And You Thought The Catholic Church Was Bad

"For most of us, it is clear not just beyond reasonable doubt, but ALL doubt, that Donald Trump is manifestly unfit for office. And yet, he’s making a third tilt at the presidency. The biggest reason is that the religious right is still bowing and praying to an orange god it helped make—and is attempting to bully the nation into doing so. We shouldn’t have been surprised when the nation’s so-called moral guardians told us that Trump’s debauched comments didn’t matter nearly as much as his promises to give them everything they wanted and then some on policy–and above all else, stack the courts with conservative judges.

"Granted, we already knew why the nation’s so-called moral guardians prostrated themselves before Trump. But how they were able to do so remained far less clear. How could the prospect of rolling back abortion and marriage equality be so important to them that they were willing to condone this man?

"A large part of the answer to that question can be found in the way a number of evangelical leaders have responded to sexual assault in their own ranks. In recent years, we have heard stories of survivors turning to their churches or other faith communities for support, only to be greeted with indifference or even outright hostility. If these leaders are willing to take such a cavalier and unsupportive attitude toward their own, it should come as no surprise that many of them were willing to dismiss Trump’s depravities with women.

"For example, when Guidepost Solutions delved into the extent of a years-long cover-up of sexual assault in the Southern Baptist Convention, it revealed that one of the SBC’s longtime titans, Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, willfully and recklessly disregarded his legal and moral duty to protect children. According to the report, when Graham learned his youth pastor, John Langworthy, had molested a number of boys, Graham simply hustled him out of town rather than report him to the police. Langworthy would remain at large for 20 more years, during which he molested boys at his new church in Mississippi."

Click on the link below for more sordid details of the bastards:

Evangelicals REALLY don't get it about sexual assault

Child Sexual Abuse: The Science

"This admittedly will sound like a very dark topic, but I promise the conversation was actually quite pleasant and VERY useful. Dr. Alan Smerbeck joins us to give actual, real, evidence-based information on what to look out for to prevent child sexual abuse. But also, we talk quite a lot about kid body curiosity stuff and how to tell what’s totally normal and what might be concerning. As a parent, I found this conversation incredibly useful and I think you will too!"

Click on the link below for an informative interview that is pertinent to any parent:

How To Prevent Child Sexual Abuse

An Example Of Republican Anti-Science And Its Harm

In my opinion, the biggest danger from the Republicans is their consistent ignoring of facts if they interfere with their dogma.  Here in NC, Charlotte passed a law preventing discrimination against transgender people.  The Republican-dominated legislature and Governor nullified the law with HB2 based on "safety" issues.  By the way, this bill actually created more discrimination against minorities.  The history of other communities that have passed laws similar to Charlotte's exposes the Republican bigotry and ignorance on the subject.  If you disagree with my position on this situation, educate yourself on the reality of sex and gender:  they both fall on a continuum and are not either/or.

No public safety risks in cities with transgender anti-discrimination rules

The Catholic Church's Child Sexual Abuse Is Nothing New

"Elliott’s talk spanned centuries, drawing on artifacts and texts ranging from the Warren Cup (a putative 1st-century silver cup that depicts males engaged in same-sex acts) to Dante’s Inferno to illustrate the widespread presence of—and varying attitudes toward—homosexual eroticism in the medieval Church, which included depictions of sexual relations between older and younger men. Examining the closed, and ostensibly celibate, world of medieval monasteries, Elliott drew a comparison to contemporary prison culture. “In renouncing women and all memory of them, monastic culture left a void. There was no legitimate sexual outlet,” she posited. 'Boys, then, fell within the realm of temptation.'”

Church Sex Scandals From Medieval to Modern Times