My family accuses me of not being a fan of movies, and that is not true, or at least not totally true.  I just don’t like to waste a beautiful Saturday off indoors all afternoon when I could be enjoying the sunshine and outside.  It is a question of priorities.  I do like to go to movies if one, they are not too long (my A.D.D. rears its ugly head if they are over two hours long); two, if they are not too sad as I get my quota of sad other places, like the hospital, and three, they have to be worth my nine plus bucks to see.  And a lot of them are not worth nine bucks.  Heck, I can remember when you could feed a family of four for eight dollars at Bonanza, so I say head to Bonanza instead.  Except of course, I don’t know where there are any Bonanza’s left.  For nine bucks I can see two high school football games and park half a car.  For nine bucks I can go to the Arkansas Arts Center an infinite number of times, because it’s free.  For nine bucks I can buy a movie or two of my very own at Wal-mart, or rent nine, count ‘em nine movies from that Red Box thing at McDonald’s.                        

            But there is also the problem of what kind of movies to watch.  I like action movies, although the older I get the less I like gratuitous violence.  Comedies are good as long as they are devoid of pre-adolescent male humor, and many are not. Drama’s can be good, but again, often tough on the attention deficit.  Romance, well, hey, I am a guy OK? 

            That being said, I have developed a keen appreciation for the “stupid movie” genre, and nowhere is that more readily available than what used to be known as “B” movies.  The B movie was a direct response by Hollywood to the falling cinema audiences of the early Depression years. Where previously audiences had paid to see a single feature supplemented with shorts and cartoons, they were now treated with two features, one of which was a low-budget supporting film, the B.  And some B movies were really, really bad.  These movies were so bad that they were good.  Some of my favorite bad movies involved the Troma Team, which made classics like The Toxic Avenger, The Class of Nuke ‘em High, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Killer Clowns from Outer Space, Surf Nazis Must Die, Monster in the Closet, and of course, who could forget Rabid Grannies.  I might make a “B” movie someday, I think I will call it “Rabid Baptists Burn Nashville,” or maybe “Zombie Deacons from Hell.”     

I will admit that some of these movies are pretty bizarre and very bad.  There were also some “B” movies made right here in our home state of Arkansas.  Who could forget “Gator” or “White Lightening?”  But my favorite Arkansas “B” movie had to be “The Legend of Boggy Creek.” The Legend of Boggy Creek is a 1972 documentary-style film dealing with an alleged creature known as the “Fouke Monster”, a Bigfoot-like being seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas since the 1940s. The film mixes interviews with local residents who claim to have had encountered the creature with dramatic/fictitious reenactments of said encounters. Charles B. Pierce, an ad salesman from Texarkana, who borrowed $160,000 from a local trucking company, used an old movie camera, and hired locals, mainly high school and college students, to make the 87 minute long film in 1972. It generated $20 million in revenue, and is now on DVD.  The film sets out to question the existence of the Fouke Monster, a creature that is reportedly seen mainly by hunters and ranchers. It is over 8 feet tall with a slender build and long legs and arms. It is completely covered in hair and has three toes on its feet, as indicated by tracks seen in a creek bank. Several locals from the small town of Fouke, Arkansas recall their stories, often appearing as themselves. In one scene, a police officer states that it crossed a road in front of him at 30-35 mph, in another, the creature attacks some people in a house; they fire on it, but it sends one of them to the hospital. In another scene, hunters attempt to chase the creature with dogs, but the dogs refuse to go after it. In the end, the creature escapes all attempts to hunt it, and locals debate over whether it is dead, or still out there. That is good stuff.

Actually I will name my movie “the Legend of Sandy Creek” in honor of those early Baptists in North Carolina who first emphasized revivalism, that is until many of them were executed by the governor of North Carolina for insurgence.  Of course, Shubal Stearns and his cohorts had first started 42 churches and more that 125 preachers came from that congregation and the spirit of being “born again” had taken hold across the south.  Seems like plenty of material for a good movie there.

            I do know something about the Fouke monster, as I had a friend who once pastored the Baptist Church in Fouke.  Now my friend was really more of a peer of mine when I was working on my Doctorate at Midwestern in Kansas City than a real friend, as we really had nothing else much in common.  But we did spend considerable time together, and I can attest that he put the “fun” in fundamentalist.  I also remember that he had five young children and his pay was meager at best.  He worked hard to put food on the table and his dream in life was to be able to get a big church after his Doctorate so that he could buy his kids new clothes when they started school in the fall.  We spent a lot of time talking about life in our ministry settings and one day of course the subject came up about the Fouke Monster, the iconic legend of Boggy Creek.  He said, “Let me tell you al about the Fouke Monster.  Plenty of locals have seen him.  It seems that the sightings always occur when a new black family tries to move into town.”  I said, “you’re kidding, right?”  He said “no, it is people who use the story to harass blacks into moving out of the area.  And if they don’t, they might get a visit from the Fouke Monster.”  Wow, I thought.  He went on to say until the mid-70’s there was a sign just outside of town that had an effigy of a black man hanging from an oak tree, with the caption, “N—-, Don’t let the sun go down on you here.”  Unbelievable.  So thus goes the Legend of Boggy Creek.

            A few years after we all had graduated my friend was still stuck with five kids living below the poverty line, until one day things changed.  A black family moved to town and showed up at his church.  The deacons asked him to go and ask the family to leave the church, and he refused.  So in the end, my friend was the one run out of town on a rail.  He earned my respect.  He ended up moving to Memphis and left the ministry, and became a very successful business man, and his kids have way more than new clothes.

            Fouke must be some kind of place as Fouke is in the news again this week, because of one Tony Alamo and his church there. Six adolescent girls were removed from the compound there under allegations of abuse.  Alamo has denied the charges, but a warrant for his arrest will undoubtedly be issued soon. Why do I share two stories about Fouke today?  Well, for one, they both involve ministers there, but mostly because they both involve a minister and his relationship in the church.  In one church, the minister was at odds with his congregation, they questioned his leadership and in the other case the congregation seems to blindly follow the cult-like leadership of its iconic pastor.

And in today’s lectionary text has questions regarding authority, and people who relate to and complain to their spiritual leaders.  The children of Israel were ready to run Moses out of town on a rail, but since he was already way out of town, he feared that they would kill him for leading them on a journey to nowhere, that to them seemed like a journey of hunger and thirst.

When I first looked at the text today, I thought, great, for the second week in a row I have to deal with those whining children of Israel.  Last week it was over food, this week it is the same thing, second verse, except it was over water.  Of course in a sense water is a more urgent need and it might explain their panic.  You can go up to 40 days without food, but only about 4 without water.  It is a more serious deprivation.  Plus, they had to be plenty thirsty in the hot, dry desert. 

I can remember being really thirsty.  Several years ago on my day off I decided to climb Pinnacle Mountain on a hot August afternoon. It was 98 degrees in the shade, and I assaulted the mountain without water.  I was so incredibly thirsty.  And what do you think I saw when I got to the top of Pinnacle Mountain?  I saw the Arkansas River and its myriad of farm ponds. I saw beautiful Lake Maumelle, 10,000 acres of the cleanest water, in fact it is Little Rock’s water supply.  Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!  I was very thirsty. So maybe the children of Israel had a right to complain, after all Moses wasn’t exactly delivering on that promise of a land flowing with milk and honey.  It seems that they would have settled for some shade in a land of bread and water.

At the heart of this week’s contention is the struggle between Moses and the Children of Israel.  Moses was experiencing a crisis of leadership, and he makes a most interesting statement in verse 2: “. . . why do you quarrel with me?  Why do you test the Lord?”  Moses clearly equates questioning him and complaining to him is in effect questioning and complaining to the Lord.  He is in effect saying that his authority is the same as Gods, so just so you know if you pick on me you are picking on Jehovah God, and what fool would do that?  You saw what he did to Pharaoh and his army.  You saw the plagues, you saw him split the sea, and you have eaten the manna.  Well, when you pick on me you better be ready to do battle with God.

So Moses had questions about his authority and leadership, but no doubt he was not the last person to endure such hardships.  And not doubt he was not the last person to equate his authority with that of God.  Going back to those two churches in Fouke, we see issues of church and authority.  In one, the pastor was the victim of doing the right thing and the church complained about his actions, and in the second, an abusive leader has a mesmerizing power over his followers to the point that they even break the law and do things that no reasonable person would do.  For some, Tony Alamo is a godlike leader who is worshipped himself. 

So what happens with some churches and leaders?  My poor friend in Fouke took a stand and was crucified.  The Baptist Church is especially notorious for being hard on pastors.  If you make a few of the wrong people mad in the average church and you are out on your ears and your family is out on the street.  I hear these stories every week from some minister who calls me up looking for a job.  But there are also those churches where the minister is bigger than life and is very powerful.  Ministers who wield incredible amounts of influence and power, often times far beyond the walls of their congregations.  People like Jerry Falwell, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Billy Graham who shape the opinions of countless followers nationwide. They are bigger than the local church and wield tons of personal power.

Today’s text is a relevant one for me, as it seems to me that much of what has happened in the Southern Baptist Convention over the last 30 years has been focused around issues of authority.  And unfortunately, in many cases whatever the pastor has said has been equated with “thus saith the Lord.”  The ministers hide behind the Bible because no one wants to disagree with the word of God, and they often use guilt, fear and manipulation to advance their agendas.  It has been the age of the authoritarian where the average person could not effectively question as channels of communication were closed and cherished doctrines such as the priesthood of believers took a back seat to theological force feedings.

But I am not here to pick on those pastors, or at least just on those pastors, because the truth is that the people in those churches should know better as well, just as the children of Israel should have known better. But I will say this morning that when you walk down the isle at most churches, you might as well surrender to the shackles that go with membership, because it will be the most demanding club you’ve ever joined. 

            The truth is, that there are two harmful side-effects of overly authoritarian religion that often leads to religion becoming sick, it becomes toxic, and dangerous to our very being.  The first thing that can happen is something called religious abuse, a new word to me, but not a new concept for me.  What is religious abuse?  Maybe it is what happened in Waco, Texas, or in Jonestown, Guyana or even in Fouke, Arkansas.  Psychologist Joy Carroll suggests these characteristics of religious abuse: 1) a presentation of salvation based on performance or punishment rather than God’s grace and love; 2) the use of scripture to manipulate or control others; 3) anyone presenting himself/herself to others as God’s exclusive agent for the correct interpretation of scriptures; 4)sexually inappropriate behavior perpetrated by religious leaders or others in a position of power and prestige; 5) the use of religion primarily as a means of avoiding pain and reality; 6) Categorizing feelings such as anger or sadness as sin; 7) solicitation of money or services in the name of God to be used for personal gain or prestige; and 8) viewing God as a personal “butler” with the expectation that life will be made easy in return for being religious. 

I am here today to confess that I have been abused by religion, and you probably have been too.  I always say that I am a recovering Baptist, and I am here to say that I have been abused.  I feel like we ought to start church sometimes like we start an AA group– hello, my name is Stan, and I am a recovering Baptist.

            The second side-effect of the big burdened heavy yoked religion is much more insidious, much more subtle.  It is referred to in recent literature almost irreverently as “religious addiction.”  I have a book on my desk by an Episcopal priest called “When God Becomes a Drug.”  He suggests that there is such a thing as religious addiction, just like there are addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and food, but here the drug of choice is religion.  One can misuse religion without becoming an addict, but when one becomes obsessed with a religious system that is perceived as a means to avoid or control all of life then it has become an addiction.  Experts say that religious addicts often have suffered a history of religious abuse.  In healthy religion, our relationship with God helps us to deal with the painful aspects of life.  Religious addicts use religion to get high an escape from the wear and tear of life.  Religious addicts focus on the religious system and not on God.  Religious addiction is often based on overwhelming guilt and shame and a heavy sense of responsibility to the point that it is all consuming and a destructive force in one’s life. 

            You see, the tragic thing is that religious addiction and religious abuse destroy the very things we seek to preserve.  Folks affected by these afflictions often live in fear that something bad is going to happen to them, the old “God is going to strike me down” syndrome.  And like any addict, they do not even recognize that they have a problem, they live in denial.  These folks believe that they are beyond salvation if they are not absolutely perfect and 100% percent dedicated in their service to God, and generally have a self-critical, harsh attitude and assumes God does also.  They often play the religious game by concealing their faults in order to look pious, and they may have a poor concept of healthy boundaries and behaviors.  They have an intense need for approval and acceptance, and some have a difficult time of having fun.  Moreover, there is an intemperate need for control, structure, and an extreme discomfort when faced with situations outside their control. They have difficulty with divergent thinkers, they hate ambiguity, and they are insecure and overreact with dogmatic pronouncements.

            I believe that many fundamentalist today are religious addicts, they are not concerned with true spirituality, but are concerned with the conservation of the system.  These fundamentalist groups typically have many rules and expectations, and fear and guilt are weapons in their arsenals.  The tough thing about the modern fundamentalist movement is that it is a particularly heavy handed brand of religion that forces conformity or else.  So why are so many, many people drawn to these large fundamentalist churches?  After all, they are the big ones in town, and still growing.  Is it true that God is blessing them and they are right about things, and God’s hand is not on those who have no external validation of their spirituality or religiosity?   Is not the yoke that they require a heavy and hard one?  Their was a study out of St. Xavier college that describe the personality attracted to fundamentalism, and 3 predominate characteristics were found: 1) they were reactionary, zealous, even militant against their opponents, 2) simplistic, denying the complexity of reality, and 3) they were rigid, demanding that their faith not be questioned, not ever.  Do you see what these traits have in common?  They are based on insecurities, by persons who feel very threatened.  By people who desire to escape from reality, by people who cannot handle the ambiguity of life.  And the best way to combat ambiguity is to seek solace in communities of like-minded people, where there is power in numbers, and to seek stability in simple solutions and simple truths.  YOU SEE, WHAT people are seeking for is an easy yoke, because the burdens of life are heavy indeed.  And ironically, the simpler our faith becomes, the more burdensome our religion must be.

            Jesus said, come unto me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  I don’t think Jesus cares how much you come to church on Sunday or the fact that we don’t have it on Sunday or Wednesday night.  I don’t think he cares how many Bible verses you have memorized, or the fact that you have read it every single day.  I don’t think he cares if you believe in evolution or if you dye your hair orange. I don’t think he cares that you challenge the status quo.  I don’t think God is the least bit concerned how out spoken you are or how loud you preach against the evils of this world. I don’t think he cares how big your church is, how big your budget is, or how many mission trips you have taken to Branson.   I don’t think he cares if you wear blue jeans to worship in, or how pretty you sing.  I don’t think he cares if you bow your head and pray before every meal.  I don’t think he cares if you mow your yard on Sunday.

But you may say this morning, “you are preaching an easy Christianity, and Christianity has a big price to it, it is hard to be a Christian in today’s world.  Am I preaching an easy Christianity? Yes I am, because Jesus preached it over and over again.  He didn’t have 365 prohibitions and 250 commandment like the Pharisees, he didn’t even have to post the Ten Commandments anywhere in sight, because as I understand it, he only had two rules to follow and they are the things that he does care about.  His 2 laws were 1) love the Lord God with all your heart and 2) love your neighbor as yourself. Period.  And that’s what he does care about, and that is his yoke. And what got him killed was as much as anything else the fact that his easy religion slaughtered the sacred cows of the Pharisees and the religiously abusive of the world never like those who don’t conform to their rules.   I guess that there is going to be a lot of mad people in heaven when they find out that those who skipped church on Sunday night are just as well off as those who never missed.  If you have ever been motivated to religious service by fear or by guilt or by obligation or by duty then I invite you my friend to consider becoming a recovering Baptist like me, to stop being abused, to sober up, and head Jesus invitation, for you see, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.  For the hard part, the biggest burden ever has already been done, by Jesus himself, at the hands of the religious addicts, on a place called Golgotha.  And for those who find this freedom that Christ gives, they will never complain in their wildernesses, because they will never thirst again. Thanks be to God! Amen.