But when it comes to safety you must speak out you must tell police when a child, a minor or an adult is being abused by ANY CLERGY Baptist or otherwise. That is called being a good person and sometimes being a good person goes above what any church might want you to do. And if a church is telling anybody what they know is the truth to the press no matter how ugly but that church is forbidding them to speak out then that "church" isn't a church and should lose their license to be a church.
Loosing their license for hiding abuse and rapists is the least that should happen to them. Meanwhile, civilized countries have laws that make hiding abuse and rape illegal.
Yup. That's why abuse and rape keep happening in churches because we and other countries are civilized.. This is the only reason I can think to end separation of Church and State. To make everybody accountable.
Requiring the reporting of child abuse is a legitimate state interest. If it violates your religious freedom to hold you to the same laws as everyone else, then you belong to a criminal organization masquerading as a religion.
Equal application of the law is not a violation of religious freedom.
I'm being overly generous, I think, because Biden wasn't the nominee in 2016, but there were pundits whinging about his age that time too.
And given that there still aren't daily stories about Mitch McTurtle being too long in the tooth to make it through a press conference without needing a reboot or two, I'm not even sure the mass-market media would call a Republican too old to serve after they'd been pickled and buried.
Not that I don't think there should be age limits in politics, particularly for high offices, but... a little fucking consistency would be nice.
Donnie sells clicks and ratings = ads = money. Plus the megacorps behind the major news organizations like the 'tax-cuts for billionaires' policy that Musk is pushing with borderline legal and definitely skeezy ads. You know if he'd just pay what he's spent on this campaign in taxes we'd be much better off and likely so would he.
He could write a check and straight-up 𝘦𝘯𝘥 homelessness and hunger in any six major cities of his choosing, at 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. He could single-handedly expand broadband internet access to every under-served community in the country (if not the world, since it's satellite-based), for no cost to the end-users; he could have SpaceX pass their engineering notes to NASA, ESA, etc. and invigorate a whole new generation of cool space science; he could let Tesla go back to developing functional, practical EVs instead of whatever the hell the Cybertruck is supposed to be (and it'd cost him less money); he could fully fund the restoration and preservation of multitudes of national parks and monuments; he could invest in cleaning up the oceans, or developing carbon-neutral alternative energy for our electrical grid, or to power biofuel production... there is no real limit to what a single person, motivated to do good, could accomplish with 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of dollars.
Instead, he's using his money to Pump the Chump. And if we're very, very lucky, it'll all just go to waste.
I recently moved from the bluest district in America to one that elected a little MAGA shit named Mike Lawler last time. I hope to do my part to remove him from a government job shortly.
It seems to me that the consequences for violating the media ban is what's best for the one who violates it. Quickest way out of a controlling cult is to get them to expel you.
The threat of "excommunication" is quite a powerful tool. It's not what it was like in the glorious past (excommunicated people were cast out to die in the woods, and were "outlaws" - outside the law - meaning anyone could to anything to you, including killing, and suffer no consequence). However, today, it means losing friends and (in some cases) family. While there are ways around it, the remaining members might not want to risk being cast out themselves for associating with expelled members. It takes a strong personality in a community that's designed to keep everyone docile to overcome the power of loyalty. When thinking about doing the right thing, losing everything is a powerful deterrent.
They can talk about their loving Jesus and the glorious afterlife from now on, but there is nothing these people crave so much as power, control and wealth on this earthly plain. By not being honest with his flock and attempting to use NDA's, this preacher was protecting his revenue stream. Period. His enablers in the pews are just as bad as he is, or they wouldn't be there.
I've read in another article that victims were told not to report to the church leaders about what happened to them due to their refusal to help them in one way or another. Rather report to the right kind of people who will throw those predators to prison which is the secular police not in league with the predatory pastors.
In civilized countries reporting is mandatory. It should be in US too. Child abuse and other rapes should be reportet by anyone that know about it. If not, they should be sued for hiding illegal actions.
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not reporting crime." That last part was accidentally dropped out of 1 Corinthians (13:4), but it's there spiritually.
Gotta love how they obviously drafted the skeevy legalese first, and 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 went back and sprinkled some Jesus on it- really shows you whose wrath they fear more. CYA against the lawyers comes first; J.C. is merely an afterthought.
I have a slim hope Harris will surprise everyone and take Texas. There are a lot of pissed off 'pro-choice' people who want to send a message to Texas Republicans, and we have Ted Fucking Cancun Cruz up for re-election. And judging by the Republican platform they're getting scared of the purpling of the state. That isn't to say there aren't a plethora of Trump and Cruz signs in the rural areas surrounding San Antonio. (A lot more Trump than Cruz) OTOH hand, I can't remember a single Harris or Allred sign besides the ones I have in my yard. But as has been noted elsewhere, those not in the cult have less motivation to signal their non-membership. (Plus Trumpers be nuts and too many resort to violence)
Okay, I've rambled about my fever dream long enough.
Some days I'm hopeful, most days I think I have a better chance at Powerball.
Wow. DeSantis apparently thinks he can act in his capacity as governor AGAINST the First Amendment as regards freedom of the press, without consequences. I can't wait for some of Florida's local TV and radio stations to file lawsuits and possibly criminal charges against ol' Ronnie as a reaction.
Might be time for the popcorn and beer again, gang!
As soon as I read about those lawsuits being filed, I'll buy some popcorn. But when I left Florida, it seemed all the media outlets I was familiar with were more or less cowed by that jackass.
Odd time to grow a conscience. *After* the first round of threats, and just before a judge chewed the state a new one. "It's the FIRST AMENDMENT, stupid"
There's another shithead who just needs to die for the good of the universe. The way that little monster rages around about fucking EVERYTHING - I'm amazed he hasn't had a stroke already.
Loyalty is a powerful motivator. It will override every other principle. Not forever, but for a while. Just look at all the people who supported tRump until he incited the insurrection.
And yet there are some that are more loyal to the party than to the country. They put on a show of condemnation, then did nothing.
Organizations that are operating on the up-and-up don't fear transparency. This church does. If the membership votes to self-silence, they're complicit in the church's wrongdoing. Keep in mind we're talking about an organization that claims to be spreading the word of *GOD*. They ought to be Caesar's wife, but the reason they're now implementing by-laws is because they're not. Anyone who agrees to go along with their cover-up is just as guilty. And they're putting their own children at risk.
"What even constitutes “business confidentialities”? What counts as “intent”? Why is maintaining the church’s “reputation”—no matter what—a requirement for membership or employment?"
Don't you just love bureaucracy? It's such a wonderful way to not get anything done. As any sociologist, including me, can tell you, allow a bureaucracy to grow enough and it stops serving the purposes of the organization it belongs to, and starts serving its own purposes. You can see this with health insurance: ever more arcane rules, situations taking months and hundreds of hours to resolve when it would simply be cheaper to pay the claim to begin with, and on and on. I've experienced this many times dealing with my insurance. I remember one time when they spent probably 20 hours of peoples time to save $150 that they said they would pay, AND ended up paying the original bill of about $1000 instead of the $150.
They COULD get this whole thing resolved simply And efficiently: allegations of sexual abuse will be reported to the police. But no, they want to insert of bureaucracy in between because if there's one thing that conservative Christians really hate, it's when their obsessions with sex and control get exposed in the worst possible and responsible ways.
Taxpayers are so worried about $1 going to someone who doesn't "deserve" it, that they force a bureaucracy that spends $10 to stop that $1 in Fraud, waste, or abuse.
Worse- they force the government to spend $10 to look for $1 in misused funds, fail to find any pre-existing abuse, then have a budget surplus because there isn't anything to investigate and the rest of the funds for investigating abuse of government benefits end up fueling corruption within the bureaucracy instead.
But it's okay, as long as the money didn't go to 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 people!
However I think a worse problem with the US public is:
1. US spends $0.01 on civil service members, institutions, or processes to stop $1 in waste fraud and abuse
2. Some conservative wonk adds up all the $0.01's to point out that they total "ONE...BILLION...DOLLARS" [pinkie in mouth]
3. Conservative PR machine yells "this is unnecessary taxes! Isn't it horrible how uncle sam is taking your hard-earned money for this obviously wasteful spending?"
4. Public gets mad, demands cuts in government spending. Congress, always putting reelection ahead of the good of the country, makes the cuts.
5. Public either loses services, or more likely those services get more expensive because higher waste fraud and abuse occurs (often, in the form of corporate middlemen now charging unregulated fees)
6. Conservatives blame Democrats for the loss of services, increase in fraud, and/or overall reduction in US quality of life.
1. The blue collar in need of help who votes against his own best interest: If helping 999 people might result in 1 cheater gaining, then it must not be implemented.
2. The white collar: Spending on social programs means less in the coffers for billionaires. (Ironically, it's all debt. Money taken from the future.)
I attended two churches where credible allegations were made against a youth pastor about predatory conduct.
The first church handled it by following the Catholic church playbook: handle internally, pressure accusers and their families, and transfer the accused to a missions role overseas.
The second church immediately called the police. Suspended and barred the person from being on the grounds, held a church meeting where everyone was informed, sent out a letter, and worked with the police. Better background checks were then implemented.
Now I could be cynical and note that church 1 had deep pockets and church 2 did not. I could also note that church 1 was independent while church 2 belonged to and answered to a denomination board.
But the actions of church 2 were loving even if they were motivated by factors other than pure love.
Ah yes, the 'ol "musical priests" shell game- because as long as they're victimizing poor brown kids somewhere abroad, church leadership will sleep easy knowing that the press won't care anymore!
I'm guessing church 2 wasn't sued out of existence, either, but that things carried on afterwards pretty normally?
That's the sort of thing worth pointing out to other congregations: when the institution handles criminal acts by employees professionally and correctly, it generally comes out looking okay. This whole 'circle the wagons' mentality is promoted by *individuals* who fear for themselves or their jobs. It's about them protecting themselves. Circling the wagons doesn't actually protect the institution itself any better - and in many cases, it's worse - than coming clean.
I would suspect a WHOLE LOT of programmed / conditioned / indoctrinated enablers, for the large portion. Too many of Stevie's congregants likely think he can do no wrong, because Jesus. It may not be long before they have their misapprehension rubbed in their noses. Question then becomes: how many actually LEARN from that lesson?
But when it comes to safety you must speak out you must tell police when a child, a minor or an adult is being abused by ANY CLERGY Baptist or otherwise. That is called being a good person and sometimes being a good person goes above what any church might want you to do. And if a church is telling anybody what they know is the truth to the press no matter how ugly but that church is forbidding them to speak out then that "church" isn't a church and should lose their license to be a church.
Loosing their license for hiding abuse and rapists is the least that should happen to them. Meanwhile, civilized countries have laws that make hiding abuse and rape illegal.
Yup. That's why abuse and rape keep happening in churches because we and other countries are civilized.. This is the only reason I can think to end separation of Church and State. To make everybody accountable.
Requiring the reporting of child abuse is a legitimate state interest. If it violates your religious freedom to hold you to the same laws as everyone else, then you belong to a criminal organization masquerading as a religion.
Equal application of the law is not a violation of religious freedom.
The first rule of molester club is you don't talk about molester club.
I know it's early but a belated Happy 60th Birthday to Kamala Harris.
So, only 16 more years until she's too old to run for President, according to the media!
30 more, if she switched parties, since the press seems to be fine with 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 geriatric cases, but who's counting?
And she'd still be 2 years younger than Trump is now.
Of course, Trump will be dead long before that 16 years has come to pass.
I'm being overly generous, I think, because Biden wasn't the nominee in 2016, but there were pundits whinging about his age that time too.
And given that there still aren't daily stories about Mitch McTurtle being too long in the tooth to make it through a press conference without needing a reboot or two, I'm not even sure the mass-market media would call a Republican too old to serve after they'd been pickled and buried.
Not that I don't think there should be age limits in politics, particularly for high offices, but... a little fucking consistency would be nice.
Donnie sells clicks and ratings = ads = money. Plus the megacorps behind the major news organizations like the 'tax-cuts for billionaires' policy that Musk is pushing with borderline legal and definitely skeezy ads. You know if he'd just pay what he's spent on this campaign in taxes we'd be much better off and likely so would he.
He could write a check and straight-up 𝘦𝘯𝘥 homelessness and hunger in any six major cities of his choosing, at 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. He could single-handedly expand broadband internet access to every under-served community in the country (if not the world, since it's satellite-based), for no cost to the end-users; he could have SpaceX pass their engineering notes to NASA, ESA, etc. and invigorate a whole new generation of cool space science; he could let Tesla go back to developing functional, practical EVs instead of whatever the hell the Cybertruck is supposed to be (and it'd cost him less money); he could fully fund the restoration and preservation of multitudes of national parks and monuments; he could invest in cleaning up the oceans, or developing carbon-neutral alternative energy for our electrical grid, or to power biofuel production... there is no real limit to what a single person, motivated to do good, could accomplish with 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 of dollars.
Instead, he's using his money to Pump the Chump. And if we're very, very lucky, it'll all just go to waste.
The next two weeks are going to be nail-biters for me.
Chuck "granny" Grassley, Orrin Hatch, I thought they would die in office Grassley might.
I know the perfect birthday present.
I wouldn't want the headaches, but apparently she does.
I already sent my present to the township clerk. :)
I recently moved from the bluest district in America to one that elected a little MAGA shit named Mike Lawler last time. I hope to do my part to remove him from a government job shortly.
GMTA. :)
So she's a Libra. No wonder I like her. 🤗
Die Anyway - 10/17/47
My 25th wedding anniversary is on Wednesday.
How can it be belated and early?
She turned 60 yesterday. It was early in the day today for an OT. :)
"church member" says it all. Get out before you or your kids are assaulted and don't look back.
It seems to me that the consequences for violating the media ban is what's best for the one who violates it. Quickest way out of a controlling cult is to get them to expel you.
The threat of "excommunication" is quite a powerful tool. It's not what it was like in the glorious past (excommunicated people were cast out to die in the woods, and were "outlaws" - outside the law - meaning anyone could to anything to you, including killing, and suffer no consequence). However, today, it means losing friends and (in some cases) family. While there are ways around it, the remaining members might not want to risk being cast out themselves for associating with expelled members. It takes a strong personality in a community that's designed to keep everyone docile to overcome the power of loyalty. When thinking about doing the right thing, losing everything is a powerful deterrent.
They can talk about their loving Jesus and the glorious afterlife from now on, but there is nothing these people crave so much as power, control and wealth on this earthly plain. By not being honest with his flock and attempting to use NDA's, this preacher was protecting his revenue stream. Period. His enablers in the pews are just as bad as he is, or they wouldn't be there.
I've read in another article that victims were told not to report to the church leaders about what happened to them due to their refusal to help them in one way or another. Rather report to the right kind of people who will throw those predators to prison which is the secular police not in league with the predatory pastors.
In civilized countries reporting is mandatory. It should be in US too. Child abuse and other rapes should be reportet by anyone that know about it. If not, they should be sued for hiding illegal actions.
Or prosecuted as accomplices after the fact.
Because the reputation of the church is ABOVE ALL.
And the church’s victims be damned. Thus was it ever.
“The Religion of Love,” everyone.
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not reporting crime." That last part was accidentally dropped out of 1 Corinthians (13:4), but it's there spiritually.
It's true! Just ask the Vatican about the importance of Holy Mother Church's reputation!
The army taught me that image was the most important thing. If it looks good, it must be good.
We had the best looking trucks on the side of the road.
chistianity Is the groomer.
every single accusation is always a confession.
normal people do not molest children.
That's why they (Christians) attack us normal folks.
since they can't admit their own sickness, they blame others.
"𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤, 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢, 𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴’ 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴..."
Gotta love how they obviously drafted the skeevy legalese first, and 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 went back and sprinkled some Jesus on it- really shows you whose wrath they fear more. CYA against the lawyers comes first; J.C. is merely an afterthought.
I have a slim hope Harris will surprise everyone and take Texas. There are a lot of pissed off 'pro-choice' people who want to send a message to Texas Republicans, and we have Ted Fucking Cancun Cruz up for re-election. And judging by the Republican platform they're getting scared of the purpling of the state. That isn't to say there aren't a plethora of Trump and Cruz signs in the rural areas surrounding San Antonio. (A lot more Trump than Cruz) OTOH hand, I can't remember a single Harris or Allred sign besides the ones I have in my yard. But as has been noted elsewhere, those not in the cult have less motivation to signal their non-membership. (Plus Trumpers be nuts and too many resort to violence)
Okay, I've rambled about my fever dream long enough.
Some days I'm hopeful, most days I think I have a better chance at Powerball.
I feel the same way about Florida. It used to be the Sunshine State, now I'm embarrassed to admit to most people that it's my home state.
How do you think I feel being trapped here?
Well stated, Joan!
OT -
𝐃𝐞𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐕 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-health-lawyer-resigned-to-avoid-threatening-more-tv-stations/ar-AA1sEvTH
Wow. DeSantis apparently thinks he can act in his capacity as governor AGAINST the First Amendment as regards freedom of the press, without consequences. I can't wait for some of Florida's local TV and radio stations to file lawsuits and possibly criminal charges against ol' Ronnie as a reaction.
Might be time for the popcorn and beer again, gang!
DeSatan is just following the Project 2025 playbook.
As soon as I read about those lawsuits being filed, I'll buy some popcorn. But when I left Florida, it seemed all the media outlets I was familiar with were more or less cowed by that jackass.
Odd time to grow a conscience. *After* the first round of threats, and just before a judge chewed the state a new one. "It's the FIRST AMENDMENT, stupid"
He had a bad dream involving a legion of lawyers walking his way bearing court-sealed manila envelopes.
There's another shithead who just needs to die for the good of the universe. The way that little monster rages around about fucking EVERYTHING - I'm amazed he hasn't had a stroke already.
Loyalty is a powerful motivator. It will override every other principle. Not forever, but for a while. Just look at all the people who supported tRump until he incited the insurrection.
And yet there are some that are more loyal to the party than to the country. They put on a show of condemnation, then did nothing.
Organizations that are operating on the up-and-up don't fear transparency. This church does. If the membership votes to self-silence, they're complicit in the church's wrongdoing. Keep in mind we're talking about an organization that claims to be spreading the word of *GOD*. They ought to be Caesar's wife, but the reason they're now implementing by-laws is because they're not. Anyone who agrees to go along with their cover-up is just as guilty. And they're putting their own children at risk.
This is vile.
"What even constitutes “business confidentialities”? What counts as “intent”? Why is maintaining the church’s “reputation”—no matter what—a requirement for membership or employment?"
Don't you just love bureaucracy? It's such a wonderful way to not get anything done. As any sociologist, including me, can tell you, allow a bureaucracy to grow enough and it stops serving the purposes of the organization it belongs to, and starts serving its own purposes. You can see this with health insurance: ever more arcane rules, situations taking months and hundreds of hours to resolve when it would simply be cheaper to pay the claim to begin with, and on and on. I've experienced this many times dealing with my insurance. I remember one time when they spent probably 20 hours of peoples time to save $150 that they said they would pay, AND ended up paying the original bill of about $1000 instead of the $150.
They COULD get this whole thing resolved simply And efficiently: allegations of sexual abuse will be reported to the police. But no, they want to insert of bureaucracy in between because if there's one thing that conservative Christians really hate, it's when their obsessions with sex and control get exposed in the worst possible and responsible ways.
"What even constitutes “business confidentialities”?
None of your business.
Taxpayers are so worried about $1 going to someone who doesn't "deserve" it, that they force a bureaucracy that spends $10 to stop that $1 in Fraud, waste, or abuse.
Worse- they force the government to spend $10 to look for $1 in misused funds, fail to find any pre-existing abuse, then have a budget surplus because there isn't anything to investigate and the rest of the funds for investigating abuse of government benefits end up fueling corruption within the bureaucracy instead.
But it's okay, as long as the money didn't go to 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 people!
🎯🎯🎯🎯
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. - Groucho Marx.
That may be some of it.
However I think a worse problem with the US public is:
1. US spends $0.01 on civil service members, institutions, or processes to stop $1 in waste fraud and abuse
2. Some conservative wonk adds up all the $0.01's to point out that they total "ONE...BILLION...DOLLARS" [pinkie in mouth]
3. Conservative PR machine yells "this is unnecessary taxes! Isn't it horrible how uncle sam is taking your hard-earned money for this obviously wasteful spending?"
4. Public gets mad, demands cuts in government spending. Congress, always putting reelection ahead of the good of the country, makes the cuts.
5. Public either loses services, or more likely those services get more expensive because higher waste fraud and abuse occurs (often, in the form of corporate middlemen now charging unregulated fees)
6. Conservatives blame Democrats for the loss of services, increase in fraud, and/or overall reduction in US quality of life.
7. Public falls for it and elects conservatives.
There are two things going on:
1. The blue collar in need of help who votes against his own best interest: If helping 999 people might result in 1 cheater gaining, then it must not be implemented.
2. The white collar: Spending on social programs means less in the coffers for billionaires. (Ironically, it's all debt. Money taken from the future.)
I attended two churches where credible allegations were made against a youth pastor about predatory conduct.
The first church handled it by following the Catholic church playbook: handle internally, pressure accusers and their families, and transfer the accused to a missions role overseas.
The second church immediately called the police. Suspended and barred the person from being on the grounds, held a church meeting where everyone was informed, sent out a letter, and worked with the police. Better background checks were then implemented.
Now I could be cynical and note that church 1 had deep pockets and church 2 did not. I could also note that church 1 was independent while church 2 belonged to and answered to a denomination board.
But the actions of church 2 were loving even if they were motivated by factors other than pure love.
Ah yes, the 'ol "musical priests" shell game- because as long as they're victimizing poor brown kids somewhere abroad, church leadership will sleep easy knowing that the press won't care anymore!
I'm guessing church 2 wasn't sued out of existence, either, but that things carried on afterwards pretty normally?
That's the sort of thing worth pointing out to other congregations: when the institution handles criminal acts by employees professionally and correctly, it generally comes out looking okay. This whole 'circle the wagons' mentality is promoted by *individuals* who fear for themselves or their jobs. It's about them protecting themselves. Circling the wagons doesn't actually protect the institution itself any better - and in many cases, it's worse - than coming clean.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a80c52096af8320dd466f0a7277f83a8040dc34f6cc9610ffa6be631043a820d.jpg
I thought we were working for the weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsgBpsNPQ50
Loverboy. Making headbands cool since 1981.
Also this...
gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2024/10/13
OT- The Central Park Five- all of whom, it must be noted, were completely exonerated 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰- are suing Cheetolini for defamation after he smeared them 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯: https://apnews.com/article/central-park-five-exonerated-donald-trump-lawsuit-harris-6d7cfa4e5d117fb653d83555423b35f9
Nothing says "tough on crime" like trying for over thirty years to ruin the lives of five innocent people, amirite?
He must like being on the ass end of lawsuits.
Well, when you don't pay your lawyers, it's easy to drown the other side in paperwork.
Those who support an offender are probably an offender, a wannabe offender, or at least an enabler.
I would suspect a WHOLE LOT of programmed / conditioned / indoctrinated enablers, for the large portion. Too many of Stevie's congregants likely think he can do no wrong, because Jesus. It may not be long before they have their misapprehension rubbed in their noses. Question then becomes: how many actually LEARN from that lesson?
My guess is: few to none.
Complaints...
https://scontent-iad3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/463743298_953900906770125_4810427284876614218_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=_09qgrNjdZgQ7kNvgFafEFa&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-iad3-2.xx&_nc_gid=A0UfyKPeOID0-AEhOv_Xuml&oh=00_AYBdjlYvTwX1z7pF3yMNmKHiNEML0HARdWLEBplRMA7qVQ&oe=671CEB7F
Found the correct department to direct 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 complaints to!
https://i0.wp.com/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Complaint_Department_Grenade.jpg/300px-Complaint_Department_Grenade.jpg