Atheist arrested

One of the more popular comments I receive when posting on the arrests of religious hypocrites is this, “Why don’t you post on the arrests of atheists?”

The answer can be found in this Google News search. The short answer is that there are few arrests of anyone who identifies as an atheist. We don’t see headlines that read, “Atheist teacher arrested.” Atheism does not carry the same weight as theism. There are no atheist pastors, Sunday school teachers or deacons. We don’t operate this way. We are not a religion.

What did show up in the Google News search?

Third Atheist Blogger Hacked to Death in Bangladesh
The group who are terrorizing a country
Ed Arnold and the Flying Bandit
Defying Taboo, Middle East Atheists Launch TV Channel

When an atheist is arrested, believe me, I will post on it. Hypocrisy is hypocrisy.

More pastors arrested

I browsed pastors arrested on Google this morning and found two alledged murderers, one child pornographer and one child molestor. All are pastors.

Pastor James Ty Flanders, formerly of Calvary Chapel Emerald Coast in Florida.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Marshal led Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety announces the arrest of 46-year old James Ty Flanders for the 2011 Murder of Marie Carlson of Fort Walton Beach.
- via www.wtvy.com

His former church issues a statement.

We, the current leadership at Calvary Emerald Coast, took over after the departure of the previous pastor, James Flanders.  The arrest of James Flanders creates a difficult situation for the entire congregation at Calvary Emerald Coast Church. Our church has continually had Marie and the Carlson family in prayer. We stand with the community in praying for an outcome that would put this event to a just conclusion. Calvary has been and will continue to be fully supportive of the authorities in this investigation.

Sincerely,
Pastor Jim Krug
Pastor Jason Anderson
- via Calvary Emerald Coast

Pastor James Craw, formerly of Faith Baptist Church in Idaville, was arrested on two counts of child molestation, child solicitation and misconduct with a minor.

“Pastor” Rodney Hamilton, an online pastor, was arrested for the murder of a 3-year-old child.

Police worked closely with the medical examiner's office to determine exactly what happened to the child. The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner ruled the case a homicide with the cause of death has been listed as a subdural hematoma.
- via www.myfoxatlanta.com

Pastor Bruce Fehr, of St. Francis Episcopal Church on Wilmington Island, was arrested for child porn.

Bruce Fehr, 54, of Savannah, and Zachary Giebner, 33, of Savannah were arrested following an investigation that began two months ago. During the investigation, investigators with the Southeast Georgia Child Exploitation Task Force discovered that both Fehr and Giebner were downloading child pornography. Giebner was formerly a teacher at Bryan County High School, according to the Effingham Sheriff's Office.
- via savannahnow.com

More to follow…

Bachmann and Dzhokhar

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death yesterday for his role in the Boston Marathon Bombing. I expected this outcome. I think most of us did. What is more important to me in this case is that Tsarnaev was tried through our judicial process. Tsarnaev was able to defend himself against all charges while in full public view. He was treated fairly under the law. There were some amoung us who do not think that this trial should have happen; Michelle Bachmann for example…

During a recent appearance on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News show, Bachmann said the Obama administration's decision not to classify Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant is a "miscarriage of justice." That classification would've allowed officials to question Tsarnaev indefinitely before any charges were pressed.
- via The Blotter

I remember thinking how un-American her comments were then (2013). In retrospect, I underestimated her. She’s anti-American in the sense that she will freely cast aside due process while at the same time she attempted to undermine our core democratic processes with political rhetoric. My prediction is that Dzhokhar will outlive Bachmann’s polictica career.

Nutball Alert: Rev. Austin Miles

I know a nutball when I see one.

Obama is not clinically insane but has been specifically programmed by his Communist handlers along with his Muslim allies to take America over the cliff. He is not dumb but a very useful idiot for the Communist Party ( Josef Stalin's description for those who help his cause). Obama is totally controlled as an authentic Manchurian Candidate.
- via www.renewamerica.com

The nutball is Rev. Austin Miles. I think his words prove the point.

Love is…

A mother is sleeping in the dirt, and all some people think of is profit…

Racist Georgia principal apologizes

Racism... I heard a story recently about the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Inside, there are two closed doors. One door is marked PREJUDICED and the other is marked UNPREJUDICED. Those who want to walk through the door marked UNPREJUDICED are told that it is locked. We all harbor prejudices...

Nancy Gordeuk, the principal and founder of TNT Academy in Stone Mountain, said she accidentally skipped the valedictorian's speech in the program, and she asked the crowd that was leaving early to come back inside of the church where the ceremony was being hosted.
- via www.wave3.com

Gordeuk apologized, but we all feel what that means. She showed her black heart. How do we trust her again?

Gordeuk thinks that we are judging her out of context because we do not see the whole video. Well, I heard the hate come from her mouth in three different videos. I felt anger as I watched the crowd jump up to leave in protest. I felt shame too.

Gordeuk is a hypocrite. She blames her actions on the Devil. It’s typical Christian BS. She is the devil. We need look no further than words for the spark that ruined her reputation. Her actual apology is deflection. She blames others for her emotional racist outburst. It’s sad.

I know so little

I had never heard of Laura Jane Grace until a few minutes ago when I watched this video of Grace, Miley Cyrus and Joan Jett covering Androgynous. I know so little of the world dispite having lived in it for over 50 years. I love the discovery process. I love learning. I love hearing a Graces’ distict voice and thinking, who is this?

I know Cyrus and I know Jett, but Grace is new. I love her voice and stage presence. So, I read and learn...

Baltimore by Prince

Prince released Baltimore today. The song honors Freddie Gray.

I drove through Baltimore last Sunday. I did not stop. I felt helpless. I still do.

Youth pastor Peter Bass sentenced

Former youth pastor Peter James Bass will be about 70 when he gets out of prison. He’ll be supervised as a sex offender until his death.

The Statesman Journal in Salem reports that 36-year-old Peter James Bass was sentenced Monday after he pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree rape and waived his right to a jury trial. He was arrested Jan. 21.
- via OregonLive.com

Bass was the youth pastor at Brooks Assembly of God.

Bible reading marathon

I don’t get out to Washington D.C. much, but when I do the last thing I want to see is a bible reading marathon on the steps of the U.S. Capital building.

But yes…. they were reading the bible and I was there.

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. - Matthew 6:5

I see what you Christians did there. Reading the Bible is not praying. You got around the letter of the law, but violated its spirit. That’s clever for sure, but I’m calling it dishonest.

Three new religious hypocrites

The wife of children’s pastor Tony Waller turned her husband over to police because she found child porn on their shared computer. Lots of child port. Like tens of thousand of images worth of child porn.

Youth pastor Tony Waller was fired from his job at Jonesboro First Assembly of God where he had worked since 1999. Waller admited to his 20-year addiction. His church and family are in shock. Let’s hope that his 15-year-long access to children did not result in any actual abuse.

In another case, former pastor Duncan Aker, Jr, of Vanceburg Christian Church in Kentucky, was arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. The abuse took place from 2007 to 2010. Some of the abuse allegedly happened in the church.

In still another case, former pastor Yohandry Bravo, wanted for two years on rape and child molestation charges, was finally arrested during a traffic stop in Atlanta. Bravo had outstanding arrest warrents for the rape of a 16-year-old girl. He had been the pastor at Ministerio Internacional Jesus es el Senor.

Thinking about hypocrisy

I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I’ve come to the conclusion that I should have continued tracking religious hypocrites, but I should have expanded to cover more than pastors and church leaderships. There are hypocrites of every stripe, but it’s politics where the abuses are staggering. I think I’ll dip my toe back in the water so to speak. It’s been long enough and there are so many stories.

hypocrisy - the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.

One case that sticks in my mind happened in late 2012 “Family Values” Tennessee Republican Brad Staats lost a congressional race. He was arrested for domestic assault after slapping his wife and pushing down onto a bed.

Remember Staats? He welcomed President Obama to Tennessee with a photo of a handgun.
Is Brad Staats a hypocrite? I think so. I’ve lost track of him since the incident. I don’t even know how his case worked out. My point is that there are hundreds of Staats playing at politics. They are dangerous and we need to call them out every time they step off the path. We must hold them accountable.

It's alway lies.

North Carolina candidate for Sentate Steve Wiles lives a life that is a lie. He is a political homophobe who use to be a crossdresser named Miss Mona Sinclair. His life is a life. He is a hypocrate. All he stands for is cast in ruin. Yet he still has hope...

“I think that everyone has their own choices to make and I’m fine with everyone making their own. For me, from a religious standpoint, just for my life, for me, it just was not something that I wanted to continue. Of course it was an embarrassment, but you know, you move on. You live life, and you change, and you make yourself what you want yourself to be. And that’s where I am now.”

Things would be different if he had been an opely gay cross-dressing politician, but he hid his past and will not admit to being gay (yet). I’m sure time will out him. As for trust… there should be none.

Instagram and censorship

I’m an Instagram fan. I have several accounts and follow a wide range of people, some with photography talent, and some who just tell the story of their lives. I have a simple means of determining what like and don’t like. I swipe past photos I don’t like. I heart photos that like. On occasion, I find a photo that I don’t like because I am offended by it, but I swipe past. On occasion, I’ve stopped following. It seems simple. I don’t need somebody else to determine what I can see.

Why is it that Instagram censors its feed? Buzzfeen addresses this in Why did Instragrm Delete these women’s photos of their bodies?

Last December, the company announced that it has 300 million users who upload more than 70 million photos and videos every day.

Attempting to enforce community standards at such a scale will no doubt inevitably result in accidental takedowns and confusion. But the frequency with which Instagram takes down photographs involving the female body and expressions of feminism has provoked controversy – and suggests a broader tension between the network and its users.

I looked at each photo and honestly cannot see why any of them were deleted. I don’t need to be protected from these images. Lighten up Instagram, quit pushing people to Tumblr.

If only justice worked this way

“When you think you are high and mighty and you are above the law, you don’t have to answer to nobody. But I got news for them, everybody who played a part in sending me to death row, you will answer to God,” - Anthony Ray Hinton

After 28 years, Anthony Ray Hinton was freed from prison after spending half his life on death row. He believes God will sort things out. If only justice worked that way…

The people who stole his life will feel no pain or judgment. There is no recourse, even when we can see that people, through incompetence or malevolence, violated his rights. Nothing will happen. No one will be held accountable. Looking to God is an impotent promise that serves only to comfort the victim.

I tend to look at the systemic issues related to cases like this and try to figure out what change can be made to prevent these types of things from happening. I thing prosecuting black man for capital murder in Alabama might be something that requires oversight. Eliminating the death penalty is another option. What I would like to see most is an independent federal investigation of the case. What put this man on death row and was the case manipulated so that he could not get a fair trail?