prominent leader in a useful field. His psycho antics were just for show. But he knew where the easy money was.- faith. Like I said, he was no dummy.

BTW I did find an independant site that had a huge extensive story on him with alot of shady stories about the questionable ongoings of his congregation, but if I click off of here I will lose this post.  I"ll get you the link when i find it.

"...but truth is a point of view, and so it is changeable. And to rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force." -Hypatia


iwbiek
atheistSuperfan
iwbiek's picture
Posts: 4298
Joined: 2008-03-23
User is offlineOffline
wow, thanks for the

wow, thanks for the informative response.  that was more than i expected.

i've always heard scott had a habit of preaching on things like atlantis and the pyramids, but i can never track those teachings down.  thanks for the offer of the tapes.  now i live in europe and have no vcr, but if i'm ever in the states for an extended period i'll take you up on that.

scott also appealed to me a lot as i was easing out of christianity, right around 2006/2007.  by that time i was pretty rebellious by christian standards and had given up completely on mainstream american evangelicalism.  the pure audacity of the man fascinated me, but of course by then he was dead and i think i was too up on my bible to be taken in by him anyway.  i didn't know he favored paul's writings to anything else.  i was the exact opposite then: i favored the gospel accounts of jesus, particularly the synoptics, to anything else and had an increasingly open contempt for paul, which scandalized my more mainstream friends.  i was all into liberation theology, jesus as che guevara sans beret, blah blah blah.

i think what sent me to scott in the first place was my being a johnny cash fan.  i don't think cash was a follower of scott by any means, but i remember him mentioning scott's teaching on communion and how it had special healing powers.  so, yeah...irreverence, mixed up with mysticism, endorsed by everyone's favorite celebrity rebel saint--it was right up my alley!  i didn't actually believe that bunk about communion healing people, but i just thought, "i wanna hear more of this guy's shit!"  it seems to me like that was his draw for most people.

i don't want to be indiscreet, but did he weasel any money out of you? 

"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson


tonyjeffers
tonyjeffers's picture
Posts: 482
Joined: 2012-02-14
User is offlineOffline
Here's a couple sites.  

Here's a couple sites.   http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/religion/dr-gene-scott/      http://www.godsangryman.com/

The first one is just a short on his antics with a few funny pics. I didn't read all of the second one but down the page it tells how Melissa may have a hold on those teachings that seem to be so hard to find. They were free on the radio around the globe, but I'm sure she wants to sell them. If not, then she has probably been sued over the rights.

They used to send me a mailer with station and time listings. I found the stations online but can't seem to get back to that site.  There are groups that share his stuff like Atlantis, pyramids, etc., but I never mess around with those goofy sites.

Here's Dolores Press  1-800-338-3030 I'm sure they will tell you anything you want. They were always easy to contact so the cash could pour in.

Most of the bad stuff you read about him is written by christian objectors. The others are mainly just funny. He didn't look like that on Sunday. He always wore a suit.

And yes, I coughed up quite a few bucks.  He couldn't have got me at a better time.

I was 19 and the second youngest to ever be hired by Diamond-Star/Chrysler/Mitsubishi Motors. By 20 I was teaching robots how to build cars and making around 50k a yr.  Sounds like a pretty smart guy huh?  WRONG.  Combine young, ignorant, and too much money in his pocket  with faith and you you have the perfect recipe for a moron who should tithe to god.

You talked about Jonny Cash. One of those sites had a listing of several celebrities who were fans.

"...but truth is a point of view, and so it is changeable. And to rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force." -Hypatia


x
Bronze Member
Posts: 591
Joined: 2010-06-15
User is offlineOffline
Drool drool

I'm a fan of Herzog and Johnny Cash, so thanks for this.

Now watching God's Angry Man on youtube.

http://norcalurban.blogspot.com.au/2006/11/johnny-cash-video-gods-gonna-cut-you.html

 

Rick Ruben (founder of American Recordings and producer of all the content that resurrected Johnny Cash's career) wrote these beautiful words in the insert to American V: A Hundred Highways, Cash's first posthumous album.

We had a ritual to speak every day since just before June had passed.

One of the reasons for the ritual was actually Dr. Gene Scott, the outrageous televangelist who did a show explaining how he cured his own cancer by doing communion every day. His argument for how is worked was thought provoking. I told Johnny about it on the phone one afternoon, and the next time we were together in person we discussed it further. I had never taken communion before, so he had someone find his old communion kit. He hadn't used it in many years but he did that day and Johnny game me my first communion. We spoke about doing it every day, and that's when the ritual began. each day we would speak on the phone and Johnny would perform the communion rite. We would both visualize and internalize, eyes closed. It was performed as a meditation. A moment to connect deeply to spirit. Every call always ended the same way.

"I love you, John."
"I love you, Rick."

 


tonyjeffers
tonyjeffers's picture
Posts: 482
Joined: 2012-02-14
User is offlineOffline
Just in case you've never

Just in case you've never seen it.  Here's the Johnny Cash Project   http://www.thejohnnycashproject.com/    Youtube has clips on it too that explains how it started and how many different people added to the collective. I've used my snipping tool to freeze almost every frame and collected a Johnny Cash art gallery.

"...but truth is a point of view, and so it is changeable. And to rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force." -Hypatia