East Bay Pastor charged with 23 counts of child sex abuse

[LargeKingCat]

Originally Posted by greaemonkey

Unfortunately, I could offer personal testimony to the validity of this statement as well.



Holy cow! Thanks for the D magazine article ...I just skimmed, but this very Prestonwood Baptist was one of the first I went to (that my father wasn't the pastor of) after I graduated HS in West Texas and moved to the DFW area in the mid-80's, so this guy would probably have been the pastor that I heard. The pastor and the youth group there were fairly key in my reaching the conclusion that they weren't too far removed from what I left (and deplored); I was already well along my way in my questioning, but they certainly helped move me along in the suspicion that the toxicity I grew up with was institutional rather than merely local.

To be honest, the largest single factor that led to my questioning was the "read the Bible cover to cover in a year" program though, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

The Pastor Bill Weber and the Youth Director David Allen are the two specific reasons that I quit, renounced my membership in the Baptist church, and never went back.
Weber is dead, Allen is now a seminary teacher. Kind of shows what must be wrong with that movement.....
I did not renounce my baptism until later (which was from a west texas baptist church.....Hmmmmmmm)
But I did publically renounce my membership to Prestonwood (which I was forced/goaded into anyway)

BUT After years of complaining, I saw it in a different light. Suppose that Weber had not been the snake that he was, and I had decided to stay and learn there? Suppose Allen had not been the little Pip-squeak arsewipe that he was, and I had decided to stay and be involved? What might have happened? WHAT IF I had become influenced by them , and become LIKE them?

THAT is a scary thought. I would not want to be influenced by those two any more any more than I would Charles Manson or Ron Hubbard.

SO in a way, they did me a favor by being the lowlifes that they were ! Something opened my eyes, said "GET OUT" and I left and never looked back. Of course, years of family strife, fighting, and division within ensued. I am not close at all with my parents or siblings to this day, mainly because of the Baptist faith. But that is what bad religions do...they tear families apart.

But one great philosopher pointed out
“Forgive the past. It is over. Learn from it and let go. People are constantly changing and growing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person in the past. See that person now. Your relationship is always alive and changing.”
― Brian L. Weiss, Messages from the Masters: Tapping Into the Power of Love

I am successful, happy, and living without their form of religion. I would encourage others who are facing the same level of abuse or unhappiness to consider claiming their personal right to "say no" and move on. Learn, be thankful, and move on.

[purehuman]

Originally Posted by cupper3

Here we go again and it never stops. Another pastor, another sex scandal on minors.



Seriously folks, this HAS to stop

It'll never stop...sadly...because people WANT to trust their fellow man...even to the point where they'll trust a stranger with their children.
Be he a priest, a boy scout leader,etc.....they just WANT to trust....and they do...and their child becomes another statistic...sad.
Strange how we'll tell our children not to talk to strangers and then turn around and leave them with one just because he's a priest or someone who works around children...(where most pedophiles like to be).