Former Pentecostal discusses her time in "Jesus Boot Camp."

Courtesy of Raw Story:

According to Sarah Rocksdale, who now identifies herself as an atheist, she grew up in a Pentecostal Christian home and was compelled by her parents to attend bible college in Griffin, Georgia, that she identifies as Southwestern Assemblies of God University Valor. As Rocksdale explained, “I thought my only option forward career-wise … was in the church or to become a missionary,” before adding, “There was this peer pressure to go to this school and I did. In the first few days of being at the school that was also in a church, called Griffin First, we were told to sign a waiver or agreement giving our permission to go through their rigorous boot camp.” 

Saying she was part of 35 attending the camp, she stated pastors told them upon their arrival there were three hard and fast rules: they we were not allowed to ask questions, or allowed to speak. They were not allowed to bring cell phones or watches because “the pastors didn’t want us to know what time it was while we were there.” And they were only allowed to bring one personal item with them. 

What followed was a bizarre demand “to bring a backpack with a duct-tapped bag of sugar in it. The first years were supposed to have a 5 pound bag, the second years, a 10 pound bag and the third years, a 15 pound bag. We later found out that the bag of sugar represented Jesus carrying the weight of the world’s sins.”

....

According to Rocksdale, the students were herded out onto the lawn on the middle of the night and bullied into calisthenics, followed by being forced on to a bus and taken to run on nearby trails as pastors screamed at them. 

“I’m not sure how long we ran, I only remember feeling like I couldn’t keep going. I looked over at my best friend at the time, she was running right beside me, crying and saying that she couldn’t do this anymore and then the pastors just screamed at her that she had to keep going,” she detailed. “I started slowing down also and they got right in my face and screamed at me too.” 

According to Rocksdale, they were also denied sleep, and punished as a group if another in their class committed an infraction. 

Saying she could take it anymore after three days, she contacted her parents and begged to be allowed to come home, only to be denied, so she turned to cutting herself.

Man I know it's been awhile since I attended but Sunday School sure has changed. 

And I am clearly not the most religious person on the planet, but how in the hell does humiliation, forced runs, and isolation make one a better Christian?

I know that's how the military makes killing machines, but is that really the goal here? 

Study shows that exposure to religion renders children unable to differentiate between fact and fiction.

Courtesy of Waking Times: 

A study conducted by researchers led by Kathleen H. Corriveau of Boston University examined how religious exposure affects a child’s ability to distinguish between fact and fiction. They found that religious exposure at an early age has a surprising effect: it makes children less able to differentiate between reality and fantasy. 

The researchers presented three different types of stories – religious, fantastical and realistic – to a group of 5 and 6-year olds. Religious children were divided into three groups: children exposed to the Christian religion either as churchgoers who attended public school, non-churchgoers who attended parochial school, or churchgoers who attended parochial school. The fourth group of children included non-churchgoing children who attended public school and had no exposure to religion in either church or school. The goal of the research was to find out if religious exposure would affect the child’s ability to identify if the lead character in each of the stories was real or make-believe. 

The study found that children who attended church services and/or were enrolled in a parochial school had a much harder time differentiating between fact and fiction when compared to children of non-religious background. The study, published in the journal Cognitive Science, states: 

“The results suggest that exposure to religious ideas has a powerful impact on children’s differentiation between reality and fiction, not just for religious stories but also for fantastical stories.”

I am still often puzzled that there are people who do not simply recognize this by casual observation.

There is a reason why scam artists often target deeply religious people, they are the most gullible.

And that is the same reason that politicians invoke god, religion, and the Bible in their speeches.

They know that religious people are predisposed to accept things without the benefit of evidence.

Let's face it, without religious indoctrination there would be NO president Trump.

It requires the dulling of critical thinking skills to convince people to vote for idiots, assholes, and criminals.

And religion serves that purpose quite nicely.

So I stand by my contention that introducing religion to children is in fact a form of child abuse. But will add that in the long run it is also an abuse of our basic human right to use our intellects to protect ourselves as adults.

Crazed Christian woman goes on rant in Target due to their transgender friendly bathroom policies.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A video of the woman’s loud protest was posted to YouTube. The woman was not named but appears to have her family in tow. 

“Attention Target customers,” she yelled. “Do not be deceived, Target would have you believe with their Mother’s Day displays that they love mothers and children. This is a deception. This is not love, and they’ve proven it by opening their bathrooms to perverted men. I’m a mother of 12 and I’m very disgusted by this wicked practice.”

“Mothers get your children out of this store,” the woman yelled. “Mothers have enough decency to get out of this store, it’s a dangerous place… What Target has done is very hateful. It’s hateful towards families. It’s hateful towards mothers. It’s hateful towards children… Are you gonna let the devil rape your children?”

Well she seems nice.

And just think she actually gave birth to twelve little children who will one day undoubtedly be just as ignorant and superstitious as she is.

Religion, it's one hell of a drug.

School district police officer in Texas body slams 12 year old girl.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast:  

The San Antonio Independent School District has launched an investigation into a videotaped incident in which a school district police officer body slammed a girl to the ground. Footage shows the officer, identified as Joshua Kehm, picking up and tossing an unnamed 12-year-old female student to the pavement at Rhodes Middle School. A spokeswoman for the school said the incident began when the girl and another student were arguing. Kehm has been placed on paid administrative leave while officials probe the situation.

I am damn sick and tired of seeing videos like this where full grown men uses unnecessary levels of force to subdue children.

I work with troubled children with special needs almost every day of my life, and I would NEVER do something like this.

We have strict protocols for when and how to put our hands on a child, and police officers assigned to schools should have the same training and the same restrictions.

I hope they fire this son-of-a-bitch.

The Catholic Church's guidelines for newly appointed Bishops is that it is "not necessarily" their duty to report child sexual abuse.

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

The Catholic church is telling newly appointed bishops that it is “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of clerical child abuse and that only victims or their families should make the decision to report abuse to police. 

A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops’ only duty was to address such allegations internally. 

“According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” the training document states. 

The training guidelines were written by a controversial French monsignor and psychotherapist, Tony Anatrella, who serves as a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Vatican released the guidelines – which are part of a broader training programme for newly named bishops – at a press conference earlier this month and is now seeking feedback.

Oh, well I have some feedback for the Catholic church.

Fuck you!

In my current job, and many of the jobs I have had in the past, I am mandated to report ALL instances of child abuse, sexual or otherwise, that I might witness, hear about, or suspect.

The reason for that is because I work with children, and work with others who work with children.

However in my opinion ALL adults should consider themselves mandated to report child abuse, because WE are the ones who children relay on to keep them safe.

That is our job. Period!

So my question is the following. How does an organization which advertises itself as being the very foundation for morality justify allowing children to be victimized while they stand by and do nothing?

If you do this you are NOT a loving parent.

Do you remember the first time that somebody told you that you would suffer for eternity?

I do.

Mike Huckabee posts his support for the child molesting Josh Duggar on Facebook, suffers immediate backlash.

Photo courtesy of US Magazine.

Courtesy of Huckabee's Facebook page:

Janet and I want to affirm our support for the Duggar family. Josh’s actions when he was an underage teen are as he described them himself, 'inexcusable,' but that doesn’t mean 'unforgivable.' He and his family dealt with it and were honest and open about it with the victims and the authorities. No purpose whatsoever is served by those who are now trying to discredit Josh or his family by sensationalizing the story. Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things. The reason that the law protects disclosure of many actions on the part of a minor is that the society has traditionally understood something that today’s blood-thirsty media does not understand—that being a minor means that one's judgement is not mature. No one needs to defend Josh’s actions as a teenager, but the fact that he confessed his sins to those he harmed, sought help, and has gone forward to live a responsible and circumspect life as an adult is testament to his family’s authenticity and humility. Those who have enjoyed revealing this long ago sins in order to discredit the Duggar family have actually revealed their own insensitive bloodthirst, for there was no consideration of the fact that the victims wanted this to be left in the past and ultimately a judge had the information on file destroyed—not to protect Josh, but the innocent victims. Janet and I love Jim Bob and Michelle and their entire family. They are no more perfect a family than any family, but their Christian witness is not marred in our eyes because following Christ is not a declaration of our perfection, but of HIS perfection. It is precisely because we are all sinners that we need His grace and His forgiveness. We have been blessed to receive God’s love and we would do no less than to extend our love and support for our friends. In fact, it is such times as this, when real friends show up and stand up. Today, Janet and I want to show up and stand up for our friends. Let others run from them. We will run to them with our support.

Well that made me throw up in my mouth a little. 

And I was not alone, get a load of some of the comments that showed up on Huckabee's page: 

I respectfully disagree. His behavior is unforgivable to me and so is covering it up and allowing it to continue. Can't hide behind Jesus to excuse all bad behavior. 

Well you have lost my support! I'm a conservative Christian, and was once a Duggar supporter, but I believe that 14 years old or not he should have never been allowed to continue to live in the home with the girls, and the show should have never aired. He damaged those girls for he rest of their lives, and anyone who can carry on and say it's ok now because he admitted he was wrong is just as sick as him. 

I think you just kissed your chances away for the presidential nomination. 

You all are insane. He molested children. And Mr. Huckabee if he was a child not aware of his actions, why is a 14 year tried as an adult for killing. Give me a break. So if abusers repent they dont deserve to be punished??? Or just "good" Christians on tv. Does it worry anyone he has children. Wow. 

I was really happy that you decided to run for president but now you have lost my support. I'm was a victim of sexual molestation and it may go away for the abuser nut it doesn't for the victims. We may forgive, but we don't forget. Child molesters takes away our chance of having a normal child, a normal teenager, and a normal adult. I will mo longer support or vote for you. Nobody is thinking about victims on all this. 

Let me get this straight (no pun intended). This man will publicly support an admitted child molester, but will condemn a gay couple. What sense or logic is involved with this? And the fact that his family helped to cover up this atrocity, is even more baffling. In my line of work I have seen firsthand the effects are of children who were molested by adults or other children. I am sorry but these actions should be condemned. And the show of support is absolutely ridiculous. Shame on you Mike. And shame on all of you referencing "he who is without sin may cast the first stone", what happened to Matthew 19:14.

And believe me these go on, and on, and on. 

You know this will prove to be so damaging to Huckabee's chances of winning the Republican nomination that I'm almost surprised that Jeb Bush has offered his support to Josh Duggar as well.

(H/T to Raw Story.)

It's been revealed that one of the Duggars from the reality show "19 and Counting" is a child molester. Seriously who didn't see that coming? Update!

Courtesy of In Touch:

Jim Bob Duggar waited more than a year after his son, Josh, confessed to sexually molesting several female minors before contacting police, In Touch Magazine is reporting exclusively, based on information contained in the official police report.

What’s more, Jim Bob informed the elders of his church about Joshua’s actions and they waited three months before contacting authorities. The explosive new information is contained in a Springdale, Ark., police report obtained by In Touch magazine. 

The report has been hidden since 2006 and was just obtained by the mag through a Freedom of information Act request. Jim Bob also refused to allow police to interview Josh when they opened a felony investigation in 2006. The Duggars star on TLC’s hit show 19 Kids and Counting.

In Touch provides a copy of the very damning police report which reveals that Josh had molested at least five children multiple times, which included touching the breasts and vagina of a sleeping 14 year old girl.

What's more when his father, Jim Bob Duggar, first heard of the molestations he did not immediately contact the police instead choosing to discipline his son on his own. He and his wife also lied to the police about sending Josh to a Christian counseling center when instead they sent him to hang out with a family friend.

Since this all came to light Duggar has made a statement to People magazine, which glosses over the seriousness of this abuse:  

"Twelve years ago, as a young teenager, I acted inexcusably for which I am extremely sorry and deeply regret. I hurt others, including my family and close friends," Josh, 27, tells PEOPLE in a statement. "I confessed this to my parents who took several steps to help me address the situation. We spoke with the authorities where I confessed my wrongdoing, and my parents arranged for me and those affected by my actions to receive counseling. I understood that if I continued down this wrong road that I would end up ruining my life." 

Josh was also a spokesman for the  Family Research Council, which of course was founded by James Dobson a man who promoted the idea of using corporeal punishment on your children so long as you don't leave any marks.

However that gig is over now: 

"Today Josh Duggar made the decision to resign his position as a result of previously unknown information becoming public concerning events that occurred during his teenage years. 

"Josh believes that the situation will make it difficult for him to be effective in his current work. We believe this is the best decision for Josh and his family at this time. We will be praying for everyone involved," concluded Perkins.

"Josh believes that the situation will make it difficult for him to be effective in his current work." Gee, ya think?

Of course it did not take long for people to start making certain connections.

Happy birthday Josh Duggar!! 🎉🎉 #19kidsandcounting #joshduggar pic.twitter.com/tUvrHtBFNf

— 19 Kids And Counting (@19kidsandcount) March 4, 2015

Sarah Palin, palling around with child molesters #JoshDuggar But it's okay, they both fear God. pic.twitter.com/HdaJ9rC4r7

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) May 21, 2015

I swear it's like everybody she knows is some kind of pervert or another.

Now one of the reasons that I did not jump on this story when it first broke was because, well first I was waiting for credible news outlets to follow up, and second it seems that these incidents happened when Josh was only fourteen or fifteen years old.

Since I work with young people who have also engaged in similar activities as teens, I was a little hesitant to condemn Josh for activities that he may never have revisited as he grew older. (Some of these kids live with the label of "sexual predator" even though they never abused another child for the remainder of their lives.)

However, and this is the REAL scandal as far as I am concerned, his parents are completely culpable for not notifying the police or getting their son the actual counseling that he needed at the time. Not only that but any children who were molested after they first learned of the incident are the fault of their incompetence as parents and their failing as human beings to protect children in their care.

So for that reason, more than Josh's possibly continued predilections, this story needs to be seen far and wide. If for no other reason than the inherent hypocrisy of the family's anti-gay rhetoric.

Update: Here is the police report, which seems to confirm that the molested children were Josh's own sisters.  (Who else would be sleeping in his house night after night?) So we can now add incest to the list of charges.

Bleach enemas to cure Autism. The dangers inherent with ignorance of science.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Parents seeking help with children with autism are turning to a “miracle” cure that involves giving the children enemas, using a dangerous industrial solution used for bleaching wood pulp. 

According to If You Only News, parents have turned to Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), containing sodium chlorite which is mixed with citric acid (i.e. orange juice) to make chlorine dioxide. According to the promoters, the solution, which can be taken orally or administered via an enema, can cure HIV, malaria, hepatitis, autism, acne, and cancer. 

Miracle Mineral Solution is the brainchild of Jim Humble, who quit the Church of Scientology to form the Genesis II Church of Health & Healing in order to promote his “miracle” cure in Africa and Mexico. 

The Food and Drug Administration disagrees with Humble’s claims and has posted a warning on their website calling the product “dangerous” and “potentially life threatening,” advising “drinking the amount recommended on product labels can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.” 

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency warns that chronic exposure to small doses of chlorine dioxide could result in reproductive and neurodevelopmental damage, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued guidance in the use of chlorine dioxide in the workplace. 

Kerri Rivera, founder of the website CD Autism (“Autism: Avoidable. Treatable. Curable.”) which promotes MMS, claims that autism is caused by yeast, parasites, viruses, and vaccines that can be flushed from the body.

Courtesy If You Only News: 

Parents are using bleach enemas/drinks to try to cure their children of autism. They force the bleach solution into their own children orally or via enemas — both of which can cause serious health issues. Parents report their children fighting, screaming and writhing in pain. The monsters who sell the product online say it’s a miracle cure. The sane population calls it child abuse.

From one parent's Facebook page:

 This is quite literally one of the most horrific things I have every heard of, and it makes the actions of the Anti-Vaxxers pale by comparison.

In some cases these parents are giving their children several bleach enemas a day and are literally stripping the lining from their stomachs, which then shows up in their stool. A man named Andreas Kalcher has falsely identified these as "rope worms" and claims that these are among the "parasites" that this treatment flushes from their child's body.

However when tested the "worms" only contain human DNA.

I think we can all understand the desperation of parents searching frantically for something that will magically cure their children and make them behave and think normally, but what these people are doing to their children is nothing short of abusive.

If you read through the entire article at IYON you will likely come away shaken and extremely angry at the assholes who are preying on these poor parents and selling them this dangerously toxic "cure."

Minister brags that he "punched a kid" as hard as he could in order to get him to accept Jesus Christ as his savior. You know because violence and Jesus Christ go hand in hand.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A pastor at the Bible Baptist Church in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey is coming under fire after his church posted a video of him claiming to have converted a “smart aleck” youth by “punching him in the chest as hard as I could.” 

Pastor Eric Dammann begins by saying that he met a young man in Calgary named “Ben,” who was “a nice kid, but one of those — he was a real smart aleck. He was a bright kid, which didn’t help things — made him more dangerous.” 

“We were outside one day at youth group,” Dammann continues, “and he was just trying to push my buttons. He was just kind of not taking the Lord serious [sic].” 

“So I walked over to him and went BAM! Punched him in the chest as hard as I could. I crumpled the kid. I just crumpled him.” 

“Then I leaned over and said, ‘Ben, when are you going to stop playing games with God?’ I led that man to the Lord right there,” he concludes.

I found it enlightening that this guy identified the boy's intelligence as making him "dangerous." And responded by using violence in order to overcome the boy's resistance.

Sounds to me as if this guy did not have a great deal of faith in his religion if he felt the need to beat a child up in order to sell him on his particular brand of Christianity.

You know I have worked with kids for most of my adult life, in one form or another, and if I had EVER put my hands on a child the way this guy is describing they would have not only fired me but thrown my ass in jail.

Where, by the way, I would have deserved to go. 

Child abuse.

I have said it before, but I will say it again, there is really NOTHING you can tell an impressionable child more terrifying than that they are constantly being watched and judged, and if they do the wrong thing they will suffer eternal punishment. 

There is no horror movie scenario that even comes close.

"Life coaches" at Christian boarding school in Virginia caught on video beating a student caught talking to a girl. That'll learn him...to hate life coaches...and possibly to be afraid of girls.

Courtesy of Addicting Info:  

Although the surveillance footage above only shows this particular attack, there is also a three-hour video that exposes the boarding school’s staff members making the teen do push-ups and horse stances, and throwing him to the ground. 

The victim said that after the three-hour assault, the staff members woke him up every 90 minutes to punish him for “talking to a girl.” 

The four men involved in the attack — Timothy Jordan, Jovanny Rivera, Carey Honea and Liam Galligan — were charged with simple assault. Galligan is also facing 12 child endangerment charges for forcing teen boys at the boarding school to stand in a swamp for extended periods.

You know I am fine with strict rules and discipline, but this is simply abusive behavior that only teaches kids to fear irrational responses from grownups to actions that are harmless in normal society.

At to think that this kid's parents paid tuition to this school so that their son could be used as a punching bag by a bunch of overgrown bullies who hide their abusive natures behind the camouflage of Christianity.

And ten to one those guys are still gainfully employed at this so-called school. After all if this type of behavior was not condoned it would not have happened in open view of the other students, or been allowed to be caught on video. 

Sean Hannity unbuckles his belt and punishes his desk in defense of NFL player Adrian Peterson against child abuse charges.

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

Sean Hannity defended Adrian Peterson last night by invoking how his own father used to beat him. And to illustrate that point rather vividly, Hannity took off his belt and whipped it around. 

Hannity admitted that Peterson went too far in beating his kids, but said he shouldn’t be penalized for trying to discipline his children. His guests pushed back a bit on corporal punishment and Hannity asked, “We’re gonna arrest everybody that’s ever hit their kid?” 

He recalled a time when his dad once punched him in the face and he “deserved it.” And then Hannity said, “I’ll take my belt off.” Which he did. And then proceeded to whip it on the table a few times to demonstrate how it was done.

Jesus what a fucking moron!

Nobody is suggesting that any person who utilizes corporal punishment in order to discipline their children could be brought up on charges, but there is a clear distinction between discipline and brutality. And if you do not understand that then you have no business raising your hand to a child.

I only spanked my daughter on the bottom a handful of times, and they usually consisted simply of a single pop on the butt.

Like I said there were probably less than a half dozen of these, and they were by no definition excessive, however my daughter remembers every single one and she still feels the sting of my aggression, for which I am eternally shamed for not being a more capable parent.

I myself was beaten by caregivers as a child, when my mother, who was working two jobs to support us, left us with strangers who provided room and board, and heaping amounts of discipline.

I was the identified troublemaker so I was left with strap marks on my back and legs, bruises on my arms and face, and deep emotional scars that even as a middle aged man slither to the surface every so often.

My response was to work with children for the majority of my life, mostly to protect them from others and to demonstrate that patience and consistency are far more effective at behavior modification than instilling fear or using brutality.

Personally I think that Hannity would be well served with some time in a psychiatrist's office, and have little doubt that there is a plethora of psychological problems swirling around in that square cranium of his.

How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay. (NSFW due to language and terrible parenting..)

Courtesy of the Advocate:  

A 19-year-old gay man is safe and staying with a family friend in Atlanta, Georgia, after suffering physical and verbal abuse at the hands of his stepmother, father, and grandparents when he told them he was gay. 

Daniel Pierce filmed his family's reaction to his confirmation that he was gay in chilling first-hand look at the violence and rejection that can result when parents don't accept their child's sexual orientation. 

I don't think I have heard of too many episodes of a child coming out to their parents that has gone much worse than this one did. They actually hit this young man and called him a "queer."

Though perhaps the most chilling part for me was hearing the family say that they do not care about what science has determined because they place their faith in God, and God would not create him that way.

For those who are concerned about Daniel, and the long term effects this might have on him, this should help you to feel a little better.

Courtesy of The Daily Mail:

A 20-year-old who was kicked out by his religious parents after he came out as gay has received almost $50,000 in donations to help him start a new life. 

Daniel Ashley Pierce, from Kennesaw, Georgia, secretly filmed the moment he was disowned by his family and the YouTube video has attracted almost two million views in two days. 

The five-minute clip titled 'How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay' has prompted hundreds of supportive responses on YouTube and donations have been pouring in. 

This kind of ignorance of sexuality in this day and age is inexcusable, but when you find it you can be sure there is going to be a religious component interfering with their logic.

History of Hell.

And yet for centuries we have been terrifying our children with the threat of ending up in a place that simply does not exist.

Child abuse, as only religion can provide it.

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world." Really? Too bad his followers do not always feel the same.

Courtesy of the You Tube page:  

Evangelical Christians around the globe are increasingly holding large children's revivals where they practice a disturbing ritual called "anointing by the holy spirit," "being slain by the holy spirit," "catching the holy ghost," or "falling out." 

 It is intimidating, physically coercive, deeply stressful, and emotionally manipulative. Children are under tremendous pressure to cooperate, to mimic the adults' bizarre behaviors, and to avoid being judged unworthy, disappointing, or worse, under satan's spell. 

The older children and teens are under great peer pressure to fit in. The youngest simply don't understand they're supposed to fall over. Their purity and honesty shines through. 

Most are acting, consciously or subconsciously, feeling anxiety and guilt long afterward for not having the "genuine" experience they imagine the rest are surely having. Others are infected by the contagion of mass hysteria, a temporary insanity driven by the shouting, the music, and the cacophony of adults "speaking in tongues" (glossolalia) -- meaningless babbling with the same origin as the toppling over. 

The preachers, of course, are paid for results. 

What kind of belief system must force itself on children, long before they are able to understand and decide for themselves? 

It is child abuse and should not be permitted.

My daughter tried to describe this kind of activity  many years ago when she was being subjected to it.

At the time I did not have a frame of reference to help me to understand exactly what she was describing.

Over the years I have learned much, and all of it has made me angry beyond belief.

This is wrong by ANY measure, and the fact that people responsible for it don't see that, makes them unfit to preach, teach, or even parent.

Evangelical group operating after school program on public school property teaches children as young as 4 and 5 that they are sinners and deserve death.

Courtesy of TPM: 

An evangelical Christian group plans to try to convert children as young as 5 at Portland apartment pools, public parks and dozens of other gathering spots this summer — a campaign that's got some residents upset. 

They've banded together in recent weeks to warn parents about the Child Evangelism Fellowship's Good News Club, buying a full-page ad in the local alternative weekly to highlight the group's tactics. 

"They pretend to be a mainstream Christian Bible study when in fact they're a very old school fundamentalist sect," said Kaye Schmitt, an organizer with Protect Portland Children, which takes issue with the group's message and the way it's delivering it. 

CEF says Protect Portland Children is a shadow group run by atheists who seek to dismantle Christian outreach. The group said its methods are above reproach. 

"Children are easy to manipulate, we all know that," said CEF's vice president Moises Esteves. "We don't use any of the schemes and high-pressure tactics that we're accused of. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Actually that might be exactly the truth as revealed by a site called  "The Good News Club: Endangering Chidlren."

On that site they have a page dedicated to the curriculum used by CEF, which includes paragraphs like this:

 And this:

These are young children, many who have no religious background in Judeo Christian teaching, and here they are being told on PUBLIC SCHOOL property, that they are evil and will die a horrible death if they do not convert the religion of their instructors.

There is a name for this.

And that name is "child abuse."

Group that is humorously critical of the bible posts troubling video and images of children at a Memphis Christian youth camp. Then things get a little out of hand.

This is from the blog  "Awkward Moments not found in your average Children's Bible:"

Earlier this week, a fan of ours shared a link to some disturbing photos and videos that were shared publicly by a counselor from a Memphis area church camp with the title “God is so good…” and comments like, “Awesome and so beautiful…” I should mention, the fan who sent us the links is friends with one of the parents involved. In short, they were completely horrified by what the friend’s child had experienced.

Because the photos and video were posted on Facebook publicly, without any privacy settings, for the world to see – we shared the direct links to the content with our Facebook fans with the simple question, “CHILD COERCION OR…?” (I should also quickly note that in order for the kids to attend the camp, their parents had to sign a photo/video release waiver so the camp could share the content online for marketing purposes.) It was certainly not the “normal” sort of post for our page (illustrations of lesser-known Bible verses), so I wasn’t sure how it would be received by our viewers. 

In short, our viewers went nuts about what they perceived to be significant emotional abuse of minors. The post went viral with hundreds of comments and hundreds of shares within just a few minutes. Suddenly, I felt bad for “Nita” – the original poster. Here she was, just sharing a some photos of videos of their normal every day church camp for other counselors and parents to share with family and friends, and… WHOOSH!

Here is the video that this post is referring to. (Sadly I cannot seem to embed it, but it plays just fine on the Liveleak page.)
 
Yeah, I bet that woke you up this morning!

And they're right, the backlash came hard and fast, and this group, which is really all about promoting their cute little illustrated bibles, found themselves under attack and those involved making some rather pathetic excuses for their actions.

"Addicted to the presence of Lord Jesus?" Well that is a fairly troubling statement.

However there were some connected to the camp who were more than a little troubled.

"My daughter was at camp when the pictures were taken last week. I am a Christian and raised Baptist. Never once did I EVER witness the likes of this! Pictures of my daughter were also posted on the woman’s page. Pictures of her crying and in very apparent emotional distress. When asked about the pictures of her, her response was that she was TOLD to pray with the other children, so she did. I asked why she was crying and she responded with, “Other kids were crying, it made me cry too.” So, please explain to be how children who are ENCOURAGED TO COPY what they are seeing other adults and children do without rhyme or reason or instruction is healthy? You cant. And when it ISN’T healthy, it becomes a form of abuse. Period. Emotional abuse has occurred that could scar these children for life."

Yeah no shit!

Look I of course have many negative feelings about religion and children, and religious indoctrination of children, but I myself attended a Bible camp as a child and was NEVER subjected to anything even remotely similar to this.

Which is good because if you think I am anti-religious now......

California pastor and parishioners forced 13 year old boy to dig his own grave in order to frighten him into behaving better.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

A California pastor and two members of his congregation admitted in court that they physically abused a 13-year-old boy and made him dig his own grave. 

According to affidavits published by The Los Angeles Times, 56-year-old Heart of Worship Community Church Pastor Lonny Lee Remmers, 24-year-old Nicholas James Craig and 30-year-old Darryll Duane Jeter Jr. said that they were following instructions to “scare” the victim. All three of the men had worked at a group home where the boy lived. 

In March of 2012, the men reportedly took the victim to the desert where he was forced to dig a grave. After he got in the grave, the men threw dirt on him. 

The men also rubbed salt into his wounds while he was showering, tied him to a chair with zip ties, and sprayed mace on his face until he bled. 

At one point, the boy was made to sit in the middle of a Bible study group and pinch his own nipples with pliers, investigators said.

Well you know what it says in the Bible, spare the pliers spoil the child.

This kind of thing is fucking medieval torture, and using religion to excuse it is pathetic.

This is one of the problems with Christian run facilities which sometimes are excused from the kind of documentation and oversight that secular facilities are subjected to.

Though the idea that grown men would consider this kind of treatment reasonable without somebody having to tell them it's not is quite troubling to me.

Study finds that child abuse damages the development of grey matter in the brain.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry concluded that child abuse contributes to a reduction in the volume of grey matter in the brains of its victims. 

According to Lena Lim, Joaquim Radua, and Katya Rubia, child abuse — or “childhood maltreatment,” as it is called in their study — leads to lifetime-long alteration in brain structure. 

“Childhood maltreatment,” they write, “acts as a severe stressor that produces a cascade of physiological and neurobiological changes that lead to enduring alterations in brain structure.” 

Using an imaging method that allows them to compare differences in brain anatomy between groups of individuals called “signed differential mapping,” the researchers studied structures of 331 individuals with a history of child abuse, and 362 without. 

They discovered that individuals who had suffered abuse had reduced brain matter in areas of the brain related to the cognitive process of decision-making. 

The most salient reduction in grey matter volume among victims of child abuse occurred in the ventrolateral prefrontal and limbic-temporal regions — areas of the brain linked to cognitive control.

I have no difficulty at all believing these findings.

I have worked with emotionally disturbed and cognitively impaired children for years, and one thing that is universal to all of the cases is abuse and some form of neglect.

I also suffered some fairly life altering abuse when I was a child.

Considering that I am fairly high functioning I am not sure how much brain matter was beaten out of me, but it certainly fucked up my ability trust or interact with people for quite a number of years.

Trust me when I tell you that no matter how extreme the behaviors might be, using violence as a behavior modification tool only creates far more problems than it appears to solve.

I have worked with kids who called me every name in the book, spit at me, pulled my hair, and even threatened to kill my whole family. In the end the techniques I utilized brought them out of crisis and put them on the path toward becoming contributing members of society.

Hell more than one of them now works with troubled kids themselves.

If you want to create loving children then love them.

If you want to create future guests of a Federal penal institution then by all means beat them into compliance.