Impersonating Clergy?

[Eddi]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

 

[Revoltingest]

I was The Pope on The History Channel forums (now defunct).
I often quoted scripture, which was well received.
(Knowing none, I had to make up my own verses.)

 

[RabbiO]

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

On the one hand you say you did something terrible. On the other, you seek to minimize it, if not justify it. Odd.

And you’re sure you suffered no adverse consequences?

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

Seems to me that it would been better if, instead of handing the Bibles out again, you snuck into the actual chaplain's office and piled the Bibles up to block the door.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

No consequences, huh? Eddiji, the consequence (karma) is you appear to still be carrying a burden of guilt all these years later, most likely because something in you recognizes that what in fact you did was steal the Bibles from those for whom they were intended....

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

No consequences, huh? Eddiji, the consequence (karma) is you appear to still be carrying a burden of guilt all these years later, most likely because something in you recognizes that what in fact you did was steal the Bibles from those for whom they were intended....

Interesting. The most offensive part of the story for me wasn't "stealing" the Bibles or impersonating the priest; it was the proselytizing.

 

[Sw. Vandana Jyothi]

Interesting. The most offensive part of the story for me wasn't "stealing" the Bibles or impersonating the priest; it was the proselytizing.

Hi, Penguin~
I agree proselytizing is annoying, even offensive. But Eddi is a Christian (not then, but now) and so my answer was couched in terms which call on him to act like one, i.e., acknowledging the error and seeking forgiveness from his Lord as well. When he accepts that forgiveness, he will find that pesky thorn of guilt removed.

 

[Altfish]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

Al Sharpton's made a living out of it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

Kind of reminds me of the times I went to a Catholic hospital wearing my black shirt.

You won't believe how many people called me Father and I wasn't even wearing any type of clerical collar.

I got this holy buzz off of it.

 

[Eddi]

On the one hand you say you did something terrible. On the other, you seek to minimize it, if not justify it. Odd.

I think of what happened in terms of moral arithmetic:

Gathering up the bibles from all the study-bedrooms gave me negative moral credit

Distributing them around campus gave me positive moral credit

I think the two cancelled each other out, even if it wasn't my intention to accumulate moral credit by distributing them around campus

However, against this there are two things:

1) My intention was not to do good by distributing the bibles, I did it for a dare, therefore I cannot claim the positive moral credit for distributing them
2) I broke one of the Ten Commandments - the one that says not to steal. That's not an accumulation of negative credit - that's a sin! An offence against the rule of God that cannot be canceled out by a good deed.

However, when I got baptised earlier this year I renounced all my sins, including this one, and I believe God has forgiven me

And you’re sure you suffered no adverse consequences?

Yes, Rabbi, I'm sure

 

[ecco]

Interesting. The most offensive part of the story for me wasn't "stealing" the Bibles or impersonating the priest; it was the proselytizing.

Interesting. The most offensive part of the story for me wasn't "stealing" the Bibles or impersonating the priest; it was the fact that a college would put bibles in each room.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Interesting. The most offensive part of the story for me wasn't "stealing" the Bibles or impersonating the priest; it was the fact that a college would put bibles in each room.

I agree; I was talking about Eddi's actions specifically.

 

[Nakosis]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

Well, at least you didn't ask for donations.

 

[Eddi]

it was the fact that a college would put bibles in each room.

The university didn't put them there, they didn't own the property, they rented it off a landlord who must have put them there

And there weren't in every room either, overall there were only five or six bibles

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Question: Have you ever impersonated a minister of religion? A priest? a rabbi? an imam?

I have. At the beginning of my second year at university I moved into my student accommodation before any of the other residents did. When I moved in all the study-bedroom doors were left open and unlocked. Big mistake. In each of the rooms was a bible. For some reason, I gathered them all up. I can't remember why. At this point I wasn't a Christian, I didn't even believe in God. A friend then dared me to go about campus pretending to be the university chaplain, distributing the bibles to the freshers. I made my own fake clerical collar and did just that. I went around campus handing out bibles. On the whole, I was well received, especially by a young Brazilian.

I did an awful and outrageous thing and suffered no adverse consequences. I got away with it. And it's not as if I destroyed the bibles, I simply redistributed them.

Seems like there's a lot of this going around.

People claiming to be priests.

But priests I know don't close during crisis, they don't support thieves and murderers, and they don't leave people in their pain.

1“Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.” 6Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them. 7So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before Mea were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

We have a number of parties mentioned: the thief, the hired hand, and the true shepherd.

Some of these false priests/bishops are actually thieves: far from wanting the church to perform its mission, they want the church to fail. They've prevented others from opening, they've sold the property, they've actively warned others that church is a dangerous place. While restaurants and hardware stores and grocery stores apparently aren't dangerous enough to close entirely.

There are the hired hand, those who might like to be like the shepherd, but when things get scary, they fold. They let what's happening today override their job. "They don't pay me enough for this."

And then there is the good shepherd. Those who have let themselves be like Jesus. They get accused of being reckless with human lives (but nobody forced people to come to church, so that's nonsense) if they aren't accused of being racists or something.

My parents taught me when I was a child, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." And my first boss out of college taught me, "If you're not there when I need you, I don't need you." Priests that turn their back on the flock, no matter what high-minded reasons they give about preserving safety, have failed them.

 

[RabbiO]

........when I got baptised earlier this year I renounced all my sins, including this one, and I believe God has forgiven me

You wouldn’t be off the hook so easily in Judaism.

 

[Eddi]

You wouldn’t be off the hook so easily in Judaism.

According to Judaism what must I do to atone for this sin?

 

[RabbiO]

According to Judaism what must I do to atone for this sin?

Let me give you a hint. You didn’t abscond with G-d’s Bibles, did you?

 

[columbus]

I've never deliberately impersonated clergy.
But I have been mistaken for Jesus.

It was the mid 70s. I was a tall white guy, with shoulder length dark brown hair, parted down the middle, and a nice beard. I was wearing a brown peasant shirt, jeans and leather sandals, walking down a sidewalk.

Along came a little girl and her mom. The girl stopped, stared at me, then squealed and pointed. "Look mommy! It's Jesus!"

Mommy grabbed her hand and ran off down the sidewalk. I have no idea what Mommy told her, but I've chuckled thinking about it.

From out of the mouths of babes....
Tom

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I think of what happened in terms of moral arithmetic:

Gathering up the bibles from all the study-bedrooms gave me negative moral credit

Distributing them around campus gave me positive moral credit

I see it as precisely opposite.

While I can't condone theft per se (if that's what it was), I do think that undermining proselytizers is generally a good thing. The fact that you went and proselytized yourself - even if you weren't serious about it - undid whatever good might have resulted.