Today's example of Christians behaving badly

[byco42]

It seems to me that the Catholic/Christian definition of "concupiscence" is succumbing to base impulsive behaviors that are ultimately self-destructive.

Uhhhh ... yeah. EDIT: We are/were created for a much high reason than to merely feed our senses.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Uhhhh ... yeah. EDIT: We are/were created for a much high reason than to merely feed our senses.

Anyways, under this broader definition, I would say that the lady getting drunk and beating her kid was a pretty concupiscent act.

 

[Michchamp]

It's more "freaky" to abuse the gift of sexuality. It's a major problem that we as a people do that, though only one in a great number with a lot of zeros behind it understand that it is possible to even do that.

there's "good freaky" like "my girl is coming over in her new lingerie with a bottle of Mo?t and some whipped cream & we're gonna get freaky tonight"

and then there's "bad freaky" like "hey some creep keeps calling from an unregistered number and breathing heavy into the phone"

when christians talk about sex, it's more like the latter.

 

[byco42]

there's "good freaky" like "my girl is coming over in her new lingerie with a bottle of Mo?t and some whipped cream & we're gonna get freaky tonight"

and then there's "bad freaky" like "hey some creep keeps calling from an unregistered number and breathing heavy into the phone"

when christians talk about sex, it's more like the latter.

A rather sweeping generality that is recklessly inaccurate. In both cases, though, the people involved are objectified, and, in that context, there's not all that much difference between the two scenarios.

 

[b311j]

not bad...Christians haven't behaved badly since 01/05/2017

The FFRF does a nice job of finding a bunch and posting them in their monthly newsletter. Usually about 4 to 5 pages long. I can start posting them if need be.

 

[b311j]

David L. Von Bergen, 59, Alton, IL: 21 counts of
producing and possessing child pornography and
unauthorized video recording. Due to new evidence,
the charges were added to 4 similar ones lodged in
January 2016 when Von Bergen was an elder at Zion
Lutheran Church in Bethalto. He’s alleged to have
recorded boys and girls as young as 4 and 2 adult
women on cameras placed in church bathrooms.
While he was trying to retrieve the cameras on
Christmas Eve 2015, he was confronted by then-pastor
Kale Hanson, 36, who agreed to destroy the
camera memory cards, it’s alleged. A felony count of
conspiracy against Hanson is pending.
Von Bergen’s son was sentenced to 80 years in
January on child porn charges, said prosecutor
Tom Gibbon. “So it certainly seems, from the facts
we have known to us, that the apple doesn’t fall far
from the tree.” Source: WSDK, 2-3-17


Bishop William Marshall, Bridgeport, CT:
3rd-degree larceny. Marshall, pastor of City of Life
Worship and Deliverance Center and a city fire commission
member, is accused of stealing about $8,200
worth of electricity from United Illuminating Co.
A company meter check at Marshall Artz Barber
Shop and Tattoo, owned by the pastor, showed
power had been illegally reconnected after being
disconnected in August 2013 for nonpayment of a
$4,000 bill. Source: CT Post, 2-1-17


Robert Bonner, 48, Essex, MD: Sex abuse of a
minor, 2nd-degree assault and 2 counts of 4th-degree
sex offense. Bonner, a teacher and coach at Our
Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School, is accused
of “inappropriate verbal and text message conversations”
with a high school girl and “inappropriate
and unwanted physical contact with the student on
school property” on Jan. 19-20. Source: WBAL, 2-1-17


Micah D. Wright, 39, Wilmington, NC: Assault
by strangulation and misdemeanor assault on a
female. Wright, pastor of Revolution Church, allegedly
scraped and scratched the woman while
choking her with his hands and twisting her arm.
He has a 2006 conviction for felonious restraint
and misdemeanor assault on a female and received
probation. Source: WWAY, 1-26-17


Denis “Chrysostom” Alexander, 80, Sydney:
Sexual assault. Alexander, a Catholic Benedictine
monk removed in 2013 from the ministry, is accused
of abusing boys at the Ft. Augustus Abbey boarding
school in Scotland, where he’s being extradited to.
The school closed in 1993. Alexander was
transferred to Australia in 1979 after abuse allegations
by a different student. Source: BBC, 1-23-17


Prince Nuah, 29, Ganta, Liberia: Rape. Nuah,
senior pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of
God, is accused of raping a 13-year-old girl who
came to his house for help with her homework.
Nuah denies the charge and allegedly told a reporter
the girl had gone into his bedroom, undressed
and asked him to sleep with her. Source:
New Dawn Liberia, 1-23-17


Francisco Guevara, 65, Colleyville, TX: Indecency
with a child and 2 counts of continuous
sexual abuse of a child. Charges stem from alleged
incidents 7 years ago when the victims were between
ages 4 and 7 and Guevara was a volunteer
at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, where he
worked in the nursery.
The Diocese of Fort Worth notified police after
allegations were made last July and Guevara
was banned from church activities. Source: Star-
Telegram, 1-19-17


Jacques Faucher, 80, Ville de Gatineau, Quebec:
Breach of bail conditions. Faucher, a Catholic
priest awaiting sentencing for historical sex
crimes involving boys between the ages of 9 and
13, is charged with visiting a restricted section of
a community pool 96 times. A bail term was to
avoid public parks or pools where children under
16 were expected to be present. Source: Ottawa
Citizen, 1-19-17


Mark Brooke, Ward, AR: Solicitation of prostitution.
Brooke, pastor of Cornerstone Assembly
Church and a city of Ward probation officer, is
charged with making arrangements for sex on his
city-provided phone with an undercover officer.
Source: Democrat-Gazette, 1-18-17


Rafael Diaz, 69, Queens, NY: Sexual abuse
and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Diaz,
the now-terminated music director at Presentation
of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Parish, is
charged with molesting a girl 4 or 5 times during
private lessons at her home in 2014.
The girl, now 15, told police Diaz would touch
her chest and breast while having her sing different
pitches and once asked her if she had started
menstruating. Source: NY Post, 1-16-17


Dara de Cogan, 57, Kilburn, England: 12
counts of sexual activity with a girl aged between
13 and 17. De Cogan, a leading Irish classical musician,
is accused of assaulting a student between
2007-09 while teaching at Ampleforth College, a
boarding school operated by Catholic Benedictine
monks. Source: Yorkshire Post, 1-16-17


Climax Dewa, 65, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Violating
a protective order. Dewa, pastor of St. Anne’s
Anglican Parish, allegedly threatened his wife with
an axe and called her a gold digger at their home
Jan. 5 after being ordered last year to desist from
verbally and physically abusing her for supposedly
denying him his conjugal rights.
Doris Dewa, 38, lacked respect for him and
habitually treated him in a condescending manner,
the pastor claimed at arraignment. Source: The
Chronicle, 1-16-17


Omer Desjardins, 85, Winnipeg: Sexual assault,
sexual exploitation and gross indecency. He’s accused
of sexual assaults in 1988-89 at Credo Home,
operated by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Catholic
order, by “Joe” (last name withheld), now 43.
Desjardins was convicted
in 2015 for the
1978 sexual assault of
a 10-year-old girl. “Joe”
went to police after hearing
about the conviction.
Desjardins has been
removed from public
ministry but not from
the priesthood, said Tim
Coonen of the Ottawa
Oblate Provincial Office.
Source: CBC, 1-13-17


Ibrahim Omerdic, 62, Melbourne, Australia:
Conduct causing a minor to enter into forced
marriage. Omerdic, imam at Noble Park Mosque,
is charged with marrying a 34-year-old man to a
girl under age 16 last September. The groom faces
a similar charge and 1 count of sexual penetration
of a child under 16. Source: The Age, 1-13-17


Ethan Chandler, 42, Belleville, NJ: 2nd-degree
luring a child and sexual assault and 4th-degree
criminal sexual contact. Chandler, a former
music and youth minister at Hope Evangelical Free
Church in Wilton, CT, is accused of contacting several
individuals he believed to be teen boys for sex.
Authorities said Chandler “allegedly sent nude
photos of himself to at least three juveniles and
may have been having sexual relations with another
14-year-old male.” He pleaded guilty in 2014
to disorderly conduct after he was discovered in a
mall bathroom kissing a young man who appeared
to be a minor.
Chandler now operates a company that videos
high school sporting events, which puts him into contact
with youth, police said. Source: The Hour, 1-9-17


Floyd Sullivan, 74, Kansas City: Assault. Sullivan,
pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church, is charged
with attacking a 75-year-old congregant during a
discussion in November about the safety of a handicapped-
access ramp. He allegedly struck the man
on the face, kicked him after he fell and “placed his
foot on the victim’s throat,” court documents said.
Witnesses said Sullivan yelled “This is what
happens when you mess with me; you don’t mess
with me!” Source: KSHB, 1-9-17


Roland Gulson, 56, Chaguanas, Trinidad:
Sexual grooming, sexual penetration and 3 counts
of sexual touching. Gulson, pastor at Angel Michael
Healing Tabernacle, is accused of assaults
on a 15-year-old girl between July 15-18 at the
church. Source: Trinidad Express, 1-9-17


Quinton Williams, 38, Cordova, TN: Aggravated
statutory rape. Williams, an associate minister at
Morning Grove Baptist Church, is charged with having
sex with a 17-year-old girl 10-15 times last year at the
church and at his home. She and her family attended
the church. Source: Commercial Appeal, 1-6-17


Jody Dewayne Brown, 42, Gallatin, TN: Attempted
aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor
and unlawful photography in violation of privacy.
Brown, worship leader at Freedom Church, is accused
of surreptitious recording at his home last
October, where he invited several teens over to
swim, including the complainant.
“Once done swimming, she went to the shower,
and in the restroom noticed a camera placed
in the exterior window from the outside and she
learned Mr. Brown had placed the device in the
window,” said sheriff’s Detective Eddie Cripps.
After spotting the cellphone
camera, she told
detectives she ran from
the home to her car.
A spokesperson said
Brown no longer works
at the church. Source:
WTVF, 1-6-17


John T. Lindsey,
47, Charlotte, NC:
Possession of a firearm
by a felon and 18
counts of robbery and
conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous
weapon. Lindsey, pastor of True Love Church of
Refuge, is accused of robbing 9 stores last year
and firing a shot inside Family Dollar. He has 2
drug-related convictions from the 1990s. Source:
Charlotte Observer, 1-5-17


Michelle Medrick, 58, N. Royalton, OH: Bank
fraud. Medrick is accused of embezzling $1.9 million
in 2008-16 from a Catholic Charities agency in Parma
that provides foster care and adoption services and
residences for children with behavioral problems.
Medrick converted proceeds of client-agency and
donor checks to cash, which she used for her own
benefit, according to authorities. She is also accused
of altering copies of the checks, which were then
placed into Catholic Charities records. Insurance will
cover the thefts. Source: cleveland.com, 12-28-16


Wesley Brown, 54, Flagler Beach, FL: Guilty
by jury of 19 of 31 counts of embezzlement and
securities charges. Brown, volunteer pastor and
bible study leader at Calvary Chapel, was accused
of defrauding church members and others out of
$395,000 in a Ponzi scheme between December
2010 and June 2012. Source: News-Journal, 1-26-17
Randy Johnson, 52, Dallas Center, IA: Lascivious
acts with a child, child endangerment, 2
counts each of indecent exposure and assault with
intent to commit sex abuse, 3 counts of indecent
contact with a child and 4 counts of 3rd-degree sex
abuse. He and his wife co-pastor the Church of the
Brethren and live next to the church.
“They are the nicest people ever,” said neighbor
Sabrina Vancleve. “Yeah, this is a complete
shock.” Source: KCCI, 1-25-17


Yona Metzger, 63, former chief Ashkenazi rabbi
of Israel, pleaded guilty to bribery, with a plea bargain
calling for him to serve 42 months in prison. He
admitted accepting 5 million shekels ($1.3 million) in
bribes, down from 10 million in the 2015 indictment.
Metzger was originally accused of accepting
bribes from wealthy foreigners seeking to convert
to Judaism, accepting kickbacks from nonprofits,
theft from a yeshiva, money laundering and tax violations.
Source: Haaretz, 1-24-17


Paul Hanniford, 55, Kingston, Jamaica: Guilty
by jury of having sexual intercourse with a minor.
Hanniford, pastor of Pentecostal City Mission
Church, was charged with raping a 13-year-old girl
at his home after choir practice in March 2015.
Prosecutors said he gave the girl’s 5-year-old
brother a bowl of cornflakes to occupy him while
Hanniford took her into the bedroom but the boy
heard her crying and came in to witness the assault.
Afterward, Hanniford returned the children
to their mother at the church. Source: Jamaica
Gleaner, 1-23-17


Timothy Peltz, 52, Wheaton, IL: Pleaded guilty
to 4 counts of predatory sexual assault of a child,
with 19 other counts dropped. Peltz, a deacon at Living
Hope Bible Church, was accused of molesting a
girl over a 10-year period, starting in 1994.
“The defendant said this is all the victim’s fault
because she was too affectionate at 3?,” said
prosecutor Jennifer Lindt.
Peltz’s 2014 book Inspirational Poems for the
Soul sold online for $12. He advertised on social
media as a Christian music performer. Source: Daily
Herald, 1-20-17


Edmund Harman, 27, Franklin Township,
NJ: Pleaded guilty to criminal sexual contact.
Harman, a science teacher and track coach at
Notre Dame High School, admitted fondling a
student’s breasts, kissing her and asking her for
nude photos in February 2016. The Diocese of
Trenton operates the school.
A plea agreement calls for probation and
teaching license forfeiture. Source: nj.com, 1-19-17


Micah Neal, 42, Springdale, AR: Pleaded guilty
to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
Neal, an evangelical Christian and Republican
state representative whose term ended Jan. 9,
was accused of pocketing $38,000 in kickbacks
from $600,000 in state grants from January 2013
to January 2015 that went to 2 nonprofits. One
was to Ecclesia College, a “transdenominational”
Christian school in Springdale.
Ecclesia President Oren Paris III denied any
impropriety. The school is referred to in the plea
agreement only as Entity B, a nonprofit operating
a college in Springdale.
In a tweet just before his court appearance, Neal
wrote, “Praise God even when you don’t understand
what He’s doing.” Source: Raw Story, 1-5-17


Michael Dunn, 67, York, England: 9 months in
jail after pleading guilty to 3 counts of sexual assault
in a court in Ireland. Dunn, a Catholic priest
when the assaults occurred 40 years ago, was accused
of molesting a 12-year-old altar boy he had
taken with him on vacation.
Dunn was jailed for 18 months in England in
March 2005 after he was convicted of sexually assaulting
another boy, age 13, in 1975-76 while he was pastor
of Christ the King Parish. Source: Irish Times, 2-3-17


Mark Hale, 50, Manvel, ND: $500 fine and
$3,000 restitution after pleading guilty to unlawful
transport of wildlife and unlawful taking of wildlife
in a national park. Hale, pastor of Thrive Community
Church, a Nazarene congregation in Grand
Forks, illegally killed a bull elk last September in
Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
He also faces misdemeanor charges in state court
for allegedly failing to properly tag another elk he
shot earlier outside the park and leaving the carcass
inside the park. Source: Capital Journal, 1-27-17


Timothy Ciboro, 53, and Esten Ciboro, 28, Toledo,
OH: 5 life sentences plus 41 years and 3 life
sentences plus 38 years, respectively, after a jury
found the father and son guilty of multiple counts
of rape and kidnapping. Their victims were the elder
Ciboro’s 14-year-old stepdaughter, 9-year-old
biological daughter and 11-year-old biological son.
At a pretrial hearing, the Ciboros sought permission
to use the bible in their defense. It’s “the only
law book that truly matters,” the son told the judge.
“Everything they’re doing, they’re claiming
they’re doing it through God’s word,” prosecutor
Frank Spryszak said at closing. “They stand there
with their bible. They cross-examine people using
scripture and it’s all perverted.” The men read the
bible and prayed while Spryszak spoke.
In his closing, Timothy Ciboro asked God for
forgiveness and said his “job in this trial was to
glorify him and not to put forth any dirty laundry
or past sin that [his stepdaughter] had committed.”
Source: Toledo Blade, 1-27-17


Major L. Hillman, 23, Lynchburg, VA: 6 years
in prison for computer solicitation and indecent
liberties with a minor convictions. Hillman, a volunteer
youth pastor at Thomas Terrace Baptist
Church, was charged for interactions with an 8thgrade
girl he was counseling in 2015.
The girl’s mother testified that “I’ve seen the
product of what a pedophile does, and the end result
is scary.”

 

[b311j]

Isaac Kizhakkeparambil, 59, Lucerne, Switzerland:
$1,200 fine for a customs violation at an
airport in Kochi, India, where he failed to declare
3 gold ingots disguised as chocolate bars in his
luggage. Kizhakkeparambil, a Catholic priest, was
vacationing and attempted to avoid the 10% duty
on 10.7 ounces of gold, officials said. Source: The
Hindu, 1-23-17

Martin Cassidy, 67, Belfast, N. Ireland: 3
years’ probation after pleading guilty to indecently
assaulting a male and gross indecency with a
child. Cassidy molested a 14-year-old boy in 1988
during a novena at Clonard Monastery, where he
was volunteering at the request of his brother, a
Redemptorist priest.
Despite Cassidy’s record of 13 previous sexual
offenses, Judge Patricia Smyth said probation was
appropriate because his last offense was in 1990 and
he’s now taking chemical castration medication at
his own request. Source: Belfast Telegraph, 1-17-17

Cindy Kaye Henderson Reese, 41, Morris, AL:
40 years in prison. A jury found her guilty in December
in the 2015 murder of her husband. Prosecutors
alleged Reese, music minister at Sardis
Baptist Church, and senior pastor Jeffrey Brown
were having an affair and planned the murder.
Brown testified that Reese brought him the
gun she used to kill her husband and asked him to
dispose of it. He was sentenced earlier to 20 years
after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Source:
al.com, 1-11-17

Brandon E. McDade, 31, Mission Viejo, CA: 6
years in prison after pleading guilty to committing
lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, misdemeanor
child annoyance and 2 felony counts of
committing lewd acts upon a child between the
ages of 14 and 15. At the time he was a youth pastor
at Grace Hills Church in Aliso Viejo. The assaults
on 2 boys took place at the church and at a movie
theater. Source: KTLA, 1-9-17

Peter Knebel, 73, Oshkosh, WI: 4 months in
jail followed by 4 months’ work release and 10
years’ probation after pleading guilty to 2nd-degree
sexual assault of a child. Knebel was congregational
care pastor at Fox River Christian Church
in Waukesha in 2015 when he was charged with
molesting a 10-year-old girl in his office that July.
According to a criminal complaint, Knebel told
the child to come in his office so she could use his
computer. He had her sit on his lap while she used
the computer and then put his arm around her
before moving his hand over her body, including
her breast, for about 30 seconds. She then ran out
of the office, feeling “uncomfortable and scared.”
Source: WISN, 1-3-17


Perry P. Sandifer, Wood River, IL, is being
sued by a Georgia man, 46, who alleges Sandifer
molested him repeatedly in 1982-84 when Sandifer
was a youth minister at Mulberry United Methodist
Church in Macon.
When confronted by a church official, Sandifer
“immediately admitted his wrongdoing,” according
to a 2016 letter to the plaintiff signed by the
official, the suit alleges.
Sandifer has surrendered his credentials and is no
longer affiliated with the United Methodist Church,
said Rick Lanford, South Georgia Conference district
superintendent. Source: Macon Telegraph, 1-20-17


The Chicago Presbyterian Church, Presbytery
of Chicago and San Marcos Church are being sued
by 2 men who allege sexual abuse in the 1980s by
San Marcos pastor Douglas Mason, who died in
2006. The presbytery settled in 2007 with 4 plaintiffs
who accused Mason of abuse, and 7 men who were
high school students in the 1980s and ’90s filed similar
suits in 2015. Source: Sun-Times, 1-19-17


Mayer Herskovic, 24, Brooklyn, NY, was
barred by a judge from receiving $131,000 that his
ultra-Orthodox Jewish community raised for his
legal defense. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in
March for his 2nd-degree gang assault conviction
for a 2013 attack that left Taj Patterson, who is
black, partially blind.
The judge invoked the Son of Sam Law, which
prevents criminals from profiting from their
crimes, to block the funds, at least temporarily.
Andrew Stoll, Patterson’s lawyer, slammed
the neighborhood watch group called Shomrin
for vigilante activities and for posting Herskovic’s
$50,000 cash bail. Source: NY Post, 1-8-17


Ahmet Mahmut ?nl?, a Muslim “televangelist,”
is being sued by the Turkish Chess Federation
for proclaiming chess as “worse than gambling
and eating pork” in a January videotaped sermon.
“People who play chess are more prone to lying
than others. People who play chess may not say
the ‘shahada’ [declaration of Islamic belief] while
they are dying,” ?nl? said.
“Legal proceedings have been launched into
the baseless comments and evaluations that affect
thousands of our players and families, at a
time when we most need the unity, peace and the
philosophy of chess,” the federation said in a statement.
Source: H?rriyet Daily News, 1-3-17


Civil Lawsuits Settled
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago settled
a suit for $2.7 million filed in 2014 by brothers, now
ages 28 and 26, who alleged sexual abuse in 2005
by defrocked priest Daniel McCormack. Deceased
Cardinal Francis George was dropped as a defendant
after his 2015 death.
The brothers stayed silent until a family member
saw news that McCormack was arrested and
asked them about it, said their attorney, Mark
Brown. The older brother will receive $1.55 million
and the younger will get $1.15 million. Chicago
Law Bulletin, 1-13-17


Legal Developments
The Catholic Diocese of Belleville, IL, moved to
dismiss a woman’s suit alleging a priest engaged in
a sexual relationship with her, arguing that it’s a religious
issue that should be addressed by the church
and not the court. Laura Merleau-McGrady, 51, now
living in China, alleges she met Osang Idagbo, 42, at
a 2013 event at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Waterloo,
where she disclosed private information to him
while he failed to identify himself as a priest.
After she learned he was a priest, Merleau-
McGrady alleges Idagbo used the information
to manipulate her into having an affair. The
diocese disputes the claim: “To the contrary, her
Complaint makes clear that Plaintiff, a competent
adult woman, voluntarily elected to enter into
and continue an alleged sexual relationship
with Rev. Idagbo for almost two years.” Source:
Madison County Record, 1-17-17


Timothy D. Johnson, 39, and Sarah N. Johnson,
38, Plymouth, MN, fled to New Zealand after
being charged with gross misdemeanor child neglect
for the March 2015 death of their adopted
son, Seth, 7. A year in jail is the maximum sentence.
Arrest warrants were issued after the Johnsons
failed to show up in court Jan. 31.
The parents had “issues with going to doctors”
and chose not to seek
medical attention for
prolonged physical difficulties,
the charging
document said. Seth
endured extensive trauma
from an inflamed
pancreas and other
possible infections.
After a year-long
review of evidence,
Hennepin County Attorney
Mike Freeman
said Seth’s death couldn’t be definitely linked to
the Johnsons’ actions or inactions so they were
charged with the most serious crime the law allows.
It was initially investigated as a homicide,
partially because of large areas of bruises on the
boy’s body.
When the couple, who have 6 more children,
got home from a wedding, they found Seth unresponsive
on the floor and “prayed for his health”
but agreed to wait till morning to decide whether
to seek medical care. In the morning he was semiconscious
and covered in vomit so they started
CPR and called 911.
The couple met at Bethany Global University,
a bible college in Bloomington. Tim Johnson studied
for the ministry but ended up working as a mechanical
engineer.
Kevin Robertson, ministry leader at Hillside
Community Church in Auckland, NZ, said the
Johnsons have been attending his church and
others in the area. He was surprised to hear the
circumstances leading to the family’s “relocation.”
Source: Star Tribune, 2-1-17


Roger Copleton, 54, Lauder, Scotland, was removed
from the Scottish Social Services Council’s
registry of home care and housing support services
managers. Copleton, a former Episcopal priest at
Holy Trinity Parish, was convicted in 2015 of embezzling
from Share Scotland. The council also found
he falsified work records and hadn’t “demonstrated
any insight, regret or remorse” for his actions, for
which he was ordered to repay $6,300 and perform
250 hours of community service.
“He preached from the pulpit, so we thought
we could trust him,” said Joe White, managing director
of the charity which helps disabled adults
live independently. Source: STV News, 1-10-17


Allegations
Northern Ireland’s Historical Abuse Inquiry upheld
an allegation from a former resident at Nazareth
House in Londonderry that she was sexually abused
at age 4 or 5 by a Catholic nun at the children’s home,
which closed in 1998 after opening in 1892. Another
witness testified she was molested from ages 8 to 12
at the home by a priest, including in the confessional,
who sometimes gave her a mint afterward.
The inquiry found there was “significant violence”
inflicted on children by a number of nuns,
including a girl being “struck a severe blow with a
brick,” with younger girls assaulted by older residents.
Source: Derry Journal, 1-24-17


O. Jermaine Simmons, 37, Tallahassee, FL,
pastor of Jacob’s Chapel, fled naked from a parishioner’s
home after being caught there by her husband,
who had brought their sick 6-year-old son
home from school, said a police report. Claynisha
Stephens, 34, had called 911 on Jan. 17 to report her
husband, Benjamin Stephens III, was angry and was
brandishing a handgun after finding her having sex
in their oldest daughter’s bedroom.
The school had tried unsuccessfully to reach
Claynisha, who told police that she and Simmons
“have been establishing a relationship” since October
2016. Simmons, who is married and has a
son, apologized the next Sunday to his congregation.
“What I want from God, I have already
received — that’s his
forgiveness. What I am
asking of our members
is your prayers and your
forgiveness.” He then
received a standing ovation.
Source: Tallahassee
Democrat, 1-23-17


The Archbishop
of Canterbury of the
Church of England, Justin
Welby, apologized
“unreservedly” for the
fact that claims of physical abuse in the 1970s by
a former colleague, Christian charity head John
Smyth, were not reported to police until 2013.
The alleged assaults came to light in the early
1980s after a 21-year-old student at Cambridge
University reportedly tried to kill himself after allegedly
being told by Smyth, who now lives in S.
Africa, to submit to another beating.
A 1982 report by the charity, the Irwerne
Trust, called the practice “horrific” but the claims
weren’t reported to police. The report said 10
boys received an estimated 22,000 blows, some of
which left scars, with a garden stake over a 3-year
period at Smyth’s home. Source: BBC, 2-2-17


The Anglican Church of Canada made a formal
apology for the crimes of pedophile pastor
Ralph Rowe, 76, accused of sexually abusing more
than 500 victims, including members of the Wapekeka
First Nation community, dozens of whom
have committed suicide.
Rowe flew a small plane into remote areas in
the 1970s and ’80s and targeted boys aged 8 to
14. Many indigenous parents let their children go
camping with him. He was also a Boy Scout leader.
He was convicted of 39 counts in 1994 but served
only 5 years. Source: Toronto Star, 1-20-17


Theo B. Maseko, Gauteng, S. Africa, pastor of
Breath of Christ Ministries, allegedly had congregants
drink engine-cleaning fluid “to demonstrate
the power of God.” Facebook photos appeared to
show people being fed the liquid with the caption:
“The fullness of Christ is in this bottle. Healing and
strange deliverance.”
Maseko later told a reporter, “When we pray
over anything its poison dies, so it can’t harm people.
Nothing happened, no one has been to hospital.”
Source: The Star, 1-17-17


John Fraiser, La Grange, KY, pastor of Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church from 2011 until termination
last August, is being investigated for an alleged
sex assault on a 15-year-old boy during an
Alabama church event in June 2015. He has not
been charged but a grand jury is expected to hear
the allegations in the near future.
According to a crime log, authorities at the University
of Alabama-Huntsville were contacted in
October by Kentucky police about the boy’s allegations,
which include sodomy. Court records show
Fraiser’s wife has filed for divorce and a protective
order. They have a daughter. Source: WAVE, 1-13-17


Andrea Contin, 48, Padua, Italy: Suspicion of
abetting prostitution and domestic violence. Contin,
Catholic pastor of the Church of San Lazzaro,
is under investigation after 3 female parishioners
complained about his activities, including allegedly
taking multiple lovers and prostituting as many
as 30 women on online swapping sites. One was
allegedly encouraged to have intercourse with a
horse and beaten twice.
Authorities reportedly raided the rectory and
seized sex toys and homemade videos of orgies.
A church volunteer, age 49, told a reporter, “There
were a lot of women hovering around him. I didn’t
understand that at first, only later.”
Claudio Cipolla, bishop of Padua, said Contin
was placed on leave and will face discipline after
the investigation ends. His alleged actions are “unacceptable
for a priest, for a Christian and even for
a man,” Cipolla said. Source: NY Post, 1-3-17


Removed / Resigned
Luke Melackrinos, 46, Hempstead, NY, spiritual
leader of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of
St. Paul, was placed on leave after a woman from
outside the parish complained about “inappropriate
email exchanges,” said a letter to parishioners
from Bishop Andonios Paropoulos.
Melackrinos “consented to immediately begin
seeing a professional for evaluation so we can determine
the proper course of action,” the bishop
wrote. Melackrinos “fell in a moment of weakness,”
the letter said. Source: NY Post, 1-15-17


Robert Duesdieker, Owensville, MO, was put
on administrative leave as pastor of Immaculate
Conception Catholic Parish while alleged inappropriate
conduct with minors 25 years ago is investigated
by police and the Diocese of Jefferson City.
Source: KQFX, 1-4-17

After the December suicide-murder of Daniel
Randall, 56, Hebron, ME, and his daughter Claire
Randall, 27, Maine State Police decided “to at least
review the investigative record” of the 1993 death
of Greta Randall, his first wife, whose death was
attributed to a fall at a state park when she was 6
months pregnant. Their son died the next day.
“It was the conclusion at the time that this was
an accidental death,” said spokesman Stephen
McCausland. “There’s nothing in the documentation
that would change that.”
Daniel Randall, who left his post in 2015 as
First Congregational Church pastor and chaplain
at Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, killed his
daughter and then himself with a shotgun just
days after he was served with divorce papers by
his estranged wife Anita. He’d just finished a 90-
day substance abuse program and bought the gun
on the way home.
Messages spray-painted in Anita Randall’s
home included “ANITA ITS ALL YOUR FAULT” and
“VOW BREAKER.” Greta Randall was Claire’s biological
mother. Daniel married Anita the year after
her death. Source: Providence Journal, 1-12-17


Thomas Williams, 54, who left the Catholic
priesthood after impregnating a woman whose
mother later became President George W. Bush’s
ambassador to the Holy See is now the Rome correspondent
for Breitbart News. Williams was recruited
in 2014 by Stephen Bannon, former Breitbart
CEO and now chief White House strategist and
senior counselor for Donald Trump’s presidency.
Williams first met Bannon in 2003 through a mutual
friend who was producing Mel Gibson’s “The
Passion of the Christ,” for which Williams was the
theological consultant. He then belonged to the
conservative Legion of Christ order, whose founder,
now-deceased Marcial Maciel, was eventually revealed
to be a serial child molester who had fathered
several children. Williams, as a spokesman for the Legion’s
Zenit news agency, had defended Maciel, but
now admits he was wrong to do so.
Williams had fallen in love with Vatican art historian
Elizabeth Lev after Mary Ann Glendon, her mother,
introduced them. She gave birth in 2003 to a Down
syndrome child he acknowledged was his son in
2012. He left the priesthood and married Lev in 2013.
Glendon, an attorney and virulent abortion
opponent, served as Bush’s Vatican ambassador
from 2007-09.

 

[b311j]

And before the strawman defense of "they're not real Christians" comes out, in THEIR minds they ARE.

 

[Michchamp]

damn, b311j... that's a lot of bad behavior.

 

[Michchamp]

​

and speaking of "bad freaky" turns out Fox News loudmouth Bill O'Reilly has paid a whopping $13 MILLION in sex harassment settlements to five women who worked on his show.

Link.

quote:

The women, who all either worked for O’Reilly or appeared on his top-rated television program, “complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating​

that's not very Christian, Bill.

 

[tinselwolverine]

​

and speaking of "bad freaky" turns out Fox News loudmouth Bill O'Reilly has paid a whopping $13 MILLION in sex harassment settlements to five women who worked on his show.

Link.

quote:

The women, who all either worked for O?Reilly or appeared on his top-rated television program, ?complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O?Reilly was masturbating​

that's not very Christian, Bill.

O'Reilly describes himself as more of a Jungian Theist than a Christian.

At least that's what he was doing back when I used to pay attention to him.

 

[KAWDUP]

And before the strawman defense of "they're not real Christians" comes out, in THEIR minds they ARE.

Well does that mean when atheists do bad shit to Christians, they aren't really Atheists, but really the devil instead?

It doesn't matter that they believe they are Christians.

Anecdotal evidence of stupid behavior by someone who calls themselves Christian means little or nothing. It is bad behavior, but has nothing to do with Christianity.

Stupid posting.

 

[Gulo Blue]

And before the strawman defense of "they're not real Christians" comes out, in THEIR minds they ARE.

THIS GUY killed people because he thought he was in a film. I don't blame filmmakers.

"No true Scotsman' is a tricky fallacy because it requires judgement to figure out when it is valid and when it is not, and it's often a matter of degree, more than a black/white thing.

 

[Michchamp]

THIS GUY killed people because he thought he was in a film. I don't blame filmmakers.

"No true Scotsman' is a tricky fallacy because it requires judgement to figure out when it is valid and when it is not, and it's often a matter of degree, more than a black/white thing.

I would wager EVERY online argument over whether the actions of some extremist (aka a mentally unstable, if not outright insane person) is an indictment of that extremist's entire religion, whatever that may be, started with American Christians stigmatizing all of Islam for this, that, and the other thing in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Then when a handful of more progressive/atheist commenters posted articles about Christian nutjobs shooting up abortion clinics -acts which fit the dictionary definition of terrorism to a T - Christian/Republican commentators would respond, without a whiff of self-awareness "IT'S NOT TERRORISM! YOU CAN'T BLAME ALL CHRISTIANITY FOR THAT!"

...and almost sixteen years later, here we are.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I would wager EVERY online argument over whether the actions of some extremist (aka a mentally unstable, if not outright insane person) is an indictment of that extremist's entire religion, whatever that may be, started with American Christians stigmatizing all of Islam for this, that, and the other thing in the wake of the September 11th attacks. Then when a handful of more progressive/atheist commenters posted articles about Christian nutjobs shooting up abortion clinics -acts which fit the dictionary definition of terrorism to a T - Christian/Republican commentators would respond, without a whiff of self-awareness "IT'S NOT TERRORISM! YOU CAN'T BLAME ALL CHRISTIANITY FOR THAT!"

...and almost sixteen years later, here we are.

Don't you try and 'black & white' my 'matter of degree' post!

 

[Michchamp]

Don't you try and 'black & white' my 'matter of degree' post!

haha, okay.

also, not that I was going for it, but you missed my use of the "tsmithian fallacy" ... "I would wager..."

we could add that to the list of logical fallacies: a willingness to gamble indicates the truth of something alleged.

 

[Gulo Blue]

haha, okay.

also, not that I was going for it, but you missed my use of the "tsmithian fallacy" ... "I would wager..."

we could add that to the list of logical fallacies: a willingness to gamble indicates the truth of something alleged.

I missed it, I hung on the 'wager' for a bit because it seemed out of place/out of character, but didn't put the tsmith reference together.

...willingness to wager, *a lot* of money means you really mean it. Then you have to walk the line between what you want to claim is a lot of money while at the same time acting like you're so wealthy, it's not that much money to you.

 

[Michchamp]

I guess in the end, it turned out he was not willing to wager.

maybe it's a "feigned willingness to wager..."

 

[b311j]

It is bad behavior, but has nothing to do with Christianity.

Stupid posting.

Aaaaand there it is. They're not real Christians. Its not real Christian behavior.


Stupid response.

 

[tinselwolverine]

I missed it, I hung on the 'wager' for a bit because it seemed out of place/out of character, but didn't put the tsmith reference together.

...willingness to wager, *a lot* of money means you really mean it. Then you have to walk the line between what you want to claim is a lot of money while at the same time acting like you're so wealthy, it's not that much money to you.

It really was not obvious at all.

I do like how he borrowed my "Jungian" reference to apply to "tsmithian."