Tags
abuse, churchians, corruption, insanitybytes22, opinion, rants, sad
There’s an old joke I really appreciate that says, “when satan fell from heaven he landed in the choir loft.” That’s poking fun at some of the envy, rivalry, comparison, infighting that can happen among musicians and performers of all sort.
Probably a much more serious truth, “when satan fell from heaven he landed smack dab in the middle of the church.” I actually take some comfort in that saying, it resonates with me, and it makes a certain kind of sense. An evil doer is not going to work among the darkness, the dark stuff of the world is already working for him, so he is going to go right where the light is.
That means there must be some light going on within the darn church, somewhere. It wouldn’t be a target for such evil and deception, if it didn’t have something that was at least, potentially good.
I don’t recommend watching this video, or rather, this is a really good documentary about the Church of England and the work that spanned decades of simply trying to hold Bishop Peter Ball accountable. It’s in two parts and called, “Exposed: The Church’s Darkest Secret.”
I don’t recommend watching it because it is triggering, traumatic, and it just breaks my heart. It’s also quite maddening and left me just wanting to scream. Fortunately I got to go help throw some firewood around, so some socially acceptable screaming presented itself in a timely manner and I got to blow off some steam. Arrggggg.
So I’m putting forth a big viewer discretion and telling people, it’s okay of you don’t want to watch it, or if you don’t feel called to confront this kind of really horrific evil. You can just take a pass, and more power to you! I’m already familiar with parts of the story and this video still distressed me, but it was really well done. I appreciate how they didn’t get too emotional, too melodramatic, and just stuck to telling the story. The whole story is emotional and tragic already in it’s plain form.
Something I do want to say, a concept shared by myself and so many others, it’s the cover up that is so evil, it’s circling the wagons and protecting the power structure, that really rankles. That’s what lurks behind those deep rooted feelings of powerlessness and injustice. Sometimes that is even more emotionally painful then the initial assault.
Sexual abuse is evidence that you have no human value, no worth in someone’s eyes. Those who look at the crime with apathy or complacency, and ignore it, validate that lie and amplify it. It’s still a lie, but lies are a lot harder to dig out when they are deeply rooted due to other people’s complicity.
A pedophile can be understood, even rationalized as a broken individual, dysfunctional, trapped in a compulsive hell of their own, perhaps suffering from a kind of mental disorder. But those who are charged with protecting children, those who hide letters pleading for help, those who bury evidence, make excuses, attempt to slander and discredit victims, multiple victims, those people simply cannot be understood. They are without excuse. Ten times as true if one is calling oneself “a Christian” while perpetrating such evil. If one is actually calling oneself a “Christian leader,” well, I got nothing but millstones to offer you.
Mark 14:21 says, “For the Son of Man is to go just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”
Better to be a non believer, an atheist, never born, then to be someone using the Lord’s name to abuse, exploit, and silence those in your care.
Those in His care.
Citizen Tom said:
The biggest problem in the church these days is that so many pastors and so many of the people who run seminaries don’t believe the Bible. That is why there is so much sexual sin in our society these days. The people who run our society see nothing wrong.
What is the greater sin? Is it to do wrong and be ashamed, or is it to do wrong without regret?
How is it that the LGBTQ alphabet soup nonsense ever got this far? The people who run our society see nothing wrong. Even those who understand that the differences between the sexes are clearly defined see nothing wrong. So, they have no problem looking the other way and playing their fiddle while our country burns. Instead of making any effort to stand against the evil of sexual sin, they are fashionable. They see nothing wrong, and they even encourage sinful behavior IN THE NAME OF CHRIST.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Good point about believing the Bible, Tom. If we believe it, then we try to live it! Obviously we are all flawed and in need of grace, but that’s the essence of it. You are right, there are people who say the right words, and sometimes even wear the frocks, but they don’t believe the Bible.
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pkadams said:
This was in my feed after a post complaining about banning sexually explicit books in public schools. I had ti unfollow that person who believes that America should have no moral code . But I hate, with all my heart, all kinds of hypocrisy, especially church evil.
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insanitybytes22 said:
I’m with you on that! Make childhood innocence a thing again. Lets shelter kids and protect them from things they are not yet ready to handle emotionally and spiritually.
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bluebird of bitterness said:
Amen sister.
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atimetoshare.me said:
I believe that the world is upside down right now. What used to be wrong has grown acceptable. There are no real consequences for bad behavior. We have adapted to fit in. Gods word is just a book of man made stories to scare people into feeling guilty. The devil will always chew on those who follow God. They’re the biggest threat to him.
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insanitybytes22 said:
True, Kathy! I suppose the world has always been upside down, but it sure feels as if people tolerate things they shouldn’t and there are few consequences for doing evil. At the very least, I would have demanded everyone in charge, resign.
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atimetoshare.me said:
Great idea🤣❤️
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Angela Somers Wittman said:
Thanks for this blog post. I plan to watch the documentary later; I’ll brace myself before viewing the video as I have a Scottish temper. 🙂
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insanitybytes22 said:
Good for you! It’s taken me a while to finally sit down and watch it. I’m glad I did, but it really made me angry and sad, too.
Someone in the video said something about how this was particularly cruel because the outside of the Church of England is very ornate and beautiful, full of hope and promise, but the inside is just institutional grey. That resonated with me, because I would really like to see the inside of our churches match the outside, and for people to find Who they are looking for.
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Tricia said:
I’ve not watched the video yet, but already the topic, child sex abuse in the church and the coverup of it gets my blood boiling. It’s the epitome of evil really to harm the most vulnerable and impressionable members of society in the most vicious of ways before heading to the pulpit to sermonize on Christian ethics. Appalling and disgusting. Thank you for continuing to expose light to this dark subject.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks, Tricia. My heart is just broken for these young men.
It’s also interesting in terms of power structures, geo political affairs. This scandal went right to the top, with Prince Charles actually defending and advocating for his guy. He of course, is now the King of England. I’m feeling rather grateful our ancestors once fought the British and gained our independence.
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Tricia said:
I didn’t know that about Prince Charles but am not surprised.
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PARTNERING WITH EAGLES said:
I have a copy of Foxe’s Christian Martyrs of the World, by Barbour Publishing Inc; I had read 2/3rds of it, but never finished it. In the book, the purges in 17th century England are more able to be stomached than a video, but still intense, which is why I never finished reading it. Catholics “missed the boat” thinking Peter was the rock, Jesus spoke of; He was speaking of Himself, or His father, see my posting: https://partneringwitheagles.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/upon-this-rock-using-the-bible-to-prove-the-bible/
My mother, had perceive that Jesus was speaking of Himself; there are references to “The Rock”, “Our Rock” Etc, in the Old testament, which is why in my post, I stated that He was speaking of His father.
You can get a PDF of the original publication here:
https://booksvooks.com/foxes-book-of-martyrs-pdf-john-foxe.html
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PARTNERING WITH EAGLES said:
Other sources:
https://youbookinc.com/pdf/christian-martyrs-under-islam/
https://www.automationjournal.org/download/christian-martyrs-under-islam/
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks for the links, Partnering. Church history is not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure. People are quite wise to look at her with some healthy skepticism!
I’m quite grateful to be an American right now, and our churches are far from perfect, there are horrific scandals within the protestant arm, too. I really like what James Madison once wrote about keeping the church separate to help keep the church pure. We’re not in danger of “contaminating” government with some good Christian values, the church is in danger of being contaminated by government and assorted secular power structures. The door between us becomes a two way door, one all manner of evil can walk through and find refuge in.
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HAT said:
@Partnering with Eagles – Fox’s Book of Martyrs! Traditionally at least, a book every self-respecting Mennonite household would keep on the shelf right next to the Bible. I grew up with it. Illustrated. Idk whether it qualifies as a book children are emotionally prepared to handle or not, but it makes a deep impression.
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Clyde Herrin said:
Reblogged this on clydeherrin.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thank you, Clyde. Much appreciated.
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Jack Curtis said:
Don’t cultures seem to cycle better and worse behavior? Including churches and governments? And are those much different, but that one claims to speak for God while the other has an army? The difficulty in perfecting my own behavior clarifies my expectations of human organizations . Sigh …
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insanitybytes22 said:
Good comparison between having God and having an army. Those are both symbols of force and power which is awesome if you are using to protect the innocent or keep bad guys away, but absolutely appalling when it is used against people to manipulate and control them.
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Jack Curtis said:
Bingo! You have captured the conundrum of human behavior in a nutshell.
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The Night Wind said:
In England, the British Monarch is also the head of the Church of England, which probably explains a lot right there. Here in the U.S., abuse in the church is a multifaceted problem. The Media likes to focus on the church here, because it diverts attention from the far worse abuse of both children and legal minors going on in the public schools, so-called ‘child welfare system’, the so-called ‘juvenile justice system’, and Big Pharma’s relentless pushing dope on the young.
Our problems stem mostly from bad parenting, academic corruption, regulatory capture of responsible government agencies, Churchianity, and our culture’s schizophrenic attitudes towards sexuality. Bad parenting is at the root of all of these problems, though nobody wants to talk about that. If Americans parents want to dump their kids on society, they shouldn’t be surprised when perverts and abusers come swooping in to fill the vacuum.
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insanitybytes22 said:
I think you are right, the dynamic is a bit different in England and in America our problems really are multifaceted.
Pedophiles tend to prey on the isolated and vulnerable. In America we have a lot of broken and dysfunctional families, an addiction epidemic, and a culture coming at us 24/7 trying to legitimize and make acceptable every possible perversion there is. It’s easy to blame bad parenting, but we haven’t exactly done anything to make our communities the kind of environment where good parenting can thrive. In fact, we’ve done the precise opposite.
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The Night Wind said:
True: but I do include community failures as part of bad parenting, since families are the basis of a society. Too few families are involved in their communities to ensure that they are family friendly.
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insanitybytes22 said:
That is true and there is definitely some individual responsibility that is sorely lacking, but I also think we fail to realize there has been an outright war on families going on for a few decades now. You often have to fight against the public school system, and sometimes against child protective services, all while coping with a bad economy and trying to keep a roof over your head. At least back in the day you could go to the public library without enduring drag queen story hour and you weren’t in danger of losing custody if you didn’t agree to support your child’s new identity as a sea lion.
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Anna Waldherr said:
With your permission, I would like to reblog this powerful post on Sunday.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Of course! Thank you, Anna.
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HAT said:
There’s congregational research, too, that backs up that claim that it’s the cover-up that really wrecks things. Congregations with histories of sexual misconduct that dealt with it quickly and out in the open did better, in terms of things like member retention, than congregations with similar histories that had also engaged in cover-ups. The article I read on that once upon a time is at least 25 years old – it’s not new news.
But really, it’s even older news than that. Because what’s the purpose of a cover-up? Trying to “save face”? Not to be perceived as what one actually is, or to have done what one actually has done? So – in essence – you’ve decided human opinion based on falsehood is more important to you than truth is. And the minute you make that decision, you’ve decided to stop being the church.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Amen, Hat. That’s really well said.
I guess the lies and deception with the church upset me even more then they do in the secular world for that very reason.
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Chado said:
Perfect segue to a great 1972 documentary that I dare any true Christian to watch:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/IircSqtAOQxH/
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Jack Curtis said:
Chado: Infirmities preclude compliance but if you might summarize?
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