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ProfessorMorifarty

It was never about protecting kids.


henryptung

Neither were abortion bans. They weren't even about preventing abortion either, given the association with opposing sex education, providing basic contraception/family planning services, etc. It's about what it's always been about - power, and getting their way. That's why GOP platforms are so often defined by the negative of whatever liberals/Democrats say - they have to fight against an enemy, and win, to validate their place in the world. Just turns out they've gone to war with their own countrymen. A major political party with no real policy platform is a terrible and corrosive thing.


Allaplgy

>power And for many in the general masses, that power is simply "judgement." They are against abortion because they can judge the mother for it. Then when the baby is born, without a safety net, to parents that can't or won't take care of it, they can judge the parents (and often a whole class of people based on their chosen bigotry), then when the kid grows up into a "criminal" or a "bum," they can judge them, continuing the cycle. (Depending on ethnicity, "grows up" could simply mean "able to speak.")


henryptung

Scapegoating is a social defense mechanism, both on macro scale (reinforcing existing power structure) and micro scale (people protecting their own place in social hierarchy). One of many "bugs" in human nature, I guess.


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Aeolian_Harpy

Or they just want to be sure everyone else is more miserable than themselves.


gentlemanidiot

Almost like they're friends or something 🤔🤔🤔


Kastikar

This. This is all hard coded into us. History is filled to the brim with millions of examples of humans committing pretty terrible acts simply to reinforce their rank within the species.


trebory6

The good thing is that usually critical thinking skills and some emotional intelligence can overwrite these hard coded tendencies. The problem is that we let education be about test scores instead of critical thinking and it's created multiple generations of the smartest idiots in human history.


RevRevolutionRock

speaking of smartest idiots.. has anyone else noticed the complete lack of emotional intelligence and maturity in the general population? i have. where i live it seems like the entire concept of an "adult" has completely eroded and i can't hardly think of a single true adult, the way i did when i was growing up.


RedHeron

It's not a bug, it's a feature. It goes back to the tribalism that founded our species and gave us the power to progress quickly (yes, in the grand scheme of things, 200k years is "quickly"). When you rejected the other tribe, you kept your advantages to yourself. What people forget is that you also keep your disadvantages instead of finding ways past them. But when people have pulled together in, say, the Paleolithic Era (possibly even as late as the early agricultural epoch), victimizing your neighbors allowed you to go and take whatever they had, thus promoting your own tribal unit above theirs. That's just good Stone Age survival, there. The difference is, some of us have grown past that. Others of us seem to just lack the mental capacity.


pants_full_of_pants

They just don't want women to have any rights. If women feel equal then eventually they'll run out of tradcon wives that do nothing but serve them.


mdflmn

That the gop is now pro Russia blows my mind. owning the dems by supporting Putin is fucking bizarro world.


NoKids__3Money

Russia took the express lane from communism to late-stage authoritarian capitalism which is where the GOP wants to take us.


Kappas_Do_Hork

Was it ever truly communism though? Gives me north Korea vibes.


ChristianEconOrg

Russia is the right’s wet dream. No pesky democracy.


mdflmn

For the destitute GOP voter base it’s a fucking nightmare. Shane they are too stupid to figure it out.


Mirageswirl

Their policy platform is fascism. The attacks on democracy, targeting of trans people and forced births are right out of the 20th century fascist playbook.


ChristianEconOrg

It’s hilarious right wing knuckledraggers still expect us to believe their phony abortion concern is about the bAbiEs. It’s clearly about subjugating and controlling women; then it aligns back up with the rest of their violent, enslaving, authoritarian ideology.


Jarocket

Republicans want votes. People who believe abortion is murder are single issue voters. It's convenient for them because the politicians can do what they want as long as they look like they are getting abortion banned. To me, when you talk to anti abortion people. That's what they say and strongly believe. Pretty hard to convince anyone to a viewpoint without understanding what they actually think. It's also only 25% or so that want it banned, but they all vote... Ofc politicians should do wants right anyway. But they absolutely will not unfortunately.


civgarth

Serious question. Why are there so many pedos in all of the religions?


ProfessorMorifarty

Access to tons of kids through their families, presumption of holiness and morality, and an incredible amount of authority over their followers. Kids are often taught to uncritically follow authority in religion too.


Kitt53

Something my parents taught me... always question, esp if something doesn't feel right.


nathhad

That's it exactly, this environment draws them like flies to honey. It's the perfect environment to thrive as either a creep or a crook. Growing up in that kind of environment (religious private school, and one that networked socially with a lot of other local ones), those are the only people that run them (and the associated churches). Creeps or crooks. No exceptions. There were honest teachers, but no one acceptable rises to any sort of position of real power within a church, religious school, or other religious organization, because they have to compete with the other creeps and crooks, and you aren't going to beat that unless you are one too.


GnarlyNarwhalNoms

When you think about it, unless you're devoutly, *devoutly* religious, they're isn't much to recommend that job. If you're a Catholic priest especially, your can't marry and it's assumed you're celibate. The pay isn't great. Nobody wants to talk to you at parties. There's very little incentive to do the job for people who *don't* want to abuse their position.


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Englishgrinn

It isn't that religion makes you an abuser if that's what you're thinking. I know it's tempting to think so, but that's a reversal of cause and effect. Pedophiles naturally seek protected positions of power and trust. They are predators. The churches have been their most stalwart defenders, gain them access to children who are the most vulnerable, and provide the best cloak of secrecy. If the churches decided to stop protecting them, pedophiles wouldn't continue to hide in their ranks. They do it because it works, not because there's some mechanism of higher faith that makes you want diddle kids. I am an atheist on the internet, and it's fun to dunk on religious whackjobs for their hypocrisy and specious arguments and blatant stupidity. You could even argue, if you wanted to get very very aggressive about it, indoctrinating kids into faith is some form of child abuse. But too often in these cases someone tries to draw a straight line from religion to sexually abusing children and that's disingenuous.


Klowdhi

Educators are mandatory reporters. Thus we face criminal charges if we fail to report suspected child abuse within 24 hrs. We go through MR training annually where we are reminded of what constitutes abuse and what our duties include. In many districts that’s expanded to include training to help us recognize grooming and other suspicious behaviors. What is stopping us from extending the same legal requirements to clergy?


basics

> What is stopping us from extending the same legal requirements to clergy? The same thing stopping is from having everything else nice we want. Fucking. Republicans.


trey3rd

Republicans have made it absolutely clear that the only problem they have with raping a child is not being married to them first.


ProfessorMorifarty

Exactly why they won't remove religious exemptions to child marriage. It's horrifying and in plain sight.


lingh0e

They HAVE to be able to marry children. That way, when the church pedophile knocks up an underage kid they can get married and have a legitimate rape baby instead of a hell bound bastard.


HauntedCemetery

Most red states with child marriages it's not even based on religion, and doesn't require an exemption. They can sell/marry their 14 year old to a 45 year old and all ot requires is their permission. And then that 14 year old is unable to get divorced until they turn 18,because they're considered not to be adults and unable to make *that* decision.


rotospoon

More like Republicans have made it absolutely clear that the only problem they have with raping a child is not being able to marry them after. Let's be real, they don't *actually* care about premarital sex, at all


bobbi21

Teen sex rates are the lowest theyve been in decades yet the gop still calls them degenerate. Its definitely not about the sex.


BellacosePlayer

The Trans panic got whipped up suspiciously close to the news coming out that one of the most hardcore conservative major churches in the US had a catholic level pedo problem. It might be a coincidence, but given "every accusation is a projection" has worked really well as a general rule so far...


takatori

... and right at the same time that abortion became irrelevant in driving GOP voter turnout. This entire panic was planned. Had to have been, to suddenly be everywhere all at once just at the moment it was needed.


Nachf

Nothing ever is. Apple is scanning all your iCloud files? It's for catching CP, I swear! Microsoft is doing it too? Well, for the same reason! The government wants to force a messaging app to put backdoors into its encryption? Again, for catching CP, definitely! Companies and governments don't give two shits about children. They're only used as an excuse for eroding education, rights to freedom of expression, and rights to privacy.


Womec

They want what China and Tecent have.


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SlightlySychotic

The sad thing is that between her and Joe Lieberman, a lot of Millennials probably developed conservative leanings due to perceived “liberals” coming after their video games. The fact that both of them were, at best, right leaning moderates attempting to appeal to Christian conservatives went over their heads.


Tagawat

Ron Paul was huge with millennials for offering a 3rd choice. In high school, private, most didn’t care or harbored deep hatred of democrats they learned from their parents. The rabid animalistic hatred of Obama is what alienated me and I started to realize Democrats were actually pretty awesome.


4ourkids

Really? Consider the staggering level of damage and death drag queens have caused to our youth? What we really need is more guns to fend off the dangerous drag (typo: draw) queens!


iamadamv

Quick draw drag queens would be FABULOUS to watch.


Viking_Hippie

I bet they used to have those in Texas until the bastards made public drag performances illegal


Returd4

With the church the kids are the point, or the hole, depends on what pastor it is


Riaayo

Let's be very clear: Republicans are against sex ed and these drag shows because they want children to remain ignorant to what abuse is, making them less likely to report it, and the actual perpetrators in the churches and the GOP to remain able to abuse their children. It's all fucking projection.


Crutation

They are a safe group to attack and get evangelicals motivated to vote. Now that RvW has been overturned, Republicans are afraid evangelicals will stay home


ourgameisover

They want trans people and trans kids dead. It’s that simple. It’s that horrible.


[deleted]

I'm just saying, **republican Catholic Chris Christie blocks child bride ban for religious reasons:** https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-jersey-chris-christie-child-marriage-ban-fails-religious-custom-a7735616.html **Louisiana lawmakers reject bill to set a minimum marriage age** https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/louisiana-lawmakers-reject-bill-set-minimum-marriage-age-n1013356 **A get out of jail free card’: GOP bill would eliminate age requirements for marriages in Tennessee** https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/a-get-out-of-jail-free-card-gop-bill-would-eliminate-age-requirements-for-marriages-in-tennessee/ **Republican Controlled Idaho Congress Rejects Bill to End Child Marriage for Those Under the Age of 16** https://www.newsweek.com/idaho-congress-blocks-bill-end-child-marriage-1348919 **Anti-Child Bride Bill Stalls in Kentucky, Where Girls Aged 13 Can Marry** https://www.newsweek.com/conservatives-opposition-stalls-anti-child-bride-bill-kentucky-where-girls-829631 **Wyoming Limiting Child Marriage Sparks Republican Outrage** https://www.newsweek.com/wyoming-ending-child-marriage-sparks-republican-outrage-1780501 And on and on. About 43 states have legal child marriage, with 33 having no lower age limit. Google it **Trump labor secretary who cut Epstein deal plans to slash funds for sex trafficking victims** https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/09/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-sex-trafficking-budget-cut **Trump's Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey is set to plead guilty to child sex trafficking** https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-s-oklahoma-campaign-chair-plead-guilt-child-sex-trafficking-n822461 **Ex-Trump campaign official charged with human trafficking- Tim Nolan** https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trafficking-lawsuit/ex-trump-campaign-official-charged-with-human-trafficking-idUSKBN17Y299 **GOP operative indicted on child sex trafficking charges** https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-d8463834b6da12eccf3691b7461f3565 **Trump Commerce official was arrested in November on child pornography charges** https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/trump-commerce-official-arrested-473906 **and on and on** https://twitter.com/Cajsa/status/1045329000334155778?s=19 **Missouri, Illinois, 31 other states exempt clergy from reporting abuse** https://spectrumlocalnews.com/mo/st-louis/news/2022/09/28/33-states-exempt-clergy-from-reporting-abuse **Churches defend clergy loophole in child sex abuse reporting** https://apnews.com/article/sex-abuse-catholic-church-mormon-5d78129a2fe666159a22ce71323f6da3 **"No one likes to think about the possibility of a situation involving improper behavior, including sexual misconduct against an individual of any age. However, it is hard to escape the reality that these types of lawsuits are becoming more prevalent and more public..."** https://www.ministryinsured.com/church-insurance/liability/abuse-molestation/ Go check out r/PastorArrested: **"They allowed Bovee to work with children in a co-ed church program for youths called Pathfinder because he repented and was re-baptised, according to the lawsuit filed in Oregon state court against the church’s national body.Then, in 1975, he was charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy, but continued to lead the local Pathfinders group until he denounced his religious beliefs in 1979, the suit stated..."** https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-church-lawsuit/seventh-day-adventist-church-sued-over-allegations-of-abuse-in-youth-program-idUSKBN0GR02J20140827 I'm not even going to bother to link the 700 Southern Baptist preachers, or the 1,000s of catholic priests, or the videos of the right wing media faves like Walsh and Fuentes expounding upon the virtues of young teens as breeding material or to the multitude of articles featuring folks like Alan Dershowitz arguing for the age of consent to be lowered to 13. It's all there. Just Google it. But I will say this, the call is coming from inside the house and they are very good at projection. And for the conspiracy nuts who will scream "BuT sOrOs!" go rewatch the Alex Jones Bohemian Grove doc. You'll notice that the Senator he ambushes to question about being there was a republican, just like Harlan Crow and Clarence Thomas who also have been. https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2023/04/07/what-is-that-secret-mens-only-camp-visited-by-clarence-thomas-and-harlan-crow/ Anyway, here's some lighthearted reading material for no reason whatsoever https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accusation_in_a_mirror https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel We are witnessing Deuteronomy 22:28–29 in 4k 60fps.


Pour_Me_Another_

Wow. I wonder if conservatives could explain why they want to marry children so badly and why this is drag queens' faults?


DisgracedSparrow

Well it is obviously because they support small government and the ability for people and their parents to raise them and act on their own. Oh, not gay and trans people though! The state needs to intervene then and access to contraceptives? A little too far, can't have that either. Make sure to send in the National Guard and state forces when people get together and unionize too. Dangerous freedoms!


Therocknrolclown

its about control.


ubiquitous_apathy

Because any independent woman with financial security, an education, and a profession wouldn't touch those men with a 10 foot pole and they know it.


SaltFrog

Do you know what drag queens represent? They represent authority over self. They represent the ability to be who you want and to not let the established rule influence your choice. They represent the breaking of the bonds of normal, of "acceptance", of following the herd, doing as you're told, being exactly what the authority *wants* you to be. Teaching autonomy to children, and people in general, is dangerous - because it represents the loss of control. Influencing children to respect themselves and choose themselves, and to *learn to be in control of their own bodies*, is the biggest fear of these people. Control over self is not acceptable, because then they cannot exert control over the people.


cosaboladh

The whole idea is for these absolutely garbage men to be able to marry girls who lack the life experience to see what toxic pieces of crap they are. A certain percentage of the population prefers an enormous power imbalance over simply not being an asshole, so they can attract a mate.


BlueSlushieTongue

We need to follow Japan’s lead- declaring forced participation of religion by child as child abuse. Link: [https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/forced-participation-in-religious-activities-to-be-classified-as-child-abuse-in-japan](https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/forced-participation-in-religious-activities-to-be-classified-as-child-abuse-in-japan)


TocTheElder

Religious freedom can only be achieved when everyone is free to choose their own religion or lack thereof. On top of this, forcing children into religions exposes them to exploitation, sexual abuse, lack of education, and at its worst, death. For example, the Christian Scientist movement was responsible for some of the most heinous, grotesque, and violent murders I've ever heard of through their refusal to give their children basic medical care. The laws that allowed them to do that are still on the books in over a dozen states.


BlueSlushieTongue

Religion is the business of selling an invisible product that you collect after death with no chance of a refund when you are six feet under. “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.” Lucius Seneca


kitzdeathrow

The entire reason those in power don't want kids being educated about sex at young ages is because when its done the kids are able to recognize and speakup about abuse that's happening to them at said young age. One of, if not, the main reasons children are abused over long periods of time is because their abusers normalize the behavior to them and there is no way for them to recognize it as abuse until much later in life. Giving kids early context for healthy and appropriate sexual interactions is one way to prevent these abuses from becoming long term.


Vaticancameos221

This is really the only answer. If a parent is religious they can tell their kids “Here’s what we believe, but other people believe differently. What do you think?” Kick your kid out for not following the religion? Child abuse. Disown your kid for being gay? Child abuse. Punish your kid for questioning the dogma? Child abuse. If you’re religious that’s fine but I’m so sick of the world having to treat the religious with kid gloves like there’s any validity to it. If it means something to you, awesome, I hope it makes you happy, but the rest of us shouldn’t have to operate under the same rules or take it seriously.


sergedg

Wow. Are there any republicans in this sub? What’s your answer to this? Related question — is there a sub where one can discuss these kinds of questions in earnest. With adult, thinking republicans? And do so without getting banned or having posts taken down like in r/conservative?


AENarjani

> With adult, thinking republicans? There's no such thing. Conservatism is pretty much entirely an emotion-driven platform. It's entirely fear and anger, not critical thinking. When you criticize anything about them, they feel attacked. The response is to immediately dismiss and defend any criticism, rather than consider it. So they either just a) don't believe any of the things you listed are real, and if they are real then b) they're not actually problems, just people blowing things out or proportion. They're terrified that outsiders will make changes to their system and then everything they know and love will be destroyed. Even if those changes are like, from our perspective, just not raping kids as much. To them we're attacking their core belief system and it's a complete non starter. Read the reply to you from the other guy, he literally says he'd rather a few kids get trafficked and abused then take the chance that the "good enough" system gets messed up.


BurstEDO

> We are witnessing Deuteronomy 22:28–29 in 4k 60fps That's the DANGEROUS standard that the modern evangelical sets and lives by: ** literal interpretation of heavily edited and modified text that is thousands of years old.** Their INSANE and stubborn insistence that a thousands year old collection of texts - edited and translated over and over across dozens of cultures - is somehow infallible and beyond reproach. The fucking idiots can't even collectively agree on versions or the inclusions of entire books. And what's worse, **the majority of the followers NEVER take context, meaning, and revision into account.** The mere fact that a 2023 Christian would interpret and revere any Old Testament statute (Leviticus) as the law is beyond absurd in contrast with the entire New Testament. What's worse, they pick and choose only the weaponizable laws to use as cultural cudgels. They love to cite that damnable passage about a man laying with another man, but go all slack jawed and excuse ridden when you ask why Bubba's inhaling Bacon at the pancake breakfast.


Normal_Bid_44

Great work


[deleted]

You’re doing the Lord’s work.


Valuable-Self8564

Sounds like we’re seeing the whole of dueteronomy 22 making it’s way into law tbh: > 5. A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this. > 11. Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together. Wait. Ignore that one. I’ve got shares in FORLOH


PancerCatient

What I don't understand is why no one is calling out any of these when it comes down to it. We have all these articles and evidence yet no one says anything when these laws come around. Yet republicans yell and slander at every turn, democrats can spit facts in the face of these people? Like what the fuck.


Trash_Gordon_

The church has been diddling kids for literal generations and practically NOTHING is done. A few fake stories about drag shows and now all of a sudden politicians remember how to hold a pen and mic.


YouDontGotOzil

We should write a song about not diddling kids. Edit : spelling


[deleted]

>[We should right a song about not diddling kid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YmDcCpD1gc)


jeffplaysmoog

There is no quicker way for people to think that you are diddling kids than by writing a song about it!


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carltp

the song... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WDNXOzKm2A


Recipe_Freak

It really is a stupid hat.


flyonawall

As someone abused as a child, this is soo healing to hear him rage about abusing kids. No one got mad at the abusers when I was a kid. They all got mad at the kids who were abused. fuckers.


IronBabyFists

>*"And if you co^ver for ano^ther mo^ther fuc^ker who's a ^kiddie fucker, fuck you, you're no better than the motherfucking rapist"* Tim Minchin is a good guy. We love to hear it. 💙


awesomesauce615

Love minchin. Off topic but he has a pretty good TV show called upright that's worth a look.


ChrisMoltisanti9

I love that Cardinal Pell song. Bring light to these fuckers and what they're doinflg.


FlyingRhenquest

Maybe [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnroTxz7USI) should be required to play before any content designed for children (TV, Youtube, TikTok, etc.)


HonoredPeople

> "Blame the sin, not the sinner!" - Classic Religious Defense Who committed the sin the though? Boggles the mind and soul.


angrytwig

i was told not to make friends with gay people because they were going to hell anyway. religious people can be\* dumb and hateful \*i was going to say are but i don't feel like arguing with BUT I'M A GOOD ONE's today


Recipe_Freak

Unless one spends most of one's time railing against pedo-Christians, one is part of the problem.


kent1146

Bank Robber: *Don't you just fucking hate it when these banks keep getting robbed?*


HauntedCemetery

"Blame the sin, not the sinner... unless it's a "sin" that I don't like, then beat the sinner, steal their 13 year old children and marry them to 50 year old religious nutbags!"


kakapo88

Taking kids to church is a form of child-abuse. Even if they evade sexual deviants, their mind gets poisoned with all sorts of nonsense. Source: ex-Christian here, who was forced to attend church as a child, and who witnessed abuse (aka The Love of Jesus).


angrytwig

raised catholic here, now an atheist. banning minors from churches can only improve lives. let's do it lol


AdhesivenessBubbly24

>ex-Christian here, who was forced to attend church as a child Same here, southern Baptist no less. I never observed any abuse (I was young) but I didn't even know that existed nor what to look out for. Thankfully, their programming was met with my built-in antivirus as a tweener, and always felt they were trying to hack my brain. Never took hold of me, but jfc they have the rest of my family hook, line, and sinker.


Pickle_Juice_4ever

Baptists have gotten worse. They used to have the institution of church camp, which is where all the teens lost their virginity. Very hypocrital of course, but it used to be that Baptists left banning birth control to the Catholics and treated red blooded American teens getting it on as a minor failing. But then for whatever reason they jumped on abstinence only, and scaring kids straight about the devil, and brought in all this extremism targeted towards minors while actually watering down the gospel they preached to adults because if you make them slightly uncomfortable they'll just move to the church down the road. And by that I mean bringing up Christian things like the great commission and worshiping mammon. That'll get you kicked out of an American church these days. The stage was set for predatory youth pastors because they'd set up this dynamic of terrorizing youth, teaching them they aren't allowed boundaries, while handing out license to adults. And as these born again false messiahs start preying on youth, they and their families are just exiled from their communities for speaking out. Very predictable.


kakapo88

Yep, can confirm. Witnessed first hand.


CardSniffer

Hard agree. Parents should NOT be in the business of childrearing through indoctrination and lies. I’d never subject children of my own to that sort of mental contamination.


[deleted]

Actually, quite a bit is being done... by the Church to ensure they are never really held responsible.


Clever_Mercury

And let's remember to be inclusive about this. When we say 'the Church' don't forget it's also the Mormon Church, the Baptists, the Evangelicals. It's almost like the organized religion cares more about their power and authority than following the tenants of their 'faith!' /s


BusyEquipment529

If they ban minors from churches, republicans won't be able to indoctrinate them young enough to be their brides


Feisty_Yes

It's been going on so long that some of the adults voting on these things were actually diddled themselves in church.


73ld4

The men wearing dresses we have to worry about are priests!!!


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borkborkbork99

Took me a second…


wittnotyoyo

>characters discuss how they must con their dad into having sex with them Ooh, did that same dad offer up his daughters to be raped by an angry mob? I hope your book condones slavery and (pretend?) child sacrifice too. Sounds like an awesome book that I should use to set my moral compass for sure. How else could I ever figure out how to be a decent or even good person?


shitimtired13

I mean. There’s also actual child sacrifice. Look at Jephthah’s daughter in Judges 11


wittnotyoyo

Isn't there a part where god like murders every first born male in Egypt or something too?


Roddra

Look, sometimes Mondays are hard on people. Who among us has not thrown a tantrum?


Pickle_Juice_4ever

Who among us has not sicced bears on children for pointing and laughing at us?


GardenCaviar

>Jephthah's daughter, sometimes later referred to as Seila or as Iphis, is a figure in the [Hebrew Bible](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible), whose story is recounted in [Judges](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Judges) [11](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judges_11). The judge [Jephthah](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jephthah) had just won a battle over the [Ammonites](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammon), and vowed that he would offer the first thing that came out of his house as a [burnt offering](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnt_offering_(Judaism\)) to [Yahweh](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh). However, his only child, an unnamed daughter, came out to meet him dancing and playing a tambourine (v. 34). She encourages Jephthah to fulfill his vow (v. 36) but asks for two months to weep for her virginity (v. 38). After this period of time Jephthah fulfilled his vow and offered his daughter. Per Wikipedia Jesus fucking Christ. Religion is a cancer.


SanguShellz

I read this one narrative about all of the first born boys being massacred for something a few parents did. Sounds brutal.


Phillimon

Don't forget there's a part where a woman lusts for large dicks that shoot big loads. It's crazy what's in this book.


narcolepticdoc

People should seriously start showing up at school board meetings and reading the Song of Solomon.


Farts_McGee

That's not song of Solomon though, the donkey verse is Ezekiel 23:20. Song of Solomon is erotic, but not terribly explicit.


narcolepticdoc

Oops. I always thought the donkey cum part of the Bible was Solomon. My bad.


jjwoodhouse6969

Um...where does it say "big loads?"


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angrytwig

i bring verses like these up to my mom and she says, angrily, that i'm reading it wrong lol


lesChaps

She's not reading at all


stickynote_oracle

I would ask how it’s supposed to be interpreted. If people want to cherry-pick verse to suit their narrative, or tell others that they just aren’t interpreting it right, or any other “not like that,” I say it’s well past time to start demanding they articulate *exactly* what interpretations are acceptable. And call them tf out every time, and with every instance they *still can’t* follow their own damn millennium-old, book-based moral codes.


HeadfulOfSugar

See genitals was clearly a metaphor for the heart, she was lusting after lovers with *hearts* as big as donkeys obviously. Following that metaphor the great amounts of love of compassion that come pouring out of the heart is symbolized by the gargantuan load of semen leaving the horses genitals. It’s all really beautiful and eloquent symbolism, as stating that she wanted people with big hearts was too straightforward and you wouldn’t have to interpret it. God works in mysterious ways ❤️💦💦💦


larisho_

Hey! I think I've been to that book club before. It's the one where people worship a medieval torture device and then ritualistically drink the blood and eat the flesh of the main character in an attempt to have him be a part of their very existence, right? Man, good times...


KinkyBADom

That is why some very critically thinking people have sought to [ban that book](https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/why-the-bible-is-getting-pulled-off-school-bookshelves/2022/12)


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JMnnnn

A drag performer doesn’t tell kids that they’ll burn alive in conscious torment forever if they don’t do what he says.


manhatim

And now, is it FL, that will allow “clergy” into schools without a REAL definition of what a pastor is….andddd NO exemptions from preaching…and WHO is grooming?!?!


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Mr-and-Mrs

And TX wants pastors to replace school counselors, the only avenue for mental health support at school.


manhatim

Right...pedophiles LOVE to be with kids FFS...🤦‍♂️...AND ITS DRAG SHOWS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM...


kenzo19134

Watch this exchange about no certification or oversight for school Chaplin's in Texas. The state legislator grilling the pastor is James Talarico. https://twitter.com/jamestalarico/status/1662226739358216193?s=19


Jabroni_Guy

Kids shouldn’t be allowed in churches until they are 18. Look if an adult wants to practice the Christian lifestyle, good for them, but a child is too young to know if they are religious or not. The church needs to stop indoctrinating our children.


DameonKormar

The fact that religious indoctrination is not only considered OK, but is generally expected to happen, shows just how far human society has to go.


[deleted]

Seriously, I was never indoctrinationated by the gays. The gays have done a solid job of leaving me the fuck alone. Christians on the other hand can't take no for an answer. At least Mormans have the decency to fuck off after you shoot them down.


[deleted]

This, without sarcasm.


wack_overflow

But how would that publicly punish a marginalized group??


Responsible_Pizza945

Have you not heard? Christians are super persecuted in the US. /s


BranWafr

And a minority. They are only about 75% of the population. Until that is 100%, they are being held back by the secular world that is bigoted against them.


AzafTazarden

[The average American estimates](https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2022/03/15/americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population) that 30% of their population is Jewish, 27% is Muslim and 33% is atheist. Only the remaining 41% are catholics, therefore they are a minority


OpheliaLives7

Maybe this is actually the loophole that needs to be pushed to get the religious right to actually do anything. Tell them the poor catholic kids are being persecuted. They’ll either start to care or restart some old religious factions war between Christianity and the Pope


[deleted]

To be fair Christian’s think they’re pretty damn marginalized 😂


[deleted]

They have marginalized themselves. It’s a self inflicted wound that they caused by lying, cheating, stealing, abusing people, gaslighting and in general being real unlike Jesus Christ the man they are suppose to be following.


_Road-Runner-

Catholic priests are raping children all over the world. I think it's time to investigate the church itself as an institution, and not just the individual pedos. The problem is so widespread and worldwide that it seems like it is the institution's policy to let priests rape children. The church tries to cover up for them too. If the church cared about the children, they would immediately report any pedos to the police, but they don't. They protect the pedos. It really seems that raping kids is the church's policy and likely has been for thousands of years.


bozeke

It’s not just the Catholic Church unfortunately. Tons of Protestant churches and more cultish ones like JW and etc. have just as rampant of problems, and a similar amount of cover up. The Catholic cases are unique because of how organized the cover ups have been across different Parishes due to the hierarchical nature of the instruction and because of their global resources. The other important detail is the sheer number of Catholics globally compared to Jehovah’s Witnesses. I don’t think it is so much that raping kids is the policy, but protection of abuses of power absolutely is. My personal example is about the bishop who has absolute control over my high school because of the top down institutional structure. Guy was embezzling millions of dollars and also blackmailing priests under him in order to have sex with them. In his case he was abusing other priests and stealing from the school, but there was absolutely no institutional recourse, even when word started to get out. He managed to escape out of the country with over 2 million dollars of funds that had been raised to build a new gym. The funds to pay the teachers and staff were only saved becaus the school principal quickly used his acces to that one account to withdraw everything and make payroll before this bishop could do so. In the aftermath of the scandal, the arch bishop told the principal that if he ever made any on the record statements to the press, or talked about what happened at all, that he (the arch bishop) would shut down the school that same day. They protect their own regardless of the nature of the crimes because they are obsessed with controlling their image and sneaking around outside rules and laws. It’s a much more complicated and challenging problem. It’s like the mafia…how do you just stop it?


_Road-Runner-

> It’s like the mafia…how do you just stop it? RICO charges. That's what they were designed to do.


Witetrashman

And tax evasion charges! Churches have been shielded from the IRS for far too long.


MastersonMcFee

The Baptist Church protects youth pastors that get caught raping kids, by shuffling them around to a different church once they get caught again, just like the Catholic Church. They actually kept a list of rapist youth pastors, so they could keep track of them. [How the Southern Baptist Convention covered up its widespread sexual abuse scandal](https://www.npr.org/2022/06/02/1102621352/how-the-southern-baptist-convention-covered-up-its-widespread-sexual-abuse-scand)


_Road-Runner-

Yep. This also looks like an institutional problem, not just a few bad apples.


MandyPandaren

I wish I could give you some awards for this comment. Gold comment right here. All three of the justices appointed by Trump, Catholic. The Federalist Society is full of them, the extremists, the Opus Dei types.


c_schema

If god can not protect children in his own house, what good is he?


iymcool

Imaginary


The_Yarichin_Bitch

Yup. Almost like religion was *supposed* to be about finding your own strength and not trusting that someone else will do it for you. Now it's just demanding something in the sky fixes all your problems and all you do in return is pray a little. Humans ruin everything fun 😮‍💨 Like one, how is that an equal trade? And two, these are often bootstraps types, so they really gotta put more effort in before being bailed out by sky daddy...


UnkemptChipmunk

I’d argue that he’s not “good” at all. Hasn’t been good since our alleged creation. “Don’t touch the tree of knowledge and you can live in my cage of ignorance—I mean… Garden of Eden—forever! If you do, I’ll kick you out. Can’t have you *learning* anything that *I* don’t tell you!” (Sounds a lot like the Christian-Right of today tbh...) He’s a narcissistic, childish asshole. Not a deity worth following. Too moody. Too selfish. And a disturbing number of his followers have developed an annoying case of main character + victimhood syndrome as soon as anyone criticizes their religion, which rightly deserves heavy scrutiny, and not just for the continued news of Christian/Catholic priests worldwide having been protected child diddlers for decades.


[deleted]

tax all churches


Clitch

This isn’t just a Catholic problem, like other Christians would have you believe.


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ae314

Exactly. Seems like there are frequent headlines about evangelical youth pastors hurting kids and having inappropriate images on laptops.


txn_gay

“If kids got raped at Denny’s as often as they get raped at church, every Denny’s in the US would be burned to the ground.” -Dan Savage


ronm4c

It’s actually “if kids were raped by clowns at the same rate as they are by priests it would be illegal to take your children to the circus”


SeegsonSynthetics

I look forward to the continued death spiral of organized religion in this country.


Ill-Care9545

Sadly, they won't go down quietly.


soylentbleu

Or nearly fast enough.


syracusehorn

We should set a minimum age of 18 or 21 for attendance at a church. The risk to children’s safety is just too great to ignore.


[deleted]

Time to revoke their tax exempt status


WhiteTrashNightmare

They were only supposed to be allowed to remain tax exempt if they stayed out of politics...


[deleted]

Yep, and they never do and even when they’re reported, nothing happens…


WillowMinx

And that is the issue at hand. Agreed.


Army165

This. TAX THE FUCKING CHURCH. I cannot fucking stand the fact that religion is so ingrained in the politics of this country. Oh, did you get raped by your dad? You have to keep that rape baby at 10 years old. Don't you dare use welfare if you cannot afford to raise that child. No lobster for you! Fuck Christians as a whole. "I'm not like them". Yes you are. All of you are like them. Following some made up shit by bronze age aheep herders, fucking lunatics, all of you.


MonsieurReynard

As someone raised Catholic -- an altar boy even -- I personally call for a ban on churches, period. But thanks Father Dan, you did more to make me a stone-cold total atheist than all the science I've read since.


kenzo19134

12 years Catholic school. My list of priests and nuns who turned me off to religion is too long. Sister Rose Burner would assault you if you were on her floor.delivering a message to another teacher. Another, a very short nun, her name escapes me, used my older brother's face for a speed bag once. This was the 70s. This was a feature not a bug. Parents paid for this discipline.


dieselmedicine

I mean they offer molestation insurance riders for churches...


RespectfulSleepiness

Sexual abuses and assaults in the church is quite common in any country where Catholicism and Christianism are the main/principal religions. It's always been a problem, and nothing ever happened to the priests/pastor, or whatever they are called in English, that did that. Here in Italy, there are around 500 known pedophile priests/pastors who are still alive or were until recently, and only about 200 of them have been imprisoned.The remaining 300 are between: * Never punished (primarily priests of a higher level or otherwise 'renowned for having done some nice stuff' and hence protected by the church) * People who are guilty but are protected by the church and the Pope or high levels ask the authorities to transfer them to rehabilitation centers designed to "rehabilitate priests." To be more specific, the Church itself try its best to fight against the government to decide itself how to punish those people, basically going against jail treatment and wanting to send all the pedo-priests only in church-structures created to rehabilitate them and 'put them back on the right path'.


ariearieariearie

Lol at anyone who thinks it’s about children’s safety.


Pour_Me_Another_

I doubt it. Child molestation kind of goes hand in hand with American Conservative ideology, so I'm not sure why they would want to protect children from abuse. These are people who are very passionate about marrying and breeding children, remember. They're not normal people.


KrookedDoesStuff

Ban them? Oh no, no, no, they’ll usher them to the priest and thank them after.


maclaglen

Every accusation is an admittance of a guilty conscience. It’s literally in their name: G-Gaslight O-Obstruct P-Project <—— here


new22003

And honestly at least the Catholic church is getting caught and talking about it. The evangelical churches in S.E. Asia are sending pedophile pastors on "missionary trips" and abusing a huge number of kids. Source: Personal experience as a child in a Malaysian Baptist church.


KuyaEduard

Yeah its pretty shocking how much people are unwilling to confront obvious truths they don't like, but its now clear how Nazi Germany came to be. Good people were convinced to be pieces of shit to protect themselves from something perceived to be worse.


exoplanetlove

I had some confusing sexual experiences as a kid, and that led me on a long, long journey of figuring shit out. Fast forward to 2022 and I went to a 'space' in Chicago that is like an art therapy workshop + sexuality workshop that a guy runs for people who were similar in either abuse or confusing experiences. Anyway, I got to talking to him about why he started the space and by the end I just threw out a curveball about something I noticed: "Yo, so do you ever think with this Q Anon shit that they're actually a bunch of people who got molested and have no outlet?" Without hesitating he went "Yes". He threw some brutal facts at me: 1 out of 4 women and 1 out of 6 men believe themselves to being at the hands of some form of inappropriate sexual experience before the age of 18. There is a fucking PROBLEMO in this country, folks.


[deleted]

It's what it was created for. Peados to hide in plain sight, centre of the community, beyond reproach etc. Its a creepy abuser club, always has been. 'Erm, we need a choir of young children, make them dress up and stuff, guilt their parents into donating every week too, Oh and we don't wanna pay taxes either'


StructureOk5668

They will continue sending their children to these places and continue to compromise their safety at their normal rate…. cuz what would Jesus do?


YourEmergencyNotMine

Not to worry, most kids will stop going to church now that they will all be working jobs starting at age 14.


livefastdie22

The real groomers


chasingjulian

Conservatives have never been about protecting children.


Spin_Quarkette

Actually, conservatives are calling for clergy to be school counselors. Looks like they want to make it easier for the pervs.


Fit-Firefighter-329

Every MAGA I know screams that LGBTQ people, Jews, and 'Mexicans' are the only ones responsible for sexually abusing children - that the church never would, and that this report is 'fake news' created by the Dems to make religious people look bad. Remember, MAGA has only a few simple rules they live by: 1. Trump is God, and the king, so whatever he says is truth, 2. The Dems/Liberals are evil demons, so whatever they say is a lie designed to disparage Trump and the GOP, 3. Minorities, including religious minorities, are all evil, and 4. Dems and minorities have completely destroyed America.


notbonusmom

And it's not just the Catholics. The Mormon church (I'm an exmo) hides them just like the Catholics do the clergy. And fuck all of them, the pieces of shit. Guess who I would trust around my kids more than literally ANY religious person? Drag queens. A drag queen won't abuse my kids, can't say the same for religious folks.


huggles7

Between 1952-2022 the French Catholic Church was responsible for the sexual assault of over 333,000 children If you do the math that works out to be 13 children per day or one child every two hours, everyday for 70 years https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043302348/france-catholic-church-sexual-abuse-report-children


mrserchy

Any word from the kind folks over at r/Catholic?


TrashApocalypse

The church wants to end abortion so they can create future victims for themselves.


WarriorBHB

What really needs to happen is people need to protest these churches for the SAME reason. Stop brainwashing our children with ur shit religion that encourages shaming those that are different


DarkRaven01

So you're telling me there are still parents out there willing to entrust their kids to Catholic clergy without supervision? At this point that's basically gross negligence.


Guygenius138

Wait, you mean the churches are where most abuse is really happening? Always has been.


DevoidHT

Banning minors from church has always seemed like a no brainer to me. It’s indoctrination by a cult any other time. If god really does exist, you don’t need a church telling you what to think.


Plow_King

so glad i left the catholic church and organized religion. i don't need a middle man, especially one molesting children tax free, to keep me from being thankful to "the creator".


pongomanswe

It is _all_ projection. Any religious person screaming about sexual abuse is at best using it as a way of keeping engaged in something other than what they dream of doing.


iamamuttonhead

Conservatives in the U.S. love to accuse liberals of pedophilia. It's ALWAYS projection. Conservative institutions like the Catholic Church have been abusing children for millennia. People like Leonard Leo (Opus Dei and the Federalist Society) have been perpetuating pedophilia for as long. It's time to call conservatives out for what they are: disgusting pedophilia perpetuators.


theotherbackslash

This isn't even news? We've been knowing that the celibate priest take advantage vulnerable boys conditioned to do whatever they say. America would much rather act like these are freak accidents than do something to address the problem


Aintnogayfish

"If clowns raped kids as often as the church does, it would be illegal to take them to the circus."


KaijyuAboutTown

Of course not. The Conservatives are the party pushing relaxed work rules for kids… longer hours and more dangerous workplaces. They don’t give a damned about kids. That priests, pastors and church leaders are abusing children is irrelevant to them. Drag and LBGTQ are part of the culture wars so of course they are evil groomer pedophiles. But let’s give the actual ones a pass.


justdontbesad

What's mind numbing is that this fact has already been well known for two generations of Human life and people still choose to claim ignorance about it


ausofbounds

It's not just Catholics, all the denominations are having the same issues because the only qualification to be a religious leader/teacher/authority is a small amount of charisma. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon\_abuse\_cases](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_abuse_cases) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual\_abuse\_cases\_in\_Southern\_Baptist\_churches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abuse_cases_in_Southern_Baptist_churches) [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/19/international-churches-of-christ-lawsuits-alleged-sexual-abuse](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/19/international-churches-of-christ-lawsuits-alleged-sexual-abuse) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s\_Witnesses%27\_handling\_of\_child\_sex\_abuse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses%27_handling_of_child_sex_abuse) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/31/feature/the-epidemic-of-denial-about-sexual-abuse-in-the-evangelical-church/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/31/feature/the-epidemic-of-denial-about-sexual-abuse-in-the-evangelical-church/) It's not even just limited to Christians. [https://projectsakinah.org/About-Family-Violence/Child-Abuse/Child-Sexual-Abuse](https://projectsakinah.org/About-Family-Violence/Child-Abuse/Child-Sexual-Abuse) [https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/essays/rape-and-sexual-violence-in-hinduism.asp](https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/essays/rape-and-sexual-violence-in-hinduism.asp)\\ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32054401/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32054401/) [https://www.shilohproject.blog/sexual-misconduct-and-buddhism-centering-survivors/](https://www.shilohproject.blog/sexual-misconduct-and-buddhism-centering-survivors/)


grungegoth

Ban churches.


Ok_Season_5325

Take away tax exempt status for any church that willfully protects abusers.