DR. GENE SCOTT
I saw this headline about the death of Dr. Gene Scott and it brought back some memories.
I used to watch his L.A. based show back in the eighties when my brother-in-law had one of those huge satellite dishes that could get everything under the sun for free. This was before encryption or any other impediment to anyone just taking the satellite signal from the air. He had found the guy in one of his satellite meanderings and every time I was visiting he would flip it to Dr. Gene Scott just for me. That was because I could never figure out whether the guy was for real or not. He came across a preacher cum professional wrestler type and seemed to be on 24 hours a day.
At varying times Scott seemed a shameless huckster and other times he appeared to be the real thing. He always seemed to be smoking a stogie no matter what he was talking about. And boy could he talk. The subject matter was whatever happened to be on his mind that particular day. It might have religious overtones or it might not. The camera rarely left him for any reason and many times it focused only on his face.
He wasn't shy about asking for money either. Once I remember him announcing that he wasn't going to talk anymore until he heard the contribution telephones ringing off the hook. And he didn't. There was absolute silence for a couple of minutes which seemed like an eternity and then the phones started ringing. He broke into a smile and resumed talking about who knows what.
After reading the article about his death, I'm amazed with this guy. He apparently had a doctorate from Stanford, led a church with over 15,000 members, and was known for his charitable and philanthropic work. In a word, that's amazing. From watching his show, I had him pegged as a con man. I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover.
UPDATE: Another post about Scott's death with some good links.
February 25, 2005 in
Television |
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Your Comments
I read the name earlier, but I didn't put it together with my memories until your post.
During my summers with my grandparents in Indiana, we used to watch a little of Dr. Gene for some comic relief on the satellite every so often.
I particularly enjoyed when he would show video of his race horses while the donation info was on the screen.
I guess it sounds like he did some good too, but from what I saw on his TV show he seemed like all that was wrong with TV evangelists.
Posted by: Monkey McGee at Feb 25, 2005 9:28:56 AM
Gene Scott was an evil bastard who took advantage of the weak and stupid in this world. All the good causes he supported were from the money he took from feable minded idiots. He was a very unpleasant man if one worked for him and cared nothing about others....
Posted by: Dave at Mar 5, 2005 4:27:24 PM
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.
Posted by: Floyd at Mar 13, 2005 3:41:45 PM
During the summer of 1987, I worked at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox Ma. during the late nights at the information desk we were allowed to watck what limited T.V. there was in the area. One of the three stations we could pick up was WLLP ch. 22 out of Springfield Ma. Dr. Gene bought all of their late night air time,from 1:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
We used to get a kick out of his psychotic tirades on the air. I even remember his famous episode in which he actuall walked off the stage, because people didn't contribute enought money that night.
Wether he was atrue man of GOD, or not is unknown, be he sure did provide some late night entertainment in his day.
Posted by: danb at Mar 21, 2005 1:34:01 PM
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