I can almost here the sound of a toilet flushing when reading this sad story of Christian debauchery. A life long pastor, Donald Hoornstra, who retired after long years of service at Messiah Lutheran Church, was convicted of possession of child pornography a few months ago. They had to tell his old church, right?
Local church officials on Thursday acknowledged knowing at least a couple of months ago the 68-year-old former pastor was convicted for possession of child pornography in Bemidji, Minn., where he retired, but told the congregation this past weekend.
Telling the church would have been hard to do, especially given the time he served there. The church did the right thing, but slowly.
"The leadership of Messiah Lutheran Church, after much deliberation, has chosen to inform members of the congregation of these facts, rather than allow the congregation to be subjected to misinformation or gossip about this matter," a collective statement from the local church stated.
Smith said Thursday she consulted church leadership about how to tell the many generations Hoornstra pastored.
"It's unfortunate and sad," Smith said. She did not comment further.
Possession of child porn is a serious crime, it involves real victims. Young children are horribly exploited. To think that an old retired pastor was getting off to kiddy porn is unthinkable and ample proof that being a Christian does not give one a moral advantage. If a life long pastor cannot control himself, the whole concept of Christian morality is off the table. But that’s not the real issue here. Christians morality is about telling other people how to live. They point at us and shout immoral. They work to enact laws that infringe on our liberties because they think they know how we should live. Yet they rape, consume child porn, cheat and steal as if they never heard the words of their gods. It’s the ultimate in hypocrisy and it makes me sick. How dare you tell me how to live my life.
And – you should have put the old bastard in jail.
