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Thread: Texas minister ACTUALLY set himself on fire to protest discrimination of LGBT community.

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    Senior Member kevansvault's Avatar
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    Texas minister ACTUALLY set himself on fire to protest discrimination of LGBT community.

    How is it that this happened last year and we're just now hearing about it??? This dude had conviction. The problem is, Texas is full of hateful, spitefully stupid assholes who can't wipe their ass without praying to God for a winning lottery ticket. But they'll sure as shit treat you like shit if you're any color other than white...and anything other than straight.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/m...ocial-justice/


    One Monday in June, 79-year-old Charles Moore, a retired United Methodist minister, drove to Grand Saline, Tex., his childhood home town some 70 miles east of Dallas. He pulled into a strip mall parking lot, knelt down on a small piece of foam and doused himself with gasoline.

    Then, witnesses said, he set himself on fire.

    Bystanders rushed to help, splashing him with bottled water and beating the blaze with shirts. Finally, someone found a fire extinguisher. Unconscious, he was flown to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where JFK died. Moore died that night, June 23.

    Moore?s death seemed a mystery. He put a note on his car and left behind letters explaining his act, said a former colleague and relative by marriage, the Rev. Bill Renfro, but his writings were not released for nearly a week. His thoughts are now becoming public.

    The Tyler Morning Telegraph obtained a copy of the suicide note from Grand Saline police. In it, Moore lamented past racism in Grand Saline and beyond. He called on the community to repent and said he was ?giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart? for those who were lynched in his home town as well as for those who did the lynching, hoping to address lingering racism.

    In his letters, obtained by The Washington Post, he called his death an act of protest. He said he felt that after a lifetime of fighting for social justice, he needed to do more.

    ?I would much prefer to go on living and enjoy my beloved wife and grandchildren and others,? he wrote, ?but I have come to believe that only my self-immolation will get the attention of anybody and perhaps inspire some to higher service.?

    Those who knew him call it a tragedy.

    ?It would have been nice to have had some sort of counseling, somebody to point out that his life had mattered, that he hadn?t failed,? Renfro told the United Methodist News Service. ?He had done plenty.?

    Moore had gone on a two-week hunger strike in the 1990s to move the United Methodist Church to remove discriminatory language against homosexuals. While working with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, he stood vigil in front of George W. Bush?s governor?s mansion to protest more than 100 executions. He served in the slums of India, Africa and the Middle East.

    Moore had ?a conviction that if the Bible stood for anything, it stood for radical inclusiveness,? the Rev. Sid Hall, a former colleague, told the Dallas Morning News. ?If you ever were on the side of powerlessness, if you were ever on the margins yourself and were looking for someone to help you, Charles was the person.?

    But for Moore, it wasn?t enough.


    ?I have no significant achievements to offer from that period so that my influence on contemporary issues might have a significant impact,? he wrote, ?so I am laying down my life here today, in order to call attention to issues of great human concern.? He seemed particularly disturbed by capital punishment, racial discrimination, prejudice against the LGBT community.

    Since his death, some news accounts described him as a man who seemed troubled. One asked if he was a ?madman or a martyr.?

    But Moore seemed to anticipate the response.

    ?There is one thing I have absolute control over: that is, the manner of my death,? he wrote. ?History will decide whether my offering is worthy.?

    Moore explained that his death was not an impulsive act, but one to which he had given great thought. Renfro told The Post that Moore left behind a copy of a New Yorker article entitled ?Aflame.? It was about the Tibetan Buddhist monks? protest of China?s domination of Tibet. They, too, set themselves on fire.

    ?I?m not sure an act like that is as meaningful to other people as he thought it would be,? Renfro said. ?I think he became convinced it was an act that would be essential to get the word out. I wish I could have talked him out of it. ? I just accept what he did and his reasons and, hopefully, they will have meaning and effect change.?

    Moore grew up in Grand Saline, a town he said dripped with racial discrimination ? a town the Ku Klux Klan called home. In his letter, he seemed haunted by the past:

    ?When I was about 10 years old, some friends and I were walking down the road toward the creek to catch some fish, when a man called ?Uncle Billy? stopped us and called us into his home for a drink of water ? but his real purpose was to cheerily tell us about helping to kill ?n??s? and put their heads up on a pole. A section of Grande Saline was (maybe still is) called ?pole town,? where the heads were displayed. It was years later before I knew what the name meant.?

    It was this type of racial discrimination that Moore said haunted him.


    ?I will soon be eighty years old, and my heart is broken over this,? he wrote. ?America (and Grand Saline prominently) have never really repented for the atrocities of slavery and its aftermath. What my hometown needs to do is open its heart and its doors to black people, as a sign of the rejection of past sins. ? So, at this late date, I have decided to join them by giving my body to be burned, with love in my heart not only for them but also for the perpetrators of such horror.?

    Angi McPherson, who witnessed the self-immolation, told the Telegraph she has lived in the town all of her life and she knew there was still a racial divide.

    ?It?s not as big as it used to be, but it is here. It is everywhere,? she told the newspaper.

    The town?s police chief, Larry Compton, told the Telegraph that the preacher?s death disturbed him in many ways.

    Grand Saline ?might have been that way in the 1930s, ?40s and ?50s like a lot of places, but today we are a community of different ethnicities and racial makeups.?

    Moore, of Allen, Tex., had a degree from Southern Methodist University and from the Perkins School of Theology at SMU. He served as a minister for half a century. When he retired, he received awards from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, according to a biography provided by his family.
    Don't like what I have to say? I respect that. Go fuck yourself.

  2. #2
    Senior Member PeaceBeWithMe's Avatar
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    Big ol Duh edit cuz I thought this was the guy bitching AGAINST Human Rights.

    I'm dumb. :)
    Last edited by PeaceBeWithMe; 06-28-2015 at 06:50 PM.


    Quote Originally Posted by marshmallow View Post
    did you make her into a wallet Bill? cuz if you did I'm off team Bill.

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    Cousin Greg Angiebla's Avatar
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    It's a shame he felt the need to do this. We need people like him here. I feel terrible for his family.

    "The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man" -Charles Darwin

    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    Chelsea, if you are a ghost and reading mds, I command you to walk into the light.

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    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeaceBeWithMe View Post
    Aw, I'll miss him.

    Not.
    Did you not read it? He did it AGAINST racism. Because of the people lynched in his community.

    As for why we didn't hear about it? Because he actually did it for the right reasons (not that I'm happy he did it). Unlike OTHERS that spout a bunch of bullshit and live another day in order to continue being a force for hate.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



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    Senior Member PeaceBeWithMe's Avatar
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    As I posted above, I misread the paragraph and I am a gigantic dumbass. That's what being up most of the night with a migraine will net you. I read it as he was AGAINST equal rights.

    Feel free to set me on fire now. I earned it.


    Quote Originally Posted by marshmallow View Post
    did you make her into a wallet Bill? cuz if you did I'm off team Bill.

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    What do you care? Boston Babe 73's Avatar
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    BURN HER!!!!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    That is too pretty to be shoved up an ass.
    Quote Originally Posted by Nic B View Post
    You can take those Fleets and shove them up your ass



  7. #7
    Senior Member PeaceBeWithMe's Avatar
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    Please.

    I've been inundated with people bitching about this new law so much this weekend that my brain was all, "Look! More of the same!"
    .
    I skimmed and pulled the trigger.

    Please have Smores over my flames.


    Quote Originally Posted by marshmallow View Post
    did you make her into a wallet Bill? cuz if you did I'm off team Bill.

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    Senior Member Words Words's Avatar
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    haha! that's too big for my sig or it would so be there.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jolly Roger View Post
    Because they are probably not ghetto and hood like me.

  9. #9
    Senior Member kevansvault's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeaceBeWithMe View Post
    Big ol Duh edit cuz I thought this was the guy bitching AGAINST Human Rights.

    I'm dumb. :)
    I was going to quote you but I figured you'd figure it out....Yer not dumb, certainly not as dumb as these assbackward Bible beating dickbags down here.
    Don't like what I have to say? I respect that. Go fuck yourself.

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    Senior Member kevansvault's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Angiebla View Post
    It's a shame he felt the need to do this. We need people like him here. I feel terrible for his family.
    This, exactly. He did what he knew no one else had the scrote to do. This is a motherfucking Rambo preacher. We totally needed him to beat the shit out of the intolerant...wait, we're not suppposed to do that, are we? Why, that would make us [I]intolerant of the intolerant!! Oh, no!
    Don't like what I have to say? I respect that. Go fuck yourself.

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    Okay I thought this was the pastor (Rick Scarborough, also from Texas) who recently said he'd set himself on fire to protest gay marriage. I came in here to applaud him for making good on his promise, even though Scarborough's statement wasn't meant to be taken literally.

    Oh well.

    But it's a shame that this man sacrificed himself in a such a painful way, only to have his story go largely unnoticed.
    Quote Originally Posted by animosity View Post
    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
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    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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    Senior Member Caffeinatedkat's Avatar
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    Well a man who stands for what he believes. Tad over the top but hey, he did what the other guy could and would not.


    Mommy to: Misty-Allison-Elliot-Sebastian-Quinn
    And our newest rugrat MISS MARLEE!!!

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    Senior Member Jumaki15's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Caffeinatedkat View Post
    Well a man who stands for what he believes. Tad over the top but hey, he did what the other guy could and would not.

    What are you "Cool story, bro" ing?

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    Senior Member pinkhair4me's Avatar
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    I deeply respect his convictions and dedication, but I think he erred in believing that a single man's efforts would elicit culture-wide change. That's too much to put on your own shoulders:-(.

    It takes a lot of people, a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of tenacity.

    And I'm posed off over his wife, kids and grand kids having this picture in their minds of their patriarch burning alive in their heads. There was nothing selfless about what he chose to do to them.

    I'd almost wonder if the man wasn't at least a little narcissistic .
    [quote author=thanatos link=topic=5272.msg211093#msg211093 date=1172939327]<br />Thank you! Good Karma for you! I&#39;m sick of everyone using &quot;bi-polar&quot; as an excuse for violent behavior. Pet peeve here. :2angry:<br />[/quote][quote author=Olivia link=topic=5272.msg

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    Senior Member songbirdsong's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pinkhair4me View Post
    I deeply respect his convictions and dedication, but I think he erred in believing that a single man's efforts would elicit culture-wide change. That's too much to put on your own shoulders:-(.

    It takes a lot of people, a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of tenacity.

    And I'm posed off over his wife, kids and grand kids having this picture in their minds of their patriarch burning alive in their heads. There was nothing selfless about what he chose to do to them.

    I'd almost wonder if the man wasn't at least a little narcissistic .
    I don't hear anyone calling Tibetan monks narcissistic, but cool

    He grew up hearing stories about black people having their severed heads strung up around town. It's not like he was some random guy who just ignored these issues his entire life. FFS, he was 80 years old, went out doing something meaningful.
    Quote Originally Posted by animosity View Post
    Just as I suspected. A ring of elderly pedophiles.
    Quote Originally Posted by Southern Love View Post
    Fucking piece of shit, fucking scum, internet ass holes. fucking ingrate no life having fat ass. you have no fucking clue at whats going on fuck tard shit for brains.

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