Can we not go a week here in Texas without a church scandal? There is just way too much of it. I know part of the reason it seems like a non-stop series of scandals is you have about 6 million people living in this relatively small area. As in there are more people living in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex than the entire state of Washington.So, you read about any crime thing that happens in a 50 mile radius. In Washington I could be oblivious about something happening in Spokane. I never knew about the Spokane Serial Killer til I read a book about it a couple months ago. My side of the mountains focused on the Green River Killer while the Spokane Killer was not on the radar. In all the years I've been in the D/FW zone I don't recollect a single serial killer.
But, there have been plenty of ministers doing dirty deeds. The latest one is Prestonwood Baptist Minister, Joe David Barron, 52. He drove 3 hours from Plano to Bryan, Texas, armed with condoms, to have sex with a 13 year old girl. Plano is a suburb north of Dallas near where J.R. Ewing pretended to live at Southfork. Police searched Joe David's car and found the condoms. And some religious CDs.
Do none of these perps ever watch To Catch a Predator on TV?
In Texas they have these gigantic churches called megachurches. That is the interior of Prestonwood Baptist on the right. The megachurches are sort of shocking the first time you see them. There is one church compound on Lake Eaglemountain that has its own airstrip and fleet of planes. It's been the source of many a scandal. But no sex scandals that I can recall.The Prestonwood Baptist Megachurch has over 26,000 members, with 40 ministers. One less now. I hope.
Satan is alive and well in this world. His favorites are people of the cloth if they succumb to his manipulations.
ReplyDeleteSorry Janie, Satan has nothing to do with it. You have horny old men who prey on young children and they hide behind religion because that's the easiest place to hide. In rare cases it may be that they are trying to keep the balance of good and evil by preaching to the masses on Sunday and preying on children on Monday. Of course, I believe that preaching and preying are both evil. One more than the other.
ReplyDeleteThough I can be endearingly (or maddeningly) old-fashioned in my orthodoxy, I'm going to have to side with gar on this one. "The devil made me (or him) do it" just doesn't cut it. Theologically speaking, no one has a greater claim to the freedom of moral agency than a Christian. We are free to choose to do good or to do harm. The choice is ours, and the blame is ours.
ReplyDeleteI agree with GAR. There are evil folks in the churches. I am a Christian and believe in God; however, I am not going to make excuses for any pastor who would dare prey on children in a sexual manner. There is NO damn excuse for this. Some pastors think they are "above the law of God" and won't get caught. However, I do agree with preaching, but make sure if you're the preacher, that you are making a "practice of what you preach". If you preach against adultery and fornication, make sure you are NOT involved in it. That also goes for lying, stealing, etc.
ReplyDeleteJust another poor soul proving the sinful nature of man. All men are tempted - it's a pity when someone in a position of power and visibility is snared.
ReplyDeleteSome will use this as proof that churches are bad. I see it as proof they are needed more than ever.
I agree that we now need churches more than ever.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if we could figure out how to keep all the child molesters in one congregation, we'd only need one church and that would be even better!
Durango Texas has been very, very busy lately.
ReplyDeleteHere's my two cents on the excessive number of church sex scandals:
1) When Joe Sixpack is arrested with a Ho, it generally doesn't make the newspaper. When Reverend Doctor Sixpack is arrested with a Ho, it's news.
2) Some of these guys believe that they speak with the voice of God, and are therefore 8 feet tall and bulletproof. The arrogance and hubris levels are amazing. They think they can get away with things just because they're "God's Quarterback".
3) Many of these guys were total nerds and geeks throughout grade school and college. Then they get their first church, and all of a sudden, they're The Man In Charge. The Man In Charge is irresistible to certain women. Married, Single, Geek, or Nerd. Please don't accuse me of being misogynistic. It's just a general observation, fairly well documented.
4) Many of these guys go through grade school and college taking scripture and revelation 100% literally. Then, if they go to a real seminary, instead of an indoctrination center, they learn that...well....it's not really that simple. Many lose their faith. Then, unlike most of humanity, they haven't developed any moral sense to fall back on. When their faith gets challenged by education, or working in a real world church for the first time, they have no integrity to support them.
5) And then, some of them go work in churches because that's where the easiest and most plentiful victims are.
Been thinking about this for a while....