Damon Thompson, the “Redneck Driscoll,” seems to be have left his post at The Ramp. We’ve encountered Thompson’s homophobic rants courtesy Ashton Elijah, who has been following the man for a while now. That part of Elijah’s career is possibly over, and I suspect that he’s grateful.
No word about why Thompson is gone. At the blog of Damon Thompson Ministries, several dignitaries have left an evasive comment:
As you have probably heard by now, after 10 faithful and wonderful years ministering with the Ramp, Damon is no longer involved there, though he still loves it very much. Due to the extraordinary number of inquiries, the tremendous amount of speculation and the inevitable circulation of rumors concerning this change, we feel it is necessary to offer a few explanations.
We do this, not to cause polarization or “side-‐choosing”—no one wants to see more of this foolishness in the Body of Christ—but simply to affirm the heart and character of Damon. He has chosen not to comment. For Damon to make a statement could necessitate him crossing ethical lines through innuendos or veiled statements. He has rightly chosen not to do this.
Thompson’s departure has apparently prompted grief among his fans at The Ramp. Elijah has the scene, a rundown of Thompson’s greatest hits and some comments on the sudden departure:
That sobbing you hear in the background? I think it’s Scott Bailey. Oh yeah, not since Todd Bentley got busted for having an affair has Scott been so broken up.
Is the reason he left perhaps contained in the title of this post?
That was my first thought :-p
I expect to soon see a story involving a cheap motel room and an underage companion.
That is so 1985. These days it’s all about propositioning an undercover cop in a public restroom.
I’m not fussy, just as long as it’s hilariously humiliating.
I am a student at the Ramp School of Ministry. As a regular attendee of Ramp gatherings, I can tell you first hand what has happened here.
As it is stated in the letter on his website, Damon Thomson has not succumbed to moral failure of any kind. He will continue to minister the gospel all over the world and The Ramp will cheer him on while he does so.
The sobbing you hear in the background of our service two weeks ago has nothing to do with Damon’s departure. That announcement was made a few days prior to this night. We were, indeed, crying out. Because Lindell Cooley, seen in the video, had preached a message about going back to your first love for Jesus. The memories of us remembering how Jesus transformed our lives were too much to bear without tears.
“I can tell you first hand what has happened here.”
And yet, you haven’t. Why not, I wonder?
“The memories of us remembering how Jesus transformed our lives were too much to bear without tears.”
I feel the same way about a really good barbecue sandwich.
On that note, I picked up a trick for cooking bacon from a friend. Start with a baking sheet; you then use a good barbecue dry rub to coat the bacon pieces, and then you sprinkle some brown sugar atop each slice. Then you bake it (yes, bake it) at about 350F (175C) for about thirty minutes, checking every ten minutes or so to make sure the grease doesn’t sputter or spill. The brown sugar helps to candy the bacon, and most of the fat renders out.
It works great as an addition to a loaded baked potato, or on a BLT, or even a strip or two on its own just as a snack.
I nearly cried when I ate it, it was soooooooo good.
Bacon is one of the four basic food groups. The other three, of course, are all chocolate.
Then where do coffee, cheese, and alcohol fit in?
Cheese is a condiment which may be melted over the bacon. Coffee and alcohol (or a combination such as Irish coffee) may be used to wash down any of the basic food groups.
My friend’s original recipe called for the strips to be dipped in Jack Daniel’s prior to gilding with spices, but I thought that was a bridge too far.
I personally am a fan of the bacon-garlic-chocolate theory of Western cuisine. At least one of that power triad can be added to any dish and, if added properly, improve it.
The best thing I ever ate was at a restaurant in New Hampshire. Grilled Vermont cheddar and bacon sandwhich with tomato blue cheese soup. I washed it down with a coke. The waiter asked if I wanted the vegetarian version. Sacrilege.
The bacon-chocolate-garlic theory multiplies entities beyond necessary. Only chocolate and garlic are necessary to define the natural complementary groupings of food (of which there are only two).
Bacon, being the perfect food, is complemented by both chocolate and garlic, and can pinch-hit for either of them with other foods. Clearly, there can be no separate bacon complementarity group. Bacon goes with everything, and everything goes with bacon.
In case you were wondering, mole sauce is the place where the chocolate and garlic groups meet.
Ice creams and sorbets are a series of sticky wickets for your attempt to increase parsimony. Bacon does not improve orange sherbert, nor is it improved by it.
As sweet dairy, e.g. everything not cheese or yogurt based, is a real problem for the proposed fungibility of bacon with the other two items, it also tends to be a problem for garlic.
But for a clincher, we need an example of a food that is improved by bacon, but by neither garlic nor chocolate. Some styles of salad would certainly qualify. Many things flavored with maple are not easy bedfellows with garlic or chocolate (except, of course, confections), whereas bacon itself improves and is improved by maple. While bisques may be amenable to garlic, not many chowders are (where onion and, yes, bacon are better choices).
:)
There are four basic food groups, for a sufficiently large value of four.
“Then you bake it (yes, bake it) at about 350F (175C) for about thirty minutes,”
Is there any other way to do streaky bacon now proper back bacon is a different story – then a frying pan is the way to go?
“…, and most of the fat renders out.”
Just showing how much fat is in streaky bacon.
“Bacon is one of the four basic food groups.”
… and even bad bacon tastes nice. I’m not actually sure what the thoughts processes are when doing the type of bacon that only seems to exists within the confines of a US hotel breakfast buffet but it still tastes nice – not saying that you don’t get bad bacon it’s just that the range always seems to start at good.
Compare that to say sausages where cheap ones taste like eating cardboard …
“The other three, of course, are all chocolate.”
… no fan of chocolate myself. We occasionally have it in the house but that’s generally because either my better half and one of her friends got some.
Bacom in the oven for English breakfast as we speak!
Oh come of Kayln it was because of some Gary Glitter action wasn’t it …
Thank you Kalyn!!! I was also at the Ramp that night and it was nothing like that.. Damon and Mrs.Karen have been a huge influence over my life and i will continue supporting both of them… It is easy for someone that wasnt even there to talk crap about something they know nothing about… By the way that was the first time ive seen Lindell Cooley.. That was an AWESOME service.. With that being said i will continue Praying for Damon and the Ramp, and i guess ill pray for the ones who think they know everything….. To God be the glory!
Pardon me, but all we’ve done is ask why he left. Nobody’s claiming to know, though we’ve speculated. And all you lot have done is be evasive and refuse to answer a simple question. Your friend Kalyn was just downright deceptive – She hasn’t said anything!
After a brief discussion this morning my nephew and I, out of curiosity, did a Google search concerning Damon Thompson’s recent departure from the Ramp. I couldn’t believe the garbage that the ‘so called’ church, people who have never visited The Ramp or have ever spoken to our leaders, is / are spewing online. Well folks, here’s ‘the dish’ ….. nothing happened. There is no grand conspiracy or cover up nor was their a fall from grace.
The simple truth is that our leaders feel as though God is calling The Ramp into a new direction, a direction that Damon, being an evangelist, does not feel called to follow. What new direction, you ask? That’s for Ramp leadership to know and for everyone else to found out when Karen and the leadership team are ready to announce these changes to the general public. Yes, the Ramp Community does have a general idea of what’s going on and we are actually very excited about it. However, our leadership team has stated openly; “The Ramp is currently is a season of transition” which is a fair and accurate assessment of the over all situation, one that the general public needs to accept for now. If that’s not good enough for you personally then that’s something you need to take before the Lord in prayer.
Personally, I respect Damon Thompson all the more for refusing to comment on the situation. Neither Damon nor the leadership team have done anything wrong. The simple truth is that both parties feel that the Lord is leading them in different directions. It’s obvious to me that Damon, being the fearless man of God that he is, would rather bare the brunt of accusation himself, seeing as many already consider him to be a controversial character, than allow the hammer of false rumor and speculation to fall squarely on the shoulders of Karen and Chosen, all of which Damon considers to be as dear as family.
This my friends is the truth and if you are truly born again then I encourage you to be patient, all will be revealed soon enough. As for those who would do anything to harass and humiliate The Ramp, I’m certain that both Damon and the leadership team here @ The Ramp would all agree that such need to repent of their iniquity and actually get saved.
I think maybe you should have read the “about” tab before you typed that lot out.
Thompson may not have “sinned”, but he is still a douche.
Is it just me, or is he dressed like he’s planning to hit the nearest bear bar after the show?
Yes Kalyn, I agree with Custador. If you were there, then please do tell us the real reason for his sudden departure. But then again this whole NAR / Dominionism cult members all cover up for one another anyways. Peter Wagner, Dutch Sheets, Lou Engle – all the same – one massive pit of vipers.
Meh. Lots of pastors are fired for various church politic things that the rest of the congregation’s not privy to. PK’s move almost as often as army brats. I lost a lot of friends that way as a kid. The husband was a PK and he moved a lot as a kid. I’ve heard the let go to pursue his own projects thing before. Maybe he wanted a dental plan, or maybe he didn’t get along with other church board members.
I’d have to agree, it’s probably for some boring and mundane reason. But I’m primed to expect a sex scandal, since those are the ones that always make the headlines.
Selection bias for sensationalism is strong in our news media.
Of the 19 posts so far, 9 of them are about bacon and how to cook it and the remainder are about the article. I think the 9 about bacon are more important than
Damon Thompson.
This is really a secret foodie site disguised as an atheist blog. Ya know, for the baconophile who doesn’t want everyone to know.
Or you can assume that everything written above where bacon is mentioned is actually a reference to Sir Francis Bacon, inventor of rigorous scientific empiricism.
“Sir Francis Bacon does not improve orange sherbert, nor is he improved by it.”
“Sir Francis Bacon, being the perfect food, is complemented by both chocolate and garlic, and can pinch-hit for either of them with other foods.”
Yeah, I like that.
That was one of the best things I’ve ever read.
Let us not forget Kevin Bacon…but then again, all discussions eventually lead there anyway.
After 6 posts, you mean.
Thanks for making our quota for us, dude!
V-jack, you know me so well!
Maybe he will make a comeback. He could do it like the old Brother Dave Epley tent show revival resurrection. The curtain would open and show Dave lying in a coffin. He would rise up and climb out of it and tell the audience he’d put on his “Holy Ghost Dancing Shoes.” These sheep will believe anything. I mean anything. They place their complete faith in their imaginary friend.
I volunteer to be his secret gay lover, and tell ALL about it later. He looks like a rough bad boy, and I’ve always been into that…;)
After 10 years it was time for change, Damon was being dumbed down to continue in the concert mode. After all, the RAMP was designed to take people from one level to a higher level in their relationship with God. Damon will do just fine as will the RAMP.
The critics will never believe Damon’s explanation, and his friends do not require one.
How can one tell whether or not their “relationship” with god has reached a higher level? Do you get awarded a special card, a badge or commemorative plaque?
Do you get a better parking spot, or do you just become more self assured in the unquestioning belief that you are somehow in touch with a higher power that thinks and wants to do the same things that you do?
That’s easy. He fails to show up even more often. The more often god fails to show up in your life, the higher-level and more exclusive your relationship is with him.
So atheists must be at the highest level: God never shows up to them.
But we never ask.
It’s a fascinating commentary on human nature that people can sincerely believe it’s possible to take their relationship with their imaginary friend to a “higher level”.
Indeed. The sad thing is that religious people who think like this also tend to see their leaders as having holy authority by being closer to God. So they are also among the first to excuse their leaders or ignore their crimes when they rape kids or get rich off of their members or in general abuse their authority. Case in point: the RC Church or practically any Christian cult you can name.