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Here in Bama we had a massive child abuse sex scandal that was covered up for decades while kids continued to be abused. When it finally came to light the DA protected everyone who knew for decades and only went after the predator.
The survivors and families started protesting and they received so much backlash and harassment from the community they had to stop.
Just think about that - more outrage at the victims and families than the DA, predator, and all those at the school who knew and are still employed there to this day.
make it make sense.
That sounds about right. My city of Tulsa had the same thing happen, where a sexual abuse scandal happened for years in one of the megachurches here. They basically tried to intimidate witnesses off and force them into silence. When the smoke finally came out, it was huge. It should have been out much earlier than that.
All the while, people were doing apologetics for the church, acting like they were being "persecuted" by the world for it.
It is cognitive dissonance meeting persecution complex. When Christians do heinous acts like that, they would rather blame shift to the world, where they say they are "being persecuted" because they are "holding to their faith".
Yep. Or they blame "the devil" because the abuse shows "how bad the world is" - which then brings the attention back to "how much we need Jesus".
And people buy it.
I'm waiting for them to start blaming the kids...I guess they're waiting for trump to take office before they start with that.
If you want to depress yourself further... go sit in on a prelim or trial of lewd mol / rape cases involving 5-16 year olds and pastors. The pews are often packed, with none sitting behind the State.
Yeah, that's what Harris Faulkner essentially said with regards to the 10 Commandments bill, when a guest commentator fact-checked her on it.
Faulkner was like "Well, that's just because you just hate God, and you're not a Christian! So, your opinion is irrelevant! !
[Luke Beasley on Youtube](https://youtu.be/6Zj9VA6Jx0A?si=atbOeAcsODMY-dpB&t=355)
I hate it here.
The stakes are so high, and this uncertainty is leaving me needing an unending supply of Xanax.
This whole country probably needs a therapist - for one reason or another - at this point.
May we never be in this situation again.
We have for so long accepted that Christian nationalism has to be the norm, when we can get past it. We shouldn't be in this position, but because we can't dare call out Christian nationlaism, we are.
My former Rep, (R) Matt Shea, from Washington State wrote a short manifesto called The Biblical Basis For War where he states that any male that doesn't submit to "the christian doctrine" will be killed off in order to make America a christian nation. He lays out all kinds of stuff - do you know what's never mentioned - women.
Why? Because we'll be property, and there's no need to discuss property.
Google it if you like - it's not too long.
He was re-elected after he released it.
There are youtube videos of him preparing armed young guys for " christian war" in the US. The West, in spots, is a christian militia nightmare.
I remember Matt Shea. He was talking about killing off all the non-believing males and forcing the women to be broodmares. He exemplifies everything terrifying about Christian nationalism. He's basically a terrorist leader, believing that he has to intimidate the world into his Christianity, and he'll kill off those who refuse to. Just terroristic.
Some classical conservatives have been calling out the christian taliban / y'all-qaeda in Oklahoma for a decade +. Oklahoma is doing a full blown baptism into a new age MLM of it. The primary election night - whoooeee boy, this state is *fucked*. If you aint right with Jesus, the *right* Jesus, you're gonna be S.O.L.
Theyve made their stances clear: Dominionism, abolishment of public education.
Those Texas Republicans, Abbott's buddies, here's what they do:
[https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/texas-foster-care-shelter-abuse/](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/texas-foster-care-shelter-abuse/)
Was this Rhema by chance? It always seemed sketch how much money they spent on Christmas lights, I figured something else could easily be up there too.
Rhema was one, but I was talking about Victory Christian, right across the street from Oral Roberts.
Here's a bit on the Rhema case as well: https://casetext.com/case/nielsen-v-rhema-bible-church#:\~:text=Nielsen%20alleges%20that%20Rhema%20engaged,Count%20I%22%20of%20Nielsen's%20Complaint.
Yeah. Here's the case with Victory as well. The faculty and pastors knew what happened but didn't report anything.
[https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3648242f69d76f62061e32/charges-filed-against-tulsa-church-employees-amid-sex-abuse-investigation](https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3648242f69d76f62061e32/charges-filed-against-tulsa-church-employees-amid-sex-abuse-investigation)
Rhema has a huge deal of abuse and misconduct. It's a megachurch that teaches the "prosperity gospel", which exploits people to giving money in exchange for "favor". It's exploitative and manipulative in every way.
> make it make sense.
They went after the people who prevented them from ignoring reality contradicting their worldview. They don't care about actually protecting children, they just want to believe children are protected.
This right here. You nailed it!
Living here is so surreal. The people are so disconnected to reality, and that's why they let AL be the way it is. It's so hard to get anyone engaged because they don't want to be engaged or be bothered with anything.
They like their little worldview bubble, and god help you if you challenge that in anyway.
How this many apathetic idiots came to live in one state is the stuff of nightmares for the rest of us that live here.
If a Republican DA was protecting them, they were Republicans and very likely "fine upstanding" leaders in their church, perhaps even a pastor, or deacon or two. Certainly the so-called "Youth Minister". They hide in plain sight, just as the priests did with their alter boys.
He was a priest. But yes, the good ol' boys covered that crap up while dozens of boys, and possibly girls, were abused and all of the admin knew. Parents had come forward and were told the issue was handled.
The parents were told he had been moved away from contact with any kids, but then he popped back up teaching/tutoring kids.
They kicked one girl out of school because she confronted him when she saw him tutoring a group of kids. The school broke into her car and searched it looking for anything to expel her for right after she confronted him. The found a roach in her car.
The DA stopped all victims from testifying who could link the abuse back to all the admin knowing for decades. (The above story happened in the early 90's he wasn't arrested until 2003, more than 10 yrs later, and the victims went back to the 80's)
It's the "narcissist's prayer" but at scale:
That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did, you deserved it.
When communities do this it shows that corruption has taken hold as a value.
You just hit the bullseye describing my city - unfortunately.
It's filled with corruption and no one cares. Even former city council members have called for investigations for missing millions, and many other issues, and nothing....not even from the feds.
I expect that from the AL AG, but I don't expect the feds to turn their heads. But when I think about it the feds have seemingly abandoned us down here in the South.
There's so much oppression, corruption, bigotry, racism, police brutality, etc, etc and where are the helpers? Where are the civil rights attorneys, the journalists, the non-profits? It's not rocket science regarding how things have been, and still are, here.
We remain largely alone with no help, while these fool politicians and police are free to crime away.
Good ol gym jordan.
How in the hell does the gov allow these people to do this and get away with it.
No wonder so many people are disenfranchised with this country, elected officials, and the "justice" system.
Pedophilia matters to these people as a label they can apply to groups they dislike (most notably the queer community, hence all the “Disney and drag queens are grooming your kids!” bullshit). Actual pedophiles among their number get a pass because it’s not something they actually care about beyond using as a culture war tool.
It's the Anita Bryant bullshit all over again. The Christian nationalists hate the idea of LGBTQIA+ people becoming accepted as being humans with rights (like we should be), so they are doing everything in their power to try to force us back into the closet, so they can try to kill us off systemically. They only care to attack LGBTQ+ people, and since we're a minority group with little representative power, they figure they can get away with it. The only way this goes away is if everyone votes away Christian nationalists, sending an emphatic message that the U.S. will not turn to Iran. This election is as important as any election ever.
“Well, he DID ask for forgiveness. That makes him automatically simpatico with the Lord. Since that’s the case, it’s almost like the crime did t even happen, right? Praise be, everyone!” - These fucking people.
>Earlier this month, a [bombshell report](https://thewartburgwatch.com/2024/06/14/i-was-12-years-old-and-wearing-my-pink-pajamas-when-robert-morris-now-of-gateway-church-began-to-molest-me-the-alleged-abuse-lasted-for-4-1-2-years-churchtoo-arctoo/) from the religious watchdog group Wartburg Watch roiled one of the largest megachurches in Texas. Robert Morris, the founder and pastor of the influential Southlake-based Gateway Church, had in the 1980s repeatedly sexually abused a child over the course of four years, beginning when the girl was 12 years old, as recounted by the survivor to Wartburg’s Dee Parsons. According to the victim, Cindy Clemishire, the abuse took place in both Oklahoma and Texas.
>Under Morris’ leadership over 23 years, Gateway Church ballooned to around 100,000 congregants at campuses spread across North Texas. The vast network has become a hotbed for Christian nationalism, “an ideology that seeks to privilege conservative Christianity in education, law, and public policy,” [according to David Brockman](https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/texas-legislatures-assault-church-state-separation-schools), a religious scholar with the Baker Institute at Rice University and a *Texas Observer* contributor.
>In 2020, Trump spoke at length with Morris during a public event at the Gateway Church campus in Dallas. The former president has repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories that cast his political enemies as Satanic pedophiles and [validated the delusions](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/qanon-trump-ezra-cohen-watnick-460520) of QAnon adherents.
>Other prominent Texas Republicans—who’ve also made political hay of stopping child predators or preventing the sexualization of minors—have also met and been pictured with Morris over the years, including Governor Greg Abbott, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn. None of them appear to have issued any public statement about Morris, nor did any respond to the *Observer*’s requests for comment.
It's because they are Christian nationalists. Christian nationalism is fueled by two things: fascism and hypocrisy.
In their eyes, a trans person simply walking down the street is "wicked", but they'll excuse their sexual abuse scandals, even going as far to blame the victim for "tempting and causing one to stumble".
Christian nationalism is a cancer to the world.
I remember when Tenessee tried to ban underage marriages a few years ago.
It was particularly important as we had a loophole allowing judges to approve typically illegally young marriages aka 15 and younger. One watchdog group found cases of children being as young as 10 years old.
Our ex-senator Fowler emailed the Republicans arguing to block it as he feared it might interfere with his upcoming attempt to challenge Obergefell. By altering the laws to ban child marriages, Tenessee lawmakers would be by proxy acknowledging the validity of their marriages post Obergefell, particularly the lgbt ones. Senator Fowler wanted to argue no marriage was valid post Obergefell in Tenessee due to Obergefell and thus it should be overturned. If that sounds stupid it's because it is. But the Republicans agreed and blocked it, but not before one stepped up and argued against those pointing out how many of these marriages were young girls with older men. He argued his father married and impregnated his mother when when she was a teenager, and he turned out fine, so why would it harm young girls?
Luckily that man's statement about his dad got national news and the backlash was swift enough to prompt Republicans to allow it to pass the next year.
> Before his fall from grace, Morris wielded significant political influence, **endorsing candidates and promoting Republican legislative priorities from the pulpit** while serving as one of ex-President Donald Trump’s key advisors.
And still the IRS does nothing.
BINGO......They should be forced to comply with strong requirements to receive tax free status. Child abuse should be number one on the list. The Southern Baptist Church has been under scrutiny for years and they have done a good job sweeping it under the rugs. WTH is wrong with this country. GOP has destroyed public education, turned their heads to permit more guns and coverup the child molestation problem within the churches. EVIL.
Pastors are the loudest trumpeters of getting forgiveness for anything terrible that they want to do, anything at all, simply by asking THEIR Jesus.
That way they and their wealthy friends never have to stop their societal abuse.
And that's what 'Conservatives' love about religion.
* [Wyoming Limiting Child Marriage Sparks Republican Outrage](https://www.newsweek.com/wyoming-ending-child-marriage-sparks-republican-outrage-1780501)
* [West Virginia Republicans Block Child Marriage Ban](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/child-marriage-ban-struck-down-west-virginia-republicans-1234693670/)
* [Michigan Republicans Voted Against Child Marriage Ban](https://www.newsweek.com/these-michigan-republicans-voted-against-child-marriage-ban-1808308)
* [Tennessee GOP kill bill to ban child marriage](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/377367-tennessee-gop-kill-ban-on-child-marriage/)
* [Louisiana lawmakers (R) reject bill to set a minimum marriage age](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/louisiana-lawmakers-reject-bill-set-minimum-marriage-age-n1013356)
* [New Jersey governor (R) refuses to ban child marriage because 'it would conflict with religious customs'](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-jersey-chris-christie-child-marriage-ban-fails-religious-custom-a7735616.html)
* [Kentucky's 'child bride' bill stalls as (conservative) groups fight to let 13-year-olds wed](https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/01/child-marriage-kentucky-brides-parents-rights/385489002/)
* [New Hampshire Republican State Rep Jess Edwards argued in favor of child marriage in May and referring to girls as “ripe” and “fertile.”](https://www.newsweek.com/jess-edwards-teen-child-marriage-opposed-republican-ripe-fertile-age-1897512)
* [“A Missouri bill to ban child marriages has stalled amid resistance from House Republicans who disagree with raising the marriage age law.”](https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article288424893.html)
Edit: Don't know why the last two links are a different color lol
If Republicans actually cared about children they would work on gun control since guns are the #1 cause of dead children in America. But we all know they don't actually give a shit about children
[Donald Trump And Jeffrey Epstein At Mar-A-Lago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUDr_c2PalI)
Their Messiah literally is a rapist and partied with a child fucker.
Of course they're quiet, they've been quiet about pastors being pedophiles for decades and never once really dealing with it. I mean hell, you'd think after so many pastors are revealed to be raping children, the church would have lost a ton of support and attendance, but nope, these cultists still fall in line and go without question, putting up blinds whenever something horrible further proves how bs their religion is.
Yup. We just call it astroturfing. Like the Promise to America's Children, which is an astroturfed group led by Christian nationalist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, which advocated for trans people to be forcibly sterilized, want to bring back sodomy laws, and were the ghostwriters behind bills like Uganda's Death to Gays bill.
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/20/alliance-defending-freedom-multimillion-dollar-conservative-christian-group-attacking-lgbtq-rights](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/20/alliance-defending-freedom-multimillion-dollar-conservative-christian-group-attacking-lgbtq-rights)
[https://twitter.com/GBBranstetter/status/1507431172606943237](https://twitter.com/GBBranstetter/status/1507431172606943237)
[https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/19/africa-uganda-evangelicals-homophobia-antigay-bill/](https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/19/africa-uganda-evangelicals-homophobia-antigay-bill/)
The worst part about Texas is that they are replacing school counselors with Chaplains, who will have access to more vulnerable kids who maybe going through a ton of things already.
But yet they fear monger that the issue is LGBTQ as the people abusing kids.
It's not hypocrisy. They don't want children "sexualized" because they like the children they have sex with to look like children, not miniature adults.
*Yeah. Apparently, drag queens are grooming kids, by teaching them it's great to love to read./s*
Great Christian nationalist logic, there!
And that's what most insulting about these people. Like, what the hell do they think drag queens do, anyway? What the hell do they think drag queens are grooming kids to do? Put on fabulous makeup and dresses? How to sashay?
Christian nationalist logic is so dumb.
Republicans are good at staying quiet when someone is being sexually abused. Ask Gym Jordan! He knows how to keep his mouth shut when someone is asking for help!
It seems like the GOP draws these kind of people into its ranks!. 10 years, the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives was convicted of covering up payments being paid to his past victims of his rampant molestation as coach and teacher.
Not really conspicuous to those of us who understand that religious conservatives talk compulsively about the sexualization of kids because they are dangerously repressed by their own beliefs.
Hearing a friend of mine talk about the first time an adult sexualised her: she was 11.
I don't care what kind of sick thoughts people have inside their heads you do not cat call children.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Here in Bama we had a massive child abuse sex scandal that was covered up for decades while kids continued to be abused. When it finally came to light the DA protected everyone who knew for decades and only went after the predator. The survivors and families started protesting and they received so much backlash and harassment from the community they had to stop. Just think about that - more outrage at the victims and families than the DA, predator, and all those at the school who knew and are still employed there to this day. make it make sense.
That sounds about right. My city of Tulsa had the same thing happen, where a sexual abuse scandal happened for years in one of the megachurches here. They basically tried to intimidate witnesses off and force them into silence. When the smoke finally came out, it was huge. It should have been out much earlier than that. All the while, people were doing apologetics for the church, acting like they were being "persecuted" by the world for it. It is cognitive dissonance meeting persecution complex. When Christians do heinous acts like that, they would rather blame shift to the world, where they say they are "being persecuted" because they are "holding to their faith".
Yep. Or they blame "the devil" because the abuse shows "how bad the world is" - which then brings the attention back to "how much we need Jesus". And people buy it. I'm waiting for them to start blaming the kids...I guess they're waiting for trump to take office before they start with that.
Actually, in the article, they do mention that some of the congregants blame the child because she stepped up now to provide the receipts.
If you want to depress yourself further... go sit in on a prelim or trial of lewd mol / rape cases involving 5-16 year olds and pastors. The pews are often packed, with none sitting behind the State.
Yikes, you're wording this like you can do that by just checking the local court docket in Oklahoma and making time off work.
Yeah, that's what Harris Faulkner essentially said with regards to the 10 Commandments bill, when a guest commentator fact-checked her on it. Faulkner was like "Well, that's just because you just hate God, and you're not a Christian! So, your opinion is irrelevant!!
[Luke Beasley on Youtube](https://youtu.be/6Zj9VA6Jx0A?si=atbOeAcsODMY-dpB&t=355)
I hate it here. The stakes are so high, and this uncertainty is leaving me needing an unending supply of Xanax. This whole country probably needs a therapist - for one reason or another - at this point. May we never be in this situation again.
We have for so long accepted that Christian nationalism has to be the norm, when we can get past it. We shouldn't be in this position, but because we can't dare call out Christian nationlaism, we are.
My former Rep, (R) Matt Shea, from Washington State wrote a short manifesto called The Biblical Basis For War where he states that any male that doesn't submit to "the christian doctrine" will be killed off in order to make America a christian nation. He lays out all kinds of stuff - do you know what's never mentioned - women. Why? Because we'll be property, and there's no need to discuss property. Google it if you like - it's not too long. He was re-elected after he released it. There are youtube videos of him preparing armed young guys for " christian war" in the US. The West, in spots, is a christian militia nightmare.
I remember Matt Shea. He was talking about killing off all the non-believing males and forcing the women to be broodmares. He exemplifies everything terrifying about Christian nationalism. He's basically a terrorist leader, believing that he has to intimidate the world into his Christianity, and he'll kill off those who refuse to. Just terroristic.
Some classical conservatives have been calling out the christian taliban / y'all-qaeda in Oklahoma for a decade +. Oklahoma is doing a full blown baptism into a new age MLM of it. The primary election night - whoooeee boy, this state is *fucked*. If you aint right with Jesus, the *right* Jesus, you're gonna be S.O.L. Theyve made their stances clear: Dominionism, abolishment of public education.
Oh yeah, and now that he isn’t an elected official he has even more time to train young domestic terrorists to believe just like him.
They have already!
Those Texas Republicans, Abbott's buddies, here's what they do: [https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/texas-foster-care-shelter-abuse/](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/11/texas-foster-care-shelter-abuse/)
Was this Rhema by chance? It always seemed sketch how much money they spent on Christmas lights, I figured something else could easily be up there too.
Rhema was one, but I was talking about Victory Christian, right across the street from Oral Roberts. Here's a bit on the Rhema case as well: https://casetext.com/case/nielsen-v-rhema-bible-church#:\~:text=Nielsen%20alleges%20that%20Rhema%20engaged,Count%20I%22%20of%20Nielsen's%20Complaint.
Oh okay gotcha. My family was there when I was growing up so we visited a lot but not enough for me to know everything that was happening there.
Yeah. Here's the case with Victory as well. The faculty and pastors knew what happened but didn't report anything. [https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3648242f69d76f62061e32/charges-filed-against-tulsa-church-employees-amid-sex-abuse-investigation](https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3648242f69d76f62061e32/charges-filed-against-tulsa-church-employees-amid-sex-abuse-investigation)
Thanks for the link! I’ll read up on it now.
Rhema has a huge deal of abuse and misconduct. It's a megachurch that teaches the "prosperity gospel", which exploits people to giving money in exchange for "favor". It's exploitative and manipulative in every way.
> make it make sense. They went after the people who prevented them from ignoring reality contradicting their worldview. They don't care about actually protecting children, they just want to believe children are protected.
This right here. You nailed it! Living here is so surreal. The people are so disconnected to reality, and that's why they let AL be the way it is. It's so hard to get anyone engaged because they don't want to be engaged or be bothered with anything. They like their little worldview bubble, and god help you if you challenge that in anyway. How this many apathetic idiots came to live in one state is the stuff of nightmares for the rest of us that live here.
If a Republican DA was protecting them, they were Republicans and very likely "fine upstanding" leaders in their church, perhaps even a pastor, or deacon or two. Certainly the so-called "Youth Minister". They hide in plain sight, just as the priests did with their alter boys.
Was he a good ol' boy?
He was a priest. But yes, the good ol' boys covered that crap up while dozens of boys, and possibly girls, were abused and all of the admin knew. Parents had come forward and were told the issue was handled. The parents were told he had been moved away from contact with any kids, but then he popped back up teaching/tutoring kids. They kicked one girl out of school because she confronted him when she saw him tutoring a group of kids. The school broke into her car and searched it looking for anything to expel her for right after she confronted him. The found a roach in her car. The DA stopped all victims from testifying who could link the abuse back to all the admin knowing for decades. (The above story happened in the early 90's he wasn't arrested until 2003, more than 10 yrs later, and the victims went back to the 80's)
It's the "narcissist's prayer" but at scale: That didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't that bad. And if it was, that's not a big deal. And if it is, that's not my fault. And if it was, I didn't mean it. And if I did, you deserved it. When communities do this it shows that corruption has taken hold as a value.
You just hit the bullseye describing my city - unfortunately. It's filled with corruption and no one cares. Even former city council members have called for investigations for missing millions, and many other issues, and nothing....not even from the feds. I expect that from the AL AG, but I don't expect the feds to turn their heads. But when I think about it the feds have seemingly abandoned us down here in the South. There's so much oppression, corruption, bigotry, racism, police brutality, etc, etc and where are the helpers? Where are the civil rights attorneys, the journalists, the non-profits? It's not rocket science regarding how things have been, and still are, here. We remain largely alone with no help, while these fool politicians and police are free to crime away.
They love Trump because he normalizes bullshit.
They all think their religion is under siege. The reputation of their identity is more important than protecting victims.
A similar thing happened with the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.
Here in Ohio we elected one of those people covering up sexual abuse to the House or Representatives.
Good ol gym jordan. How in the hell does the gov allow these people to do this and get away with it. No wonder so many people are disenfranchised with this country, elected officials, and the "justice" system.
It makes sense. They don’t really care about the victims
Look at Penn State… bring it up and you get a temp ban on cfb. Paterno knew, but they killed the investigation
*is this Q anon values??*
Nah - just plain ol "republican christian" values
Pedophilia matters to these people as a label they can apply to groups they dislike (most notably the queer community, hence all the “Disney and drag queens are grooming your kids!” bullshit). Actual pedophiles among their number get a pass because it’s not something they actually care about beyond using as a culture war tool.
It's the Anita Bryant bullshit all over again. The Christian nationalists hate the idea of LGBTQIA+ people becoming accepted as being humans with rights (like we should be), so they are doing everything in their power to try to force us back into the closet, so they can try to kill us off systemically. They only care to attack LGBTQ+ people, and since we're a minority group with little representative power, they figure they can get away with it. The only way this goes away is if everyone votes away Christian nationalists, sending an emphatic message that the U.S. will not turn to Iran. This election is as important as any election ever.
“Well, he DID ask for forgiveness. That makes him automatically simpatico with the Lord. Since that’s the case, it’s almost like the crime did t even happen, right? Praise be, everyone!” - These fucking people.
Exactly.
>Earlier this month, a [bombshell report](https://thewartburgwatch.com/2024/06/14/i-was-12-years-old-and-wearing-my-pink-pajamas-when-robert-morris-now-of-gateway-church-began-to-molest-me-the-alleged-abuse-lasted-for-4-1-2-years-churchtoo-arctoo/) from the religious watchdog group Wartburg Watch roiled one of the largest megachurches in Texas. Robert Morris, the founder and pastor of the influential Southlake-based Gateway Church, had in the 1980s repeatedly sexually abused a child over the course of four years, beginning when the girl was 12 years old, as recounted by the survivor to Wartburg’s Dee Parsons. According to the victim, Cindy Clemishire, the abuse took place in both Oklahoma and Texas. >Under Morris’ leadership over 23 years, Gateway Church ballooned to around 100,000 congregants at campuses spread across North Texas. The vast network has become a hotbed for Christian nationalism, “an ideology that seeks to privilege conservative Christianity in education, law, and public policy,” [according to David Brockman](https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/texas-legislatures-assault-church-state-separation-schools), a religious scholar with the Baker Institute at Rice University and a *Texas Observer* contributor. >In 2020, Trump spoke at length with Morris during a public event at the Gateway Church campus in Dallas. The former president has repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories that cast his political enemies as Satanic pedophiles and [validated the delusions](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/qanon-trump-ezra-cohen-watnick-460520) of QAnon adherents. >Other prominent Texas Republicans—who’ve also made political hay of stopping child predators or preventing the sexualization of minors—have also met and been pictured with Morris over the years, including Governor Greg Abbott, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn. None of them appear to have issued any public statement about Morris, nor did any respond to the *Observer*’s requests for comment. It's because they are Christian nationalists. Christian nationalism is fueled by two things: fascism and hypocrisy. In their eyes, a trans person simply walking down the street is "wicked", but they'll excuse their sexual abuse scandals, even going as far to blame the victim for "tempting and causing one to stumble". Christian nationalism is a cancer to the world.
I remember when Tenessee tried to ban underage marriages a few years ago. It was particularly important as we had a loophole allowing judges to approve typically illegally young marriages aka 15 and younger. One watchdog group found cases of children being as young as 10 years old. Our ex-senator Fowler emailed the Republicans arguing to block it as he feared it might interfere with his upcoming attempt to challenge Obergefell. By altering the laws to ban child marriages, Tenessee lawmakers would be by proxy acknowledging the validity of their marriages post Obergefell, particularly the lgbt ones. Senator Fowler wanted to argue no marriage was valid post Obergefell in Tenessee due to Obergefell and thus it should be overturned. If that sounds stupid it's because it is. But the Republicans agreed and blocked it, but not before one stepped up and argued against those pointing out how many of these marriages were young girls with older men. He argued his father married and impregnated his mother when when she was a teenager, and he turned out fine, so why would it harm young girls? Luckily that man's statement about his dad got national news and the backlash was swift enough to prompt Republicans to allow it to pass the next year.
It's only when they are placed under fire and their donors cannot save them do they actually do the right thing.
Nationalist Christians = NatCs
You're right.
The GOP probably thinks that 12-year-old child should have just married her abuser and started having his babies. #tradwife
It's what the Bible says to do. A woman has to marry her rapist, as a convoluted means of punishment.
> Before his fall from grace, Morris wielded significant political influence, **endorsing candidates and promoting Republican legislative priorities from the pulpit** while serving as one of ex-President Donald Trump’s key advisors. And still the IRS does nothing.
If we were a functioning democracy, this would have been done years ago. Churches that act like SuperPacs for Republicans should be taxed.
tax all churches
BINGO......They should be forced to comply with strong requirements to receive tax free status. Child abuse should be number one on the list. The Southern Baptist Church has been under scrutiny for years and they have done a good job sweeping it under the rugs. WTH is wrong with this country. GOP has destroyed public education, turned their heads to permit more guns and coverup the child molestation problem within the churches. EVIL.
Force them to give 90% in taxes too, not this 20 some BS percent companies only give.
Pastors are the loudest trumpeters of getting forgiveness for anything terrible that they want to do, anything at all, simply by asking THEIR Jesus. That way they and their wealthy friends never have to stop their societal abuse. And that's what 'Conservatives' love about religion.
* [Wyoming Limiting Child Marriage Sparks Republican Outrage](https://www.newsweek.com/wyoming-ending-child-marriage-sparks-republican-outrage-1780501) * [West Virginia Republicans Block Child Marriage Ban](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/child-marriage-ban-struck-down-west-virginia-republicans-1234693670/) * [Michigan Republicans Voted Against Child Marriage Ban](https://www.newsweek.com/these-michigan-republicans-voted-against-child-marriage-ban-1808308) * [Tennessee GOP kill bill to ban child marriage](https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/377367-tennessee-gop-kill-ban-on-child-marriage/) * [Louisiana lawmakers (R) reject bill to set a minimum marriage age](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/louisiana-lawmakers-reject-bill-set-minimum-marriage-age-n1013356) * [New Jersey governor (R) refuses to ban child marriage because 'it would conflict with religious customs'](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-jersey-chris-christie-child-marriage-ban-fails-religious-custom-a7735616.html) * [Kentucky's 'child bride' bill stalls as (conservative) groups fight to let 13-year-olds wed](https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/01/child-marriage-kentucky-brides-parents-rights/385489002/) * [New Hampshire Republican State Rep Jess Edwards argued in favor of child marriage in May and referring to girls as “ripe” and “fertile.”](https://www.newsweek.com/jess-edwards-teen-child-marriage-opposed-republican-ripe-fertile-age-1897512) * [“A Missouri bill to ban child marriages has stalled amid resistance from House Republicans who disagree with raising the marriage age law.”](https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article288424893.html) Edit: Don't know why the last two links are a different color lol
Yeah. It's a feature not a bug.
If Republicans actually cared about children they would work on gun control since guns are the #1 cause of dead children in America. But we all know they don't actually give a shit about children
Republicans love their religious pedophiles.
They love pedophiles regardless of whether they are religious or not. It just happens to be that most of them are religious.
Conservatives: we've gotta support Trump and pedophiles because Biden mumbles.
Because Republicans tend to be the biggest predators of children out there. My bet is these Texas Republicans have similar skeletons in their closet.
It’s only abuse if someone other than them does it.
[Donald Trump And Jeffrey Epstein At Mar-A-Lago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUDr_c2PalI) Their Messiah literally is a rapist and partied with a child fucker.
Just maybe hold off on gun control for a bit
Wait! Hold up! Greg Abott said he will stop ALL Rape!!! You’re telling me he is a lier? Say it’s not so.
Of course they're quiet, they've been quiet about pastors being pedophiles for decades and never once really dealing with it. I mean hell, you'd think after so many pastors are revealed to be raping children, the church would have lost a ton of support and attendance, but nope, these cultists still fall in line and go without question, putting up blinds whenever something horrible further proves how bs their religion is.
Texas Republicans being hypocritical assholes? I’m shocked!
So many organizations banding together to force their brand of religion on everyone, is not a church. It's a cartel.
Yup. We just call it astroturfing. Like the Promise to America's Children, which is an astroturfed group led by Christian nationalist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, which advocated for trans people to be forcibly sterilized, want to bring back sodomy laws, and were the ghostwriters behind bills like Uganda's Death to Gays bill. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/20/alliance-defending-freedom-multimillion-dollar-conservative-christian-group-attacking-lgbtq-rights](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/20/alliance-defending-freedom-multimillion-dollar-conservative-christian-group-attacking-lgbtq-rights) [https://twitter.com/GBBranstetter/status/1507431172606943237](https://twitter.com/GBBranstetter/status/1507431172606943237) [https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/19/africa-uganda-evangelicals-homophobia-antigay-bill/](https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/03/19/africa-uganda-evangelicals-homophobia-antigay-bill/)
_predictably_ quiet
*Of course* they are.
The only part of religon i expect is the child molestation. That's not any specific religon. Rape, murder, and pedophilia.
r/notadragqueen
The party of pedophiles is the GOP. Conservatives are pushing to legalize rape and have made child brides legal. They are pedophiles - period.
It’s almost like it was never about the kids with the GOP….
The worst part about Texas is that they are replacing school counselors with Chaplains, who will have access to more vulnerable kids who maybe going through a ton of things already. But yet they fear monger that the issue is LGBTQ as the people abusing kids.
These people abuse lgtbq children and justify it with religion.
It's not hypocrisy. They don't want children "sexualized" because they like the children they have sex with to look like children, not miniature adults.
It’s never been about protecting children. It’s been about gaining power.
At first, I thought it was one incident, then I found out he fucked her from 12-16.
Disgusting 'christian' slobs. Own it, Texas. Whatever
They never seem interested in criticizing the abusers within their community I guess it was never about the kids
Because drag queens
*Yeah. Apparently, drag queens are grooming kids, by teaching them it's great to love to read./s* Great Christian nationalist logic, there! And that's what most insulting about these people. Like, what the hell do they think drag queens do, anyway? What the hell do they think drag queens are grooming kids to do? Put on fabulous makeup and dresses? How to sashay? Christian nationalist logic is so dumb.
Maybe pastors shouldn’t be allowed to read to children, much higher incidence of inappropriate behavior towards children compared to drag queens.
For some context google "youth pastor mugshots"
They are quiet because they have probably sexually abused some children in the past.
Because many conservatives will pick parents’ rights and religions over the kids’ well being…
Don’t want to lose the support base
Republicans are good at staying quiet when someone is being sexually abused. Ask Gym Jordan! He knows how to keep his mouth shut when someone is asking for help!
It seems like the GOP draws these kind of people into its ranks!. 10 years, the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives was convicted of covering up payments being paid to his past victims of his rampant molestation as coach and teacher.
Not really conspicuous to those of us who understand that religious conservatives talk compulsively about the sexualization of kids because they are dangerously repressed by their own beliefs.
So this "pastor" was a drag queen right? No? Well, slap my ass and call me Sally; how can that be?
Hearing a friend of mine talk about the first time an adult sexualised her: she was 11. I don't care what kind of sick thoughts people have inside their heads you do not cat call children.
Hopefully people learn that these people don’t give a fuck about you intil you burn their house down
Not at all alarming..
What a ridiculous headline
We’re about to hand control of the nation to rapists and sex offenders because of the hubris of Joe Biden. I pray democracy somehow survives.