Anti-trans Texas pastor arrested after paying undercover cop for sex
Dr. Terren L. Dames had previously asked his congregation, "Why aren't we upset about sin anymore?"
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There are so many stories of Pastors Behaving Badly that I generally don’t write about them unless there’s good reason to.
This one definitely qualifies.
It involves Dr. Terren L. Dames, senior pastor—excuse me, former senior pastor—at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship in Plano, Texas.
This is a guy who, in 2022, delivered a sermon condemning Christians who accepted the existence of transgender people:
[When a government leader thinks] a man’s physical god-given biology can change at any given moment. He think it can, and he can make it, by his thoughts, change. Or go to a doctor and have him manipulate his flesh. And so can a woman, too.
We so-called “Christians” who stand up and condone this evil immorality, we're cursing God to his face and saying, “Your image is disgusting! I will twist it how I want it to be!”
That is what a government is saying. That is what a government is promoting. And when Christians stand up and they feel political—versus the outcry of the wrath of God—something is wrong with that Christian!
We're living in a place that's bringing down the same thing that happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. We have legalized it!
…
And they spit in God's face and they scoff at him! What image? I can turn your man into a female at any time. That's demonic! And the church just accept it!
Well, Pastor Dames, it’s not loving for you to say that. Tell that to Jesus!
…
Why aren't we upset about sin anymore?! Why do we just accept it? The perversion!… Pastors and preachers right now ordaining homosexuals! Woe to those!
The government's saying children can have sex transformational surgery. The government is saying this. Use pronouns to call a boy so to mess up his mind, and we wonder where the men are! They're being told they're women!
This is a man who cares deeply about sin! He can’t believe we’re imitating Sodom and Gomorrah and scoffing at God and spitting in God’s face! There’s nothing worse than a Christian who condones sin!
It’s not just Dames, either. His church has been beating this drum for a while now, telling parents that not disciplining their children on matters of “biblical truth” regarding “gender, sex, and marriage” means allowing “godless moral standards” to seep in! Can’t let that happen.
So why are we talking about an otherwise unremarkable sermon, the likes of which you might hear at any number of churches?
Because Dames just got arrested for meeting a sex worker and offering to pay $150 for “full service.”
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, an undercover Plano officer posed as a prostitute and placed an ad on a website that is commonly used by individuals to solicit sex for money.
On May 2, Dames called the number on the ad and offered to pay $150 for the "full service," which is a slang meaning for sex, the affidavit alleges.
…
Dames was indicted in June on a charge of soliciting a prostitute. The church said he was removed from his position in May because of "moral failure."
There’s a valid and very different conversation to be had about the policing of consensual sex work—and it’s important to note Dames believed he was meeting another adult and not someone pretending to be underage—but the hypocrisy of his actions are astonishing. He wasn’t just not practicing what he preached. He was doing the exact opposite, believing no one would ever find out. He violated the law and his vows.
All this from a guy who was all too willing to throw trans people under the bus in the name of obeying God’s wishes.
Give it time though. I’m sure he’ll just tell his next congregation he was trying to meet that woman in order to save her.
Godless moral standards? That's rich. There is no horror that cannot be, and has not been, justified in the name of religion. As long as a significant number of people continue delegating an important part their thinking to the clergy, reason is fighting an uphill battle. I read recently that the United States experiences a net loss of about thirty-five hundred churches a year. I hope this encouraging trend not only continues, but accelerates.
𝑊𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑆𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐺𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑎ℎ. 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡!
Ezekiel 16:49
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
Yes, that seems to be exactly what Christians like Dames are doing.