" I Sure Miss The Old 'Fire And Brim Stone' Days With Billy Sunday !"

**megimoo** · 07-07-2008, 02:41 PM

[SIZE="3"]The Curse of the Saloon by Evangelist by Evangelist Billy Sunday

................................."Devil Whiskey !"

"The saloon is the sum of all villainies. It is worse than war or pestilence. It is the crime of crimes. It is the parent of crimes and the mother of sins. It is the appalling source of misery and crime in the land. And to license such an incarnate fiend of hell is the dirtiest, low-down, damnable business on top of this old earth." -Billy Sunday

Here we have one of the strangest scenes in all the Gospels. Two men, possessed of devils, confront Jesus, and while the devils are crying out for Jesus to leave them, he commands the devils to come out, and the devils obey the command of Jesus. The devils ask permission to enter into a herd of swine feeding on the hillside. This is the only record we have of Jesus ever granting the petition of devils, and he did it for the salvation of men.

Then the fellows that kept the hogs went back to town and told the peanut-brained, weasel-eyed, hog-jowled, beetle-browed, bull-necked lobsters that owned the hogs, that "a long-haired fanatic from Nazareth, named Jesus, has driven the devils out of some men and the devils have gone into the hogs, and the hogs into the sea, and the sea into the hogs, and the whole bunch is dead."

And then the fat, fussy old fellows came out to see Jesus and said that he was hurting their business. A fellow says to me, "I don't think Jesus Christ did a nice thing."

You don't know what you are talking about.

Down in Nashville, Tennessee, I saw four wagons going down the street, and they were loaded with stills, and kettles, and pipes.

"What's this?" I said.

"United States revenue officers, and they have been in the moonshine district and confiscated the illicit stills, and they are taking them down to the government scrap heap."

Jesus Christ was God's revenue officer. Now the Jews were forbidden to eat pork, but Jesus Christ came and found that crowd buying and selling and dealing in pork, and confiscated the whole business, and he kept within the limits of the law when he did it. Then the fellows ran back to those who owned the hogs to tell what had befallen them and those hog-owners said to Jesus: "Take your helpers and hike. You are hurting our business." And they looked into the sea and the hogs were bottom side up, but Jesus said, "What is the matter?" And they answered," Leave our hogs and go." A fellow says it is rather a strange request for the devils to make, to ask permission to enter into hogs. I don't know, if I was a devil I would rather live in a good, decent hog than in lots of men. If you will drive the hog out you won't have to carry slop to him, so I will try to help you get rid of the hog.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils...the_saloon.htm

**movie buff** · 07-08-2008, 08:27 AM

I'm really not fond of the guy who runs that site. I am a Christian, and I think that guy constantly comes across as a paranoid, bigoted, arrogant, rather misogynistic, and deeply hypocritical fanatic. He's slandered the names of a lot of good, godly men and women who have undoubtedly led more people to accepting Jesus' gift of salvation than he (The guy who runs the site) ever could. Proverbs 6:19 states that God hates, and sees as an abomination, "He that soweth discord among brethren." I'd say the man who runs that site is definitely guilty of that.
Plus, I can already think of at least one attempt at prophecy he has made which turned out to be false. In the political section of his site, he talks about how a lot of the big American politicians (Including the Bushes, the Clintons, McCain, Giuliani, and contless others) are members of the Illuminati which were behind 9/11, control the outcome of every election, and continue to control every aspect of Americans' lives. Some months ago, he had an article in which he claimed that the Illuminati council has decided that Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the U.S.! Last time I checked, Hillary is now out of the election. In the days of the Old Testament, any supposed 'Prophet' who made any kind of prediction that didn't come true would be dismissed as a false prophet and executed. So, it's a good thing the guy who runs that site wasn't around back then.

**Cold Warrior** · 07-08-2008, 08:57 AM

I read this, even went to the link and read the original and still don't have the foggiest idea of what the point of the article is!

However, on the good side, I did follow the link to the original Billy Sunday sermon and found that quite amusing! :D Just change a couple of references here and there and it would be a sermon any Imam would be proud of.

**FlaGator** · 07-08-2008, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

I read this, even went to the link and read the original and still don't have the foggiest idea of what the point of the article is!

However, on the good side, I did follow the link to the original Billy Sunday sermon and found that quite amusing! :D Just change a couple of references here and there and it would be a sermon any Imam would be proud of.

I disagree with your Iman comment. He was speaking in relation to prohibition during the era preceding prohibition. Whether you view his position as right or wrong it was simply speaking on what was becoming a common belief. If you put his words in context with the time period in which they were spoken they were not all that outrageous. Only when judged by today's standards do they seem over the top.

**Cold Warrior** · 07-08-2008, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by FlaGator

I disagree with your Iman comment. He was speaking in relation to prohibition during the era preceding prohibition. Whether you view his position as right or wrong it was simply speaking on what was becoming a common belief. If you put his words in context with the time period in which they were spoken they were not all that outrageous. Only when judged by today's standards do they seem over the top.

However, one might also contend that the same words of an Imam preaching in a religion that is 600 years less developed than Christianity in Saudi Arabia, a culture wherein prohibition is a fact of life, would be similarly justified.

**FlaGator** · 07-08-2008, 01:08 PM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

However, one might also contend that the same words of an Imam preaching in a religion that is 600 years less developed than Christianity in Saudi Arabia, a culture wherein prohibition is a fact of life, would be similarly justified.

I supose that culturally the Imam's are justified since they are not saying anything controversal in the worldview of those they minister to. Most of us (even Christians) find their rhetoric restrictive and antiquated compared to the culture that we live in. Even in light of today's standards, however, what Billy Sunday was preaching wasn't so much against saloons themselves but the abuse of alcohol that they engendered. Admittedly, banning all use of alcohol was extreme... kind of throwing out the baby with the bath water but regulating public drunkeness is nothing new even now.

Then again I'm a fan of Jonathan Edwards.;)

**linda22003** · 07-08-2008, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

However, one might also contend that the same words of an Imam preaching in a religion that is 600 years less developed than Christianity in Saudi Arabia, a culture wherein prohibition is a fact of life, would be similarly justified.

And with the usual results of prohibition - CW, I'm sure you've spotted Saudis - and the condition they're in - in European airport bars, as I have.