Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher
I saw a news article that a film called Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher had received an Emmy nomination from the Northern California chapter of the National Television Academy. Naturally, I wanted to see a film about a preacher that received an Emmy nomination! Could be a great addition to the site. So I contacted the producer and he sent me a screener. It’s the story of a man named Lonnie Frisbee who is credited with sparking the growth of the Calvary Chapel & Vineyard churches.
Even as he was preaching and winning souls for God, Lonnie had a secret: he was struggling with homosexuality
Lonnie Frisbee was a hippie in the ’60s who apparently had his first encounter with God when he was tripping on LSD. After that first encounter, he’d bring others to the mountains or a lake with him, they’d all take some drugs and then he’d talk about God & baptize them. OK – that shakes my conservative views, but say we get past that. Eventually he stopped mixing in the drugs, and would go to the beaches and preach about Jesus – hundreds would come forward & he’d baptize them. He was totally unorthodox. At one point, he became part of the Calvary Chapel staff with Chuck Smith (founder of Calvary Chapel) and then John Wimber (founder of Vineyard movement).
Even as he was preaching and winning souls for God, Lonnie had a secret: he was struggling with homosexuality… After that became public knowledge, Lonnie’s work within the church was restricted and eventually, in 1993, he died of AIDS. The film is well-made and features interviews with Lonnie’s friends and prominent figures in the Jesus movement that were affected by his ministry. Di Sabatino’s work has received several accolades: an Emmy nomination from the Northern California National Television Academy and acceptance to several film festivals, including the Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Festival.
Homosexuality and drug use are very controversial topics, and not just among Christians. But we’re not trying to settle the controversies; we’re trying to decide if we will carry this film on our website. Although we don’t give direct endorsement for most of the movies we sell, putting them on our site carries implicit approval at some level. I know you trust us to provide sound content – let me know if this is something you’d like to see.
I’m going to a post some excerpts from a review our friend Brad Mix of Crown Video wrote a couple of years ago. He has some interesting thoughts about this film. I’d welcome other reviews as well.
Brad’s review is from 2005, when he received a pre-release copy of “Frisbee”. Brad did say he’d like to see a finished copy of “Frisbee”.
Review from Brad Mix:
Last night I was transported back in time to an era I fondly refer to as “My Larry Norman Years”. For those 40 plussers out there, you’ll know what I’m talking about – Sweet Sweet Song of Salvation, I Wish We’d All Been Ready, Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music (that one particularly irked my conservative father) and more. Norman’s ballads and rock tunes are scattered throughout a soon-to-be released documentary entitledFRISBEE: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher by David Di Sabatino.
I sat upright in bed, our laptop on my lap (okay, now I get why they call it a laptop), my wife sleeping throughout most of the program. I started watching at about 11 pm and when the clock struck midnight I realized there was no way I could stop this thing before it was done. It had me in a hippie headlock. I had to finish. Then, (this really bugged me) I couldn’t get to sleep afterward because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I just lay there, in the dark, coyotes howling in the field behind our home, thinking about Lonnie Frisbee, Chuck Smith, John Wimber and, of course, my hero, Larry Norman.
If Di Sabatino’s goal was to make a forty-something, just-missed-the-hippie-era guy think long and hard, he hit a home run! A few journalistic and production faux pas notwithstanding, FRISBEE is eye opening, thought provoking and sometimes downright shocking.
Lonnie Frisbee was a life-long hippie. He converted to Christianity at 17 and shortly thereafter received his calling from God while (get this) under an LSD induced trance somewhere in the California mountains. According to a number of his close hippie and ex-hippie friends and his ex-wife, Frisbee was largely responsible for the exploding growth of the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard movements in the early 70’s. He was subsequently deliberately stricken from the history books by the movements’ leaders because he struggled with homosexuality and drugs. He died of AIDS in 1993.
The two key figures in these movements – Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, and John Wimber of The Vineyard Movement – are accused of minimizing and even erasing the impact Frisbee had on their movements. They were both apparently huge spiritual and emotional father figures to Frisbee, who suffered greatly as a child through the divorce of his parents and subsequent sexual abuse. Smith is accused of being insensitive, forcing Frisbee to put his pastoral career before his wife, and being spiritually arrogant.
As I lay in bed mulling through all this information, I once again realized how powerful and compelling a documentary can be. It has the power to write (or re-write) history. All it takes is the perspective of one, compelling individual to convince us that what they experienced was factual. In the case of the hyper-charismatic, signs-and-wonders-seeking Frisbee, disproving his authenticity, as well as the credibility and accuracy of his defenders, is very difficult indeed. Did Smith and Wimber really write Frisbee out of the history books? Did they do it deliberately? Did Di Sabatino fairly and accurately present what really happened? It’s a difficult task and quite subjective, but in many ways, in the end, FRISBEE comes off as believable.
If you think about it, the nature of the documentary is to present fact – to document and communicate what really happened. The investigative journalist is supposed to hold to certain ethical standards. Unfortunately, individual perspectives, gathering of only partial information (even when the journalist thinks he has it all), personal bias and possible outright attempts at manipulation all play on the authenticity of any documentary. Unfortunately, documentaries such as Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 is believed by masses of theater-goers when in reality, the scrutinizing critic sees serious flaws in his agenda-driven approach to “presenting the facts”.
FRISBEE, unfortunately, commits a number of docu-sins (I just invented that term!). I have no problem with a documentarian letting eyewitnesses tell their story, but to a large degree, he doesn’t do that. Instead of letting the camera roll, he peppers a chosen topic with short snippets of interviews so that you don’t always get the full context of what the person is saying. I felt manipulated from time to time because instead of letting the story unfold naturally, Di Sabatino uses short clips of interviews to drive the viewer to a desired conclusion. Often, the person being interviewed would make certain subjective assumptions (ie. Frisbee was a man of God with an amazing, God-given gift), which is never really proven or challenged by anyone. Then based on that unproven assumption, an argument is laid. Personally, by the end of the program I was not convinced that Frisbee actually had God’s anointing at any point in time.
The other problem with this documentary is that it is not put together well. I was viewing a pre-release screener, which I sincerely hope is a rough-cut. The way the program is edited is a bit unusual and at times very clunky and distracting. After the 60 minute point, I felt the program was ending twice before it actually did. But alas, these are merely technical issues that I hope viewers don’t allow to distract from the actual content of the program.
Does Di Sabatino’s FRISBEE right a historical wrong? Does it set the record straight? Does it correctly re-write the history of the Calvary Chapel and Vineyard movements? It probably does to some degree, but one thing is sure: it’s done well enough that many, many people will swallow it… hook, line and sinker.
This one will leave you staring at the ceiling, late at night, just wondering how true it might actually be. Isn’t that what any good documentary should do?
Oh yes, and if you’re a Larry Norman fan, you’re in for a special treat… regardless of your take on Lonnie Frisbee.
But hey, that’s just my ViewPoint.
May 18th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
There are some other good reviews about this film. Check out what these people have to say. http://www.amazon.com/Frisbee-Life-Death-Hippie-Preacher/dp/customer-reviews/B000MK6ADY
This one is particularly good: it’s from the son of the narrator:
I gotta say, there’s no way I can be unbiased in this review. My dad, Jim Palosaari, did the narration, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Loved it. David di Sabatino is the premier historian of the Jesus Movement, having more copiously researched this unique event more than any other. He was the one to do this project. He meticulously reveals who Lonnie was and how he was treated, framing his story within the larger thematic genre of Biblical literature.
This film is about the guy who comes the closest to being the founding father of the Jesus Movement. It was due to him that Calvary Chapel and Vineyard exist at all. He was there not only on the nights when the Spirit came down initially in those two churches, back when they were an Assembly of God and a Calvary respectively, but he was the impetus for their growth and the movement of the Spirit. He was the evangelist, healer, and exorcist of those churches- not Chuck Smith or John Wimbur, for all the good that they did do. He was there at Fuller Seminary the night Peter Wagner first realized about Signs and Wonders. This movie describes the power that flowed through Lonnie, which even the skeptics couldn’t deny. People wary of charlatans were impressed at how the presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable when Lonnie was present.
As the film’s website asks, What do you do when the founder of your church turns out to be gay? What do you do when the impetus of the growth of your movement struggles with bitterness and doesn’t seem to care about working on a healthy relationship with his wife? What do you do when a man obviously filled with the Holy Spirit dies of AIDS? This is the story the movie addresses. David di Sabatino calls this a Biblical story, for it is the story of how God uses tragically flawed people to show His glory greater. He uses Deborah, Gideon, Sampson, Delilah, David, Peter… the list goes on and on, for not many of us were wise in the eyes of the world, or great, or glorious. That is the brilliance of Christianity, and of Christ’s message. He uses the weak to confound the strong.
After watching the movie you *must* view the extras. This DVD was done from a local PBS special in San Francisco, and not from the longer version touring film festivals and winning awards. As such half the footage is in the extras, and explains a good deal more of the background. It is unfortunate that the footage couldn’t have been more incorporated into the storyline itself for the DVD.
This movie speaks powerfully to me. When I was 13, living on the Big Island of Hawaii, I briefly met Lonnie, just before he died. He was leading a prayer time, and he laid hands on me, and the Spirit came down powerfully, perhaps for the first time for me, as Lonnie prophesied about events in my future.
I think of my Dad, and the things he’s done for the Kingdom, with thousands coming to Christ through his work. But he’s made mistakes at times, and like Lonnie, I am impressed at how he’s been written out of histories as inconvenient. I think of myself, and the struggles I have in beliefs that don’t fit with the Evangelical mainstream, giving me a scarlet E. Doors have closed to me in this world, both in the past and the future. I think of how we all have ways we are the 100th sheep, and ostracized because we don’t fit the mold- or ostracize others because they don’t fit our box of who God would want. That’s what this movie is about.
And lest I forget, the narration- sublime! Deep and resonate, Palosaari chooses to read it more as a story than in the typical narrator’s voice, which perhaps fits this particular film better, as it is story, and myth, of who we are.
This movie will shock you. The histories many of us have grown up with are not quite what we were always told. Our paradigms of reality are in the mood for a shifting. This documentary will tell you the truth about a great man and great churches. But hopefully it will do more than that. It will help you be amazed at the way God interacts with His people. After all, He’s not a tame Lion.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I contacted Brad Mix to ask him what he meant by his claim that I had committed “docu-sins.” To date, he has never answered.
There were reviews that I didn’t like because they didn’t understand or like my movie, but they didn’t just make unsubstantiated claims and then hide when asked to explain.
If you want better reviews, here they are.
http://www.ocweekly.com/features/features/the-first-jesus-freak/19081
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117928721.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=Hippie+preacher
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/daviddisabatino.html
Hope this engenders some great discussion.
… and that Brad Mix answers my email, finally.
=)
dd
May 19th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
No thanks. I gave up drugs 13 years ago and didn’t see God or got anything good out of my drug use. And homosexuality is against the Bible and God. And as far as language goes; I prefer language you can use around small children and families that don’t use profanity. I have over 70 DVD’s and the only ones I watch now are the ones that are about Christianity. I have about 13 or so of them and get more out them than I do regular every day movies. He may have helped found a church but to me what he did in his early years was way to out there for my taste. So I would have to say no to selling this one on your website.
May 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
First, I think Chrisian Cinema should carry “Frisbee”. As Christians, we are called to question, grapple, wrestle and discuss the issues that affect the church and our culture. There are a number of important events and issues brought up by this documentary and as truth-seekers we must shine a light on them.
Second, David Di Sabatino was wondering about my tag “docu-sins” that I attached to “Frisbee” and why I never responded to his alleged email. Sorry David, I don’t believe I have ever received an email from you. I know you expressed some displeasure of my editorial to my friend and business associate, Tim Wilson, but not directly to me. But let me respond now…
I used the term “Docu-sins” in reference my feeling that Di Sabatino was using snippets of interviews in order to drive viewers to a point HE was making, rather than let me, the viewer, come to my own conclusions based on fuller pieces of interviews. That’s why I said I felt a bit manipulated while watching it. I think it’s important to note that I believe it is possible to be manipulative even when presenting information which is in fact truthful. It’s the way it’s delivered. I also emphasize “I felt a bit manipulated”… I don’t want to overstate this. It wasn’t extreme.
Another “Docu-sin” I referred to was that I felt there were some assumptions made and then arguments built on those assumptions that I hadn’t yet accepted as fact. That’s OK. I’m a bit of a cynic and I often question assumptions that many accept at face value. I experience this with many documentaries. One assumption I didn’t necessarily accept was that Frisbee was actually filled with the Spirt and God was actually working through him. Quite frankly, I have never assumed that “signs and wonders” are automatically of God (I’m probably going to hell for that comment
The most important question for me is did Lonnie Frisbee really KNOW God. Was his relationship with God REAL and DEEP. I can’t assume the answer is “yes” based simply on the works he allegedly did.
Okay, two more quick comments. What I wrote was not a reveiw of “Frisbee”, it was an meant to be an essay on the importance of documentary films and how crucial it is for documentarians to set aside their own preconceived ideas and agendas. It’s almost impossible to do, but they must try to do so.
Also, in the end, I liked “Frisbee”. I was captivated and intrigued by it. Just because I had some negative comments about it, doesn’t mean I didn’t think it was well done. I also acknowledged the copy I was watching wasn’t the final cut.
So David, I hope this finally puts to rest the “unanswered email” I never got
You’re doing a great job. I was very sorry not to have seen you when you were in Edmonton recently. Two of my close friends attended and said the showing of “Frisbee” and the ensuing discussion were exceptional. Keep up the good work!
May 21st, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Hey Brad,
Thanks for responding.
I think that those of us that have some sort of emotional attachment for the evangelical world are prone to wince a little too stringently when we see stuff from the charismatic world. I am with you there.
My concern is that we don’t overdo it, though, and become too closed in the rare chance that one of these voices that claims to be divinely inspired actually is. If you probe this story and all that is Calvary Chapel, this is one doozy of a story… and it is not a house built by pragmatics (as is the case with Willow Creek or Saddleback or the Crystal Cathedral).
I think what you felt as me being overly generous to this world was me actually taking them seriously, something that I got big marks in the documentary world for. Just like filmmakers who went into the Nazi skinhead or punk rock world and take them just as they are, so too I took this charismatically-tinged story just as these people were saying it… without a narrator saying, “Well, they are saying this, but what they really mean is this.”
That would have been far worse.
Alas, you and I share a passion for a certain blonde-headed rascal, so, am sure that we could find common ground if we were to meet. Met some of your team and enjoyed talking with them. I should shoot you a copy of the updated version.
ciao,
dd
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
David
Fair enough…
I guess, for me, I don’t necessarily need to have the writer/director take those telling the story seriously as much as I need to get to know the people telling the story well enough that I can decide whether or not I can take them seriously. Not sure if I explained that right…
A great example for me was EO International’s (The Netherlands) documentary entitled FACES BEHIND DEATH ROW: The Carla Fay Tucker Story. Most of the documentary is the brother of a lady murdered by Carla Fay Tucker telling his story, raw and uncensored. It’s one of the most powerful and convincing stories of God’s tranforming power that I’ve ever seen, swearing and all. I don’t think it would have been as powerful had EO tried to tell the story itself instead of EO letting this guy, who lived it, tell the story. Granted, that’s not always possible to do, and in the case of Frisbee probably not possible at all… I was just wanting to get to know those people a little better so I could believe them more wholeheartedly. I didn’t get to know them well enough to give them my trust. Maybe I was asking too much.
Anyway — in the words of Forest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that”… on to that blonde scalawag we both know and love… I’ll make you a deal. You send me a copy of the final version of “Frisbee” (we need to offer it to our networks anyway) and I’ll send you a copy of our production “Larry Norman: Live and Kicking” (sorry, a 1995 production available only on VHS – it’s out of print, but I have a couple copies stashed away for posterity). My email is brad@crownvideo.com. Email me your address and I’ll send it out. I think you already know our address.
Over and out,
Brad
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Loving the discussion here. I have to concur with Brad about feeling a tiny bit manipulated while watching… not sure who to trust. After watching Frisbee the story sat with me for several days… this is when I know I have watched a great piece of work. When your mind wonders back to moments in a film and you ruminate on them. This is a film the church could find helpful… having attended the Vineyard Church back in my college days in the late 1980’s, this story helped me process some things… almost healing in a way.
The church has always looked for heroes… and Lonnie Frisbee was one of those catalysts of a movement in history that the church didn’t know what to do with when his lifestyle didn’t match the hero they wanted.
I recently crossed paths with a woman who had been a pastors wife for 40 years. Their daughter left her husband for another woman. Devastated years later, I am having a conversation with her and she said to me… “I have always been afraid that if I love this woman (the girlfriend of her daughter) it will be as if I am condoning her behavior.”
WOW… after 40 years of pastoring… my heart broke for this pastors wife… bound up and unable to love. Difficult stuff… and I believe this is wide-spread. And that this documentary speaks to the heart of this issue.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I just watched the film tonight and really enjoyed it! (It’s also up on ChristianCinema.com now so anyone can get it and watch it for yourself.
I didn’t realize that Calvary chapel initially had a pretty charismatic foundation (at least that’s the case in the documentary).
One of the powerful messages to me from the film is how Lonnie Frisbee came from the “counter culture” into the the religious system and became a catalyst for its growth, and then that very religious system (and growth) was probably the cause of a lot of guilt and shame that prevented him from being totally healed of his struggles with homosexuality.
I have no doubt that he knew the Lord personally and was used by God. I think our struggle with accepting some of this is that we have predefined notions of what a Christian or the “Man of God” should look like and Lonnie definitely challenges just about everyone of those notions! But isn’t it like God to use the unlikely people so that the results are so clearly about Him and not that person’s gifting or charisma (which is too often only what we rely on).
On a very basic level, I’m glad that God can use broken people like Lonnie Frisbee because it’s a reminder that he can use each one of us. It’s about Jesus IN us working THROUGH us doing His work for His glory and purposes. That’s why it’s called “the fruit of the Spirit,” not “the fruit of the believer.”
May 26th, 2007 at 12:35 am
God can and does use flawed humans to demonstrate his love and purposes. Thank goodness for that, or he would have not use for me! My issue has not been “can God use someone who doesn’t fit our preconceived idea of what a minister of the gospel should look like”… it’s more about our fixation on signs and wonders over true intimacy with God and our propensity to label someone as a “man of God” or “being used of God” based on outward signs that may or may not be God. We look for heros and when someone delivers “the goods” we champion them as a Christian superstar. Mel Gibson is a great example of that
Brad
May 31st, 2007 at 10:17 am
I am not a fan of the signs and wonders movement myself. I think those things have been overemphasized by certain segments of the church, and the preoccupation upon them can turn some Christians into something akin to spiritual tornado chasers… always looking for the next great spiritual high or wave.
What does the Bible say about the Greeks who seek after signs? It is often a LACK of faith that needs to see something miraculous happen.
But the church fathers had a saying that bears thinking about. Absus non tollit usum, which roughly translated means “abuse is no excuse to negate the use”… ergo, just because someone misuses something doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in it. The Pentecostal/charismatic world is rife with nonsense. I am as appalled by people who claim to have experienced 15 miracles before they have breakfast. And some of those holy huddles that go on where everyone is getting “blessed” by the Spirit are embarrassing when juxtaposed with the reality of human suffering that goes on around the world.
But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Mystery is a long part of the Christian narrative, and this story is very much part of that tradition.
dd
June 6th, 2007 at 3:02 am
I have not yet seen this film, but am intrigued by the commentaries read here. I do agree with the concept of believers being open and honest about our lives. The Bible says, “He that hideth his sin shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes it shall find favor from the Lord.”
We in the Church are famous for shooting our wounded, and, somehow I feel that by admitting and acknowledging our past, without trying to interpret it to the person who is being made privvy to it, is our confession. Neither do I think that forsaking our sin means that we cease loving or showing love and compassion for those who are caught up in it. I do believe that God has not yanked the signs and wonders from our grasp, but the skepticism over charismania is not unfounded either.
I know in my spirit that there has to be a balance between the written Word (logos) and the living Word (rhema). I’m not trying to be super-spiritual, but I know that the Holy Spirit is a person, and that we are in-dwelled by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, aka the Comforter, etc. It stands to reason that, since God is the same and that He never changes, that He is willing and able to do what He did in biblical times. In fact, I’m sure that He has been acting all along in history. He does what He wants to, when He wants to, and how He wants to, using whom He wants to. If He used Baalam’s donkey, a dumb beast, why can’t He use flawed human beings to do His work? That is what makes faith a mystery ….
August 15th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Brad,
You say:
“Often, the person being interviewed would make certain subjective assumptions (ie. Frisbee was a man of God with an amazing, God-given gift), which is never really proven or challenged by anyone.”
How could they be anything but subjective? What would it take to “prove” this to you? The fact that Smith and Wimber both employed Lonnie isn’t enough? The interviews with Smith Jr. and Fulton are not credible?
It sounds like you would rest more easily if doubt remained about Lonnie. If he never had what you have then he can’t really be like you or you could never be like him.
Jack
March 10th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Hi Jack,
Yes, fair enough. It’s essentially impossible to prove these things one way or the other, especially to a skeptic (that’s me). There are so many factors that come into play with me believing that God is literally “doing stuff” directly through people. It’s a long conversation, with a few very deep pools, and I’d love to have it with you because it eventually goes to the very heart of how God loves us and how we love him back and how we love others (you don’t happen to live in Edmonton, Albert, Canada, do you?). Part of my skepticism is probably due to abuses I’ve seen within the church, so maybe I’m just over-reacting. I’m wrong about lots of things, so I might be wrong about this, but I think that most of what we attribute to God within the Christian religion, especially in charismatic circles, has very little to do with the heart of God and very much to do about men conjuring up things on their own to look spiritual. We fulfill our own prophecies. It’s an unconscious power grab by “spiritual leaders” who long for significance. And sadly, they get their significance outside of an intimate, child-like relationship with Father. We have become experts at substituting “things” and “events” and “manifestations” for the real thing – intimacy with Father… but then again, what do I know?
March 10th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Hey Brad,
Thanks for your response. I live on the East Coast of Canada. It helps to understand your perspective on charismatics. Your last post sounds like you are viewing (judging) the ’70s through the lens of the 21st Century. I still think Chuck Smith and John Wimber were credible leaders and they seem to have little or no issue with the sincerity of Lonnie’s faith. And in 30yrs, my kids will look back and judge me as missing the point on lots of issues (probably a lot sooner than that!). You think the real thing is intimacy. I think it’s authenticity – one thing about Lonnie, we got him warts and all. Have you ever read “In the Name of Jesus” by Henri Nouwen? I don’t tend to make it to the West very often, but if you’re ever on the East Coast . . . we have great fair trade coffee.
Jack
March 10th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Thanks Jack – I’ll check out the Nouwen book – I read a lot. Re your intimacy/authenticity comment: I also that intimacy is impossible without authenticity (honesty and openness), but the goal is intimacy. Authenticity allows for intimacy with someone, warts and all, because the warts and all apply to both parties in the relationship. My wife (and God) desires an intimate connection at the heart, authenticity is one of the first doors you go through to get there. Have you heard of/read “True-Faced”? An incredible book Ken Davis (Christian comedian) told me to read after I had given him The Shack. It speaks directly to this issue… very good.
Ciao!
March 11th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I attended some Frisbee events in 1970 & 1971, including a TV taping episode in Hollywood as member of a small audience. The wife of one of my closest friends grew up alongside Lonnie Frisbee. He was gay since boyhood. I see him as possibly having had genuine intentions, but overall as part of a freak religious scene which included David Moses Berg of The Children of God nearby in Huntington Beach, and other “luminaries” it makes me too sick to discuss. If there’s another side to all this, it’s the oppressed and confused atmosphere of the late 1960’s as that last war-based-upon-a-pack-of-lies was shoved up our arses, oftentimes by smiling “Chrisian” politicians and religious leaders (anybody recall the 1968 photo of National Council of Churches leaders gathered around HoChiMing in Hanoi? Geeez, they looked like a pack of smiling jackals!). So cut Lonnie some slack, but not for falling in love with that 18-year-old fellow in 1988, for God’s sake. I mean, he was a pastor.
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:46 pm