Althouse: "The new Mother Divine was white, and although the Peace Mission regarded the idea of race as sinful..."

March 15, 2017

"The new Mother Divine was white, and although the Peace Mission regarded the idea of race as sinful..."

"... nearly three-quarters of the membership was black, and the sudden appearance of a white replacement came as a shock to the Peace Mission and to the black news media."

The last sentence of the NYT obituary "Mother Divine, Who Took Over Her Husband’s Cult, Dies at 91."

11 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Interesting cult. It sounds like a sect of the old Pennsylvania Quakers. All races can be friends.So why not a marry a German Goddess.; 3/15/17, 9:49 AM
FWBuff said...: What an interesting and odd story. The Jim Jones connection came out of left field.; 3/15/17, 10:04 AM
SayAahh said...: Father Devine was a cruel man. His cult manipulated the faithful to send him everything they had. In all cases they had little to begin with thus he robbed them of their meager life savings. It was a tragic consequence for them but their faith remained always true.; 3/15/17, 10:08 AM
SR said...: Actually there's quite a lot after that sentence, keep scrolling. You miss the Jim Jones connection if you don't read the whole thing!; 3/15/17, 10:34 AM
buwaya said...: The usual religious huckster.
Even Catholics have them, though the vows (poverty, chastity), dogma, plus supervision by bishops and above limit their scope a lot.; 3/15/17, 10:43 AM
YoungHegelian said...: @BP,

Even Catholics have them, though the vows (poverty, chastity), dogma, plus supervision by bishops and above limit their scope a lot.

Not to mention a heapin' helpin' of Inquisitional pressure when needed to keep the miscreants in line.; 3/15/17, 11:14 AM
buwaya said...: "Not to mention a heapin' helpin' of Inquisitional pressure when needed to keep the miscreants in line."

Alas, that inquisitional pressure is no longer what it used to be.
A terrible loss IMHO.
And you won't get it back, either, without an excellent Pope and a thorough reform of the Dominican order.; 3/15/17, 11:22 AM
Fernandinande said...: YoungHegelian said...
Not to mention a heapin' helpin' of Inquisitional pressure when needed to keep the miscreants in line.

Well now its time to say good-bye to Father Divine and all his kin.
And they would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in.
You're all invited back again to this locality
To have a heapin' helpin' of Inquisitional pressure when needed to keep the miscreants in line.; 3/15/17, 12:10 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Fernandinande,

Jed Clampett as Torquemada! It's brilliant, Ferdi!

"Well, I swaney! I've seen sum heretics around these here parts, but, boy, you got anathemas on you like a hound dogs got ticks! Friar Jethro, you hurry it up with that thar firewood, ya hear! We got us sum big time barbequein' to do tonight, we do!"; 3/15/17, 2:34 PM
The Godfather said...: The WaPo obit doesn't have a similar sentence.; 3/15/17, 4:27 PM
Johanna Lapp said...: For a time, Mother Divine was next-door neighbor to Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo. Iwould love to see those two sharing a plate at the neighborhood block party.

Both Malcolm X and Alex Haley crossed paths with Father Divine in his last year.; 3/16/17, 12:31 PM