Landover Baptist Church >From Wikipedia
The Landover Baptist Church is a fake, nonexistent _Baptist_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist) _church_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_church) based in the (fictional) town of Freehold, _Iowa_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa) . The Landover Baptist web-site and its associated Landoverbaptist.net Forum are a _satire_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire) of _fundamentalist Christianity_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fundamentalism) and the _Religious Right_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_right) in the _United States_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) Origin The site was created by Chris Harper, who obtained his master's degree in English Literature from _George Mason University_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mason_University) in 1993 after being expelled from _Liberty University_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_University) (founded by _Jerry Falwell_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell) ) in 1989 for producing a satirical radio show which Liberty's administration found offensive._[1]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-1) Description The Landover Baptist Church is a parody of _fundamentalist_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist) , _Independent Baptist_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Baptist) _churches_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_body) and _Biblical literalism_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_literalism) . The church is described as operating under a dictatorial structure whereby its "Pastor" holds all authority over the church, its members, and its extensive holdings. The church supposedly uses an elaborate fine system to maintain its authority over its members, parodying _Jerry Falwell_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell) 's system at _Liberty University_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_University) ,_[2]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-2) and in addition can force its members to comply with any and all of its wishes (a common phrase on the website used in such cases is that the member "mandatorily volunteered" to comply). In cases of expulsion the member is also removed from the church property. The website describes Landover as having a "permanent _injunction_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injunction) " against all "unsaved" persons, prohibiting them from being within ten miles of the Landover property as well as forbidding them to enter Landover's website._[3]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-3) Within the Landover universe, the church is described as owning well over 1,000 acres (400 ha) in Freehold, with twenty-eight paid _pastors_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastor) , 412 full-time staff members, eleven fully equipped chapels, seven sanctuaries, a 100,000 seat amphitheater, twelve television studios, two radio stations, an academy, a university, two gated communities, twenty-seven developments, three office parks, as well as a shopping mall, amusement park, golf course, retirement community, foundation, fire and police department, circus camp, resort center, retreat center, and a number of fitness centers, swimming pools, hot springs, and cemeteries. An annual feature on the website is a story about the church's Halloween _hell house_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_house) ._[4]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-4) The site records that the initial pastor of Landover was Ben Ebeneezer Smith, and that upon his death his brother (Deacon Fred Smith) assumed the office. In and around June 2010 a "coup" was related to website visitors (in accordance with a spurious interpretation of _Romans 13_ (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+13&version=KJV) ) whereby Pastor Harry Harkwell took over leadership. The site went on to describe Deacon Fred being "restored" to his pastorship after a "reconciliation" during _Glenn Beck_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Beck) 's _Restoring Honor rally_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoring_Honor_rally) . The Landover site also features material from Betty Bowers, a fictional central character on the satirical website BettyBowers.com. Bowers is portrayed by voice actress and comedienne _Deven Green_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deven_Green) , appearing both in photographs and numerous satirical videos. According to Bradley's fictional satirical biography of Mrs. Betty Bowers, she proclaims herself "America's Best Christian"._[5]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-5) Bowers operates several Christian ministries with names like "Bringing Integrity To Christian Homemakers" (B.I.T.C.H.)_[6]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-6) and "Baptists Are Saving Homosexuals" (B.A.S.H.)._[7]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-7) She is listed as a member of the Landover Baptist Church._[8]_ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church#cite_note-8) -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
