Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
A Random Image
Anti-Semitism:

Notorious Anti-Semitic Figure Dies

Tamba Bay Tribune, USA
Jan. 22, 2005
Lenny Savino
news.tbo.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 9996 • Posted: Sunday January 23, 2005  

  • Google Bookmarks
  • Google Reader
  • Gmail
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Blogger Post
  • Evernote
  • Facebook
  • Share/Bookmark
Click here... More articles on this topic: Anti-Semitism

TAMPA – Charles Albert Eidson, who gained local notoriety as the pastor of an anti-Semitic church, died Monday of lung cancer and heart problems, his family said Friday.

Eidson, the son of an oil company worker and a full-blooded Cherokee, was 72.

He was diagnosed with lung cancer last fall and had been on life support since November, said his son, Keith.

Eidson was born in Georgia but grew up in Port Tampa. He graduated from Plant High School in 1952 and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Tampa. He had a successful career as a marketing executive for small oil companies, his son said.

But during the 1990s, Eidson’s life spiraled downward in a series of public controversies and scandals.

In 1991, he ran an unsuccessful populist campaign against incumbent Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman, promising to remove the parking meters and one-way streets downtown. He also said worship of Satan was a major problem locally. A civil lawsuit surfaced in which he claimed a witches’ coven had taken out a life insurance policy on him and intended to kill him.

Freedman won, but Eidson collected 1,678 votes.

In 1992, Eidson outraged the Jewish community by posting a sign outside his “Church of the Avenger” on Kennedy Boulevard condemning “damnable Jews” beneath a cross bearing the twin lightning bolts of Adolf Hitler’s dreaded SS.

A year later, a news account quoted him as saying, “Hitler couldn’t join this organization. He’s too nice. He wouldn’t meet the requirements.”

In 1995, Eidson was accused of posing as an attorney for a Sarasota man in an alimony and child support dispute. He referred to himself in court as a “constitutional counselor” and filed a “motion to squash” the case. He was convicted and had to serve 30 days in jail.

Accusing The Tampa Tribune and two other newspapers with mounting “an all-out attack on the mere existence of Christianity in America,” Eidson sued the newspapers and Tribune columnist Dan Ruth in 1997 for $10 billion. A judge dismissed the case.

It wasn’t long before Eidson was in more trouble with the law. A Tampa police officer saw him dump sludge into a storm sewer that emptied into Tampa Bay. Investigators found invoices showing that he was charging customers to store the sludge. He was sentenced to five years in prison for pollution and mail fraud. He was released in 2003.

Eidson is survived by his son and two daughters. The family struggles to reconcile the positive aspects of his early life with the hate-filled elements of his later one, Keith Eidson said.

Charles Eidson told a reporter in 1993 that drinking dogged his oil company career and family life.

“His life just changed,” Keith Eidson said Friday.

The family wouldn’t discuss funeral plans.

Reporter Michael Fechter contributed to this report.

  • Google Bookmarks
  • Google Reader
  • Gmail
  • Yahoo Mail
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Digg
  • Delicious
  • Blogger Post
  • Evernote
  • Facebook
  • Share/Bookmark


What You Can Do From Here

Read More Articles On These Topics
more cult news articlemore religion news Categories: Anti-Semitism
more religion news aboutmore Religion News Blog articles about
Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article
Subscribe
Follow Religion News Blog on Twitter


Read Another Article
Find Related Information
cult research search enginecountercult information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults
Find Related Books


Most Popular Today


Share This Article

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:





Counter Cult Search

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.


Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.


Apologetics Search

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.


Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.

Home
Latest Headlines
RSS news feed [?]
Headlines by Email
News Trackers
Free content for your site
About RNB
Privacy Policy
Contact RNB
Link to RNB
Advertise on RNB
Apologetics Index
Cult FAQ
Apologetics Search Engine
CounterCult Search Engine