tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post8992438814860813174..comments2024-03-17T16:21:14.907-05:00Comments on Stop Baptist Predators: Baptist-land: Mapping the terrain (part 1)Christa Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-87056857976289850412009-08-17T23:04:38.655-05:002009-08-17T23:04:38.655-05:00Also,
The reason I'm so open is because I'...Also,<br /><br />The reason I'm so open is because I'm on the autistic spectrum. Sometimes I'm a complete idiot in what I say, I've no filter. Sometimes I'm VERY inappropriate. (It can be quite funny. I went to the church at a younger age than most and told them exactly what I thought about things, with no reservations. Of course I didn't mean it like they took it, but they sure deserved everything I said to them.) I'm glad my filter-less tongue is doing some good at last!Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446840901272705157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-35993648452564183282009-08-17T22:53:42.942-05:002009-08-17T22:53:42.942-05:00Phyllis,
I'm sorry this is such a hard time f...Phyllis,<br /><br />I'm sorry this is such a hard time for you. One of my friends is going through the same kind of thing right now--her father is an awful, awful man like yours was. Her feelings are all muted. I don't know what to say or do for either of you, but my heart is with you. I'll be coming back October 5 (I leave this week).Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446840901272705157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-30570306837353900302009-08-15T15:35:08.826-05:002009-08-15T15:35:08.826-05:00Phyllis,
I am sorry for your loss -- and for ALL...Phyllis,<br />I am sorry for your loss -- and for ALL of your losses -- for all that was stolen from you, for all that cannot be made right, for all the confusion you were and are left to deal with, for all the feelings and non-feelings that went with it. My heart and thoughts are with you. Wishing you a measure of peace. ChristaChrista Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-62803858759873060312009-08-15T08:55:25.987-05:002009-08-15T08:55:25.987-05:00Michelle, I have had those same feelings -- I coul...Michelle, I have had those same feelings -- I could always hurt with someone else for what they had suffered. I could never hurt for myself. I could/can cry and cry for hurting animals or even more for friends who's animals had died, but I could never hurt for my own pain of loss. My father finally died last night. So far I feel nothing. I hope that will change.<br /><br />Also, thank you for your openness and complete honesty concerning those things you do feel.Phyllis Gregorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-14542353013274143482009-08-14T19:56:13.433-05:002009-08-14T19:56:13.433-05:00Michelle,
Your words remind me of something Gandh...Michelle, <br />Your words remind me of something Gandhi said: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.... I consider western Christianity, in its practical working, a negation of Christ's Christianity."<br /><br />Incidentally... I think that experience you describe of being sorta numb to your own hurt but hyper-attuned to the hurt of others is very common for sex-abuse survivors.Christa Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-3068719757506791492009-08-14T19:12:44.775-05:002009-08-14T19:12:44.775-05:00I seem to be relatively immune to what happened to...I seem to be relatively immune to what happened to me compared with how I react when I hear of people I love getting hurt. <br /><br />There was a "Charles Stanley" involved in my case and with others involving friends. He's a rising star. I know what his wife did and what he did and I want to... ****low growl**** for putting sadness in little girls' eyes. It makes my blood boil and I have to sit down and catch my breath before I can think straight. It infuriates me beyond words. In a less than healthy perseveration I watched him coolly talk about how "Acts has brought me closer to Jesus" in a public announcement. <br /><br />Hypocrite. How dare your Stanley and my Stanley talk about Jesus while guarding Gilmore? That's the worst part of it for me. One of my dear friends described Jesus as "hero." For me, Jesus is a rapist. They're ruining the beauty of Christianity for myself and so many others.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446840901272705157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-28894512188556511492009-08-12T18:34:08.815-05:002009-08-12T18:34:08.815-05:00For those wondering about Michelle's comment a...For those wondering about Michelle's comment and about what former SBC president Charles Stanley has to do with any of this, here are two links:<br /><a href="http://stopbaptistpredators.org/opeds/clergy_child_molesters_should_not_be_secret.html" rel="nofollow">"Clergy child molesters should not be kept secret: Are we clear?"</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_letters/020607_baptist_atlanta.htm" rel="nofollow">SNAP letter to Dr. Charles Stanley, FBC-Atlanta</a><br /><br />Always good to hear from you, TexasPastor. About "the SBC's cauldron of arrogance"... I wish you could have heard the loud group gasp in the conference room when I spoke of how the prior Southern Baptist president said we were "nothing more than opportunistic persons." This was an audience of about 250 and it was an audience for whom not much is very surprising on this subject. They've seen A LOT in the Catholic context. But even as jaded as this audience was, the hatefulness of a high-level religious leader saying such a thing - and saying it publicly to the press - was still something shocking. What it shows, of course, is that high-level Baptist leaders haven't even yet seen the need to squelch their own arrogance, not even simply for the sake of appearances.Christa Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-65865926109991460232009-08-12T15:50:53.670-05:002009-08-12T15:50:53.670-05:00Thank you, Christa, for the courageous work that y...Thank you, Christa, for the courageous work that you do for all of us who have been victims of Baptist predators. I must admit that the stench emanating from the SBC's cauldron of arrogance, money and power continues to amaze me. In the end all that they engage in is a struggle for control. Further, the sad fact of the matter is that this is not a battle for the control of entities or agencies. It is indeed a battle for the control over people. I firmly believe that any denomination whose leadership is so intent on subjugating and suppressing the will and voice of its congregants is ultimately destined for marginalization at best, and destruction at worst (or is that best). Please accept my thanks for all that you do.TexasPastornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-26159908730140057642009-08-12T05:42:45.409-05:002009-08-12T05:42:45.409-05:00Whenever I'm confronted with the arrogance you...Whenever I'm confronted with the arrogance you describe it just sort of...I got this huge, huge collection of books from an AME pastor who hit hard times and sold his stuff at an estate sale. I was going through the bulk of them when I read your book. <br /><br />I sold two of this man's books on the day I read most of your book. "The Blessings of Brokenness" by Charles Stanley and "I and Thou" by Buber. The contrast of the two hit me so hard in the midst of your story with your info on Stanley that I just sat there laughing hysterically, holding the orders in my hand, unsure if it was even ethical to send Stanley's book out with what you wrote. I don't understand how thinking people can have such philosophies/actions side by side. There is no cogency.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446840901272705157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-80278077834184926592009-08-11T21:13:30.560-05:002009-08-11T21:13:30.560-05:00Christa,
Well done! Are you planning to print this...Christa,<br />Well done! Are you planning to print this? It would be the very message that neds to be "left laying around" in so many churches.<br />I just cannot but believe that your efforts and those of others will eventually bring the SBC to the bar of accountability.johnnoreply@blogger.com