Once in awhile I receive a letter from a reader who feels I am too hard on the fundamentalist christianist wingnuts. I should be more tolerant, I'm told. These people have a right to their beliefs, too.So, I think about it. Am I really intolerant? Should I let up on my criticism? Are these really decent people?
Nah!
Here's an example of a damnable, self-righteous, ignorant, stupid, wacko, fundamentalist, wingnut: Andrew Michael Teneriello.
Teneriello calls himself an "ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ," which means absolutely nothing, as these days any fool can "ordain" any other fool. Supposedly, Teneriello is busy up in New Hampshire putting together a "brand new non-denominational" church, where the real "truth" will be preached to as many unsuspecting, ignorant, naive people as he can con into listening to him.
This wingnut supreme has written a book in which he proclaims his ignorance, intolerance, hatred, and general stupidity to the entire world.
Blinded by the Devil is the title. Teneriello believes that everyone who doesn't believe like he does and doesn't interpret his little magic book about his imaginary friend in the sky the same way he does, is blinded by the devil and will suffer eternal torment in his imaginary hell.
The problem for Teneriello is that most people don't believe in his insane ravings. That must have pissed him off so he just had to write this book.
Liberals, for example, or anyone who voted for Obama, are lost; blinded by the devil. Catholic? Lutheran? Member of any mainline denomination? You're all blinded by the devil and are going to hell!
You will, in Teneriello's little book, learn that the Roman Catholic Church is rooted in corruption; that Protestants believe in doctrines of demons. You will learn how Oprah Winfrey "is leading many into an Anti-Christ movement."
There are only two roads you can travel: one leads to God and the other to damnation. Just because you call yourself a Christian and belong to a church doesn't mean you're on the right road!
How does Teneriello know all of this? Well, in December, 2007, he "had a supernatural encounter with God [not surprising; many psychotics claim to have encounters with god] during which he was told to expose the counterfeit churches that have evolved since the deaths of the original apostles of the New Testament Bible.
"In this book you will learn about not only the history of Christianity but you will also see firsthand how Satan is ruling over many so-called Christian churches with his doctrines of demons."
Actually, you won't learn any of that because Teneriello is an ignoramus and has no clue what he's talking about. If you see him, ask him to name the "original" apostles and ask him when each of them died and where. And what the hell is the "New Testament Bible?" There is no such thing, except in his imagination.
There is nothing new in any of this. It's the same old bullshit that freaky fundys have been preaching for years, screwing up lots of good people, unfortunately. So, yeah, I'm a little intolerant of creeps like this who make it their life's work to mess with people's heads. They may have a right to their beliefs, but they better be prepared for severe and sustained criticism when the flaunt their insanity before the entire world.
The video below comes from Teneriello. The audio has been disabled. It will still give you an idea of the depth of the man's sickness.
