Damn. Her entire statement at that blog is so insightful. She really did try to work it out within several levels of the church community and they failed her, not so different than these HR or peer-coverups we hear about in different industries. What the heck do we tell women to do if the reporting system consistently…

The other thing that kills me is the inherent shame and guilt that, of course, must fall on the CHILD because of bullshit Christian teachings. Honestly, like whenever anyone wrings their hands and frets over why I am now an atheist, I really just wanna answer that it’s because I fucking went to bed every night as a…

When I was 7-8 years old, my dad was the pastor of a small little church in Wilmington NC. There was a man in his 20s who was very involved in the church. He had dark hair and dark eyes and he was tall and slender with olive skin and I remember thinking that he was very cute. It should all have been very innocent, but…

Bear in mind that the age difference encompasses his authority over her and moral authority of what she should do with her body as her abstinence educator, college (my assumption), legal adulthood, and also that five years at that age is nearly 1/3 of her life.

Spot on. One thing I’ve learned from translating the gospels (clears throat impressively, pats self on back) is that sin isn’t such a strong word in those texts, meaning something closer to “to miss the mark.” In other words, to err. It is something that REQUIRES your action, it is not an evil entity that can get away…

He was her fucking youth pastor. Don’t try to excuse him. JFC.

How old is too old to drive a teen in your congregation to a secluded road without her permission and demand she touch you sexually?

I was a latchkey kid who was an easy target for the junior high art teacher. He was inappropriate to me and I had reconciled I would likely be molested by him. Looking back, he groomed me for a long time. I told a guidance counselor, under sworn secrecy, what was happening. The counselor didn’t keep it a secret, and I…

You didn’t sin with her, douchecanoe. You sinned against her.

“... hurt by the ripple effect of the consequences of that sin.”

“Highpoint’s head pastor, Chris Conlee, stood by his side and reminded the church that Savage was one of the people “hurt by the ripple effect of the consequences of that sin.” Won’t you all think of the real victim here?? Oh, just fuck all of these guys. I don’t even know how I haven’t just burst into fucking flames…

I get the feeling people will still be RoyMooreously applauding him next Sunday.

Oh my god. Dirt road in east Texas 1999. This was a youth pastor wannabe, so he was still in high school, but I met him in my tiny town in east Texas. He invited me to a youth group meeting...or whatever, I’ve never really been involved in that stuff. On the drive home, he stopped on my dirt road and I had to get…

You know what? You are performative as fuck. There are so many people suffering from PTSD, including non-veterans. Including me. PTSD has nothing to do with his being a hateful shithead and desecrating a holy place. It’s this kind of bullshit that paints people who suffer from debilitating mental health issues and…

if it makes you feel better to laugh over the dead body of a mentally ill man

See, right now, you’re focusing on the part of the story that touches you personally. He’s a vet, and so you identify with him and are focused on the part of the story that says a returning vet in pain took his own life. People who don’t see that, who don’t feel that identification frustrate you. I understand that…

@Calmer Than You, on’t-day ell-tay inni-jay about-ay e-they ult-cay. We’ll scare her off.

I like that. :)

Yo, ppl crying in the greys, her Dad got killed selling loose cigarettes. Pretty victimless crime there. Died over a fucking tax stamp. Wypipo gonna wypipo tho, right?

I need people to stop drafting celebrities to be President, especially Oprah.