AMEN. I wish I could make a negative donation.

I don’t know what else to say. You got right to the truth of the matter.

Forget Steve Baldwin. I think we can all agree that it’s best to restore me, John Shore.
http://restorejohnshore.wordpress.com/

Stephen, come on man you know this isn’t right. I know you will do the right thing. Come on people, lets lift this brother up so he can see the path he was on.

Rod is a great comedy writer. These words:
“a washed-up celebrity who, in an earlier generation, would have been anchoring the Banana Section on ‘Tattle Tales’”
are hilarious. Had me laughing for ten minutes. Comedy gold!

I used to read a lot on religion but not anymore since I became an atheist 5 years ago, but I still know that this is a perversion of the story of Jobe. The whole point of that story is that you praise the lord DESPITE losing everything.
So if Baldwin is TRULY a christian let him get down on his knees, in poordom, and still praise the lord.
Also the Lord only helps those who help themselves! Think about it! God doesn’t hold a grudge to those who work hard and EARN their way. Better yet, he praises it!

Just another Hollywood scam. Wheres his is family they should be the ones helping him.

If Baldwin is in bankruptcy that means his debts are being erased, or at least reduced to a level he can afford to pay without fees and interest. Yes, he’ll have a black mark on his credit record for a while, but he isn’t in danger of living the streets.
Meanwhile if people wish to be charitable Ilm sure there are any number of less illustrious folks out there with serious needs for medical care, housing etc.

At least in the case of Willie Nelson, you got an album of his music out of it (The IRS Tapes). What’s Stephen got to offer to his donors- Bio-Dome 2?

First of all, I’m embarrassed to admit that I had to go to Wikipedia to find out that Stephen Baldwin is not the one married to Chynna Philipps (who has also become a born-again Christian, but has not been driven into bankruptcy by this fact). I did realize he wasn’t the one who is on 30 Rock, however. Second, as a Catholic, I think I’ll wait to support him until he converts back to Catholicism. Just kidding! Third, keying off Rod’s previous post, perhaps Delaware should be named “Baldwinia” and all the tax revenues can flow to him. Liberal secularists won’t object, because they’ll think the state is named after Alec Baldwin. I like “Balwinia” much better than “Calagionia.”

The claim is that Stephen Baldwin is blacklisted by Hollywood, but if you look at his body of work, he’s getting just as many acting gigs now as he did before his conversion to Christianity. This is more a matter of his wanting a certain lifestyle that he cannot afford. If Christians read their bibles, they’d know that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven; thus, giving Stephen money would be a disservice to him from an eternal perspective.

This belongs in the same drawer as the mindless cheerleading of Fox and MSNBC. We are no longer allowed to judge people by their deeds; we cannot apply labels like spendthrift; no, we must only accept self-applied labels. Kids learn early how to say “You can’t judge me! Only I can judge me!”
If Bush calls himself “Conservative”, then Fox must treat everything he does as LUMINOUS! MAGNIFICENT! GODLIKE! and MSNBC must treat everything he does as SATANIC! ILLEGAL! FASCIST! And vice versa with Obama, even though Bush and Obama are nearly indistinguishable in deeds.
Here we have a Hollywood type who is indistinguishable in deeds from any other Hollywood type, but because his self-applied label is “Christian”, the other members of the Christian team must cheer for him.
All of this is fully intentional. Subjectivism was invented by Lenin, advanced by Mussolini, perfected by Alinsky.

Wow, you people have it all figured out! What people think, why they do what they do, and what they should be doing instead.
The whole situation is pretty hokey, for sure.

There are places in the world where people are actually persecuted because of their faith, Christian or otherwise. Those misguided “friends” of Baldwin who suggest he is persecuted for his should be ashamed of themselves.

A similar point was made recently in this SLATE piece regarding the Tea Party, by Ron Rosenbaum:
http://www.slate.com/id/2251669
Excerpt:
“The muddled Tea Party version of history is more than wrong and fraudulent. It’s offensive. Calling Obama a tyrant, a communist, or a fascist is deeply offensive to all the real victims of tyranny, the real victims of communism and fascism. The tens of millions murdered. It trivializes such suffering inexcusably for the T.P.ers to claim that they are suffering from similar oppression because they might have their taxes raised or be subject to demonic “federal regulation.”"

No help until he repents for “Bio Dome.”

Shouldn’t someone point Stephen to Christ’s words to the wealthy young man who wanted to know what he must do to attain eternal life?
He has been alleviated of the burden and obstacle of his wealth, and now he is well on his way to attaining the kingdom of heaven. He should be thankful.
Because that’s what he really wants, right…right?

Don’t forget, Stephen Baldwin said this about Bono’s crusade against poverty in Africa:
“You would do far more good if you just preached the gospel of Jesus rather than trying to get rid of Third World debt relief.”
So…
Um…
If millions in Africa are suffering for poverty, we should just tell them about Jesus. That’s all they need.
But if Stephen Baldwin is suffering bankruptcy, SEND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS RIGHT AWAY!

Where it not so bothersome, I am inclined to send a penny, in the hope that they would get the message.
Ignoring it makes you just another person not interested in Stephen’s suffering, sending a penny describes how much you value his suffering.

We should each send a roll of pennies, C.O.D.

It’s actually possible, on the site’s donation page, to donate $0 (just choose the “pay by check” option) and include a personal message to Stephen Baldwin! Mine was something along the lines of “Stop this madness now — the last thing you need is another reason to be mocked.”
Another report on this topic called Baldwin a “C-list actor,” whereas Rod calls him a “D-list actor.” I’d just like to know whose lists you’re looking at.

I’d like to give my view as a born-again Christian. I actually tend to agree with most of your points Rod. I don’t believe that the bailout of Stephen should occur…especially under the guise of this being some Spiritual duty. Although I admire Stephen’s boldness and willingness to be considered a “fool for Christ”, I have a hard time feeling sorry for anyone who has had the opportunities he’s had. As anyone who has reached a level of spiritual maturity knows, Christianity offers no guarantee of financial success or blessing on this earth. Perhaps the Lord is allowing this to come on Stephen to test whether he will remain true to his true faith (unlike many who tend to give up on God when the “blessing” is no longer evident). I think he would have a much more powerful testimony of his faith if the bottom were to drop out and he remained positive and committed to Christ.
Now, to those who think Christianity is a myth (e.g. Artie), please keep this logic in mind. If we Christians are wrong and and there is no afterlife with streets of gold and no God…oh well. We will have lived a life of hope and faith that helped us make it through. No real loss. However, if you, who deny Christ, are wrong and there is a hell and there is a judgment, you have everything to lose. So, make fun of us if makes you feel better. It really doesn’t bother me. I know that some of the stories that are part of the Christian message sound crazy (and there are some crazy people out there who are misguided in their effort to preach it), but when you accept Christ as your saviour…it leads to a life of hope and true joy that is hard to describe. That’s why people like Stephen have been willing to risk their reputation and financial success that can come from boldly sharing ones faith. The peace that comes to your soul is so worth any negatives that may come.

I think he risked his “reputation and financial success” by not paying his taxes, not by becoming “born again”

Someone needs to ask Pat Robertson what deal the Baldwin family made with the Devil for Stephen to undergo such suffering.

“Now, to those who think Christianity is a myth (e.g. Artie), please keep this logic in mind….”
….followed by Pascal’s wager–the worst possible reason to be Christian.

Unapologetic catholic…totally agree. Sorry if that came across my reasoning for choosing Christianity. I was providing motivation to take a second look at Christianity and expressing a side benefit of being one. I was a Christian for 30 years before I considered that logic. Thanks for clearing that up.
It is my hope that everyone will come to belief in Jesus Christ, but I’m the last one to try to force it on anyone, debate people about it, or condemn those who don’t. Doing so is fruitless, and actually sheds a negative light on true Christianity. May everyone, whether Catholic, Baptist, non-demonational, or none of the above, find the peace that comes from knowing Christ as your personal saviour.
To see a good talk on Christianity…check out this clip of Alice Cooper! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oim4OWMANZ4

i can’t believe he would use God for this. ask this brother for money….

the lord said there would be people who used his name to gain.. please, please people out there DO NOT HOLD THIS AGAINST OUR LORD…THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO ARE BROKE, INCLUDING ME , BUT I WOULD NEVER USE THE LORD TO GET MONEY OUT OF PEOPLE, sounds so sinful to me..he should pray to GOD TO SAVE HIM.., oh , isn’t pat robinson dead??

Rod:
I agree with your point about the motivation and manipulation behind this restoration project. Further, I agree that bankruptcy proceedings should go most of the distance towards helping Stephen and his family get back their feet. However, I think your point would have been better made without so much vitriol heaped upon Stephen Baldwin. Like many actors, he has appeared in both fairly decent and pretty bad films. I think it is important to acknowledge that his career has suffered because he is such a vocal Christian, not to mention political conservative. Jim Caviezal’s acting career is similarly affected. So, while you are more than correct to question the basis of Restore Stephen Baldwin and to point out that it amounts to spiritual manipulation to say anyone, let alone all of us, must contribute to make him wealthy again, especially given that his predicament is the result of his own poor choices, like not selling a property he could no longer afford to own, I think you go too far.

Can anyone name a Stephen Baldwin movie? What influence could he possibly have? How much did that cheesey commercial cost. I bet it could have paid for a lot of sandwiches for the poor. The real poor. The working poor. God doesn’t need anyone to be rich just so he can have some street cred.
Sickening.