A Handy Guide to Local Wingnuttery

The Beacon Journal helpfully published a list of local churches that are showing the latest Left Behind movie.

Today:

• 2 and 7 p.m., Canton Baptist Temple, 515 Whipple Ave. N.W., Canton. 330-477-6267.

• 7 and 10:30 p.m., Full Gospel Tabernacle, 939 Utica Ave., Akron. 330-794-4420.

• 8 p.m. Graham Road Baptist Church, 705 Graham Road, Cuyahoga Falls. 330-928-7742.

Saturday:

• 1, 4 and 8 p.m., Full Gospel Tabernacle, 939 Utica Ave., Akron. 330-794-4420.

• 2 and 7 p.m., Canton Baptist Temple, 515 Whipple Ave. N.W., Canton. 330-477-6267.

• 4 p.m., Akron Alliance Fellowship, 688 Diagonal Road, Akron. 330-376-4654.

• 6 p.m. Maplewood Christian Church, 7300 State Route 88, Ravenna. 330-297-6424.

• 7 p.m. Northside Elementary School, 701 Johnson Ave., Alliance. Sponsored by Grace Community Church. 330-823-5200.

Sunday:

• 3 and 6 p.m., Full Gospel Tabernacle, 939 Utica Ave., Akron. 330-794-4420.

• 3 and 6 p.m., Graham Road Baptist Church, 705 Graham Road, Cuyahoga Falls. 330-928-7742.

• 6 p.m., Canton Pentecostal Temple, 950 McKinley Ave. N.W., Canton. 330-454-2987.

• 6 p.m., Grace Baptist Church, 3289 Laurel Road, Brunswick. 330-225-4366.

• 6 p.m., Grace Community Church, 1700 Hankins Road N.E., Massillon. 330-833-8818.

• 6 p.m., Trinity Gospel Temple, 1612 Tuscarawas St. W., Canton. 330-453-2519.

If your trying to keep track of the churches most likely to join the Ohio Restoration Project, this is a pretty good start. Check out this and this if you need to catch up on Ohio Restoration, and this BJ story (that will duck behind the paywall tomorrow) for a story on Rod Parsley's launch.

But wait, Pho. Aren't you being judgemental? These people may not share your beliefs, but is the wingnut tag really fair? Why yes it is. The Left Behind phenomenon isn't just a set of beliefs different from mine, it is evil. Left Behind is the latest iteration of Premillenial Dispensationalism -- a collection of ideas that have no real basis in scripture. When a significant swath of the population is led to believe that they shouldn't make the world better but instead should welcome it's end, these ideas have real consequences.

Unconvinced? Take an hour or two and catch up with the Slactivist Left Behind series. Fred is a liberal evangelical Christian journalist who has taken it upon himself to unpack what he calls The Worst Books Ever Written a page at a time. The results are enlightening, troubling and, because Fred is a great writer, often hilarious. You can read the archives here. He posts a new installment every Friday on his main page.