I'm sorry I've caused you to feel this way. I didn't mean to.
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Would you go to a church where the preacher has been accused of sexual misconduct?
- Thread starter Deidre
- Start date
dianaiad
Well-Known Member
I see. Well, yeah....but then I did say we should take things a child says seriously.
I understand, however, that such things generally are more involved than this; usually we aren't talking about three year olds who don't have a clue, are we?
dianaiad
Well-Known Member
Oh, you didn't do anything. I'm the one who opened my keyboard when I should not have.
It is generally what I mean when I'm talking about it, so I suppose I should have explained myself better.
According to what I read, he had consenting affairs but he was a pastor and two of the women who came forward said that he gave them alcohol etc to "get them" into bed. So there are no rape allegations, or assault..,and he has repented but there are other pastors in his church who still asked him to step down.
EtuMalku
Abn Iblis ابن إبليس
Sure why not? After all, technically Yahweh raped Mary, Muhammad married children and Yeshua dug prostitutes, so it must be the norm in these faiths!
roger1440
I do stuff
The first thoughts that would come to my mind would probably be why I haven’t heard this before and why isn’t this guy in jail. The Bible does have verses on the topic of rumors and gossip.
What would he say if he HADN'T repented?
Does repenting make his impulse control better, or merely show remorse for prior actions?
I have no issue with repenting, in and of itself, but someone's claims of repentance doesn't seem to carry much weight to me.
Oh my
Well, part of being a believer, is that we are mindful of our sins, we repent, meaning...we seek to change behaviors that are not healthy, sinful, etc. In this case, reading about this guy who repented, it would mean that he has stopped the behavior, and has learned the error of his ways. You know? So, going with that, is it appropriate to still go to a church where let's say, this guy still preaches? As @Carlita had posted...we are all sinners, and so if we repent, then shouldn't we be forgiving? I think we should of course, but should there be ''earthly consequences'' for such as losing one's job, etc even if the believer repented? Maybe that is another question.
Wish I could repence in the eyes of the laws.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
No, absolutely not. It would clearly be expressing that the sexual misconduct (I am assuming this means illegal sexual misconduct. Is that OK?) is not worthy of dismissal from any public facing role.
That being said, the reaction is, of course, dependent on the specifics. So, it would depend entirely on what brand of "sexual misconduct" we are talking about here.
leibowde84
Veteran Member
What if he hadn't been convicted due to a mere legal technicality? Would you still treat him as being "innocent" even though clearly guilty (and lucky)?
leibowde84
Veteran Member
This is my favorite response to this topic. Leaders have to be held to a higher standard.
dianaiad
Well-Known Member
Wait.
What?
According to the story I read, Mary consented. As well, according to the rules of the time, she was old enough to do so.
Hence, no rape.
As well, Jesus (or 'Yeshua') did indeed deal with prostitutes and all manner of sinners. I see no indication, however, that He availed Himself of their services. Indeed, all the stories I've seen involve them repenting of offering those services.
but yeah, Mohamad married children. I'm not as aware of the rules of his time as I should be, I suppose, so I don't know just how socially unacceptable his marriage to a nine year old actually was.
Don't go committing the historian's bias here. While I am aware that rhetorical exaggeration is a tried and true method of getting one's point across, outright misrepresentation is generally not likely to increase credibility.
It sounds like what you're saying is that whatever alcohol was involved wasn't enough to interfere with consent; in that case, I'd probably be open to staying. It would depend on the pastor's stance on the issue generally - i.e. if he's hypocritically condemning others for what he's doing himself.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Let them without sin throw the first stone at the preacher.
EtuMalku
Abn Iblis ابن إبليس
The Rape of Mary. Legitimate or not? | Marcel Gagné
As for Yeshua . . . no one knows what he was up to
As for Muhammad . . . yeesh
What that basic structures can be set to avoid such situations? We talked about this in undergrad class in 1980. It's btw easy.
Psychologists politicians ministers all work in psychology without defining that term too much. So if he has been busted its because he set it all up. If one goes through life keenly aware that sexual misconduct is a possibility every action will be taken to make sure no inappropriate accusation can take place. It becomes the structure of interactions. How you structuralize those interactions will always place you in situations that are seen by others. So you don't create inappropriate situations at all in the first place. Hell we do this at regular jobs now. It's really not that difficult but it's easy to try and work around that. He clearly has multiple accusers which means he has been sneaky.
dianaiad
Well-Known Member
Oh, I absolutely do NOT think that Mohammad's marriage to a nine year old was acceptable. However, I also don't know exactly how unacceptable it was to the folks around him, both those who followed him and those who did not.