About 10 yrs ago, talk shows like Sally Jessy & Springer (when he was semi-respectable) had a 10 yr old boy & his family as guests.
The boy had been suspended from public school for scream-preaching at teachers & other adults before school but on school grounds, calling them fornicators & threatening them with Hell unless they repented.
I think the family’s name was Strode or Strobe & they came from North Carolina. Either the boy or his dad or both were named Dudley. He also had a 5 yr old sister who was starting the same
preaching.
Anyone know any clearer facts on this & whatever became of them?
And no- I know he did not go on to become Marilyn Manson L
Darn good question. He would put the bible on the side of his face for some reason when he was screaming, right? Like as half a holy megaphone of something.
My WAG: He is either still an Christian extremist, or he’s become an anti-Christian extremist.
Weird. I was just thinking about that recently. It was in the late 80’s. Im thinking it was in Hendersonville,NC. He was on the local morning news every day for a few weeks. I think he finally got suspended. Im sure he’s all grown and married to a relative by now
It was DUFFY STRODE. I got to wondering again. Did a search & found an anti-Fundist site that referenced a LIBERTY MAGAZINE (Adventist religious freedom anti-Estab publication) article from 1989 titled “The Devil & Duffy Strode”. He was in Marion, NC. The article tho is not online & there wasn’t much info in the reference.
Still wondering whatever became of him & his family.
Apparently, they’ve gone from beating up on sinners to beating up on each other. The Charlotte Observer’s archives popped up “A Family of Fighters” which ran on 5/2/1998.
Here’s the lede:
"Their father sets the timer for three minutes, and Matthew and Pepper Strode start punching.Between jabs, Matthew, 15, shuffles his feet on the bumpy concrete floor of the family’s boxing gym. His 16-year-old sister pounds steadily nearby, and her gloves make dull thuds when they hit the red leather punching bag.``Time!’’ their mother yells when the timer beeps. The punching practice subsides.Ten years ago, David Strode’s cue would have sent his young children . . . "
Can’t send anymore as the rest of the article is behind their pay archives.
I need to add that this popped up by searching for “Duffy Stode” and that the rest of the archives contains the original preacher stories that also mention Matthew and Pepper Strode, so I assume this is the same family.
The exposure of his father as a diehard, white supremacist, “Identity Christian” apparently put a damper on the 700 Club’s sponsorship of Duffy’s performances.
I don’t recall any support by the 700 Club of this kid & his family. One show had the family’s pastor going on the record as telling them they were going to extremes (I think it was Sally Jesse) & it came out they considered going to church as extraneous & unnecessary.
Actually, I think teaching the kids, especially the daughter, to box is pretty cool.
I hadn’t heard but am not surprised by the racist stuff, Dad got chastised by Sally Jesse for his anti-Catholic remarks
I apologize, “sponsorship” was the wrong word. They initially reviewed his preaching sympathetically and held him up as an example of yet another devout Christian being persecuted for witnessing his faith. They did not show any of the really obnoxious scream preaching antics that got him thrown out of school, and which made Duffy the toast of the pre-Springeresque talk shows for a while before daddy started spouting about the mud people.
Actually, I find that to be pretty cool, and tho it doesn’t mean she’s abandoned her extreme Fund’ist background, it is a somewhat non-traditionalist career.
