In America, there are ministers who pimp Jesus for power and money, which they get from their right wing political "johns--" the dupes who trust these pastor pimps who whore Jesus, Peter, Paul and John for their own interests-- money, massive mega-churches, expensive cars, huge homes and power.
In both cases, these pimps are using innocent victims-- dupes who they take advantage of. In both cases, these pimps find vulnerable people who will do their bidding, who will sacrifice for them.
The Suicide bomber pimps take innocent young men, and even some women, and promises them martyrdom-- a promise of heaven that these unhappy, frustrated people certainly don't have when they are "found" by these suicide pimps. With the unemployment rate so high, it's easy to pitch suicide bombing as a saintly act that will turn low self-esteem, bored, angry twenty somethings into proud, for the short term, martyrs. These young suiciders would probably not be there if it were not for a bunch of old men pontificating and preaching stale, rigid, hateful distortions of the original teachings of their faith.
In the world of the suicider, the Suicider's pimp recruits the suicider and then does all he can to keep the suicider away from his ordinary, old world. He creates a new world that focuses the pimp's victim on the goal-- suiciding, and on the reward-- martyrdom in heaven.
In the world of the born-again, the Evangelical Pastor Pimp creates a new world for the dupes who think they are taking Jesus into their heart. He builds a massive church and sucks the victims, thinking they're connecting with Jesus, into a culture. The megachurches are built to insulate the Jesus pimp's "bitches," actually, more men than women, to keep them away from the mainstream culture. The churches include bowling alleys, coffeshops, movie theaters. These megachurches are alternatives to the real thing, to American life. The evangelical pimps have taken Jonestown to the koolaid drinkers instead of taking the koolaid drinkers to Jonestown. This way, they keep all the comforts.
The Suicide pimps are helping the mullahs, the ayatollahs and clerics who want a world like the taliban. I don't think most of the suicide pimps are in it for Allah. Pimping is one of the ultimate power trips, and it's profitable. But the old men who create the social millieu that enables and inspires the suiciders are into a different kind of power. Their power is so extreme, they can order beheadings, beatings, torture. These sick abominations are the worst examples of the twisted, perverted distorters of the teaching of a faith. They are no worse than fundamentalists in other faiths. They are not subtle, like the Pimping pastors in Pennsylvania, who are banding together to support Rick Santorum. But, they, like the pimps among the new Pennsylvania Pastors, use the faith and innocent trust their followers give them to exploit them. There must be a special place in hell for the whole bunch.
My friend Anthony Wade, a progressive born-again, has written an article in response to this article.
In Defense of Christ I recommend reading it to get another perspective.
