Saline [MI] Post: Local Worship Director, Christian Musician Faces Sex Crime Charges
Every time I hear how bad things are in this country, and in the world, and all of the moaning and complaining that conservative Evangelicals have made the mantra of their mission, I want to ask, "Well, if it's so bad, then what are you doing about it?" They moan and complain, and blame politicians--to be specific, Democratic party politicians, for all of the problems.
And one of the most common remarks that follows this moaning and bellyaching, "Oh, Jesus must be about to come soon!"
The Bible certainly does address sexual immorality, and puts it in the category of human sinfulness, along with a lot of other sins, like deceit and dishonesty, hate, and violence. But I would suggest that before moaning and complaining about liberals, Democrats and anyone else with whom they disagree or don't like, they should clean up their own house, first.
This kind of thing happens much more frequently in churches than most people realize. The Catholic church has dealt with a massive sexual abuse scandal among its ordained priesthood that extends back several generations and in which there have been tens of thousands of victims, mostly children and teenagers. The church has paid out untold millions of dollars to settle lawsuits, and instead of removing the perpetrators, in many cases they simply reassigned them to another parish where no one knew about the abuse until it happened there.
Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Evangelical Protestant denomination, were the subject of an expose published by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News in 2018, regarding sexual abuse being committed by pastors, paid church staff members and even denominational officers and employees. The expose, called Abuse of Faith [click on the title for the link] uncovered hundreds of cases of sexual abuse by pastors and church staff members, mainly of women, but in some cases, teenagers and young children, that had occurred in churches over an extended period of time. The Chronicle/Express News investigation covered only a limited number of cases in a limited number of jurisdictions.
It turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, as delegates to its annual convention meeting in 2019, angry over the abuse and attempts by denominational officers to cover it up, ordered an independent investigation be conducted by an outside firm that none of the denomination's insider elites could control or alter. The investigation found cases where pastors had been exposed as abusers in one congregation and would move on to another church without their knowledge, under the guise of church independence and autonomy. The investigation even uncovered abuse by a former SBC President, and vice-president of one of its mission boards, and buy multiple missionaries and staff members of the denomination's entities, including two of its theological seminaries.
So it would seem that a student attending youth group in a Catholic or Southern Baptist church stands a better chance of being sexually abused or exploited by a youth pastor or priest than they do in their local public high school, or at a community dance or private party. They're safer at a drag queen show than in their own church.
And Of Course, In This Most Recent Case in Michigan, The Abuser is a Worship Leader, Youth Pastor and Big Time Trumper and Political Conservative
Of course there's a right wing political connection. These right wingers are emboldened by the fact that their political inamorata, Trump, "can shoot someone in the middle of fifth avenue and not lose a single voter." Trump built a good part of his personal and professional reputation on his sexual immorality. This man, that Evangelicals honor as their savior more than they do Jesus Christ, once had his sexual exploits, including moments that should have been kept private between himself and his wife, printed on the front page of New York tabloids.
So what do you expect? These guys think they can get away with their deviant, immoral, illegal sexual exploitation because he gets away with it.
There's a picture of this particular worship leader playing a guitar and singing with a band at CPAC. How ironic is that? What a wonderful photo op!
And according to the article in the Saline Post, the investigation into his activity included his solicitation of illicit videos and photos from youth, presumably at his church. One of the commentors notes that the activity dates back to 2014. So it had been going on for 11 years. The article notes that the worship director is also the son of the senior pastor of the church. That opens the door to some questions. Did this prevent the church from conducting a background check? How much of this activity was ignored or swept under the rug because his father was pastor? How could something like this go on for 11 years and be undetected?
Any sexual exploitation or abuse is tragic, especially when kids are involved. It shouldn't be a political issue, but the arrogance of conservative accusations of people whose sexual preferences don't line up with their interpretation of morality makes it political. If the world is a dark place, think of how much darker it is for a kid whose youth pastor at church is encouraging them to take illicit photos or participate in illicit videos. That's stealing a part of who they are that belongs to them, and no one else. And it sure does undermine any religious teaching of the church. If the pastor's son can do this and get away with it, what does that say about his own father's preaching?
And this kind of thing happens a lot more frequently than people think. Kids are safer going to the mall or a movie theater or a music concert in public than they are going to youth group at their church. It nullifies the moaning and complaining of Christian political conservatives about the dark world in which we live. They're the ones who are turning off the lights and pulling down the blinds.
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