“I found God in 1992. I found Satan in 1998.”

April 30, 2010 5:00 AM

Get Kony. Sam Childers, former outlaw biker, current evangelical preacher, has set up an orphanage in war-torn Southern Sudan. More controversially, he's on a vigilante crusade* against Joseph Kony and his "outmatched but unstopped" Lord's Resistance Army. [* sound loads immediately on site]
posted by availablelight (12 comments total)

I am not generally in favor of vigilantism, but in this case I'll make an exception. There is no more monstrous criminal on the face of the Earth than Joseph Kony.
posted by grizzled at 5:21 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Turns out the US has been arranging other "capture" attempts against the LRA leadership. It hasn't gone well.
posted by aramaic at 6:11 AM on April 30, 2010

I'll not be picky about how Kony goes down, but the Vanity Fair profile of Childers was disturbing in its own right.
posted by availablelight at 6:22 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is like a scene out of Acts of Faith.
posted by Aizkolari at 6:29 AM on April 30, 2010

Turns out the US has been arranging other "capture" attempts against the LRA leadership. It hasn't gone well.

Ooh, ooh, I know this one! Since that didn't work, let's heavily arm a neighboring ethnic group that's opposed to Kony due to long-standing tribal conflicts and let them do the job! what could go wrong?

that's some fucked up shit going on over there
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:47 AM on April 30, 2010

This sets off my bullshit detector.
posted by LarryC at 8:44 AM on April 30, 2010

This will make a fantastic movie.
posted by sonic meat machine at 8:54 AM on April 30, 2010

This sets off my bullshit detector.

it sets off my 'DING! DING! DING! FUNDIE NUT!' detector.
posted by msconduct at 9:01 AM on April 30, 2010

Aw yeah, let's get some more religious wars up in this bitch. They always work out great!
posted by Caduceus at 10:56 AM on April 30, 2010

Sometimes a man can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. If that Vanity Fair profile is anything to go by, it sounds like Childers is using Africa as an outlet for his own desire to make himself feel important. And in some respects it's actually a good thing, since he's established an orphanage in a place where no one else can go and is helping kids. But the rest of it, trying to hunt down Kony vigilante style, and more than anything else the arms dealing, sounds like it has the potential to go very bad. If the LRA manages to ambush him or if he falls out of favour with the SPLA, it's those orphans and the people helping them who will suffer most. I hope it never happens.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:37 AM on April 30, 2010

Yeah, good luck catching Kony in the wilderness of central Africa, dude.
posted by clockzero at 2:32 PM on April 30, 2010

Hmm. Depends on how much of him is a biker, and how much of him is a "good guy" - if he decides he will take some scalps and fuck Jesus, then yes, Kony won't know what the hell hit him. One Percenters entertain themselves by firing rocket launchers into casinos... in Nevada. The cops in Florida will go after the the Crips, the Bloods, the Mexican syndicates, the White-Power fucktards and the Asian speed tribes. They won't fuck with the Russians... and the Russians won't fuck with the bikers. The real ones, the Pagans, the Rock Machine, are not to be messed with, and are why meth is everywhere despite cheap crack and heroin. They simply kill all of the competition.

Now, in Africa, they can buy tanks and attack helicopters, easier than buying stolen shotguns stateside.

If he's a good guy doing the Lord's Good Work, he will be killed in short order. If he's a biker thug muscling in on the competition, he will kill everyone else in short order.

I don't know who to root for.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:24 PM on April 30, 2010