In other words, religious abuse did not just occur at the hands of Mark Driscoll and did not end when his tenure did. Acts 29 churches continue to attempt to control the lives of their members.
I can somewhat relate to her dilemma. The thing is, he can be repentant and look as sorrowful as can be and still be a snake in the grass, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This happened to me, though not kiddie porn. My ex has come out smelling like roses. He’s a repentant church member in good standing and everybody feels sorry for him that I so callously divorced him. Nobody – and I mean nobody – knows what happens behind closed doors. And nobody should be able to determine for any spouse when enough is just enough.
AND, it’s typical that the church leadership should want to cover up such horrendous behavior. I’m glad that an investigation turned up no evidence that Root had taken his fetish to a physical level, but the church would have been just as happy to have no investigation at all.
How can anyone have any faith in the institution of the Church after reading this. For years the Catholic Church abandoned it’s care towards parishioners by hiding details of unnatural behaviour by priests with young boys, of violence by nuns towards children in care, and now this.
Hugs
Oh my friend, one of my former theology professors was known even to students for having had affairs…
But he sincerely repented, so good enough to teach!
And pastor counselors voted back into pastoral duties after several counts of adultery, with former wife still a member?
Just one of the many reasons why I decided to deconvert…
Again and again we see the same stories. We hear the same right wing religious douchebags who call for the most extreme punishments for child sex crimes and then do whatever they can to protect their own no matter how heinous their crimes. Hypocrisy and religion go hand in hand, it’ll never change until the judiciary stops coddling religious groups. 😦
I wonder whether the church leaders in question genuinely think that document they have their members sign upon joining the church is legally binding. I highly doubt that it is. These people are basically expected to sign away their right to make decisions about their personal lives, and that’s an awful thing to expect someone to do. As frustrated as I am with the way Catholicism handles things like divorce, at least they limit their control to in-church punishments like not being able to receive communion. This whole “you’re not allowed to stop being a member” thing is absolutely ridiculous.
My unresearched opinion is that cults are invented; religions evolve organically, beginning with humankind’s innate longing for the divine. As a Christian, I believe that longing is part of God’s creation. As St. Augustine put it, “I am restless until I find my rest in Thee.” Also, as a Christian, I see how religions devolve and splinter into cults – the divine is always (mis)interpreted by the human. And power does corrupt. As acflory noted, the powerful seek only to protect themselves, and will twist any truth to hold onto power.
Of course, another definition of a cult is “any religion but one’s own.” That’s a nice humbling thought when I get on a high-horse, and by that definition, my dear m.a.l, your post is perfectly accurate. 🙂
You may be right. I was thinking – Buddha didn’t set out to found a religion. Ergo, it’s a religion. Joseph Smith & L. Ron Hubbard did, ergo cults. I can think of other long-lived cults, but their adherents are REALLY touchy, so I won’t name names.
By that standard, Christianity started as a Jewish cult. (hard to explain away, “You are Peter and on this rock I build my church.” and “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” The guy was founding a religion.) But I think it evolved, devolved, reformed, deformed – now it’s just a mess. But it’s my mess
And, we can call Christianity and especially its off-shoots “cults’ without worrying about being burned. In this century.
Sadly any group that becomes a behemoth – secular or religious – seeks only to protect itself. We’re going through some horrendous revelations here at the moment, and the rot is /not/ restricted to the Catholic Church and other, similar church type institutions. It’s almost as if they do not comprehend that the sexual abuse of children is bad.
It is almost too ludicrous to believe, but having attended a Baptist Church for several years in my teens, I know they like to have a lot of control over you. I cannot understand how any organisation, religious or not, can ignore child abuse.
There have been a lot of sins perpetrated by religious people. How dare a group of ‘good’ people do that? How can you demand a woman stay with her husband and brush the secrets under the rug. A pat on the head and sent to bed like a child, just to feed the lust of the pedophiles in the church. Disgusting. If you want to find all the pedophiles, start with the churches.
My Mazamet 
In other words, religious abuse did not just occur at the hands of Mark Driscoll and did not end when his tenure did. Acts 29 churches continue to attempt to control the lives of their members.
I can somewhat relate to her dilemma. The thing is, he can be repentant and look as sorrowful as can be and still be a snake in the grass, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This happened to me, though not kiddie porn. My ex has come out smelling like roses. He’s a repentant church member in good standing and everybody feels sorry for him that I so callously divorced him. Nobody – and I mean nobody – knows what happens behind closed doors. And nobody should be able to determine for any spouse when enough is just enough.
LikeLiked by 2 people
AND, it’s typical that the church leadership should want to cover up such horrendous behavior. I’m glad that an investigation turned up no evidence that Root had taken his fetish to a physical level, but the church would have been just as happy to have no investigation at all.
LikeLiked by 2 people
How can anyone have any faith in the institution of the Church after reading this. For years the Catholic Church abandoned it’s care towards parishioners by hiding details of unnatural behaviour by priests with young boys, of violence by nuns towards children in care, and now this.
Hugs
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Thank you. I found this so important I made a post about it on my blog. Hugs
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Wow. Just wow!
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Oh my friend, one of my former theology professors was known even to students for having had affairs…
But he sincerely repented, so good enough to teach!
And pastor counselors voted back into pastoral duties after several counts of adultery, with former wife still a member?
Just one of the many reasons why I decided to deconvert…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Again and again we see the same stories. We hear the same right wing religious douchebags who call for the most extreme punishments for child sex crimes and then do whatever they can to protect their own no matter how heinous their crimes. Hypocrisy and religion go hand in hand, it’ll never change until the judiciary stops coddling religious groups. 😦
LikeLiked by 2 people
I wonder whether the church leaders in question genuinely think that document they have their members sign upon joining the church is legally binding. I highly doubt that it is. These people are basically expected to sign away their right to make decisions about their personal lives, and that’s an awful thing to expect someone to do. As frustrated as I am with the way Catholicism handles things like divorce, at least they limit their control to in-church punishments like not being able to receive communion. This whole “you’re not allowed to stop being a member” thing is absolutely ridiculous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is only one religion that is not a cult … and it has not yet been invented.
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My unresearched opinion is that cults are invented; religions evolve organically, beginning with humankind’s innate longing for the divine. As a Christian, I believe that longing is part of God’s creation. As St. Augustine put it, “I am restless until I find my rest in Thee.” Also, as a Christian, I see how religions devolve and splinter into cults – the divine is always (mis)interpreted by the human. And power does corrupt. As acflory noted, the powerful seek only to protect themselves, and will twist any truth to hold onto power.
Of course, another definition of a cult is “any religion but one’s own.” That’s a nice humbling thought when I get on a high-horse, and by that definition, my dear m.a.l, your post is perfectly accurate. 🙂
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What do you call a cult that has been around for hundreds of years?
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Aristocracy?
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The Girl Scouts?
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Bravo!
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LOL I was thinking any cult that has been around long enough is just called a religion.
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You may be right. I was thinking – Buddha didn’t set out to found a religion. Ergo, it’s a religion. Joseph Smith & L. Ron Hubbard did, ergo cults. I can think of other long-lived cults, but their adherents are REALLY touchy, so I won’t name names.
By that standard, Christianity started as a Jewish cult. (hard to explain away, “You are Peter and on this rock I build my church.” and “go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” The guy was founding a religion.) But I think it evolved, devolved, reformed, deformed – now it’s just a mess. But it’s my mess
And, we can call Christianity and especially its off-shoots “cults’ without worrying about being burned. In this century.
LikeLike
Sadly any group that becomes a behemoth – secular or religious – seeks only to protect itself. We’re going through some horrendous revelations here at the moment, and the rot is /not/ restricted to the Catholic Church and other, similar church type institutions. It’s almost as if they do not comprehend that the sexual abuse of children is bad.
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That left me speechless.
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Just way too heavy.
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It is almost too ludicrous to believe, but having attended a Baptist Church for several years in my teens, I know they like to have a lot of control over you. I cannot understand how any organisation, religious or not, can ignore child abuse.
LikeLike
There have been a lot of sins perpetrated by religious people. How dare a group of ‘good’ people do that? How can you demand a woman stay with her husband and brush the secrets under the rug. A pat on the head and sent to bed like a child, just to feed the lust of the pedophiles in the church. Disgusting. If you want to find all the pedophiles, start with the churches.
LikeLike