Dr. Gene Scott RIP
Cranky, acerbic preacher Dr. Gene Scott died yesterday which gives me a chance to tell my Dr. Gene Scott story.
Many moons ago (well, 1981 to be precise) me and a couple of friends in high school watched Dr. Gene on occasion during the day in between classes. One day I noticed something strange about his phone-in number and then I decided that it was our civic responsibility to inform Dr. Scott that his phone number added up to 666. It really did too, his number was (213) 240-8151 which translates to 6 (2 + 1 + 3), 6 (2 + 4 + 0), 6 (8 + 1 + 5 + 1 = 15 -> 1 + 5 = 6). We called his number every day for a couple of months to warn him of this potential satanic corruption until the number was finally changed.
I still remember the time Scott sat in his chair for hours and just scowled into the camera in between puffs on his stogie without saying a word. And if you haven’t seen Werner Herzog’s God’s Angry Man documentary on Scott yet, make the effort to track it down.
February 25th, 2005 at 1:40 am
chris, you idiot! what a fucking waste of time!
March 13th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
ScottEnemies
Why
Does Dr. Scott have enemies?
Here is my perception:
As usual, it’s never what appears on the surface. It’s not about
smoking cigars, or that he’s twice divorced. Rush Limbaugh is divorced
3 times but that is quickly ignored by the faithful. Perceived
lifestyle is only
an excuse.
I think it’s because of the many GROUPS who’s toes he tread on.
Gene Scott did
not suffer Fools
or Dummies.
But he was a very funny
guy who had lots
of fun on his show and gave his audience lots of laughs along with lots
to think about, and that always offends somebody.
By taking it one group at a time it’s easier to understand the context:
1) Fundamentalist Christians:
This was his upbringing and
it is for Fundamentalist Christians that he reserved his most
searing criticism. He smoked cigars to irritate them and make the point
that it is not unBiblical to do so. Some of his funniest TV bits were
about making the point that salvation is by Grace, not by
the many rules and works. It was to stiff-necked tight-a$$ed
judgemental and blatently hypocritical Fundamentalists he often aimed
his
flames.
2) Mainline Protestant
Christians: Since like
himself,
Mainline Protestant
clergy is usually well educated, he was relentless in forcing them to
rethink their lazy traditions which subvert the word of God. He gave
them
no excuse for Biblical ignorance, or for
twisting doctrine for undoctrinal reasons. He was a great admirer of
the
teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, and they
received a very high profile in his
own teaching. Dr.Gene Scott taught far more classical Martin Luther
than any
Lutheran Synod I’m aware of.
3) Roman Catholic Christians:
He had little to say specifically
about Catholicism different from what he also said about other Mainline
Christians, but being the large and vulnerable target that it is, the
Papacy received occasional criticism. The rigidity and know-it-all
closed-mindedness of Catholic Traditionalism was cut no slack.
4) Jews:
He had a good relationship with Orthodox
Jews
and
was well respected in the Los Angeles community. He even loaned
precious Torahs from his exceptional collection of Bibles for use at
special Jewish occasions. He was every bit as strong an
authority
on the Old Testament as Orthodox Rabbis, and they were able to talk as
peers, and in any ancient Biblical language desired.
But with non-Orthodox Jews
who make up the vast majority he
found some
conflicts. When he traced the Biblical trail of the Israelites and
discovered (as have many before and after him) that the “Lost Tribes”
are really just the majority non-Jewish Israelites who make up the
majority of today’s Christians, that stepped on some tender toes
which needed a feeling of exclusivity. But that teaching was only a
tiny part of his ministry.
5) Government Bureaucrats:
He did not take kindly to being
pushed around by tyrants and bureaucrats, and he pushed back with a
vengeance, often in court. He usually won, sometimes under impossible
conditions, and made many powerful enemies in the FCC and elsewhere.
But he also made strong and very powerful political friends in
California.
6) The Media:
Gene Scott, even before Rush Limbaugh, was at the
forefront of fighting back against the media and making it stick. He
ridiculed them mercilessly and with disastrous humour. Now that he is
dead, the weenies and piss-ants in the
media (and the above categories) will take shots at him because
he can’t fight back and humiliate them on his own airtime; It’s like
what they did to Rush when they thought he was going off the air.
There are probably additional reasons why the grave robbers and
character assassins will be active
in undermining the reputation of this rare scholar, teacher, and
Renaissance Man. The telling part is they cannot do it by challenging
his
teaching, only by attacking the man.
April 9th, 2005 at 9:31 am
I began watching Dr. Scott around 1974 here in Connecticut, where you could watch him from midnight to 3 a.m. on weekdays.
At that time I was working 2nd shift and so when I got home, he was a good “wind me down.”
Through the years, he went from 24/7 on that TV station, to dropping it altogether; broadcasting on Shortwave, and then back for 1 hour every Sunday even til recently, (re-runs, obviously).
I recall several months ago that he was struggling with some sort of disease, (I surmised it was a form of cancer, but never heard him utter the word, myself), and figured that he would have a tough go of it.
Not having been using my Shortwave radio for a couple of months, and not being home when he was on the television on Sundays from Hartford lately, I didn’t find out that he had died until about a week ago. Kinda threw me to hear that he had died in February! (the 21st?)
My analysis of the man is somewhat peppered with familiarity with his condition. You see, “I” like him, am the son and the grandson of preachers. “I” like “him” was raised very conservatively in a very Evangelical, yet strict structure.
So in many ways, when he would deviate from the “ultra conservative,” I understood somehow. It was the Apostle Paul perspective of “being all things to all people.”
There was no doubt in my mind that he (Dr.Scott) was very well schooled, and to some extent “self-taught.” I marvelled at his grasp of a variety of languages, both dead and exsisting.
Through the years, however, I never respected his pompous attitudes and his lack of patience. His hiring and firing practices were legendary!
But in the end, I figure that God is more Gracious than we give Him credit for, and even a crusty old fuddy-duddy like Dr. Scott could find himself at LEAST as the “doorkeeper” of the Pearly Gates, (although I don’t think I want HIS face to be the first one I see in Heaven, frankly).
So now the young Melissa gets it all, eh?! I figured that is why she married him. All the Arabian horses, the houses, barns, cars, all of it. Pretty slick doings I think, to have wrangled a guy like Gene Scott into marriage! He used to vow “never again” when it came to women and marriage. I wonder what her “selling line” was?!
I sure wish I could read the writings of those who had worked for him through the years, or been “survivors” of his tirades, to hear what THEY have to say!!
-Steve