Oh Dear Is This What's Happening In A Church?

[tinybear]

The Devil's Handiwork?
A church laid waste by its pastor's bizarre behavior.
By Sarah Childress
Newsweek

Louis Lamonica walked into the sheriff's department in tiny Livingston, La., a few weeks ago and asked to speak with a detective. According to police, for almost the next two hours the middle-aged preacher, dressed casually in a green polo shirt and green slacks, proceeded to tell a story so sickening they could scarcely believe what they were hearing. He explained that he was the former pastor of Hosanna Church, a now defunct house of worship in nearby Ponchatoula. Matter-of-factly and without remorse, Lamonica said that he and other church members had molested children, and taught them to have sex with each other, as well as with a dog. He told the detectives that he drank cat blood, and poured it on the bodies of his young victims, according to Ponchatoula Police Chief David Vitter.

Read More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8017175/site/newsweek/

I become increasingly of the view that some of the worst hypocrites tend to congregate inside churches and other places of worship. Do you have the same feeling?

[moustache]

Quote by: tinybear I become increasingly of the view that some of the worst hypocrites tend to congregate inside churches and other places of worship. Do you have the same feeling?

What faith was this by chance? Ill tell you that this shit would never be tolerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

[Dadoo]

tb,

God bless the children, of course.
You rarely find the brightest student in the most populace college, although each school has it's brightest, to be sure.
Who seeks the love of God, unless they lack?
How many stories, with how much deviance will awaken us to the truth?
At least they seek refuge.
Perhaps they will someday practice what they preach.
Better than never.

Don't fret little Bear.
Dadoo

[Chris the Chees]

Quote by: Dadoo tb, God bless the children, of course. You rarely find the brightest student in the most populace college, although each school has it's brightest, to be sure. Who seeks the love of God, unless they lack? How many stories, with how much deviance will awaken us to the truth? At least they seek refuge. Perhaps they will someday practice what they preach. Better than never. Don't fret little Bear. Dadoo

I read that post and see no relevance to anything. Indeed it seams rather mindless, care to clarify?

[Chalk]

Well, I'm not in favour of organised religion myself, but I think some of the stories that come out today are just insane. The point you made about hypocrisy reminds me of that lesson we all learn as a child; that appearances decieve, and to not judge a book by it's cover. How many people are likely to fear a homeless person on the street, on the basis of their stereotype, rather than a religious man? Funnily enough, this links back to the other lesson that most children get: this blind belief in 'God'.. baptised at birth and soforth, rather than being able to equate for themselves what faith really is. Religion is percieved by many as good, therefore religious people are good. So, what better mask for undesirables than to join a church? To 'find God'....and of course, the Sunday School kiddies.

[Cephus]

Quote by: moustache What faith was this by chance? Ill tell you that this shit would never be tolerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Yeah, just like child molestation would never be tolerated in the Catholic Church.

Except it is. Not to point any fingers at any denomination, but there are good and bad people EVERYWHERE. There are just as many bad Catholics as there are bad Baptists and bad Eastern Orthodoxers. There really is no difference.

[moustache]

maybe so cephus, but how many cases have you heard of in the catholic church, an how many have you heard about in the Orthodox church?

I dont know of any in the Orthodox church, and there must be like 5 or 10 (or more?) cases in the catholic church that I know of.

[fedfem]

Quote by: moustache maybe so cephus, but how many cases have you heard of in the catholic church, an how many have you heard about in the Orthodox church? I dont know of any in the Orthodox church, and there must be like 5 or 10 (or more?) cases in the catholic church that I know of.

The Serbs were notorious for it. You do realize the Serbians are mostly Orthodox don't you?

[fedfem]

And check this link out too.

http://www.pokrov.org/Articles/malerape.html

Rape of men and women is a way of controlling them. It is a way to threaten and coerce them into silence. In the Orthodox Church it is the men who are supposed to be our pastors and leaders. It is time for those that perpetrate this abuse of one another to be exposed. It is time to deal with sexual and power issues and to stop the stigmatism of the male rape victim in the church. This massive abuse of power has got to stop. It is also time to encourage male victims to start a healing journey.

[jeffl]

Quote by: fedfem Rape of men and women is a way of controlling them. It is a way to threaten and coerce them into silence.

An ages old technique; and i think it's indicative of an ages old secret dogma. Much like the mysogeny in these parts. Lots of prostitutes are being killed; here around edmonton, and previously in vancover bc. I think it's indicative of a secret mysogynistic structure. It's like, the people around here think it's some kind of justice; like they don't prostitute themselves out to the highest bidder.

I don't know about anywhere else, but here in canada we have two ukraniane orthodox churches; i bet there's a story there. And i'll bet the secret groups are more prolific outside the church rather than inside; it's not like the clergy has a monopoly on heanous deeds.

[moustache]

Quote by: fedfem mostly Orthodox

mostly

[tinybear]

Why does religion have to 'control' people? Isn't it enough that their minds are controlled? Must their bodies be controlled too?

[Inquisitor]

tinybear Why does religion have to 'control' people? Isn't it enough that their minds are controlled? Must their bodies be controlled too?

If religion is The Truth ( Orthodoxy) it doesn't strive to control either bodies or minds of Christians. In fact Dogma of The Orthodox Church specifically warns about people who might attempt to control you, it also tells that a priest may indeed be " a wolf in lamb's clothing".
I don't know about heresies ( there are just too many), but true Christianity teaches to place you trust in God only and The Holy Church which is his spiritual body. And BTW don't confuse The Church with priests and bishops. While The Church is Holy its members are far from it.

[Imudman]

Quote by: Inquisitor If religion is The Truth ( Orthodoxy) it doesn't strive to control either bodies or minds of Christians. In fact Dogma of The Orthodox Church specifically warns about people who might attempt to control you, it also tells that a priest may indeed be " a wolf in lamb's clothing". I don't know about heresies ( there are just too many), but true Christianity teaches to place you trust in God only and The Holy Church which is his spiritual body. And BTW don't confuse The Church with priests and bishops. While The Church is Holy its members are far from it.

That's a pretty good post, Inquisitor, but I disagree that religion isn't meant to control people. If the Ten Commandments weren't about controlling behaviour, then what was the point of them being given to Moses? Granted, secular governments control peoples actions, but religion controls people's minds. What better way to have an orderly society than to have one with true religion at it's foundation..?

[moustache]

The ten commandments arent meant to "control"..they are meant to guide. They are not controlling us, they are helping us make the right decisions in life.

[tinybear]

If they're meant to guide, then failing to follow the 'guidelines' doesn't entail punishment, right? Well, look at what happened to the Israelites when they worshipped the golden idols.

[moustache]

alright, maybe guide is a bad word to use here...

how about direct? The ten commandments teach us what is right and what is wrong, but they certainly do not control us.

[tinybear]

Anything that punishes us if we don't follow the rules controls us. OK, I prefer to use the word "regulate". But it's more or less the same thing.

[moustache]

so lets settle it at regulate...control is just such a harsh word :) .

[Dadoo]

Chris the Cheez-

(said) " I read that post and see no relevance to anything. Indeed it seams rather mindless, care to clarify?"

-not really, but perhaps a little clarity for the more 'mindful', like yourself:

There are Saints and Sinners in church and out.
The aforementioned story shows a hypocricy that is quite common in Church organizations and in society, as a whole. This particular story is gruesome, and demonstrates nearly the worst we can expect from any human. In my opinion, this type of devious activity would occur whether or not a church affiliation is involved for the individual(s) cited.
Churches attract misguided souls sheerly due to the promise of redemption. Saints of the Catholic order, were, in general, very 'nice' people. They achieved the highest rank a human can attain to in Catholicism. In helping to shape and change doctrine, they could not be considered followers in the pure definition. They are exempt from my prior generalization that only the misguided seek guidance, etc. Their words (The saints') are now read and hermaneutically plied for insight and gainful knowledge of texts and scripture. Indeed, they are above church dogma and law.
The rest of us, namely the 'sinners', are flawed, and thus 'follow'. Even the priest is no Saint, and is therefore equal to the people. By decree of the Church, only the Pope and saints are guaranteed to ascend. The rest are in need of guidance, repentance... protection of a sort? In most western non-orthodox Christian religion, this can apply.
When a man or woman swears upon a book that (s)he will live a life of piety and in service to God, the children of the congregation are made readily available to them. The parents will rationalize and wonder why, after abuses occur. A deacon, priest, coach or guidance counselor , to name a few, cannot be trusted without reservation, observation and some rational concern.
Unfortunately, the really evil, brilliant criminal minds will use these positions of power to hide and exert influence over people. Simply because there are these terrible people, we must have very stringent guidelines and backround checks to recognize potential 'hypocrites'.
It is too bad that we cannot have a Saint in every position of power, such as Religious congregational leaders. Or the Presidency. Logic, however, may remind us all that the very same need that the Churches spring from guarantees that these perceived devious anomalies are actually very common and to be expected regularly. These are Oppurtunity Crimes. Opuurtunists who want the forbidden may walk the walk longer than anyone could expect. That is scary, but pertinent.
So, of hypocricy.. come on guys!
Hypocricy is borne in the believer's heart. What's to say of the non-believer?
Who believes everything they hear? Those in need of guidance?
And when the children are raped?
Blame the Church. Forget we trusted in a person who simply said they had a deep and abiding faith in the Unknown. Forget we might have been lead like lambs of God.
I cannot begin to tell you what a shame this situation is. The people involved demonstrated an ignorance on all sides that seems sub-human. However, I am absolutely not surprised. It is getting harder to cover up indiscretion and that is the only reason we now see so much on the Media about these types of crimes.

Fingers aching.. please, read between the lines next time.
You are mindless to me if you don't yet realize that translation is the receiver's burden, not the speakers.

Dadoo