You’re coming from a good place but I disagree. I think the class factor here is central. Race and class are intertwined to an inseparable degree. The heart of the matter is just as the author states: our worth is inherent, not inherited.

Omg this thread is amazing.

Seriously I almost posted this. How does a literate person even phrase it this way in their head???

Not in my book. I dated a 27 yo when I was 18 and it was a regular relationship. But there is a particular brand of guy that prefers teens to women his own age even as his age advances through the 30s and beyond. Those guys are after one thing, often manipulative and I avoided them like the plague when I was a…

Agreed. Is this directed at me?

Yeah from my personal perspective I wouldn’t put him in the go away and never come back category either. Of course I don’t know the whole story either way but if your story is that you don’t know any men that would date a teenager given the chance, your story is wrong. Society simply demands that they know and do…

The possibility certainly exists for this to be a sexual misadventure, sure. But we certainly don’t know that for sure, and even if we choose to believe this least egregious possibility, it is still a sexual misadventure with a TEEN. it suggests he’s not just seeking out sex with 17 year olds, but being cavalier and…

I think it’s a combination of things. Most of those things are unknown for us but to me, something like this can never be played off as a “joke between friends” or otherwise mitigated by circumstantial details when the woman in question is a child ffs. His only real defense here is that it’s totally fabricated and I…

Fair enough.

I’m with you that these two pastors sound very different in tenor and scope but NO WAY IN HELL was the teenage blowjob an isolated incident. Think of this type of thing like a mouse - if you see one, there are a hundred inside the walls.

It’s been well known for decades that predators join the clergy for this reason. See also: missionaries.

Yeah messing with 17 year olds at all, at his age, and certainly even in a manner APPROACHING what you’ve described is, at best, alarming. Anyone who does that is either inexcusably immature or a genuine predator.

I mean the truth is, if you’re 25 or older and you can’t find ANYTHING in your past that someone somewhere could be hurt by or even had their lives changed by then you are not seeing yourself clearly. I’m not limiting this to the sexual arena. We all make mistakes, we all change, we all get hurt and we all hurt…

Of everything you’ve listed here, and from the outside looking in of course, the only thing that rises to the level of “serious” to me is the exposing his dick thing. Depending on the details that could range from just really stupid all the way to extremely dangerous.

Well by “fix” and “make restitution” I’m sure he’s referring to a dialogue wherein he apologizes and comes to understand the full extent of the damage he’s caused. I don’t know what that would mean for him but I know that for me it has meant a lot when people have done this for me and as a result I try to do the same…

Many of our states have changed the age of consent a few times. Back in the day married with children at 15 and 16 was a thing in the states just like it was everywhere. It took some states a little longer to progress.

I supported Bernie sanders and still would though I voted for Hillary in the general. I would support Harris and Warren but not Booker or Gillibrand in a primary. General is another story. The reason sanders and also Warren get my respect is they are avowed ideologues. They don’t play politics where principle is…

You mean the birth of this sociopath?

“incite”

But has also driven through it with his flag.?.?. I love how the reporter just ends that dialogue right there.