Finally someone has volunteered to take Pastor Eddie Long’s place in the Disgusting Men Of God headlines contest. Meet Pastor Tom Daniels. He’s the head pastor at First Baptist Church in Rio Linda, California, outside Sacramento. He’s a proud Prop 8 supporter. Oh, and he’s being held on $6 million bond for multiple child molestation charges.
Arrested Dec. 9 (which police kept quiet until now while their investigation continued), Daniels stands accused of sexually violating children between June 2004 and June 2007. This isn’t the first time he’s been on the radar of police: In 2008 a complaint was made against him, but police say they had insufficient evidence to pursue a case. Now another victim has come forward, and prosecutors slapped him with one charge of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years of age, and another charge for engaging in multiple sexual assaults of a child.
It’s so far unclear how Daniels came in contact with the children, but I’m going to take a wild guess: given the guy was a FOSTER PARENT and DAY CARE PROVIDER, he was around kids all the time.
Daniels will next appear in court at a Jan. 20 hearing, which means you’ve got between now and then to connect some dots: Daniels preaches the word of god, made donations to ProtectMarriage.com in its pro-marriage discrimination fight, and now stands accused of violating children (I can only suspect were) in his care. Oh, and the church is standing behind him: “Until such time as the courts prove Pastor Tom Daniels guilty, we have an obligation to support him and his family,” reads a statement from First Baptist’s board — which opted not to notify churchgoers of their pastor’s arrest, instead swapping in a substitute pastor as if everything was fine and dandy.
The church’s board wants the courts, and not the media, to try Daniels on the child molestation counts. So fine, we will. But we don’t need a judge’s gavel to know the man is already a monster: he’s manipulated religion to preach bigotry.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Gee what an absolute non suprise!!! Another rabid anti-Gay religious leader who relishes every opportunity to spew hatefull rhetoric against the Gay calling us “immoral” is a kiddie diddler!! And once again the organizations leaders as usual attempt to cover up the crimes so as not to hinder the cash flow into the collection baskets…….
When are the rabid feverent religious lunatics whom follow these cults realize their leaders are not seeking to redeem their souls but rather their dollars??
Tartuffe
Disgusting.
OhPlease
Oh please please please let my jury duty summons come in the mail later this month.
adman
Straight people will never realize they are degrading themselves and their own sexuality by being homophobes. The reality that they are trading a piece of their integrity, their very soul, for a little fleeting social status over the despised non-heteros is completely over their heads. When you point out that their behavior only provides cover for predators to exploit, they look at you like you killed Bambi. That’s the life of a complacent hypocrite. Have fun in church, degenerate scum.
Michael
@adman: What do straight people have in common with this child predator?
adman
@Michael: I hate to qoute myself but you asked, so “their behavior only provides cover for predators to exploit” I could have said “homphobic behavior”, but that was in the larger context of my post, pretty clear.
matt
LOL…. so Glad the Baptist know how to show their church goers that they can handle this kind of perverted Preacher’s behavior better than the Cathloics…. got to be more concerned about the perception or the money plate thats passed each Sunday! OMG forbid that more might come forward to tell their story…
Tallskin
Sorry for the kids molested.
But this is another creepy christian kiddie fiddler.
Strange how religions seem to attract this sort of behaviour. And not just in this branch of the middle eastern death cults , the islamic lot also seem to attract them: in 2003 in Pakistan there were 2,000 complaints!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4084951.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/248219.stm
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/03/23/pakistan-child-abuse-on-the-rise/
Conclusion??? Draw your own
justiceontherocks
The bail is $6 million. That’s steep. I guess he won’t be preaching at the Sunday night services.
B
No. 1 · PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS wrote, “Gee what an absolute non suprise!!! Another rabid anti-Gay religious leader who relishes every opportunity to spew hatefull rhetoric against the Gay calling us “immoral” is a kiddie diddler!!”
His church is in fact behaving appropriately – letting the police and courts handle the situation (unlike shuffling him off to somewhere else as the Catholic Church did with their molesters) and taking an “innocent until proven guilty” position: Baptists preachers are allowed to marry, so cutting him off financially would hurt his wife and children (assuming he is married and has kids). The one thing the church should do is to make a continued salary contingent on him not pulling any financial tricks to avoid having to compensate his alleged victims.
As to him being a “rabid anti-gay religious leader”, the article QUEERTY linked to (a gay-oriented web site called Lavender News) merely said he donated $230 total to support Proposition Eight. I couldn’t find any links indicating that he did anything else (most simply cited QUEERTY’s article). It didn’t say that he appeared at official pro-Proposition Eight events or preached in support of Proposition Eight incessantly at his church. Unless someone finds some information to the contrary, I think “rabid” is a gross exaggeration.
To put it in perspective, I know one person who lives in the same town I do who donated a couple of hundred dollars to support Proposition Eight, probably because he’s a Mormon and was asked to donate by his church. We worked at the same company for over 10 years and during that time, I did not hear a single comment from him about gays. While I wish he hadn’t made that donation, calling him rabidly anti-gay would have been just plain silly. I suspect he simply wrote a check and didn’t really think about it.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
@B: @B:
Oh, and the church is standing behind him: “Until such time as the courts prove Pastor Tom Daniels guilty, we have an obligation to support him and his family,” reads a statement from First Baptist’s board — which opted not to notify churchgoers of their pastor’s arrest, instead swapping in a substitute pastor as if everything was fine and dandy.
I hardly find that his church was acting appropriatley. Instead of attempting to sweep the allegations under the rug ala the catholic church they should have been open and honest. Which would encourage more of the victims (which I would lay great odds on exist) to come forward. And if in fact there was a pending case in 2008 he should have been prohibited from any contact with children as a precaution.
Church heirarchy look upon pastors as a revenue generator. As long as they keep the numbers up in the collection baskets and plates by keeping the faithfull in the pews their jobs are safe. He probably was hitting quota each week and they wern’t about to let a little matter like child molestation allergations get in
the way of the monies comming into the church…………
Ogre Magi
More christian crap
Syl
@OhPlease: Dammit! I live in CA but not near Sacto!
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS: I’m so sick of organized religion. If people want to be Christians, let them read the Bible and actually do as Jesus said: pray with their doors close. Fast and give to charity and not tell other people you’re doing so. Modern Christianity is the antithesis of everything Jesus taught: a hierarchy who calls themselves “holy”, live in finery and make up BS man-made rules which they pass off as divine law…and it’s all about appearance, looking like “a good Christian”. How many times have you heard a Christian say “He/she’s a good Christian” about a person as almost a synomym for “He’s a good person, trust him!” Compare Jesus’ telling folks to pray in their closet with Glenn Beck’s Christian circle-jerk rally telling parents to pray with their doors open!
Gandhi had it right: “You Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Steveo
I love how the thumbnail of the video shows the church’s billboard with the message “God is up to something good.” How fitting.
Terry
“And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God”
(Mark 10:13-14).
I don’t think that this was what the scripture intended, but again it is open to private interpretation. At least homosexuality is between consenting, loving adults and those who prey on the weak should be punished. Oh ye hypocrites.
JB
@B where does it say “rabid anti-gay” in the article?
B
No. 16 · JB wrote, “@B where does it say “rabid anti-gay” in the article?” LOL. I was replying to someone who said just that (see No 1) and quoted his text – a sentence or two where the word “rabid” appeared.
Kenneth
The only thing that would be proved if this man is found guilty is that not all child molesters are gay.
B
In No. 11, PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS wrote, “I hardly find that his church was acting appropriatley. Instead of attempting to sweep the allegations under the rug ala the catholic church they should have been open and honest.”
What a factually challenged statement! The guy is in jail with it reported by the local news, including TV. The church merely didn’t make an announcement, which would have been redundant. It is not like everyone there doesn’t know. All they are doing is keeping him on salary until convicted. He’s not going to be spending any of it on himself (no way is he going to come up with $6 million in bail). The excess beyond legal bills and what his wife and kids (if any) need for living expenses should be available to help compensate his victims once the civil lawsuits end. Why would I object to that?
Apparently the police found out before anyone in the church did. It’s not like the Catholic Church, which kept everyone quiet and shipped the creeps to somewhere else and covered up the crimes by making sure the police and DA were never told.
SteveMD2
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS:
Its always that way. think of George Rekers of the family research council. also a baptist minsiter. And the nut case Spriggs. – same thing.
BTW spriggs was an actor in christian plays in college. It figures.
OUt all these fuckers, not quarter allowed. If you want to bein the closet, thats bad but passable. If you are like a Jew working for hitler during wwii, no way Hose. (yes there were some). And no pissing, I am Jewish as is my F wife.
Kenneth
The gay community has long preached about tolerance when it comes to being gay, yet ironically is on the forefront of the Atheist movement which is just a cover for Satanic worship and intolerance toward Christianity. It’s true about many churches being corrupt and wanting to redeem people’s dollar and not their soul… as evidenced by the various churches that are allowing gay marriage. The Roman Catholic Church would sell indulgences when they had a monopoly but now every town has as many different churches as fast food joints who will tell you you’re saved if you join their church and tithe.
You can’t buy your way into heaven and you can’t get forgiveness without repentance. To repent is to turn away from sin not to get permission or tolerance of it.
An individual’s religion is their understanding of the world and how it works. Atheism is a religion. Science is religious dogma.
Anyone may find forgiveness from God, but there is no forgiveness in the law. God sees everything, yet the law, earthly justice, is said to be blind. Mockers and scoffers will get their due. They will bow down before the one they serve and get what they deserve. People who judge other people based solely on accusations yet to be proven will be judged as they have judged–unfairly.
Even if a person is convicted or takes a plea in our judicial system, it does not mean they committed the crime. Our judicial system is far from the perfection of God. Many people have been pressured into taking a plea by their own defense attorney specifically because it is insurance against a false conviction and a harsh sentence. It is the fear of people like the earlier poster who couldn’t wait to get a jury summons that fuel people to take plea deals even when they are innocent. And that is true terrorism.
I hope the author learns the difference between where and were.
hf2hvit
@Kenneth:
”
The gay community has long preached about tolerance when it comes to being gay, yet ironically is on the forefront of the Atheist movement which is just a cover for Satanic worship and intolerance toward Christianity”
Where do you get your “facts”? Most of the founding fathers of this nation were Atheists. And you are a horse’s ass.
JT
@Kenneth:
Kenneth, that was the most self indulgant, self important, judgemental il-informed piece of halucinated bullshit I have ever read…So typical Christian speak.
I hope your God will find it in his heart to bless you with some inkling of sense before you reach the great beyond…lest your family have to tolerate you spouting off this nonsense well into your advanced senility.
SteveMD2
@PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS:
Google southern baptists and molestation. Page after page of lists of evil people doing things while talking about God.
…………………………………………………..
Its always that way. think of George Rekers of the family research council. also a baptist minsiter. And the nut case Spriggs. – same thing.
BTW spriggs was an actor in christian plays in college. It figures.
OUt all these fuckers, not quarter allowed. If you want to bein the closet, thats bad but passable. If you are like a Jew working for hitler during wwii, no way Jose. (yes there were some). And no pissing, I am Jewish as is my F wife.
BTW, check out the website – catholicarrogance.org Liberal popes murdered en mass over the years etc etc. No wonder the republican machine sounds like it came directly from Mein Kampf.
justiceontherocks
@Kenneth: Yo – moron. You think child molestation is the same thing as having sex with another consenting adult??? You are very messed up.
B
No. 21 · Kenneth wrote, “The gay community has long preached about tolerance when it comes to being gay, yet ironically is on the forefront of the Atheist movement which is just a cover for Satanic worship and intolerance toward Christianity.”
I hate to have to clue you in, but atheists don’t believe in Satan either, nor do they waste time worshiping what they view as a figment of your imagination.
No 22 hf2hvit wrote, “Most of the founding fathers of this nation were Atheists.” Not true – most apparently were Deists (which from a pragmatic standpoint is nearly the same as being an Atheist).
http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html : “None of the Founding Fathers were atheists. Most of the Founders were Deists, which is to say they thought the universe had a creator, but that he does not concern himself with the daily lives of humans, and does not directly communicate with humans, either by revelation or by sacred books. They spoke often of God, (Nature’s God or the God of Nature), but this was not the God of the bible. They did not deny that there was a person called Jesus, and praised him for his benevolent teachings, but they flatly denied his divinity. Some people speculate that if Charles Darwin had lived a century earlier, the Founding Fathers would have had a basis for accepting naturalistic origins of life, and they would have been atheists. Most of them were stoutly opposed to the bible, and the teachings of Christianity in particular.”
Also (interestingly, since many people don’t realize that the Declaration of Independence was edited by committee): “Yes, there were Christian men among the Founders. Just as Congress removed Thomas Jefferson’s words that condemned the practice of slavery in the colonies, they also altered his wording regarding equal rights. His original wording is here in blue italics: “All men are created equal and independent. From that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable.” Congress changed that phrase, increasing its religious overtones: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” But we are not governed by the Declaration of Independence– it is a historical document, not a constitutional one.”
Kenneth
@HF2HVIT
I did not say that all Atheists were Satanists. I said that the Atheist movement is just a cover for Satanic worship and intolerance toward Christianity.
Those people who are calling for more separation of church and state are targeting Christian traditions while at the same time installing their own Satanic religious practices.
A person’s religion is their understanding of the world and the way it works.
While Atheists deny the existence of God, they recognize the usefulness of other people believing in God. Satanists on the other hand, are out to vilify God and the Christian religion. There are a lot of Satanists who have infiltrated churches and government in order to corrupt it from the inside out.
Organized churches with their tax exempt status are often used as holding companies by the rich who want to hide assets from the government. The fact that corrupt people are using Christianity or Atheism as a cover does not make either religion wrong, just the people who are mis-using it.
Of course, as a Christian, I feel that Atheism is a stage of growth that will lead to Christianity a lot faster than Agnosticism. Riding the fence and avoiding controversy is a slow path to growth.
B
In No 21, Kenneth wrote, “Science is religious dogma.”
LOL. If so, it would be the first religion that rewards people for being heretics! While you wouldn’t be clued in by reading most journal articles, there is an incredible amount of work that goes on to make sure that one is not fooling oneself (i.e., that one is actually measuring what one intends to measure). The cross checks are simply too numerous to list if a paper is going to be of any reasonable length.
Kenneth
@B
I know that Atheists don’t believe in Satan either, which makes them easy marks due to their naivety. Atheists are easily mislead into thinking that Christianity is an enemy and that prayer mustn’t be allowed in school. A true Atheist wouldn’t want to waste his time fighting to eradicate Christian traditions since he has only the little time in this life and then he dies and that’s it. No, the leaders of the Atheist movement are actually Satanists disguised as Atheists. Sometimes people say they are one thing when they are really not. Like a child molester pretending to be a Christian. Yes, they are two separate things. A person is either falsely accused of one and really the other or really one and pretending to be the other. Not both, although he could repent and become a Christian or he could have once been a Christian but then sinned. There is a part in the bible where it says that once a person has tasted of the Holy Spirit yet fallen away, he will never come back. So most pastors say well maybe he was never sincerely a Christian and there may yet be hope of bringing him to Christ. But those churches that take pride in being a sinner are an abomination. True, all have sinned and fallen short, but once we accept Christ as a teacher/savior then we turn away from sin. As Jesus said to the woman who was brought before him to be stoned, Neither do I accuse you; go in sin no more.
God has a lot of tolerance since He gives us free will, but there is a limit as demonstrated in the history of Sodom. Go ahead and roll the dice. See what you get.
The definition of Deist sounds a lot the same as Agnostic. There are many different sincere beliefs as well as those posing to be one thing so they can corrupt the institution. There is the analogy involving an elephant and 7 blind men each touching a different part of the elephant and describing him in very different ways. It’s not important to me whether God created Earth in 7 days or 7 billion years, the important part to me is that God created everything. If Darwin is right about evolution, that doesn’t take away the fact that God created everything.
All science is theory. There is not proof of anything. You can put your faith in science or you can put your faith in God, but either way it is faith. If you only believe in what you can see then you will be easy to deceive.
Jeffree
@Kenneth. You are not keeping the Sabbath holy, therefore you are sinning in the eyes of God. Blasphemy is you Kenneth.
You bear false witness against us, your neighbors, which indeed is s i n.
You make Jesus cry when you sin.
Atone.
And moisturize.
Kenneth
@JEFFREE
LOL
Jesus said that man is the master of his sabbath, which means he can pick any one of seven days to rest. Seventh Day Adventists pick Saturday, which in Spanish is sábado and means sabbath day. The preachers preach on Sunday, and I guess that is what I have been doing. Heh heh But it’s Monday now in my time zone. 🙂
B
In No. 29 · Kenneth wrote, “@B I know that Atheists don’t believe in Satan either, which makes them easy marks due to their naivety. Atheists are easily mislead into thinking that Christianity is an enemy and that prayer mustn’t be allowed in school. A true Atheist wouldn’t want to waste his time fighting to eradicate Christian traditions since he has only the little time in this life and then he dies and that’s it.”
I once met an atheist who “preached” atheism incessantly (even to people who either weren’t religious or who didn’t take religion all that seriously and who viewing church-going as more of a social event). It turns out that he was kicked out of some club for being an atheist (the advertised standard for membership was simply to be a respectable member of the community), and, after appearing on a radio station, he had Christians knocking on his door every Sunday morning in an attempt to convert him. He took it personally.
Also, prayer is allowed in public schools so you got that wrong – what is not allowed is state-sponsored prayer. If a kid taking his geography test wants to ask God to make the capitol of California Los Angeles, the kid has every right to do that as long as he does not make a racket that disrupts the class. If he tells the other kids, they’d have every right to laugh at him.
If you think school-sponsored prayers should be allowed, you might want to read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajneeshpuram describing how a group of followers of some dude named Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh moved to a small town in Oregon and basically took it over (having enough votes to do that). Would you want this guru deciding on the official prayers for the public schools? Hint: they would probably have made “God” plural to accommodate Hindus, so you can imagine how Christian parents would react to that.
Then you say, “All science is theory. There is not proof of anything.” LOL. Tell that to an experimental physicist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_tests_of_QED
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%C3%B6tv%C3%B6s_experiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfine_structure
http://www.npl.washington.edu/eotwash/
http://www.npl.washington.edu/eotwash/publications/pdf/prl98-021101.pdf
I might add that since QED was formulated, the experiments have improved considerably in accuracy and precision, as have the theoretical predictions (which are basically infinite series calculations in which each term is more difficult in terms of time and effort than the last, so nobody bothers to calculate more than is needed for a given level of accuracy).
adman
@Kenneth: Your posts really solidify a theory that I have. The Evangelical faith and it’s theology is the most accurate and to the letter embodiment in it’s own diabolical reading of secularism that exists. Your wide eyed acceptance of a thoroughly mendacious and disengenuous intellectual exegesis in the name of Jesus is total. Do you study NLP? Marketing? What about Hypnosis and conspiracy theories? Well, you will, since you only need to be persuasive, and working towards something worthwhile for all people is out of question for you, since the word grouping “All People” is suspect under your train of thought. What kind of disgusting means of degradation will you and your kind think up next? Don’t you have children who’s blood needs drinking to save them from Satan or something?
J.T.
@B:
B says: “As to him being a “rabid anti-gay religious leader”, the article QUEERTY linked to (a gay-oriented web site called Lavender News) merely said he donated $230 total to support Proposition Eight. I couldn’t find any links indicating that he did anything else.”
Well, yes, the language is effusive if not dramatic. But isn’t it also VERY homophobic for someone to donate their hard-earned money to something like Prop 8? You could argue that the people who voted for it were “misguided” or “not thinking clearly”, but when someone actually donated their MONEY to it… well, that’s just a different ballgame altogether.
J.T.
Kenneth says “Those people who are calling for more separation of church and state are targeting Christian traditions while at the same time installing their own Satanic religious practices.”
Umm… Christians invented Satan – not atheists nor agnostics nor any other religion. Look it up, it’s a fact. Also, the characterization of Satan that we are all familiar with (horns, cloven hoof, etc) is modeled after the germanic pagan idea of a nature-god. Christians chose to depict Satan this way to scare people away from the tribal religion that was most popular in europe at the time… This is all very well documented. Have you ever heard of wikipedia? No? Ok, well have you ever heard of the telephone game? That’s how your religion was formed over the years… It changes a bit with every person who re-tells the story.
Tallskin
@Kenneth
You’re a fucking nutter, mate.
If you really believe the utter gibberish you’ve dementedly dribbled all over the page then I’d suggest you hand yourself in at your local police station for treatment before you cause yourself some harm.
And for those of your thinking that when this nutjob says: “All science is theory. There is not proof of anything” – this UTTER BOLLOCKS. Science is testable, that’s why it’s science. Religion and faith are not.
Faith and religion are delusion.
J.T.
Tallskin says: “Faith and religion are delusion.”
Well, not really. I believe in (or have faith in) God but I have no crazy delusions like Kenneth. I fully accept that I CHOOSE to believe… I don’t try to offer any proof nor do I throw sticks and stones at scientific research. I value science and I respect atheists as equals. I’m also gay and buddhist and I don’t let anyone else define God for me, so it’s really just a matter of Kenneth and his crazy ideas about Satan being in cahoots with the atheists… LOL
Michael
@Kenneth. Interesting set of posts. They say nothing I have not a million times before, and they show a lack of theological thinking indicative of a repeater, not a scholar.
I certainly understand the basis of your ‘atheist harbor satanist’ postings. There are a number of sects of Christianity who believe that anyone who does not believe the way they do are, in truth, worshipping Satan, mostly without knowing it. Of course, whole theodicies have been written to try to explain why an all loving, omniscient, omnipotent, and all beneficial deity would allow such a potent deception and then punish people for falling into it, handing them over to the deceiver to be tormented forever, but that is a different post.
And your lack of understanding of deism is striking! To compare it to agnosticism is laughable. For Deists do believe that is a creator deity, agnostics believe there is insufficient evidence one way or another. For a Deist, the Creator made the Universe and set it going, that’s all. It is not the personal God so favored by many sects of Christianity, one who is concerned with every sparrow and who, despite running the infinite universe, has time for every human problem and foible.
As for the scriptures you quote in support of your position, unfortunately scholars have pulled the actual meaning of these apart, much better than I can outline in this post. A little research on your part may be warranted, if you are indeed interested in the truth of the matter.
Tallskin
@JT “I’m also gay and buddhist and I don’t let anyone else define God for me”
Mate, there is no god in buddhism, so there’s nothing to define!
If Buddhism is anything it is a philosophy with metaphysical mumbjo jumbo added on. Buddhism has provided us with a workable theory of the mind, which is testable in it efficacy, ie meditation. And you could also argue that buddhism/hinduism has provided us with a damned fine fitness routine in Yoga.
And I say faith and religion are delusion because they self evidently are- neither faith nor religion is provable, nor, in fact, disprovable. Ok, you say, but I CHOOSE to believe what I want. Well, that’s fine, but with all due respect don’t expect me to respect that.
You say: “I value science and I respect atheists as equals.” Pffff, how noble of you! As a buddhist you should be an atheist anyway so I would suggest you go back to your morons guide to basic buddhism and re-read it!
Come ON Now
Love some of the comments, but please, there are lots more real victims here. Why not put all your talents to some good… do some research here… DO you know how to access the old social web pages of Tom Daniels? Okayyy then, do you think he’s the only one… there is a messy snake’s nest of these “Baptist pastors” in NorCal… and they all “hunt” with each other, under the guise of Brother this and Sister that… been going on so long, and better covered up than the Roman Catholic pedophile mess. When the Baptist Pedophilia network breaks open it will be far messier than any Roman Catholic or other “religious” pedophile mess todate. This is deeply entrenched.
Jaroslaw
I’ve read the article and the posts – not sure why this is an is a big deal, if he only donated $230. It is not exactly news that some/many members of the Christian faith are crazy/hypocrites and/or child molesters. Just as there are crazy/hypocrites child molesters who are not Christian.
This WOULD be a story worthy of Queerty if they could say something like “Pastor X, with a congregation of 5,000 donated $20 K to the Prop 8 campaign and had between 50-100 people from his congregation actively volunteer; was arrested for child molestation yesterday………..And then do a follow up with the parishioners….(but $230? no big deal.)
Jaroslaw
I’ve read the article and the posts – not sure why this is a big deal, if he only donated $230. It is not exactly news that some/many members of the Christian faith are crazy/hypocrites and/or child molesters. Just as there are crazy/hypocrites child molesters who are not Christian.
This WOULD be a story worthy of Queerty if they could say something like “Pastor X, with a congregation of 5,000 donated $20 K to the Prop 8 campaign and had between 50-100 people from his congregation actively volunteer; was arrested for child molestation yesterday………..And then do a follow up with the parishioners….(but $230? no big deal.)
S. E.
@Kenneth:
Kenneth, whether a person “takes pride” in being a sinner or not, EVERYONE, including YOU, sins (anything that’s contrary to what God wants us to do or not do). No matter how many sins you don’t commit or which ones they are, you are still committing some kind of sin, which makes you a sinner in the mind of God and no better, by your own merits, than anyone else. If you only committed one sin, such as not loving all your neighbors (including your gay neighbors) as yourself or not helping someone, anyone, when you have the opportunity to do so (including health care), you’re sinning just as much (according to God’s standards) as someone who is committing sexual sins or stealing or anything else that humans consider “big sins”. If you vote Republican, you are sinning because you’re hiring people to do things to hurt other people and who are against helping other people (health care, social programs, etc.). That is selfishness and greed and since that is the exact opposite of what Jesus’ said we’re to do, anyone who does that is sinning. As for so-called “moral” issues, Jesus didn’t put us in charge of anyone else’s morality (that would be judging), just our own.
I never cease to be amazed by people like you who think they don’t sin and think they are saved (going to Heaven) by being “good”. None of us are good according to God’s standard. The apostle Paul, who you fundamentalists worship, made it plain that our (all of us including himself) goodness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. If being saved depends on what you say it does, ceasing to sin, then every single person, including you, is on their way to hell. If that’s what you are counting on to save you, then I’m afraid that you’re going to have a very bad surprise come judgement day. We can’t save ourselves by not sinning and that’s why Jesus came to this earth and why we celebrate His birthday every 25th of December. If we could save ourselves, He wouldn’t have needed to come and die for us. He said that those who believe and accept Him as Savior (the ONLY way to be saved) are not condemned but those who don’t are condemned already. For your own sake, you need to count only on Jesus to save you instead of your own goodness because you can never be good enough. And for other peoples’ sake, stop teaching the false doctrine that one can earn their salvation by not sinning.
Cam
Once again proves what we all know. somebody that homophobic, is either hiding something similar to what they are protesting against, or attacking a different group to hide something really really bad.
Jaroslaw
True also CAM, but the ‘faithful’ would simply dismiss this guy as a bad egg so I just don’t think it is newsworthy for yet another reason.
$0.02
This is precisely why I never get upset when I hear the same old homophobic drivel from these folks. Because I know at some point something like this is going to come out. Often times when they run their mouths about us it’s usually because they are hiding something about themselves.
Josh
@Tallskin: It is true that many traditions do not encourage belief in an authoritative deity, there is no proscription in the belief in the divine as such. On the contrary, the Buddha is portrayed as a teacher of the gods in many cases.
Many sects of Mahayana Buddhism are also syncretic with the local’s religious traditions coexisting alongside their Buddhist beliefs. Religious traditions in Japan are a perfect example of this.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Buddhism for more info.
tallskin2
@Josh – you’re right, gods in the plural, but not ‘god’ singular!
There are of course gods in buddhism, but buddhism does not view them as being like the jewish/christian/islamic creator god. Indeed the gods in buddhist thinking are sentient beings like ourselves living extraordinarily long lives in a higher realm.
And, you’re correct that earlier and native or pre-buddhist religious traditions were absorbed into buddhism – these deities maybe even being elevated to gods in the buddhist pantheon as discussed above. Certainly this happened in Tibet! which explains a lot of the, shall we say, more unusual and vibrantly fruity aspect of tibetan buddhism compared to indian or chinese buddhism from which it evolved; the pre buddhist religion in tibet was called Bon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bön
(As indeed christianity syncretised both ancient judiasm and the ancient pagan religions of the greeks/romans and others, plus the gods and deities of the areas in which it became dominant – this latter seen in England, Wales, Spain, Italy, France where spring water wells were renamed as wells of the virgin of christianity rather than as wells of the previously dominant pagan deity)
I was being aggressive with JT in my comment above because i won’t permit buddhism to be co-opted into the unpleasant god pantheon and used to endorse monotheism!
Joy4Sweed
First of all, I have first hand experience with this jerk. He used to be my boss. He tried to use his large body to intimidate me and was verbally abusive. The church leaders were warned years ago that this guy was trouble but they simply ignored the warnings and even threatened legal retribution if anyone questioned him again at his church. He had foster kids who I worked with who were held out of school because in there words “Public school teach homosexuality”. They were home schooled and forced to work in there homecleaning business called Maid in America. When I worked for him, the first investigation of child molestion was occuring and everyone thought “Oh, not Tom!” but I could see exactly what he was. When he saw that I wasn’t going to just trust in him and be intimidated by him, he fired me. He could not stand a strong woman around him or his wife. I feel so sorry for his kids and all the kids he hurt.
Kieran
Why do these religious types always notice the splinter in someone else’s eye but ignore the beam sticking out of their own eye?
Brentinpdx
Tony Perkins says that we go to schools and other places to “recruit” children to our way of life. Maybe, Tony you should look at your own hate group and see if there are any misfits in there, before you start call the kettle black.
Monique
@adman:
<<< Straight
<<< Not a homophobe
<<<< What two consenting adults do in their bedroom is none of anyone's business
<<.>
Monique
Everyone should have the the same rights as everyone else. Shouldn’t matter who you love. If you want to commit yourself to the same person for life, along with all the legal obligations, go for it.
Anyway back to the article. Why am I not surprised. First the pastor who was caught with a rent boy, now this. Of course this is way worse than being busted with a rent boy. I hope buddy does NOT get put in protective custody. They do nasty nasty things to child molestors in prison. And I’m not talking about the good nasty either >.>
J.T.
@tallskin2: Tallskin2 says: ”
I was being aggressive with JT in my comment above because i won’t permit buddhism to be co-opted into the unpleasant god pantheon and used to endorse monotheism!”
You weren’t just being aggressive… You called me an idiot for saying that I was a buddhist who believes in God. You also insulted me for saying that I respect your beliefs too. You should settle down – and you have no place defending what you are unable to practice.
J.T.
I love how when I say am buddhist, Americans come out of the woodwork to tell me all about what buddhism “really is” and why I’m wrong for saying that I ascribe to the religion that I do… America is deeply damaged when it comes to our collective understanding of religion and spirituality. It’s not a competition, nor is it some kind of trend or fad… I don’t think I’m better than you and I don’t act like the Dalai Lama. I am an American Buddhist who happens to believe in God and happens to be gay and I’ve been this way for quite some time – it’s given me much benefit over the years and I’m quite ok with it, thank you.
steveMD2
@Kenneth: We just dont happen to believe in your fairy in the sky.
If you had a mind, you’d realize that all your church does is need someone to demonize to sell their hate. Which they call love.
And your after life insurance policy – based on words twisted aand retwisted from thousand of years ago. An age of flat earth and superstiion.
You can let them pick your pocket and your mind. But when you pass it onto others, thats a tad to much.
BTW the really bad churches – Sothern baptists and their ilk. Gave us slavery, the KKK and segregation. Catholic – Hitlers church and he isn’t yet excommunciated.
Everyone – go to NObeliefs.com/nazi.htm. Pix will make your hair turn gray.
Go to catholicarrogance.org Someone with 24 years of catholic education who saw through the BS.
Eg the period when apparently 2 popes were poisoned because they were liberal. Another high official killed in a prof hit and run.
Jesus must be turning over in his grave. If there was a god, lots of churches would long ago discovered they were sitting on top of a lake of fire – Vesuvius renewed.
steveMD2
Want a good church – try UCC (Canadas largest denomination who drove gay marriage to fruition. Evnagelical Lutherans – absolute opposite of southern evangelicals. New Light presbyterians there now, Presby USA almost there. Most episcopal churches. MCC of course, Jewish reform and some conservatives.
Disciples of christ, American baptists – having the conversation.
And yes even a small number of southern evans who remember something about love thy neighbor as thyself and the guy who said it 2000 years ago.
But I’ll say one good thing About Pope RATZInger – with every utterance he is helping his church commit suicide. Don’t let the “were” catholic fool you. Even poland, where a good priest and pope did wonderful things, the homophobes who run the place only have about 40% of the people going to church.
And believe it or not – don’t see much about it, but similar thing in Italy so I read.
It will be fun to go to Europride in Rome next summer. Chance to wear a white dress, a dunce cap, a wire stiffend suasage under hte dress, and a brown stai (shoepolish) on the back of the dress.
And of course a narrow mustache.
Hugh7
@Kenneth: “All science is theory. There is not proof of anything. You can put your faith in science or you can put your faith in God, but either way it is faith.”
You can believe this if you like, but if you use a computer to promulgate it on the Interwebz, you are a hypocrite.
alaskan
“Straight people will never realize they are degrading themselves and their own sexuality by being homophobes.”
Um, straight people are _not_ homophobes. Homophobes are homophobes. I’m straight. I couldn’t care less who does what as consenting adults. I’d prefer it stay in the bedroom. About half of the people I know are gay. But I’m not really sure. Which is a good thing. I don’t care enough to know whether they’re gay or not. I only know what my friends are when they introduce the partner. Then I can tell : ).
I can’t stand pervs. I think they should be castrated. Really, I do. I think there’s no rehabilitation possible and that making them eunuchs is both biblical and appropriate.
I can’t stand people who prey on children. Sexually, emotionally, physically, whatever. I hate bullies. Period.
This is a weird era. When I was a teenager in the 70s, people were gay, bi, or not. Nobody cared. You weren’t special because you were gay and I wasn’t special because I was straight.
You could act flamin’ if you wanted, and accept whatever consequence. You could just be a “regular” gay person and be yourself.
And me, too. I could be overly sexualized and accept the consequence, be called a tramp and gossiped about, get beat up by a cheerleader for sleeping with her boyfriend. Or I could just wear jeans and a t-shirt and be myself.
We all seemed to be okay with all of our varied differences. We all seemed to at least get along. What happened?
In the end, I think it all comes down to civility and respect. Nobody has any, anymore.
Chris Worley
Does not surprise me because people who often spew hate have lots of hate inside of them to hide. However, 6 million is cheap for the Baptist church they have that in the collection every Sunday.
He should have been held without bail. I guess he will blame the “Gay Devil” for his sick crime.
Mack Robertson
@OhPlease: I heartily agree with you. I’ve served on 8 juries, and I absolutely would volunteer to be on this one.
Mack Robertson
@Kenneth: My God, excuse me, your God, you have wasted so much of your precious time here on earth, typing so many comments on this site, that you should devote more time to enjoying life. Your ‘faith’ is based on nothing but fear. We Atheists shall be praying to our ‘Satanic Gods’ to help you realize you should be making the most of this life.
Shannon1981
@Kenneth: Did God tell you to come here and troll every day?
Mack Robertson
@Kenneth: As far as being intolerant of Christianity, BINGO! ‘Do unto others as they do unto to you.’
Kenneth
I know I’m speaking the truth when the Satanists respond with personal attacks.
What I would like to focus on is the fact that a man has been accused, not convicted. I have read one testimony from a fired former employee to his character of being a bully. While he may be a terrible person and an insincere Christian, it has yet to be proven as to whether or not he actually molested a child.
For anyone reading this, if you are ever alone with a child, you are exposing yourself to the liability of a false accusation. It’s actually quite easy to set someone up. If you have an enemy, you let your child be alone with him for any amount of time and then you coach the child as to what to say. The man will be arrested and unless he can afford bail, he will be jailed until he can prove his innocence at a trial. But trials are sometimes delayed for YEARS.
Even when a person does get to trial, how can anyone prove their innocence? When it’s your word against a child and his parent, you will be found guilty whether you did it or not, especially because of these Satanists who are itching to volunteer to be on the jury to get this man whom they have already judged.
Satan is the accuser. This is how I have come to understand the world. I speak of my religion because it is what I know.
The scientific community is just as full of hypocrites as any church. In the book Forbidden Archeology, it is explained how as much evidence is covered up as is discovered because it doesn’t fit the accepted paradigm. Rather than discussing any evidence or experiment that doesn’t make sense, it is ignored. That is how science works. It is just someone’s religion.
Ogre Magi
Kenneth
Are you really another name for Cassandra?
Mack Robertson
@Ogre Magi Cassandra is good, but how about Lilith for the pastor? Didn’t she prey on male children?
Tee
@Joy4Sweed: Just curious as to where his wife is. Is she not just as responsible as him?
Micaylamorrison
What I just read I don’t agree with. I attended not only the church but I went to his house to do yard work with his wife and played with his children, they were very well taken care of. & as far as nobody notifying the church goers we were notified about one or two weeks after the accusations had been made and he was arrested. Yes, we did stand behind him, everyone that knew him should of. He’s a kind man. with a big heart, I still believe to this day that Tom is not guilty. I attended the church since I was 13, now 18. I left the church due to the media and how they turned our church around. More and more people left our church embarrassed and ashamed. The day of the sentencing It was my 16th birthday and i was on vacation, the next day when I came back into town our church parking lot and the church itself was tagged and egged with rude and sad comments. He’s not guilty and I will believe in that until the day I take my last breath. We were a loving, family bonding church, and people took that away. So, yeah.
Micaylamorrison
@Tee: Brenda is not responsible. Yes, they have foster children. But, none were touched. I’m one of their best friends until this day.