There is abuse of power and then there is abuse of power. New Jersey Presbyterian minister William Weaver claimed to be following the Bible — and Native American rituals — when he put together some voodoo routine involving stones, candles, and oral sex to exorcise demons from church members that he was counseling. Friendly Atheist:
… in the spring of 2000, Weaver told Weist that in order for the ritual to be more effective, they had to go upstairs where he could lay down with more stones and candles……
Over the next few visits, Weaver informed Weist that he had suffered “hits” from the spirit world and they needed to be brought out through his semen by oral sex.
Weaver told Staunton he had to lay still, with the stones on and around him, and let the reverend “get it out.”
“Feeling mortified was an understatement, but I didn’t want to say he was wrong, after he helped me to this point,” Weist said in his statement. “I was so confused and upset I remember praying to God please let me get this over with!”
The pastor has since resigned from the church, after 40 years, which is the good news. The bad news is that these men were unquestionably abused, but they don’t have much of a legal leg to stand on because they agreed to let the pastor do his thing. They were targeted by the pastor, groomed, lied to and manipulated — but they did consent to sexual relations.
This is one of the stranger cases to come out of Wingnuttia recently. It is truly sad that churches, once the haven of the troubled and persecuted have now become places which victimize and exploit those very same people. Not a good sign of the times.
I am sitting here sighing over and over again. It feels like everything is one big scam sometimes.
I’m disappointed in hearing of these abuses by the church. You probably read that post where the woman said, “This body is not my own, it’s God’s.” That was nuts, so is this.
The only religious figure I really admire now is John Pavlovitz. He’s the one who dissed Franklin Graham. Diss is mild, it’s more like he flamed him.
I’m really disgusted by people lately.
The ignorance I see appalls me. And Trump has these bozos wired. Now they believe he did some big negotiation with Mexico. He created a false crisis and nothing has changed. We’re at status quo. But his a$$hole followers think he’s achieved some major diplomatic coup. I talked with a young soldier who believed Trump had banished ISIS — I told him, quick, tell the Department of Defense, they would like to know IRIS is gone. Then some other dummy woman heard on Fox News that MS-13 was gone, due to Trump. Her daughter told me this. I’m sickened by this. I don’t know where the country is going with this kind of idiocy.
Jim Wallis at Sojourners is, IMO, pretty good. And there’s a guy called Stephen Mattson who occasionally writes for Sojourners, and, when he does, hits the nail squarely. And there’s Dr. Barber. And – would you call Jimmy carter a religious figure? I think I would.
The only name you mention is Barber. And yes, he’s excellent. He and Pavlovitz are the only ones i bother to keep up with at all, but I will check on the other two. Thanks for the names.
I’m going to go use some Listerine…maybe in my eyes or ears, I haven’t decided.
On a side note, as one of “god’s servants,” you might expect him to be ordered to give oral sex to a male parishioner. How odd that never came up.
A new spin on “gimme that old time religion.”
“It is truly sad that churches, once the haven of the troubled and persecuted have now become places which victimize and exploit those very same people.”
I cannot agree with this. church is the second most common place of sexual assault of children and women, home being first.
Freud knew the Fathers were Fkg the daughters, but he didn’t want to go to prison. With way few rights and much less power in decades/centuries past, men did not consider women full human beings. We were OWNED. The church for 1800 years has been the most oppressive of women. Jesus allowed women to touch him and Mohammed allowed women to serve him meals during their blood days. Both absolute Taboos in the day.
I supported a woman sueing the catholic church: the priest came over for friday night dinners and tucked the children into bed. she was 4. she couldn’t eat eggs or bananas. go figure. she settled out of court and they paid her big bucks. she got lots of therapy and money certainly helps ones mental health for sure.
thank you for bringing this story
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
http://www.snapnetwork.org/
Wow. Another one. I have read horrendous stories about churches, particularly the Catholic. Preying on the vulnerable and especially on children is absolutely unconscionable. I don’t know how these people live with themselves. But priests are like cops, in the sense that there are some good ones, but unfortunately there are a lot of bad, and they reflect terribly on the entire profession.
I did know one gay man who decided to leave his life as an accountant and become a Catholic priest. Just from the way he conducted himself in business, it did occur to me that getting around little boys (with himself in a powerful position in relation to them) was his goal. I knew another guy who became a priest but in his case it was the idea of getting a terrific education (which they promised him) and getting into a bigger world was the motivation. I guess it takes all kinds.
This guy should have his weiner surgically removed and permanently attached to his face, hence…dickhead!
“It is truly sad that churches, once the haven of the troubled and persecuted have now become places which victimize and exploit those very same people.” this is a very generous assessment of the church’s ideals, but it’s not likely to be true. those who feel that control is the best way to lead will abuse. religious leaders and would-be leaders have always done this kind of thing. not necessarily sexual, but almost always victimizing.