Immorality in American Christianity

[LFC]

This one twisted mofo.

The Christian Post reports:

John Piper recently offered advice on how a Christian wife can pray for her nonbelieving husband, which included asking God to “circumcise his heart.”

In the latest episode of the “Ask Pastor John” podcast posted on the Desiring God website, Piper answered a question submitted by a woman named “Rose” who asked the prominent theologian and pastor for advice on how she should pray for her non-Christian husband.

In his answer, Piper began by noting that he came to the question from the perspective of someone who believes “God is sovereign” and “can overcome all resistance and save the hardest sinner.”

Read the full article.

Piper first appeared on JMG in 2015 when he declared that sex is for Christians only:

Sex belongs to Christians. Because sex belongs to God. ‘God created it to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.’

If it is used by those who do not believe and know the truth, it is prostituted. They have exchanged the glory of God for images. They have torn sex from its God-appointed place in the orbit of marriage.

But they do not know what they are doing. And the price they will pay in this life and the next is incalculable. The pleasures of sex are meant for believers.

In 2020, YouTube removed a Piper sermon in which he declared COVID to be God’s judgement for sin. The usual suspects screamed in outrage.

Last year, we heard from Piper again when declared all sexual role-playing to be against Jesus because “fantasized sin is still sin.”

[LFC]

Of course it's not just in America.

The Church of England has found hundreds of new cases involving allegations of abuse of vulnerable adults and children by clergy, Church officers and volunteers.

The reviewers found 383 cases relating to abuse, that the Church says require further attention.

The Church says this is its most extensive review of past abuse cases.

The archbishops of Canterbury and York apologised and expressed "profound shame" at the findings.

The new report came about after criticism of the previous Past Cases Review, published in 2010, which said the Church had found only 13 new cases requiring further action.

The updated version, published on Wednesday, is highly critical of a culture within the Church that is portrayed as still not adequately dealing with abuse.

"The Church is still at risk of failing others in the future unless there are further significant changes of culture and attitude as well as adherence to more detailed and effective safeguarding practices," it says.

Of the 383 new cases, 168 relate to children and 149 to vulnerable adults.

The rest either involve both or have insufficient data.

[LFC]

Another one. Where are all those dangerous transsexuals and drag queens who molest and rape children anyway? The only explanation is that they're all being left alone by those involved with the liberal agenda.

A former United Methodist pastor in Wisconsin has been convicted of possession of child pornography and will be sentenced next month, according to court records.

Rick E. Haberland, 49, pleaded no contest on Friday to four counts of possession of child porn and one count of possession of methamphetamine, according to Outagamie County court records.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 14, records show. Possession of child porn is a Class D felony under Wisconsin law, punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Possession of meth is a Class I felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison and two years’ probation.

Nine other charges of possession of child porn were dismissed but read into Haberland’s record.

Authorities started investigating Haberland based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Haberland in February after a search of his home and church. Authorities seized his phone and found more than 150 videos on it, showing children being sexually abused, according to the criminal complaint.

This is the kind of thing that makes me think about supporting the death penalty.

Messages in Haberland’s online accounts indicated he preferred “less than legal” children. A profile found on his phone also stated that his personal motto was “molest, abuse, rape & reuse.” Haberland admitted to setting up videoconference meetings to view child sexual abuse material, according to the criminal complaint.

[LFC]

Another pervert pastor. And the transsexuals and drag queens still can't get on the scoreboard. It's almost like they aren't even trying to molest children.

A former photography teacher convicted of forcing a student to pose nude for photos will spend the next five years in prison. The sentence was handed down in late September by Judge Jacqueline Stam.

Jeffrey Whiston, 44, was arrested in mid-April after the girl told friends about what happened, which ultimately made its way to the police. The student told investigators she agreed to meet the then-Chiawana High School teacher for a free photo shoot under the guise of "senior pictures," adding she brought several outfits, including a swimsuit.

According to court documents, the photoshoot at Whiston's home in Benton City, Washington, was routine at first, with Whiston directing the student to be more revealing and pose provocatively.

He then asked the student to undress completely. Court documents go on to say the victim felt like she had to, as Whiston stood between her and the photo studio's exit. Police found numerous photos of the victim while undressed, but covered up. The victim, according to documents, declined to go fully nude, to which Whiston asked if she would feel more comfortable doing that when she turned 18.

Whiston, who was fired from the school district just under 17 weeks after the incident, received the maximum sentence under state sentencing guidelines. He will have to register as a sex offender when he's released and will spend three years on probation.

[LFC]

Learn your place, ladies. This seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention says you're not fit to be a pastor.

A Southern Baptist Convention seminary passed a resolution affirming its president's stance that only men can be pastors, an indirect response to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church ordaining three women pastors last year.

At their fall meeting last week, the trustees at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the seminary's administration to continue theologically training both men and women, "but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor."

"It is further resolved that this Board encourages The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administration and faculty to continue its theological training with this stated conviction —graduating both men and women for service to the church, but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor," stated the resolution, in part.

The resolution commended the stance of SBTS President Albert Mohler, who helped craft the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, the official statement of faith for the SBC.

[snip]

In May 2021, Saddleback Church garnered controversy in SBC circles by ordaining three women — Liz Puffer, Cynthia Petty and Katie Edwards — despite the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 stating the "office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

Mohler penned a column denouncing Saddleback's ordinations as "contrary to Scripture" and "an attempt to redefine and reformulate the convictional foundation of Southern Baptist faith and cooperative ministry."

"The theological issues have not changed since the year 2000 when Southern Baptists spoke clearly and precisely in the Baptist Faith & Message. More importantly, the Holy Scriptures have not changed and cannot change," wrote Mohler at the time.

Some within the SBC pushed for Saddleback to be disfellowshiped from the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

However, the SBC Credentials Committee, which handles issues regarding whether member churches are abiding by the SBC standards, announced at the SBC Annual Meeting in June that it would delay a decision on Saddleback.

Must be that whole "original sin of Eve" and verses like these, which I personally find disgusting and utterly immoral.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ESV
The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.

If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 ESV
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

[Bact PhD]

Oct 19, 2022 22:12:05 GMT LFC said:

Learn your place, ladies. This seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention says you're not fit to be a pastor.

A Southern Baptist Convention seminary passed a resolution affirming its president's stance that only men can be pastors, an indirect response to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church ordaining three women pastors last year.

At their fall meeting last week, the trustees at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, unanimously approved a resolution encouraging the seminary's administration to continue theologically training both men and women, "but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor."

"It is further resolved that this Board encourages The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary administration and faculty to continue its theological training with this stated conviction —graduating both men and women for service to the church, but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor," stated the resolution, in part.

The resolution commended the stance of SBTS President Albert Mohler, who helped craft the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, the official statement of faith for the SBC.

[snip]

In May 2021, Saddleback Church garnered controversy in SBC circles by ordaining three women — Liz Puffer, Cynthia Petty and Katie Edwards — despite the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 stating the "office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

Mohler penned a column denouncing Saddleback's ordinations as "contrary to Scripture" and "an attempt to redefine and reformulate the convictional foundation of Southern Baptist faith and cooperative ministry."

"The theological issues have not changed since the year 2000 when Southern Baptists spoke clearly and precisely in the Baptist Faith & Message. More importantly, the Holy Scriptures have not changed and cannot change," wrote Mohler at the time.

Some within the SBC pushed for Saddleback to be disfellowshiped from the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

However, the SBC Credentials Committee, which handles issues regarding whether member churches are abiding by the SBC standards, announced at the SBC Annual Meeting in June that it would delay a decision on Saddleback.

Must be that whole "original sin of Eve" and verses like these, which I personally find disgusting and utterly immoral.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 ESV
The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.

If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 ESV
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

Sigh. Different decade, same “clobber passages.” TBH, I came to the conclusion a long time ago that Paul didn’t really like women very much.

Never mind that those folks choose to ignore that, according to John 20 and Luke 24, it was MARY MAGDALENE who first saw the risen Christ. Moreover, Matthew’s account has her being “sent forth” (ya know, kinda like one of those “apostles”) to tell Peter and the guys.
The cherry-picking is strong with these folks.

[andydp]

“The cherry-picking is strong with these folks.”

Leviticus is a good one. The only thing they know is the part about “icky gay sex”.

[LFC]

I'd categorize this as a good start.

A Columbus pastor on trial for several charges committed suicide during a recess.

According to the Muscogee County coroner, 51-year-old Christopher Daron Smith was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m. on Oct. 19 from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Smith’s defense attorney, Shevon Thomas, II, says the judge gave a five-minute recess during the trial before the last witness was to be heard. At the time of the break, the attorney says Smtih killed himself behind Thomas’s office.

In 2019, the former pastor of Word of Truth Outreach Ministries in Columbus was arrested for child molestation after a police standoff.

Smith was charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, sodomy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

[goldenvalley]

Oct 20, 2022 21:29:36 GMT LFC said:

I'd categorize this as a good start.

A Columbus pastor on trial for several charges committed suicide during a recess.

According to the Muscogee County coroner, 51-year-old Christopher Daron Smith was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m. on Oct. 19 from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Smith’s defense attorney, Shevon Thomas, II, says the judge gave a five-minute recess during the trial before the last witness was to be heard. At the time of the break, the attorney says Smtih killed himself behind Thomas’s office.

In 2019, the former pastor of Word of Truth Outreach Ministries in Columbus was arrested for child molestation after a police standoff.

Smith was charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, sodomy and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

How did he get the gun?  Not that it matters. As far as I'm concerned the end result is ok, but having a firearm so close to the courthouse is a major problem.

[LFC]

Oct 20, 2022 23:16:51 GMT goldenvalley said:

How did he get the gun? 

Weeeelllll, it IS Georgia.

[pnwguy]

Oct 20, 2022 23:33:48 GMT LFC said:

Oct 20, 2022 23:16:51 GMT goldenvalley said:

How did he get the gun? 

Weeeelllll, it IS Georgia.

Maybe MTG was at the trial to pray thst he was exonerated, and she loaned him a gun?

[goldenvalley]

Oct 21, 2022 5:42:50 GMT pnwguy said:

Oct 20, 2022 23:33:48 GMT LFC said:

Weeeelllll, it IS Georgia.

Maybe MTG was at the trial to pray thst he was exonerated, and she loaned him a gun?

Or she did the shooting herself given what he was charged with...did I just write that?

[LFC]

"Youth pastor." Meanwhile trans people and drag queens just refuse to get on the scoreboard by molesting kids. It's almost like, unlike so many "pastors", they have no interest in sex with children.

A former West Columbia youth pastor is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy for more than two years.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department announced Oct. 21 the arrest of Michael Paul Keech, 41, “charged with three second-degree counts and one third-degree count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16,” according to a press release.

The release states that the alleged victim recounted sexual encounters with Creech stretching from July 2019 to February 2022.

“Our investigation started after a family member of the alleged victim reported signs of the abuse to us,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon is quoted. “Our work on the case included gathering evidence from the alleged victim’s home and interviewing him.”

According to Keech’s Facebook page, he began working at Saluda River Baptist Church in April 2019.

Reached by the Chronicle, John Yorio, the church’s pastor, confirmed that Keech was employed as a youth pastor there until he was fired in March 2021.

“I had just started two weeks beforehand,” Yorio said. “And there were some things that were in the personnel file that I found to be not conducive of the personality and character of somebody serving in ministry. So we fired him.”

Yorio said he could not comment further on what caused Keech to be fired.

“What I can say is that we, from then up until recently, have cooperated with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department,” the pastor said. “They have all the information we have.”

Arrest warrants provided to the Chronicle offer more detail on the sexual abuse Keech is accused of committing.

[LFC]

Being fine with the mass murder on Jews and gays. What could be more Christian(tm)?

Christian preacher Jonathan Shelley of the Stedfast Baptist Church in Watauga, Texas said that he doesn’t think the Holocaust happened but that he would feel “lucky” if it did. He compared genocide of the Jewish people to shooting gay people.

“These Jews that are out there, they want to destroy everything that is holy, everything that is righteous,” Shelley said. “In our culture, it is not acceptable to say anything negative about them.”

He then mocked people who oppose antisemitism: “The Hol- Haven’t you heard about the Holocaust, Pastor Shelley?”

“Yeah. Why do I care? I mean, if someone walks into a homo bar and shoots ’em all, shoots a bunch of homos and kills all of them, you know how many tears I’d shed for that? Zero,” he said, saying that he doesn’t “care how many of them die” because they “worship the devil.”

“You say, ‘Well, Adolf Hitler was evil,'” he continued. “Absolutely! That guy was full of the devil. That guy was an antichrist figure. You know what? If an antichrist kills another antichrist, I don’t cry even one second.”

“‘Well, he killed six million,'” he said in a mocking tone. “I doubt it. Only if we were lucky.”

He then said that the defining characteristic of Jesus was that he would “preach against the Jews” and not that he was Jewish.

He doesn't just accept the murder of gays, he celebrates it and wants more, more, more.

Shelley has a long history of hateful comments, and not just in his church. Earlier this year, he told the Arlington, Texas city council that gay people should be executed as some people in the audience shouted “Amen” and “Yup.”

“According to God we should hate Pride, not celebrate it,” he said. “God has already ruled that murder, adultery, witchcraft, rape, bestiality, and homosexuality are crimes worthy of capital punishment.”

Shelley has declared that gay men are all pedophiles and once celebrated the death of a 75-year-old gay man last year. Jim Fahy, a member of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus, was killed when a driver accidentally drove into the Wilton Manors Pride Parade.

“And, you know, it’s great when trucks accidentally go through those, you know, parades,” Pastor Shelley said about the tragedy. “I think only one person died. So hopefully we can hope for more in the future.”

“You say, ‘Well, that’s mean.’ Yeah, but the Bible says that they’re worthy of death!” he continued. “They say, ‘Are you sad when fags die?’ No. I think it’s great! I hope they all die! I would love it if every fag would die right now.”

“And you say, ‘Well, I don’t think that’s what you really mean.’ That’s exactly what I mean. I really mean it!”

[LFC]

The asshat above is part of a network of hateful, utter nutter zealots. Of course there's scandal popping up because these places tend to attract the worst of the worst.

Anti-LGBT hate group Stedfast Baptist Church (SBC) has split after pastor Donnie Romero resigned from the main SBC church in Fort Worth, Texas, in early January amidst revelations that he hired prostitutes and was involved in gambling and marijuana.

Romero garnered national attention for comments following the 2016 massacre of 49 patrons by a lone gunman at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, popular with LGBT people. Romero celebrated the massacre, said that God should finish the job, and referred to the murdered patrons as “sodomites,” “perverts” and “pedophiles.”

The split occurred in the SBC-Jacksonville (SBC-Jax) congregation around the same time as the ordination in Fort Worth of Texas pastor Jonathan Shelley, brought in to replace Romero on Jan. 6.

Romero had also been the head pastor of SBC-Jax and SBC-Oklahoma City, satellite churches of the main Fort Worth branch under the pastorship of Fort Worth. The satellite churches become independent once their pastors are ordained by the head pastor of SBC-Fort Worth. No preacher at the SBC satellites has been fully ordained.

The split, which occurred over Shelley, revealed acrimony and personal slights among churches and their congregations involved in an ambitious movement launched by Steven Anderson, pastor at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, an anti-LGBT hate group. Romero was a former congregant of Anderson’s.

Anderson has garnered international attention in previous years for calling for the deaths of LGBT people and has been banned from entering several countries for his anti-LGBT rhetoric.

SBC is part of Anderson’s network, called the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement (New IFB), which claims it is not a denomination but rather a “revival of what the old IFB once represented.” New IFB churches, like the old Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, use the King James Bible. The old IFB movement was founded in the 1940s to reclaim the fundamentalism of the 1920s.

Anderson’s network has churches in the U.S. but also one in South Africa, four in the Philippines, and two in Australia.

[goldenvalley]

Oct 31, 2022 17:07:06 GMT LFC said:

The asshat above is part of a network of hateful, utter nutter zealots. Of course there's scandal popping up because these places tend to attract the worst of the worst.

Anti-LGBT hate group Stedfast Baptist Church (SBC) has split after pastor Donnie Romero resigned from the main SBC church in Fort Worth, Texas, in early January amidst revelations that he hired prostitutes and was involved in gambling and marijuana.

Romero garnered national attention for comments following the 2016 massacre of 49 patrons by a lone gunman at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, popular with LGBT people. Romero celebrated the massacre, said that God should finish the job, and referred to the murdered patrons as “sodomites,” “perverts” and “pedophiles.”

The split occurred in the SBC-Jacksonville (SBC-Jax) congregation around the same time as the ordination in Fort Worth of Texas pastor Jonathan Shelley, brought in to replace Romero on Jan. 6.

Romero had also been the head pastor of SBC-Jax and SBC-Oklahoma City, satellite churches of the main Fort Worth branch under the pastorship of Fort Worth. The satellite churches become independent once their pastors are ordained by the head pastor of SBC-Fort Worth. No preacher at the SBC satellites has been fully ordained.

The split, which occurred over Shelley, revealed acrimony and personal slights among churches and their congregations involved in an ambitious movement launched by Steven Anderson, pastor at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, an anti-LGBT hate group. Romero was a former congregant of Anderson’s.

Anderson has garnered international attention in previous years for calling for the deaths of LGBT people and has been banned from entering several countries for his anti-LGBT rhetoric.

SBC is part of Anderson’s network, called the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement (New IFB), which claims it is not a denomination but rather a “revival of what the old IFB once represented.” New IFB churches, like the old Independent Fundamental Baptist churches, use the King James Bible. The old IFB movement was founded in the 1940s to reclaim the fundamentalism of the 1920s.

Anderson’s network has churches in the U.S. but also one in South Africa, four in the Philippines, and two in Australia.

I'm not a spelling nazi but gee church members can't you change the name to Steadfast, instead of Stedfast. Was there a character limit on church names in the organization?

[LFC]

Clearly the Catholic Church wasn't unique, just the first to get his with a serious blast of sunlight. In less centrally controlled Protestant churches the cases just keep popping up.

A former youth pastor and parochial school principal from Edinburgh is facing multiple felony charges related to sex crimes against a child.

Indiana State Police arrested Jonathan Mark Myers, 41, on Thursday, Oct. 27, on three counts of Class B felony sexual misconduct with a minor, one count of Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor and four counts of Class D felony child seduction.

Myers is accused of repeated and continued sexual abuse against a child from the time the child was 15 until they turned 18 years old.

The alleged crimes reportedly took place between March 30, 2009, and March 29, 2012, while Myers was a principal, teacher, youth leader and Sunday School minister at a church and school in Edinburgh.

Investigators found the alleged victim's personal journal detailing the years of abuse and a romantic card that Myers had given to the person, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The alleged victim told investigators Myers took them to a wooded area in Shelby County multiple times for sexual activity until the person turned 18.

[LFC]

One and two more and still the drag queen and trans people can't / won't get on the scoreboard.

An adult youth pastor has been arrested after allegedly sending sexually explicit material to a minor in his youth group.

The Fountain Police Department began investigating the report on Oct. 13, 2022. The investigation led to 38-year-old Jeffery Williams' arrest on Nov. 10.

Williams was a pastor at the 901 N. Santa Fe Ave. Salvation Army location in Fountain [,Colorado].

CARMI, Ill. (BP) – A former staff member of the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services was sentenced to 22 years in prison Nov. 3 in White County Circuit Court.

Daniel W. Lanning pled guilty to two counts of criminal sexual assault of a minor ages 13-17. He was arrested in April on four counts involving a teenager in his care at the Carmi facility. Two charges were dropped. The sentence is 11 years for each of the class 1 felony counts to run consecutively.

Lanning and his wife were house parents in a BCHFS cottage from July 2021 until the time of his arrest when his employment was terminated. His wife was not implicated in the investigation. Interim BCHFS Executive Director Doug Devore said a thorough background check was conducted at the time Lanning was hired with no incidents reported.

[LFC]

C'mon, drag queens. Why do you refuse to be a danger to children like Christian pastors? Bonus FU points for blaming a "pornography addiction." Dude, your religion f***ed you up, bigly. Just admit what the cause of the problem really is. The truth will set you free.

Texas pastor was arrested and charged with multiple criminal counts involved with child pornography on Wednesday. An Austin federal court accuses 56-year-old David Lloyd Walther of knowingly searching for, downloading, distributing, and possessing child pornography after an FBI search of the suspect’s home, vehicle, and two computer hard drives.

The criminal complaint alleges that Walther downloaded and made available child pornography using the peer-to-peer file-sharing network, BitTorrent. The former pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock, TX – a suburb of Austin, the state capital – faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. According to the Department of Justice:

“Walther is charged with distribution, receipt, transportation and possession of child pornography. If convicted, Walther faces up to 20 years in prison. Walther made his initial appearance today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Austin. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”

The disgraced man of God told an FBI agent that “he had a pornography addiction and would often go through cycles of downloading and viewing pornography depicting both adults and minors,” The Austin American Statesman reported.

“He also said that he would download child pornography files, ‘but would often feel guilty and go through a “purging” of files, i.e., deleting the images and associated files, because he knew it was wrong, and that he last purged files on November 08, 2022, the night before the search warrants were served,’ according to the complaint.”

Several law enforcement agencies are working on the investigation, including the San Antonio branch of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Round Rock Police Department.

[goldenvalley]

Nov 14, 2022 21:22:37 GMT LFC said:

C'mon, drag queens. Why do you refuse to be a danger to children like Christian pastors? Bonus FU points for blaming a "pornography addiction." Dude, your religion f***ed you up, bigly. Just admit what the cause of the problem really is. The truth will set you free.

Texas pastor was arrested and charged with multiple criminal counts involved with child pornography on Wednesday. An Austin federal court accuses 56-year-old David Lloyd Walther of knowingly searching for, downloading, distributing, and possessing child pornography after an FBI search of the suspect’s home, vehicle, and two computer hard drives.

The criminal complaint alleges that Walther downloaded and made available child pornography using the peer-to-peer file-sharing network, BitTorrent. The former pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Round Rock, TX – a suburb of Austin, the state capital – faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. According to the Department of Justice:

“Walther is charged with distribution, receipt, transportation and possession of child pornography. If convicted, Walther faces up to 20 years in prison. Walther made his initial appearance today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Austin. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”

The disgraced man of God told an FBI agent that “he had a pornography addiction and would often go through cycles of downloading and viewing pornography depicting both adults and minors,” The Austin American Statesman reported.

“He also said that he would download child pornography files, ‘but would often feel guilty and go through a “purging” of files, i.e., deleting the images and associated files, because he knew it was wrong, and that he last purged files on November 08, 2022, the night before the search warrants were served,’ according to the complaint.”

Several law enforcement agencies are working on the investigation, including the San Antonio branch of the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Round Rock Police Department.

Pornography addiction = the devil made me do it.  

[goldenvalley]

Nov 14, 2022 22:27:09 GMT goldenvalley said:

Nov 14, 2022 21:22:37 GMT LFC said:

C'mon, drag queens. Why do you refuse to be a danger to children like Christian pastors? Bonus FU points for blaming a "pornography addiction." Dude, your religion f***ed you up, bigly. Just admit what the cause of the problem really is. The truth will set you free.

Pornography addiction = the devil made me do it.  Somehow that's a little more acceptable from a redemption standpoint...not a personal failing that is curbed if you just have enough self discipline.  

[LFC]

Dreher, for once, actually has a clue about something happening within organized religion and doesn't blame things on the gays, sexual freedom, or any of his other personal hangups. This discussion is about the Polish Catholic Church and its increasing failure to connect to people. Outside of the American prosperity / hatred gospel I think there's a lot of this in the West. Organized religion is being abandoned because the more closely people examine it the more they realize how little it can have to offer. I think Dreher is also right that for religion to survive it must be done in smaller groups.

Mostly, though, the people with whom I spoke said that interest in Christianity is simply no longer there. I asked them why. We didn't have as long to talk as I would have liked -- a couple of them were rushing off to late mass -- but the consensus around the table was that the institutional church was failing. I mentioned to them something that a now-deceased prominent Benedictine monk near Krakow had told me in 2019: that the "vainglory of the bishops" (his phrase) was chiefly responsible for the decline. Lots of nodding heads around the table.

One woman complained that the clergy are just going through the motions. "The priests tell us what to do and what not to do, but there's nothing more behind it," she said.

A man agreed saying that priests act like what I have called before "managers of the Sacrament Factory". He said, "I know that there is nothing more important than the Eucharist, but there has to be more than that to the Christian life."

I wasn't taking notes, but I recall that the general feeling around the table was that Christianity is dull and dutiful, and young people don't see the point. One woman at the table said, "We are so desperate for leadership in the Polish church, but it's just not there." I thought on the walk back to my hotel about what that Benedictine, Father Wlodzimierz Zatorski (who died later of Covid), said to me in 2019. By "vainglory of the bishops," I understood him to mean that after the fall of Communism, the Catholic bishops sat on their laurels, and did not adjust to the new environment. They became prideful and complacent.

My book The Benedict Option is here in Polish, and has inspired a couple of communities. This one was founded by Father Zatorski. And this one seems to have been founded by lay Catholics. May God prosper them and bless them for their efforts. This is what it's going to take to keep the faith alive. A young Catholic woman who did not know my book said to me yesterday, "You know, Pope Benedict said it would be like this." Yes, I told her, I quote him in The Benedict Option warning us to prepare.

Of course there is a bit of cluelessness in mentioning both John Paul II and Benedict/Ratzinger since their protection of pedophiles certainly added to the decline of the Catholic Church's supposed moral authority.

[andydp]

Personal observation.

Prior to Vatican II and Pope John XXIII, the church had become entrenched in its rituals. It started to look like the motions of the ritual became more important than the reason for the rite.  That attitude permeated everything from altar boy roles to how to kneel in church pews.  

There are many Catholics who want a return to those days.  Latin Mass, and reversal of Pope Francis' actions.  Bring back the "fire and brimstone".  There are priests and bishops who accept the church has to change, but there are others who do not.  (We've read of their and Bannon's efforts here.) 

Interesting, when I mention Bannon's connection with these people, many of my fellow Catholics seem stunned and respond with silence.  I repeatedly say I don't mind the POPE making these decisions, but I do have a problem with Bannon giving senior (anti-Francis) Vatican people ideas.

[LFC]

Nov 21, 2022 20:28:58 GMT andydp said:

There are many Catholics who want a return to those days.  Latin Mass, and reversal of Pope Francis' actions.  Bring back the "fire and brimstone". 

An interesting thought popped into my head. Are a bunch of people soaking up "fire and brimstone" in church on topics where they have no skin in the game really much different than those soaking up "fire and brimstone" on Faux News on topics where they also have no skin in the game? Sounds a lot like the same addiction.

[goldenvalley]

Nov 21, 2022 19:16:58 GMT LFC said:

Dreher, for once, actually has a clue about something happening within organized religion and doesn't blame things on the gays, sexual freedom, or any of his other personal hangups. This discussion is about the Polish Catholic Church and its increasing failure to connect to people. Outside of the American prosperity / hatred gospel I think there's a lot of this in the West. Organized religion is being abandoned because the more closely people examine it the more they realize how little it can have to offer. I think Dreher is also right that for religion to survive it must be done in smaller groups.

Mostly, though, the people with whom I spoke said that interest in Christianity is simply no longer there. I asked them why. We didn't have as long to talk as I would have liked -- a couple of them were rushing off to late mass -- but the consensus around the table was that the institutional church was failing. I mentioned to them something that a now-deceased prominent Benedictine monk near Krakow had told me in 2019: that the "vainglory of the bishops" (his phrase) was chiefly responsible for the decline. Lots of nodding heads around the table.

One woman complained that the clergy are just going through the motions. "The priests tell us what to do and what not to do, but there's nothing more behind it," she said.

A man agreed saying that priests act like what I have called before "managers of the Sacrament Factory". He said, "I know that there is nothing more important than the Eucharist, but there has to be more than that to the Christian life."

I wasn't taking notes, but I recall that the general feeling around the table was that Christianity is dull and dutiful, and young people don't see the point. One woman at the table said, "We are so desperate for leadership in the Polish church, but it's just not there." I thought on the walk back to my hotel about what that Benedictine, Father Wlodzimierz Zatorski (who died later of Covid), said to me in 2019. By "vainglory of the bishops," I understood him to mean that after the fall of Communism, the Catholic bishops sat on their laurels, and did not adjust to the new environment. They became prideful and complacent.

My book The Benedict Option is here in Polish, and has inspired a couple of communities. This one was founded by Father Zatorski. And this one seems to have been founded by lay Catholics. May God prosper them and bless them for their efforts. This is what it's going to take to keep the faith alive. A young Catholic woman who did not know my book said to me yesterday, "You know, Pope Benedict said it would be like this." Yes, I told her, I quote him in The Benedict Option warning us to prepare.

Of course there is a bit of cluelessness in mentioning both John Paul II and Benedict/Ratzinger since their protection of pedophiles certainly added to the decline of the Catholic Church's supposed moral authority.

While people seem to hunger for some sort of parental figure to explain the things they desperately want explained and take some comfort in ritual, they also seek a personal connection to the humans in their religion.  Now they no longer see clergy as somehow being touched by the divine and so they aren't willing to just take what clergy says. 

ETA: to LFC's question in the post above. I think it's identical.  The point is the immense negative feelings directed towards some evil.