I DID IT: In reversal, Jeffery Fowle admits to leaving Bible in North Korean nightclub

[Scairp]

Source: NY Daily News

The American detained in North Korea for leaving a Bible in a nightclub said he did exactly what the communist country accused him of.

<snip>

The 56-year-old said he planned to leave the Bible in North Korea long before he even traveled to the country, he told the Dayton Daily News.

He was not necessarily there to proselytize, he said, but he was driven by his "strong motivation to help the Christians" in the area, he said.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/jeffery-fowle-american-detained-n-korea-admits-leaving-bible-article-1.1994452

---

I knew it. What a complete dickhead.

[Kelselsius]

1. Lying for Jesus

So now we should believe him when he said he wasn't there to proselytize?

[Jackpine Radical]

3. You should believe him whatever he says, and wherever he says it.

He's a Good Christian, and therefore either telling the truth or, if not exactly telling the truth, telling you what Jesus wants you to believe. And, as we all know, Jesus is no stickler about the truth when a good lie will more readily advance his interest in saving you (or bringing about the end of the world or whatever it is he's all about these days).

[jtuck004]

8. "...if not exactly telling the truth, telling you what Jesus wants you to believe. " This. n/t

[Kelselsius]

20. A lie for Jesus is a GOOD lie.

Thank you for making it clear that Good Christians can lie.
And you outright say I should BELIEVE A LIE because a Christian said it.
Anybody else lies, they are bearing false witness.
But as long as they are lying for Jesus, that makes it OK.
Your statement makes the term "Honest Christian" an oxymoron.

[Jackpine Radical]

21. No, Oxymoron lives in Florida and has a radio show.

[C Moon]

22. That was really funny!

[FarPoint]

12. Absolutely... hypocrite!

Well said. .He lives in my area too. (((Puke)))

Retired Democratic Congressman Tony Hall was a key negotiator with North Korea in securing his release....no media credit provided.

[KansDem]

2. Looking for Christians in a nightclub?

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Well--Mary Magdalene and all…

[KansDem]

16. Must be the Holy Water

I myself am waiting for the "Single-malt Scotch of the Gods."

[ChairmanAgnostic]

35. Jesus rocks

while satan gravels.


NO, wait, it's:
Jesus Saves,
Gretzky SCORES!

[dhill926]

45. haha...I heard it as...

Jesus Saves....but Esposito scores on the rebound.

[tblue37]

49. Jesus saves, but he keeps his money in a local credit union, not in

one of those too big to fail banks.

[longship]

58. Jesus saves, Moses invests, but the Mongel hoards.

(An old one.)

[Le Taz Hot]

51. Uh, you know Mary Magealene

was NOT a prostitute, right? I know, I know, you were being witty but a sista gotta stand up for a sista.

[iandhr]

5. What a moron.

[Marrah_G]

6. What an idiot

An idiot for going to NK.

An idiot for taking a bible with him there.

An idiot for leaving the bible in the club.

An idiot for admitting it.

I hope he doesn't end up dead for his idiocy.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. Only if they come after him here

"Jeffrey Fowle was released earlier this month and returned to his family in Ohio after spending nearly six months in a North Korean jail."

[Marrah_G]

11. I missed that! He is pretty lucky!

[Monk06]

9. Well if you choose martyrdom accept martyrdom

These evangelical publicity stunts are getting old. There are more important issues in the world than whether N Koreans are allowed to read the bible.

And if he left the bible in a night club he was in an area restricted to foreign visitors so no ordinary Koreans would be allowed in.

He did it to get arrested and he did. He was in it to get into the news

[olddad56]

10. trying to help the Christians?

A lot of help you were. Besides why would they need your help? They already have Jesus and Pat Robertson.

[LeftyMom]

13. Undoubtedly the people in NK who want a bible have one.

These days it's likely on a (easily hidden, easily smuggled, easily copied, cheap if it gets lost or confiscated) flash drive, the same as their western movies and korean soap operas and all the other stuff they want to hide.

If he actually wanted to get bibles to North Koreans and not just make an ass of himself he'd have brought in one digital one and made copies. But he's high on Jesus and thinking about sensationalized accounts of bible smuggling from the days of yore.

He'll probably make a fortune writing the next one and going on the megachurch guest pastor circuit. I'm not entirely convinced that wasn't the plan.

[hunter]

14. A courageous Christian might be caring for Ebola patients, without any mention of religious motives.

An idiot Christian leaves Bibles in North Korean nightclubs and brags about it.

And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Matthew 6:5

[alcibiades_mystery]

15. Wait. There are North Korean nightclubs?

[8 track mind]

17. beat me to it..... n/t

[Ken Burch]

25. Damn...you beat me on that one. n/t.

[geomon666]

28. It's not the same as it is anywhere else.

It's more a glorified karaoke room, where you get to sing with government agents.

16:35 in the video

[tblue37]

50. Where do you think Dennis Rodman hangs out when he isn't

chillin' with his li'l buddy Kim Jong-un?

[harun]

71. Mind blown.....

[FLPanhandle]

18. We should leave idiots like this in North Korea

Never negotiate for the release of an American who willing goes over there again.

[Oktober]

32. What is wrong with you?

[Bradical79]

34. Yeah, some people are really overreacting

The man doesn't deserve life imprisonment or death for leaving a bible regardless of how dumb it was in this situation. It's monstrous to think so, and I find it disturbing to read this kind of disgusting sentiment on a progressive Democratic website.

[Feral Child]

36. He chose to put himself in his predicament.

He should have refused US help and continued to pray for Jesus to spring him.

[Bradical79]

37. Same can be said of many victims of authorities

Both in foreign and domestic countries. I'm an atheist and pretty hostile towards religion myself, but I don't think acting like a hateful monster is an appropriate response. I suppose taking a more short sited, hate filled, pro-authoritarian stance makes sense to some but I just can't do that (though I admit that I do briefly entertain those thoughts internally when these sorts of things pop up.)

[Feral Child]

39. It's not as if

my perceptions are going to alter reality for this jack-off, but I am entitled to an opinion that he went their with the express purpose of inciting a hostile government for the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement, and that his pretense of "helping" Christians is most likely to provoke even greater sanctions. More-over, he put the chance for successful negotiations with North Koreans back with his self-promotion. He shamelessly used the US to protect him from the consequences of his treasonous act.

Perhaps it makes me a bad person, perhaps it exposes me as being "close-minded", but I wouldn't care squat if they'd hung the prick.

I can live with my shame, more justifiably than he can.

[Bradical79]

40. I don't think murder is a justifiable response

Of course you are entitled to your opinion. My strong personal dislike of you at the moment, and your very hateful laughably ignorant foreign policy stance, shouldn't be taken as any kind of attack on your right to have an opinion. It's one of many entitlements I strongly support. We are simply having a very strong difference of opinion when it comes to basic ethics.

[Feral Child]

42. I understand fully.

And I suggest you exercise your ignore option. It will save you some stress, I believe.

[FarPoint]

46. Ask yourself, What was the price paid for his release?

This man planned the Bible drop with full knowledge of potential consequences. Yet, we need to save him because of his selfish, arrogance and religion? Did we exchange prisoners, or money, or food? Who has suffered or died in North Korea as a result of his blayton disobedience? This was a cost.

[Hoppy]

19. What did we give up in negotiations to get his sorry ass out?

[nsd]

23. Fuck North Korea.

That really is all that needs to be said in response to this thread.

Did Fowle violate North Korean law? Apparently, yes, he did.

But so what? North Korean law is garbage.

Leaving a book in a nightclub gets you arrested? That's bullshit. Fuck North Korea.

[Ken Burch]

24. He could have got everybody who worked in that nightclub killed.

Side question: Am I the only person who read this story and thought "wait...North Korea has NIGHTCLUBS"?

What kinds of acts would they book? What would the hecklers be like?

[Codeine]

27. "Throw your hands in the air!"

"Wave them in perfect unison for the Dear Leader!"

[Warpy]

26. As much as I despise the regime in N. Korea

I have to say that people who wave red rags in a hungry bull's face have to take their often unpleasant consequences.

I find it entirely likely that he did such a thing. I just have to wonder if the bible was in Korean. Then again, if it had been, customs would likely not have allowed it.

[MisterP]

29. sure are a lot of Dems with a hairtrigger pro-Juche switch in their head

[NobodyHere]

30. 6 months in jail for leaving a Bible?

What horse shit.

[Feral Child]

38. He's lucky our Christian-pampering government

was willing to make concessions to a dictatorship in order to free him. If he actually had to answer for his crime, (and this IS a crime in that country) he'd still be eating prison-grade Kim Chee.

This is a case of a pure grandstanding, proselytization gimmick. One bible left in an area open to foreigners; hence, heavily monitored and restricted by the NK government is not "helping" NK Christians. It's merely a "look at how persecuted I am" prima donna act which he'll tran substantiate into huge donations by his gullible parishioners.


He wouldn't have pulled this stunt if he wasn't sure that the Christian-appeasing US government wouldn't compromise negotiations in order to rescue his self absorbed, lying ass.

In effect, the citizens of America have paid for his crime whilst he escaped punishment for breaking the law in this backward, but sovereign, country.

[Psephos]

47. You wouldn't last ten minutes in that "sovereign" country.

They would mop the floors with you.

Hate is easy. Pick someone with different beliefs or genetics, piece of cake.

It's compassion, especially for those of a different tribe, that takes effort.

[Feral Child]

54. I feel quite chastised

and shamed for my lack of compassion and open-mindedness.
How selfish of me.

I wouldn't expect to last ten minutes in that place. That's why I wouldn't decide to go there and flaunt their laws.

If I decided to do something that abysmally stupid, I'd do so with the understanding that I decided to take my chances. To paraphrase, "I wouldn't do the crime, 'cause I couldn't do the time."


How silly of you to taunt me with my "unmanliness". I survived a tour in Viet Nam, rifleman and grenadier, so I think I've proved my mettle sufficiently.

The vehemence of your attack on me would suggest that you're "tougher" than me; to what acts of bravery do you attribute your machismo? Where's your "red badge of courage", Butch?

Perhaps you should demonstrate how it's done; I'm sure that you'd last much longer than my allotted ten minutes.

Can you see how silly your posturing is? You've negated any credibility you have with your school-boy taunt.

Getting back to the crushing stupidity of this vainglorious act, what do you think this failure-at-martyrdom actually achieved with this puerile stunt?

As to your insinuation that my sole reason for failing to support this charleton is due to his religious views, you're way off base. I'd laugh at any fool that tempted single-handedly a mad-man regime like North Korea for any reason. It just happens to be fact that nobody is fool enough to challenge this particular windmill except for the extremely delusional.

So, yeah, I do lack compassion for this Quixote, and I'm not at all surprised at his justification. His arrogance is a natural product of his sanctimonious beliefs. If he was in any way honorable he would have eschewed diplomatic assistance and placed his faith in his God to deliver him from the evil of the godless.


In closing. "GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

[LanternWaste]

55. Leaving a bible in a nightclub certainly is flaunting, vainglorious, failure-at-martyrdom, puerile,

Leaving a bible in a nightclub certainly is flaunting, vainglorious, failure-at-martyrdom, puerile, delusional and arrogant... he should be happy he wasn't hanged by his neck until dead.

I imagine should he refuse to comply with city ordinance and fail to mow his lawn, a good tenner in the gulag would be just the thing for this hapless man-- flaunting the rules of civilized society be intentionally leaving behind a written work.

The horror. The horror...

[Feral Child]

67. Take your drama elsewhere.

You guys are deliberately misinterpreting me. I never said he should be hanged, I didn't say I wanted him hanged. I simply said I wouldn't care if the NKs had followed there laws and hanged him. I don't believe it's a just law, but if he had the hubris to taunt them, his punishment is nothing to concern myself about.

Instead, they cynically let him go because he's a member of a protected class, American Evangelical Preacher. I'm sure they "capitalized" on his poor judgment and we had to trade something relatively important to save his arrogant ass.

So, yeah, I don't care about his lawn anymore than I do his bible.

There are things I care about, but you have yet to proffer them.

You're wasting your time trying to shame me with your sarcastic parroting. I'm immune. Cry over his "persecution" if you like. It's better than watching the Soaps, I suppose.

Or, if you insist on the improbably task of humbling me, at least craft a decent post.

[Psephos]

68. a remarkable self-psychological dissection

I truly have nothing to add.

[Feral Child]

69. At least you're trying

for some originality, now.

I'll give you a charitable B-.

[tkmorris]

61. You deserved the smackdown Feral Child delivered

I hope you learned something from it. You might start by understanding that "hatred of someone from a different tribe" (paraphrased) had nothing whatever to do with this. It would have been a selfish and dangerous to others act no matter what "tribe" this man belonged to.

[Psephos]

65. shows how closely you read - that was someone else

[snooper2]

74. funny tribe LOL, you ever see this speech?

[bigworld]

52. So how much did his little stunt cost

in human lives -- how many North Koreans were arrested as a result?
How much money did the US government spend sending over negotiators and jets for him?

If this guy wanted to proselytize you'd think there would be more efficient ways.

[NobodyHere]

64. I think I'll put the blame for this one on the Kims

Where it belongs.

[davidpdx]

31. They should have left him there to rot

The amount of trouble we have to go to get these people out of North Korea really distracts from what we need to be doing, which is continuing to put pressure on them to negotiate giving up their nukes.

[bhikkhu]

33. Well, there's plenty of bloodthirsty-god stuff in there jong-un could find inspiring

fighting evil with stupid seems a little pointless.

[Bucky]

41. The man has the courage of his convictions, is willing to sacrifice to help others,

and is clearly moved by the humanitarian plight of the people living under that brutal regime.

I don't exactly see the utility of what he did, but you can't fault him for staying on the sidelines or failing to take a stand for a noble cause.

[Scairp]

44. Balls

That man is a complete idiot on all levels and should be horsewhipped by us for doing this incredibly stupid thing. He should NOT be defended for this. It was a terrible thing to put his family through, causing an international incident in a country we have no diplomatic relations with, requiring our government to put a great deal more effort into getting him back than they would have had he pulled this little trick in Saudi Arabia. Anyone who empathizes with or defends this fool is as stupid as he is.

[Arugula Latte]

48. Well, I'm sure his God and Jesus will help his ass out if he prays hard enough.

[tkmorris]

60. A suicide bomber has the courage of his convictions

That doesn't make him someone to be admired in any fashion.

This guy is an egotistical jackass, plain and simple.

[Nihil]

70. "Courage of his convictions"? That's just bollocks.

If he genuinely *had* the "courage of his convictions" he wouldn't have been whining
for the US government to step in to over-ride his damn conviction of 6 months in jail.

Their country, their laws.
Don't like 'em? Don't go there to break 'em.

You voluntarily go over there with the intent to break their laws and get caught at it,
you do the time. *That* would be "the courage of your convictions" (albeit just as
pointless in this case).

"failing to take a stand for a noble cause"? The noble cause of self-promotion?
If that prick had bothered to read the book he decided to use as a political tool,
he would have learned some valuable lessons about how to behave but this way,
he just proved himself to be a complete arsehole who deserved to serve his time
before being deported.

I can't believe how many people here are justifying pointless American Exceptionalism
simply because the jerk picked North Korea to provoke rather than, say, Saudi Arabia
or any of the other despotic regimes around the world that are being actively supported
by the US.

[Blue_Tires]

77. +1

[Evergreen Emerald]

53. Perhaps he is saying what ever his captors tell him to say.

Confession under duress?

[LanternWaste]

56. Thank goodness he at least adheres to city ordinances and mows his lawn...

Thank goodness he at least adheres to city ordinances and mows his lawn... both being abhorrent and abominable crimes against humanity and nature.

[Recursion]

57. So... umm... he's "guilty"?

Yeah, who knows what would happen if people leave books lying around...

[CanonRay]

59. I just hope he got home too late to vote

[Xolodno]

62. Typical...

Hit an run Proselytizing..idiot decided he needed to "help X-tians" but was too much of a coward to do it blatantly. Whom did he help? North Koreans or his ego?

[leftyladyfrommo]

63. It was a stupid thing to do but he really paid for it.

He's lucky he's home.

[yellowcanine]

66. From a practical point, a nightclub seems a curious place to leave a Bible.

I would imagine that the nightclubs in N. Korea cater strictly to foreigners and members of the elite class in N. Korea. Not the kind of folks who would have any problem getting a Bible if they wanted one. And if for the workers at the nightclub - all he does is put them under suspicion, maybe at the risk of losing their lives. The chances of getting caught were extremely high both for him and for anybody who found the Bible and tried to keep it. The N.Koreans have got to have security all over any nightclub open to foreigners. Totally dumbass move.

[dembotoz]

72. he can now make a living on the crazy christian circuit

doing shows about how he lives his faith and paid the price

appearing at a fundie church near you

[ileus]

73. Wonder why the NK government is afraid of a Book.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

75. This thread is pretty amazing

Story posted in GD or LBN about beheadings and stonings of rape victims and gays by radical Islamic fundies, often under state sanctioned law, and you get one of three negative responses....

1) "Barbaric (that's optional), but none of our business"
2) "Yeah, yeah, yeah but Christofacists would love to do that here. Actually they are doing it here! Right now!"
3) "Western media lying again as a scare tactic. I fart on this story"

Story posted in GD or LBN about a Christian fundie leaving a fictional book in a nightclub and the country detaining him....

1) AAAASSSSHOLE ASSSHOLE!!!! FUCK HIM!!!! FUCK THAT ASSHOLE!!!! GOD FUCKING DAMN IT I HOPE THEY STRING HIM THE FUCK UP AND LOCK HIM THE FUCK AWAY HOW DARE HE LEAVE A FUCKING BOOK WHERE INNOCENT KOREANS COULD FIND IT!!!!!



Not even a suggestion that North Korean law is pretty fucked up that a fictional book causes that much outrage.

[Scairp]

76. This is very different

Nobody is saying, or so that I've read, that North Korea isn't a fucked up place where leaving a book called "Bible" in a public place shouldn't be a big deal but it is. That should go without saying. This man made a plan to go there with the intent of doing what he did, so it isn't the same as reading about someone being abused and persecuted in their own country. He really did create an international incident by doing this. It's not easy to get into North Korea so clearly he wanted to do this very badly, and that would account for the more than average vitriol towards him. So, pretty much, fuck HIM.

[Nihil]

78. If you think there is "Not even a suggestion" then you haven't read the thread.

> Not even a suggestion that North Korean law is pretty fucked up that a fictional book causes that much outrage.

There have been lots of "suggestions" (including many plain black & white statements) that North Korean law
is pretty fucked up full stop.

The "outrage" comes because of people who think that this particular idiot is somehow entitled to travel
to a foreign sovereign (albeit fucked-up) country with the sole intention of delivering his piece of personal
performance art despite well knowing the laws in that regard.

The "outrage" is then boosted by the demands from equally stupid supporters that "the government should
save him from this persecution" despite the diplomatic manoeuvring that is required to rescue a moron from
a perfectly clear & legal punishment in a foreign country for breaking that country's laws (and, from earlier,
this is 6 months in jail at that, not 30 years, death or other exaggerated shit).

The "outrage" is finally topped off by DUers who just use this cretin's case to justify their own anti-Islamic
bigotry despite there being *nothing* in the issue that relates to Islam!

I've been to Islamic countries, abided by their laws (whether or not I agreed with them) and returned safe & sound.
I've been to European countries countless times, abided by their laws (whether or not I agreed with them) and returned safe & sound.
I've been to the US plenty of times, abided by your laws (whether or not I agreed with them) and returned safe & sound.

If, for some completely unpredictable reason, I were to go to North Korea, I would abide
by their laws (whether or not I agreed with them) and would be confident to return safe & sound.

If, again for some completely unpredictable reason, I were to go to any of the above regions with the
stated intent of *breaking* their laws (no matter how "alien", "ridiculous" or "unfair" I might view them),
it would be perfectly correct that if I was caught, I would receive the appropriate punishment for my actions.




> This thread is pretty amazing

"Pretty amazing" indeed ... but not for the fictional reasons you chose.