I love it when preachers cite a work of complete fiction as justification for their bigotry. Well, not exactly love it, but you know what I mean. ;) There is next to nothing in the way of independent corroboration for anything found in the Bible, and yet Christians continue to delude themselves their magic book is a message from God. A God who, judging by the staggering number of Christian tribes, couldn't make himself understood when it came to the most important message imaginable.
This shit continues to happen – over and Over and OVER again – and people continue to act surprised, as though they'd never heard of a preacher or someone related to a preacher, involved in such despicable acts. Meanwhile, for us, it amounts to another depressing day at the office, yet one more in a parade of supposedly pious men, caught doing unspeakable things. And the surprise continues to obtain because the assumption is still extant that religion and faith are somehow pure and unsullied concepts. To which I say:
White evangelicals? 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 attention? Hell, they 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 that shit. They think they're the main characters in every story; they pitch temper tantrums of 𝘣𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 proportions every time anyone else gets so much as a moment in the spotlight they think they're entitled to!
[It raises a lot of questions about what these churches and parents were teaching their children about consent]
The churches simply don't teach about it at all. Never really comes up.
[and sex education]
Sex is something disgusting, gross, awful and you should only do it with someone you deeply love and are committed to for life.
Also, boys can't help themselves so they get a pass so long as they're really guilty and sad about it and tell Jesus psychically that they're sorry.
[and “purity.”]
Your virginity is the most important thing about you... as a woman. Women who have sex before marriage commit adultery against their future husband. They are used shoes and chewed gum.
If you both stay virgins, God will give you a great sex life as a married couple. If that doesn't happen, haha... fuck you, you have to stay anyway now.
There is NO BOTTOM with Trump ... none, zero, zip-zilch, the big goose egg. There is no ignominy to which he won't stoop, mostly because 1) he doesn't care and 2) he's convinced that he'll get away with it.
It's time to make that second point a bold-faced LIE.
I'm actually more curious about these "vigilantes" and their attempts to entrap people. I have to wonder about people like them. How often are these types of people so over the top because they're trying to hide their own involvement? Seems to me if they really cared about their goal, they'd give up as soon as they realized their flawed process had allowed a predator to go free. The whole thing is very suspect.
That's my guess. I don't see the purpose of broadcasting these types of things other than notoriety. You can catch predators without making a huge spectacle of it. In fact, calling attention to yourself probably makes it less effective.
Fundamentalist religion is like fertilizer for pedophiles. We've seen it, twice now, with the Duggars and their fundie group, and here we go again. Also, seems fair to point out that, again, this predator isn't gay, a drag queen, a trans person, an atheist, or a 'librul'.
All that said, though, once this investigation was handed over to LE, this grandstanding religious group should have stood down and let them do their work. Legally. Without compromise to the case. If this case goes sideways, blame it on attention hogs like Garrett Gross who may be harming the prosecution by jumping the gun for likes and subscribers on YouTube.
Bottom line: Your kids aren't safe with 'youth pastors', fundies! Wake up!
While I'm sure you're right that they're under the delusional belief that their gawd has no problem with pedos and their enablers, I must have missed those chapters in the buy-bull. We've all learned over the years that every kind of patriarchal group from churches to the Boy Scouts have had their own child sexual assault scandals that went on for decades. Kind of like Willie Horton and robbing banks, why do they do it? Because that's where the kiddies are.
As I grow weary after this past decade+ of Trump-hate, I find myself weakening.
Now, instead of simply ignoring it, when I hear someone (generally a stranger) say that "God never gives anyone more than they can handle", I tend to bring up the Children's Crusades. (No one ever thanks me....)
Basically the same way that I respond when someone ties Trump to God favorably: I remind them that Lucifer/Satan was once God's best bud...before being cast down.
Sounds like you may be weary, foofaraw, but you're not out of fight! Good for you! I'm nowhere near giving up, so if you need to take a rest, do it. It's good to step back and allow yourself to recharge. The rest of us will step into the breach. Remember, we're in this together, and his days are numbered. Tik tok.......
They should have handed over their evidence 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 trying to make a public spectacle out of it- they should have only released the video if the authorities failed to act. Doing it the other way around just gives the pedo-pastor several more arguments to use for motions to dismiss if the case goes to trial.
Another xtian groomer gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
The next time a kkkonservative kkkhristian points a finger at LGBTQs, Democrats or atheists and calls them "groomers," point then in the direction of this article. Then tell them to STFU.
The jesusfuckers will just ignore any and all evidence and continue to accuse others or they (Christians) will trot out the old trope of “NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN”.
The goddamm Christians will never accept the fact that being CHRISTIANS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEANS THAT A PERSON IS GOOD/ETHICAL OR DECENT PERSON!
While it's out of place to say that every evangelical Christian is a vile and disgusting example of a human being, it's more accurate than not to say that the most reprehensible and evil person you know of claims to be an evangelical Christian.
"While it's out of place to say that every evangelical Christian is a vile and disgusting example of a human being..."
NAILED IT!
However, E.A., it may be even closer to the truth once one replaces "evangelical Christian" with the term, "white Christian".
Having spent >50 years in the deep south (and still here), I am aware that "evangelicals" are a specific subset of "Christians", but my change still works...especially considering how many rights and freedoms have been taken away from tens of millions of innocent Americas this past week with the stroke of a pen writing with ink the color of white-hate.
(Sorry, E.A. It's so hard not to be angry. In the majority-Black church I attend (for the sake of community, and Jesus is COOL!) we basically had a wake for the VRA yesterday.)
Right after the Trump2 election I (actually) started noticing the term "MAGA" in messages on the electronic signs in front of some South Carolina churches.
Of course, they broke no rules by presenting that political message to the world.
I'M the one at fault...for READING! (Obviously a trick to catch Dems ONLY.)
Does it really raise questions? The answer seems pretty clear. The purity culture nonsense that has been pushed on the kids for decades has resulted in story after story of young adults doing horrible things to children. Teaching the kids that girls are supposed to be responsible for the actions of boys and men, that any sex while not married to your sex partner is evil, and that marrying your and pushing out lots of babies is what is expected of everyone will badly distort their thinking.
We don’t care about children in this godforsaken place! Ok, I’m too depressed by the recent ruling on Mifepristone with nationwide implications. It was seen coming from miles away. Going to talk to trees for a while.
That sucks. People shouldn't have to *beg* for healthcare and medicine from the damned government and court system. Who are these people, thinking they have the same knowledge and skill as healthcare professionals?
That the order blocking the lower court ruling was signed by Alitosis, of all people, suggests that even among the conservatives there may not be enough support to sustain the Fifth Circuit's decision (or, at least, not enough to crap out another rubber-stamp ruling via the shadow docket). Grains of salt and counting chickens and all that, though.
"...there is no place in the Body of Christ for sexual misconduct or the abuse of trust in any form."
Sure there is. Right next to Jesus's left testicle. Plenty of room next to all the other pastors and priests who committed similar acts with impunity in the name of God.
Stupid youth pastor never heard about plausible deniability: "As a youth pastor I feel it's my duty to meet this young, easily influencable girl in person to warn her about the dangers of chatting with random strangers on the internet"
Yes, it will make you cry. It's heartbreaking and infuriating just how little victims' lives and well-being are valued by the church and culture at large.
Of course, not a drag queen.
I love it when preachers cite a work of complete fiction as justification for their bigotry. Well, not exactly love it, but you know what I mean. ;) There is next to nothing in the way of independent corroboration for anything found in the Bible, and yet Christians continue to delude themselves their magic book is a message from God. A God who, judging by the staggering number of Christian tribes, couldn't make himself understood when it came to the most important message imaginable.
They need to get rid of the term "youth pastor." It's now synonymous with child molester.
Does "youth predator" sounds better?
Far more accurate.
A mistake? Uh no, Caleb. 2 + 2 = 5 is a mistake. What you attempted to do was quite above being a mere mistake.
Like so many others like him, he was thinking with his johnson instead of his gray matter. For the umpti-umpth time: FAFO.
Enow spake.
He meant he mistook adult-pretending-to-be-his-victim for his actual victim.
This shit continues to happen – over and Over and OVER again – and people continue to act surprised, as though they'd never heard of a preacher or someone related to a preacher, involved in such despicable acts. Meanwhile, for us, it amounts to another depressing day at the office, yet one more in a parade of supposedly pious men, caught doing unspeakable things. And the surprise continues to obtain because the assumption is still extant that religion and faith are somehow pure and unsullied concepts. To which I say:
𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑒—𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑—𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠: 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠.
-- Christopher Hitchens
I'd love to see a statistic comparing the crime rates of immigrants with the crimes of white evangelicals.
One might think both groups would prefer to avoid attention, but I guess we'd be half-wrong.
Would make for an ... INTERESTING study, for sure! 😉
White evangelicals? 𝘈𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 attention? Hell, they 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 that shit. They think they're the main characters in every story; they pitch temper tantrums of 𝘣𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 proportions every time anyone else gets so much as a moment in the spotlight they think they're entitled to!
We musn't forget that many of these folks likely have:
"GOD loves me MORE than you!"
...tattooed across their backs. We just can't see it.
[It raises a lot of questions about what these churches and parents were teaching their children about consent]
The churches simply don't teach about it at all. Never really comes up.
[and sex education]
Sex is something disgusting, gross, awful and you should only do it with someone you deeply love and are committed to for life.
Also, boys can't help themselves so they get a pass so long as they're really guilty and sad about it and tell Jesus psychically that they're sorry.
[and “purity.”]
Your virginity is the most important thing about you... as a woman. Women who have sex before marriage commit adultery against their future husband. They are used shoes and chewed gum.
If you both stay virgins, God will give you a great sex life as a married couple. If that doesn't happen, haha... fuck you, you have to stay anyway now.
"their 25-year-old son was caught on camera trying to meet someone he believed was a 14-year-old child"
How very tRumpian.
"I'll be dating you in 10 years."
-- DJT
[sigh] I type that and the mind just continues to boggle. 😖
Makes me nauseous!🤮
You are emphatically NOT ALONE!
He said on Ivanka's 5th birthday.
There is NO BOTTOM with Trump ... none, zero, zip-zilch, the big goose egg. There is no ignominy to which he won't stoop, mostly because 1) he doesn't care and 2) he's convinced that he'll get away with it.
It's time to make that second point a bold-faced LIE.
GROSS!
And DISGUSTING!
I'm actually more curious about these "vigilantes" and their attempts to entrap people. I have to wonder about people like them. How often are these types of people so over the top because they're trying to hide their own involvement? Seems to me if they really cared about their goal, they'd give up as soon as they realized their flawed process had allowed a predator to go free. The whole thing is very suspect.
I wonder if the religious group in this case is more about chasing notoriety (and the $ that comes with it) than actually protecting children.
That's my guess. I don't see the purpose of broadcasting these types of things other than notoriety. You can catch predators without making a huge spectacle of it. In fact, calling attention to yourself probably makes it less effective.
Fundamentalist religion is like fertilizer for pedophiles. We've seen it, twice now, with the Duggars and their fundie group, and here we go again. Also, seems fair to point out that, again, this predator isn't gay, a drag queen, a trans person, an atheist, or a 'librul'.
All that said, though, once this investigation was handed over to LE, this grandstanding religious group should have stood down and let them do their work. Legally. Without compromise to the case. If this case goes sideways, blame it on attention hogs like Garrett Gross who may be harming the prosecution by jumping the gun for likes and subscribers on YouTube.
Bottom line: Your kids aren't safe with 'youth pastors', fundies! Wake up!
One can only assume that they think God will protect them, and approve of their sins. ("God wants us HAPPY to thank us for our worship!")
But why ANYONE would go to an Assembly of God church is a TOTAL mystery....
"Assemblies of God churches shielded accused predators — and allowed them to keep abusing children
NBC News uncovered a 50-year pattern of sex abuse, silence and cover-up in the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/assembly-god-church-shield-predators-child-sex-abuse-allegations-rcna240213
I'll say it again: if it's a church, there may be / will be abusers.
While I'm sure you're right that they're under the delusional belief that their gawd has no problem with pedos and their enablers, I must have missed those chapters in the buy-bull. We've all learned over the years that every kind of patriarchal group from churches to the Boy Scouts have had their own child sexual assault scandals that went on for decades. Kind of like Willie Horton and robbing banks, why do they do it? Because that's where the kiddies are.
Jane,
As I grow weary after this past decade+ of Trump-hate, I find myself weakening.
Now, instead of simply ignoring it, when I hear someone (generally a stranger) say that "God never gives anyone more than they can handle", I tend to bring up the Children's Crusades. (No one ever thanks me....)
Basically the same way that I respond when someone ties Trump to God favorably: I remind them that Lucifer/Satan was once God's best bud...before being cast down.
Sounds like you may be weary, foofaraw, but you're not out of fight! Good for you! I'm nowhere near giving up, so if you need to take a rest, do it. It's good to step back and allow yourself to recharge. The rest of us will step into the breach. Remember, we're in this together, and his days are numbered. Tik tok.......
They should have handed over their evidence 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 trying to make a public spectacle out of it- they should have only released the video if the authorities failed to act. Doing it the other way around just gives the pedo-pastor several more arguments to use for motions to dismiss if the case goes to trial.
Absolutely!
Another xtian groomer gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
The next time a kkkonservative kkkhristian points a finger at LGBTQs, Democrats or atheists and calls them "groomers," point then in the direction of this article. Then tell them to STFU.
The jesusfuckers will just ignore any and all evidence and continue to accuse others or they (Christians) will trot out the old trope of “NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN”.
The goddamm Christians will never accept the fact that being CHRISTIANS DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MEANS THAT A PERSON IS GOOD/ETHICAL OR DECENT PERSON!
While it's out of place to say that every evangelical Christian is a vile and disgusting example of a human being, it's more accurate than not to say that the most reprehensible and evil person you know of claims to be an evangelical Christian.
The ones I personally know identify as Catholic. To-may-to, to-mah-to...
"While it's out of place to say that every evangelical Christian is a vile and disgusting example of a human being..."
NAILED IT!
However, E.A., it may be even closer to the truth once one replaces "evangelical Christian" with the term, "white Christian".
Having spent >50 years in the deep south (and still here), I am aware that "evangelicals" are a specific subset of "Christians", but my change still works...especially considering how many rights and freedoms have been taken away from tens of millions of innocent Americas this past week with the stroke of a pen writing with ink the color of white-hate.
(Sorry, E.A. It's so hard not to be angry. In the majority-Black church I attend (for the sake of community, and Jesus is COOL!) we basically had a wake for the VRA yesterday.)
There's an idea...many, many wakes across the country for the VRA, filmed and uploaded to YouTube.
If nothing else, it'll get the word out to a few more people, and maybe, just maybe, piss off enough of them to inspire spreading it even further.
Could this become the next NO KINGS movement? Maybe, maybe not...but seems like it's worth a try.
But it does mean two other things (to them)...
1. They will go to heaven.
2. They had one bath that wasn't in anticipation of a Saturday night drunk.
Q: What is the difference between Baptists and Methodists?
A: Methodists will speak to each other in the liquor store.
It sometimes means the direct opposite. Some of the meanest, rudest, nastiest people I've ever run into turned out to be (drum roll) CHRISTIANS!
Damn, who'd a-thunk it?
These articles could be a great basis for Democrat attack ads to mock the Party of Family Values and Personal Responsibillity.
Opening line: "What do religious leaders and pedophiles have in common? Everything! They're the same people!"
Right after the Trump2 election I (actually) started noticing the term "MAGA" in messages on the electronic signs in front of some South Carolina churches.
Of course, they broke no rules by presenting that political message to the world.
I'M the one at fault...for READING! (Obviously a trick to catch Dems ONLY.)
Someday in the future (unless things change somehow) that might be SOP to catch all the "traitors" and "thought criminals."
𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑖𝑑𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑥 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 “𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦.”
Does it really raise questions? The answer seems pretty clear. The purity culture nonsense that has been pushed on the kids for decades has resulted in story after story of young adults doing horrible things to children. Teaching the kids that girls are supposed to be responsible for the actions of boys and men, that any sex while not married to your sex partner is evil, and that marrying your and pushing out lots of babies is what is expected of everyone will badly distort their thinking.
We don’t care about children in this godforsaken place! Ok, I’m too depressed by the recent ruling on Mifepristone with nationwide implications. It was seen coming from miles away. Going to talk to trees for a while.
Sometimes I talk to the wind.....
https://youtu.be/UlKrH07au6E?si=O6TwOkyNubtvR9T2
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear
BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING WIND!!!
Great album.
That sucks. People shouldn't have to *beg* for healthcare and medicine from the damned government and court system. Who are these people, thinking they have the same knowledge and skill as healthcare professionals?
There 𝘮𝘢𝘺 be some small cause for hope in that case: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pills-mifepristone-supreme-court-louisiana-0533e83d67148fdfec53b1d0d30c1e8a
That the order blocking the lower court ruling was signed by Alitosis, of all people, suggests that even among the conservatives there may not be enough support to sustain the Fifth Circuit's decision (or, at least, not enough to crap out another rubber-stamp ruling via the shadow docket). Grains of salt and counting chickens and all that, though.
"...there is no place in the Body of Christ for sexual misconduct or the abuse of trust in any form."
Sure there is. Right next to Jesus's left testicle. Plenty of room next to all the other pastors and priests who committed similar acts with impunity in the name of God.
It's okay - at least he wasn't there to molest a 14-year-old boy; his supposed victim was a girl, so at least he was straight, as gawd intended.
This shouldn't really need a /s tag, should it?
Stupid youth pastor never heard about plausible deniability: "As a youth pastor I feel it's my duty to meet this young, easily influencable girl in person to warn her about the dangers of chatting with random strangers on the internet"
He should’ve taken his own advice.
On Topic: I just found this on HuffPost this morning. Note that it may be a trigger for some here present:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brother-molested-priest-child-abuse-victim-justice_n_69f76f10e4b0ed2b90e269ae
I saw that yesterday. It took a lot of guts to write that letter and put her name to it, but it worked.
Not all heroes wear capes- because of her, there are that many more kids in the world who never had to go through what she and her brother did.
I thought she was pretty damned brilliant, myself. We need a LOT more like her!
Yes, it will make you cry. It's heartbreaking and infuriating just how little victims' lives and well-being are valued by the church and culture at large.
Thing is, she didn't just take it, though I'm sure she hurt like hell. She TOOK ACTION ... and judging from the article, effective action.
And she deserves no small amount of plaudits for that!