The investigation into the background and possible additional crimes of former Youth pastor Joshua Ponder spread to his former church. Prior to his arrest for the sexual assault of a teenager, Ponder was a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church of Palestine from June 2001 to May 2007.
The Rev. Jay Abernathy, pastor of First Baptist Church of Palestine, was notified of Ponder’s arrest late last week and said the church would cooperate with police in the investigation, if asked.
“We are shocked and saddened by this incident, and are praying for everyone involved,” Abernathy said Monday afternoon. “We have made counselors available to our youth and families who may be hurting and will be available to anyone in our church and community who wants to talk.
“We are working to respond to everyone hurt by this.”
The police will talk to every young person Ponder came into contact with while a youth pastor in Palestine. The conversations will be intrusive and embarrassing. This is how atheists are born. For atheist born of pastoral misconduct, it comes with a profound loss of faith when one learns that a person they trusted with their closest secrets are capable of apocryphal leadership and morally corrupt levels of sexual violence. Joshua Ponder's crime will touch dozens of young lives. Are there really people out there in Texas who think the small good Ponder accomplished as a youth pastor offset this level of violence and intrusion?
Related post: Baptist youth pastor arrested on sex charges
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A former student · 868 weeks ago
Mojoey 107p · 868 weeks ago
2. Being a Christian is not something I respect on face value. People can do much more than bring people to Christ. Take learning think critically for instance.
3. I do not recognize the bible as an authority on what I can do. We live in a secular country where I have the right to form my own judgments. I don't worry about being judged. If I've done something wrong, I deserve it.
4. I don't believe in the devil either.
5. What do I care about a fictional bible character. I care about what Ponder did. You should too.
6. It does not matter if murder is worse the sexual abuse. It's wrong on a fundamental level. It's even worse when committed by a man who should be held to a higher standard.
Are you all hypocrites? This pastor abused his athority and causes a great deal of pain. Defend him if you will, but you are reacting becuase of your friendship not the facts.
Nicole · 867 weeks ago
Mojoey 107p · 867 weeks ago
I have no idea on your second point. I've certianly never hear that theory expressed any credibility attached to it.
Volly · 868 weeks ago
anton kozlik · 868 weeks ago
Is there any difference in this situation to the molester who first offers his victims an all-day sucker?
For example, an alderman was charged with dipping his fingers into the city's finances to the tune of $120,000 a year. When it came to charging him with a crime, there was an outcry from some of his constituents that he was a great guy because he contributed $20,000 a year to their community sports program. SEED MONEY!!!!
It would appear that our history is filled with tales of "religious leaders who lead their followers to Christ" and then rape them physically and literally. Those who would defend these "violators" are practicing cognitive dissonance and would be better off admitting their good fortune that they weren't one of the victims.
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
Mmm..nah. IThats a misleading and inaccurate assessment of what causes someone to accept reality over blind superstition. In fact, I'll take you to task and suggest that you are promulgating a misconception with that statement. I know alot of atheists...not one was as a result of clergy abuse.
Take the fundie nut case who is the first commenter above. He likely has been sexually abused by any number of god fearing, born again, hand waving, tounge talking, snake handling, holier than thou men of the cloth. But I doubt he/she would consider leaving the "group think" and blind idiocy of his bretheren. If he/she did, it would leave him on his own, without group support, having to deal with the real world with no hope of his/her useless life being made better after death.
Nah.... he/she could be butt phucked by every youth minister in the country...and he'd take it as long as that person brought him/her to "Chrust"."
Mojoey 107p · 868 weeks ago
Unfortunately, my reality is your politically unacceptable athesit myth. I know there are atheist out there who think about this like you do. I chose my words carefully, hoping to hook a big fish.
The funny thing is... I don't actually remember becoming an atheist. But my reasons for doing so have more to do with coming to understand that pastors can be power hungry abuse jerks. So even though I was not one of my seven friends abused by my church's choir director way back in the 70s, the abuse I suffered and the shitty relationships that resulted, sparked my doubt, which lead to my atheism.
And speaking of my seven abused friends, two killed themselves, two are in prison, and one is an angry atheist. I've lost track of the others.
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
I don't mean to get all pedantic on you, but irrespective of your personal knowledge of these incidents, the VAST majority of the millions and millions of world wide atheists had zero sexual contact with clergy.
For you to make a definitive statement that this is what causes people to become atheists, even based on your rather unique experience , just diminishes/ devalues the logic, reason, intellectual honesty, acceptence of reality that drives the vast majority to become Free Thinkers.
Besides, attributing becoming atheist simply based on being molested by clergy, and for no other reason, begs this question: IF AN ATHEIST WERE MOLESTED BY A MENTOR ATHEIST, WOULD HE LIKELY BECOME THEIST?
If the answer is NO, then there is no foundational basis for what reads like an absolutist statement.
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
a) if their belief in a supreme being were really that strong to begin with, and they didn't already have doubts founded in logic and reality, then the inappropriate act of another human would not in and of itself cause supernaturalism to be abandoned. It;s counter intuitive.
b) such incidents are comparitively miniscule and shouldnt be distorted to infer they are the cause of atheisim for the majority of atheists.
anyhow...
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
How many times have you heard Christians dismiss atheism as not a product of intellect and thoughtful examination but simply due to some life crisis? Tell me you never heard them say:
"Why are you so angry at God? If a Christian hurt you at some time I'm sorry."
Thats the mythic and inane theist thought process that your statement, attributing atheism to clergy molestation promulgates. It does us all great injustice.
OK..now i'm done. sorry.
Mojoey 107p · 868 weeks ago
I have an answer. I tell people I am not angry at god, I am angry at organized religion for putting me through hell. There was nothing divine in my experience. It was perpetrated by men.
I am capable of defending myself against any theist. It's my fellow atheists I have a problem with.
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
AND this assumes that EVERY VICTIM loses their FAITH as a result! That GOD ceases to be real to ALL of them because of the abuse of one man. Mojoey..at face this is impossible.
I think my question about if you were molested by an atheist mentor, would that cause you to become a theist is worth further consideration.
Heres a thought...take a poll. But I'd proffer itwould have to be outside this forum for it to be valid.
BTW, its not whther to can fend off the Xtian fallacy statements, its that by feeding the misconception as to where atheism derives whther you are doing an injustice to the integrity of atheist thought.
Anywho...I doubt I'll convince you...so I'll let it go now.
Thanks for the convo.
Hump
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
If the population of the US is 10% atheist, your premise is that those 20 million (adult only) atheists are largely due t, either directly or tangently, to clergy sexual abuse.
There are 27k catholic priests in the US. , roughly 80k protestant ministers. That means that if every priest and miniister were a molester each of them would have had to molest 187 people, or some slightly lesser to account for "heresay" non experiential , collateral convertions.
If we assume 10% of clergy are molesters...then that number climbs to almost 1,900 victims per clergy pervert / or some slightly lesser number for the non-experiential / collateral loss of faith..
DROMEDARYHUMP · 868 weeks ago
dromedaryhump · 868 weeks ago
guest · 717 weeks ago