Tag Archives: child abuse

Partial Apology by US Bishops Promises Little

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Should every apology lead to forgiveness? This is a complex moral question. It would be tempting to answer yes, and to believe that all human beings are worthy of redemption. There are always outliers in any group, and overall, it is reasonable to assume that the vast majority of people are worthy of a second chance, especially when they make an honest and sincere apology.

The world is more complex than this trite observation would have you believe. It’s not only people who issue apologies. Sometimes, it’s entire organizations and institutions. One in particular, the Catholic Church, has committed so many atrocities over the centuries of its existence that it would take many lifetimes of work to simply identify them all, let alone do anything about them.

One of the many recent scandals it is involved with is the uncovering of mass graves in their 80 government sponsored boarding gulags. The rampant sexual, physical, and mental abuse suffered at their hands has never been full accounted for. The Church, which keeps meticulous records, have provided no helpful documentation that would harm their financial bottom line. Instead, they offered a partial apology that took only part of the blame for what had happened:

“The Church recognizes that it has played a part in traumas experienced by Native children,” the document said, saying “these tragedies” led to addiction, domestic abuse, abandonment and neglect that harmed families.

Played a part? They were the main event! It almost sounds like they want to throw their hands in the air and say: “Well, it was also the government’s fault for sending those guys to our rape dens in the first place”. Sure, the government place them in your care, which was wrong to begin with, but the Church could have showed them the love, compassion and charity they keep claiming to have a monopoly on. Instead, they beat them, starved them, sexually abused them, and countless other horrors that went on for decades. When you need to take responsibility for literal crimes against humanity, maybe don’t start with “played a part”.

To offer a proper apology, it’s important to be honest when it comes to exactly what part you played. Take for instance the part they played in the extermination of the Jews in Nazi Germany: in exchange for becoming the official religion of the country, they helped the exterminators find the families, often pretending to provide asylum for them but turning them in anyways, and whisking away the perpetrators to safe territory in Latin America when the whole thing went tits up. Those are things they have yet to specifically apologize for as well, or make up for in any way. Instead, they still collect part of every German citizen’s paycheck, unless that persons specifically asks not to. That deal with the Nazi stuck around, unsurprisingly.

This pathetic apology is a way to try and reconcile their Native believers, who feel a great deal of uncertainty about their faith following the harrowing details of the history of abuse. For most old Catholics, who’s ancestors also had their faith imbued at the edge of a sword, enough time has passed that the church’s atrocities are long forgotten. In Native communities, that wounds of the past are still fresh. It’s causing problems for the church’s bottom line, so something had to be done. Their plan? An impotent apology that serves only to highlight just how out of touch they are, and a promise to “listen”. Platitudes and empty gestures. Pathetic.

Islamic Scholar Abused Minor, Threatened to Kill Him

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TGA has been reporting on a number of Christian abusers recently, which has probably given our audience the mistaken impression that only Jesus lovers are abusing kids on a global scale. Please allow me to dissuade this opinion by bringing up the case of an Imam in India, recently convicted of abusing a young boy.

Unfortunately, the news report fails spectacularly in providing important details, such as the bloody name of the monster. They did release details of the conviction however. It seems that the young boy was assaulted multiple times when he attended religious classes, with the old pervert even threatening him with drowning if he told anyone what happened.

This sick bastard will be spending the next 56 years in prison. Hopefully, he dies there, never to spend any more time with young people. As for the news organization which reported on the assault, it’s pathetic that they couldn’t even be bothered to publish the name of this degenerate Those of us actually interested in keeping religions accountable find that this kind of information is crucial. Was it a simple oversight, or were they showing favoritism? I guess it’s hard to tell with bad journalism.

Church Volunteer Arrested for Sexually Abusing Kids

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A woman named Angela Marie Klickner has been arrested by the Mesa County Sherri’s Office over allegations that she sexually assaulted several children. Klickner was a church volunteer, and as such, she had a great deal of access and power over the kids she was responsible for.

The details are scant, and no doubt as the investigation continues, more details will be forthcoming during her trial. We do not yet know how many children were affected by this, or the extent of the abuse.

One has to wonder just how many of these abusers are employed by the church. Judging by how often these kinds of incidents get exposed, its terrifying to consider just how many horrible people there are out there, patiently waiting to pounce on the innocent. I wouldn’t be surprised if the problem only gets worse: churches need volunteers, and the fewer candidates they have, the more likely they are to hire someone with deep psychological issues. Coupled with the fact that religion often masks mental illness, and you have a recipe for disaster.

When more details of this becomes public, TGA will report on it, so stay tuned.

Canadian School Board Cancels ISIS Survivor Talk over Islamophobia Fears

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In Iraq, there is a religious minority that is constantly being persecuted. Although they speak Kurdish, there is some disagreement as to whether or not they are distinct subgroup of Kurds. What is clear is that the faith is ancient, predating Zoroastrianism. They are a monotheistic faith that has a strong affinity to nature, believing that the elements should remain free of pollution. Some call them “sun worshippers”, for they face the sun whenever they pray. They only marry within their faith, which is what has kept them separate from others for the last 900 years.

As you might imagine, a non-Islamic religious group is not very welcome in both countries with strong Islamic presence. Its members are regularly attacked, and one of the more popular ways to do so is to sexually assault young women. They are often kidnapped and sold in an endless cycle of sexual slavery whenever their rapists tire of them. In light of these atrocities, the Canadian government began to take in refugees. Among them was a young woman named Nadia Murad, who recently won a (shared) Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

All of this sounds wonderful, until you realize that the same government who allowed these refugees in the country have no interest in them sharing their story. You see, a couple of days ago, a Canadian School Board had invited Murad to speak about her experiences. The event was cancelled, for fear that her talk would cause “hurt feelings” and Islamophobia.

[S]chool board superintendent Helen Fisher pulled the plug on Murad’s visit, saying she would not let students attend because the book would be offensive to Muslims and “foster Islamophobia,” the Telegraph reported.

Let’s recap here: the school was worried that actually learning more about Islam’s crimes against humanity might make some students critical of the religion. What else are we supposed to do with survivors? Ask them to quietly go away so that they stop exposing the evils of this religion? The West continues to bury its head in the sand at its own peril. You cannot ignore the dangers of Islam, wishing to avoid revealing the truth about the faith in order to protect the feelings of a religion that craves world domination.

Truth is often upsetting to people who live in a world of lies. Let’s also not ignore the fact that when Islam feels insulted, people often die. The religion is so insecure that countless adherents are more than willing to hurt, or even kill anyone who dares to insult it. These wackos need to learn that free expression in the price you pay for living in a democracy. If they dislike it, there are plenty of hellhole theocracies they can move to. Catering to these deadly temper tantrums will do nothing but undermine the very values we stand for.

Here’s hoping that this move actually backfires, and Murad is invited to more schools to share her experiences. I can dream, can’t I?

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 355

Welcome back to another episode. This week, we discuss a pastor ruining Autism Awareness, police investigating the New Orleans Archdiocese for human trafficking, and so much more. Don’t miss out!

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New Orleans Archdiocese Gets Special Treatment

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Man, it’s gotta be pretty sweet to be a Catholic Priest. You can commit serious crimes and still be protected by your employer. There aren’t many organizations in the world that will go to bat for you the way the Catholic Church will. Now, you might be wondering exactly why the church is so generous when it comes to their defense of criminals. Well, the answer is simple: laws are man-made, and as far as they are concerned, the only one they need to answer to is their imaginary friend in the sky.

As we reported a few days ago, the Archdiocese in New Orleans is under investigation for child trafficking. What we didn’t know until now is just how much support the offenders were receiving:

The affidavit alleges that documents obtained during the Father Hecker investigation show that “previous archbishops … not only knew of the [widespread] sexual abuse and failed to report all the claims to law enforcement, but [also] spent archdiocese funding to support the accused.”…One document cited in the affidavit states that one specific archbishop “was aware of rampant sexual abuse throughout the archdiocese,” but the affidavit leaves out the archbishop’s name.

Talk about privilege. Can you imagine any other organization that was found to have provided money and support to men who were sexually torturing children for decades? Would the police fail to name the people responsible for covering up the crime? If this was a Walmart, you can bet that the entire management staff would be indicted, and the RICO charges would have come around so fast, it would have made everyone’s head spins. Not so for a rich and powerful religious organization. They can sexually abuse countless kids, and still be allowed to operate. If we treated them like other criminals, their organization which facilitated the abuse would be gone; it’s assets used to compensate the families, and the men responsible for failing to stop it would all be getting their heads smashed in prison. Instead, we have this weak-ass response from the cops, who look like they are walking on eggshells to avoid getting anyone in trouble.

Personally, if you aren’t disgusted by this, you’re part of the problem. Let us stop this special treatment of religious rapists, and treat them the same we would any sorry excuse for a human being.

Father’s Pleas to Rescue Daughter in Forced Marriage Ignored

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There is a sad and barbaric tradition that still continues to this day. It’s called Forcible Marriage. It’s essentially a form of human trafficking, masquerading as a tradition. Women have few rights in traditional Islam, and are viewed more as property than a human being. It’s why when 15 year old Muskan Salman was kidnapped and forcibly married, the police have done nothing to get her back, despite the desperate pleas of her father.

I can only imagine the heartbreak at the thought of the things she is having to endure under this man’s captivity. He had already taken her out of school because the eventual kidnapper, a 27 year old man named Arsalan Ali, was already harassing her. He then resorted to abducting her, and forging a marriage certificate, claiming the girl was 19 years old. Now there’s a legal battle to prove her age. In none of the reports has anyone bothered to even ask Muskan what the hell happened. She is essentially in the custody of the husband, and that’s considered fine in the eyes of many.

Part of the reason people have turned a blind eye to all of this is because it’s part of a pattern of behavior in the country. You see, Muskan is part of a Christian minority, and these kinds of incidents are so frequent that the U.N. has called on Pakistan to make more changes to their laws to prevent this form of human trafficking.

“The exposure of young women and girls belonging to religious minority communities to such heinous human rights violations, and the impunity of such crimes, can no longer be tolerated or justified,” they said in a statement issued in Geneva.

Now, because this is the U.N. and their calls are left to voicemail, and it’s doubtful anything will come of this. Muskan will be forgotten about, like so many other young girls forced to live with their rapists and bare their children. So long as this tradition and the underlying faith that sustains it continues to rule, these types of tragedies will continue to occur with terrifying frequency.

Louisiana Archdiocese Target of Sex Traffic Investigation

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It would appear that police in New Orleans are targeting the Archdiocese for a massive child sex trafficking organization. The investigation into these allegations came after the Church had filled for bankruptcy protection after a number of victims had sued them for sexual abuse. The organization had failed to submit internal documents which would have implicated a number of their employees, who benefitted from financial compensation for decades. A judge put a quick end to this.

The details of the case are terrifying. The priests would regularly ferry their victims around to abuse them. This makes the crime fit the definition of child trafficking, which is an even more serious charge than the routine sexual abuse that was happening. These guys even had a habit of sending victims as “gifts” for one another:

“Additionally, it was reported that in some instances, ‘gifts’ were given to abuse victims by the accused [molesters] with instructions to pass on or give the gift to certain priests at the next school or church,” the warrant contended. “It was said that the ‘gift’ was a form of signaling to another priest that the person was a target for sexual abuse.”

One of the monsters facing justice is a 92 year old priest named Lawrence Hecker. Having enjoyed himself at the expense of his victims for decades, justice has been painfully slow. At best, this man will probably die before he even sets foot in prison. Fortunately for him, the hell he preached about doesn’t exist, because he would have a first class ticket if it did.

As is typical in these kinds of cases, the Church has released a statement which is an obvious lie:

On Tuesday, the church spokesperson said the archdiocese of New Orleans “has been openly discussing the topic of sex abuse” for years. And “in keeping with this”, the spokesperson said, “we also are committed to working with law enforcement in these endeavors.”

This statement seems to omit the fact that they actively suppressed information specifically to protect their own abusers. How is that a commitment to working with law enforcement? The statement should have read like this instead: “We have been forced to discuss openly the topic of sexual abuse despite our stonewalling. WE are committed to the rapists that make up our ranks, and will protect them at all costs from law enforcement endeavors”. See, doesn’t that seem a little more honest and consistent?

Catholic Principle Caught with Child Porn

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Bruce Campbell, by all accounts, seemed like an ideal school principle. Parents described him as dedicated and caring. He worked at Sacred Heart Elementary School in Calgary, Alb. for over 30 years, serving at the principle there. Just imagine the shock parents must have felt when they recently found out in an email that Campbell had been arrested in a sting operation for possession of child pornography.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had intercepted a number of skype messages that contained child abuse pictures, and by tracing the IP address, they were able to identify Campbell as the recipient. He was arrested and released under strict conditions, and is waiting for his trial come May 10th.

The Catholic School Board released a statement with the usual “safety of the children is out primary concern” bullshit they’ve spewed a billion times before, always after one of their countless employees get caught doing something horrible.

Police are asking anyone who may have been a victim of abuse by this man to come forward. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire, and a 30 year career means that thousands of kids were under his watch. It would be a miracle if there had never been any impropriety. It was already more than enough possessing abuse material from children who will grow up scared for life.

The final message from one of the investigators was worded strangely, to say the least:

“This is a great time for parents, families, teachers, the students, to be aware that this is an increasingly occurring offence,” Sgt. Auger said.

It wasn’t tragic enough that the name Bruce Campbell has been sullied by this pervert; the investigator assuring us that it’s a great time to be aware that this is getting more common is not encouraging. So, if you’re a fan of Evil Dead, and kids having a normal childhood, then you are shit out of luck my friend.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 354

This episode, we talk about another Lawmaker trying to put the 10 Commandments in classrooms, a man saying god told him to abuse a young girl, and priests in Ghana trying to justify their pederast traditions! Oh, and lets not forget nuts wishing for Armageddon. Don’t miss out.

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Florida Pastor Drugged and Abused Young Girl

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It seems to me that the headline “Florida Pastor sexually assaults girls” has become so frequent that it should probably be its own subreddit by now. God knows I’ve run out of ways to introduce these vile human beings to you. Still, a job is a job, and something’s got to be done about all these monsters who abuse the power and trust they’ve been given.

Rev. Monte LaVelle Chitty was recently arrested and given severe bail restrictions, as the judge felt that the man was a flight risk. He’s accused of spiking a young girls’ drink, and then assaulting her. He then sent her lude texts admitting to the crime, even claiming that she was not his first victim.

This moron is now in jail, and waiting for a trial date. Prosecutors are certain that there are other victims out there, and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward. Considering how brazen this guy was about this incident, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a litany of other victims out there.

It sounds like an open and shut case for this guy. Hopefully, we’ll see justice be done.

Ghanaian Priest marries 12 year old

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When someone tells you that something is part of their traditions, it usually means that you aren’t allowed to question it. Tradition is simply another word for obedience, specifically the kind that involves never questioning where often weird or terrible practices originate, or why they exists at all.

In Ghana, a 63 year old priest named Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII is defending his decision to marry a 12 year old girl, saying that Westerners simply don’t understand their traditions. He isn’t the only disgusting creep to do this: roughly 20% of girls below the age of 18 are routinely married off to older men.

Leaders of the Nungua indigenous community, to which both the girl and the priest belong, have condemned the public’s opposition to the marriage, saying the criticism “comes from a point of ignorance”. Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, a local community leader, said on Sunday that the girl’s role as the priest’s wife is “purely tradition and custom”.

That must be why during the ceremony people overheard telling the child to wear perfume in order to be more “prepared” for her wifely duties.

Luckily, there are Ghanaians who are also sickened by the practice, although it’s doubtful that any of them will intervene. Tsuru is a priest, and this makes him practically untouchable. He has tradition to fall back on, and just the power of this word is enough to shut down all opposition. Ghanaian law also recognizes customary marriages, so the whole thing is legal.

So to recap, a tradition dating back centuries that allow old men to rape little girls with zero social consequences continues to be practiced, even in a world where we know this to be wrong. Isn’t religion fun?

Dallas Man Claimed God told him to Molest Girl

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Never trust people who say that they speak with God. For starters, religion is the ultimate expression of ego. It’s a way of trying to justify your personal beliefs by claiming they are divinely mandated. This kind of psychotic view of one’s own understanding of the universe is so common that we totally ignore the fact that millions of people think that an all powerful being believes in exactly the same thing they do.

Christopher Caudill is a 46 year old “man”, who had been abusing a young girl since she was 11 years old, was one such psychopath. News outlets have been very scant with the details. There’s no information about how he chose his victims, or why the abuse was allowed to go on for over 6 years. We do know that he believed his abuse was not only perfectly fine, but was in fact mandated by the all powerful creator of the Universe.

When interviewed by Carrollton police, Caudill admitted he sexually abused the girl and said he abused her because they had a relationship that was “a love like they had in the Bible.”

If you get your concept of “love” from the Bible, then that explains everything. The amount of rape and sexual assault in this book is staggering. Here’s just a few examples:

  • When the Benjamites were told they could kidnap any girl they wanted to rebuild their tribes. Around 600 girls were then raped.
  • Lot’s daughters get their father drunk to rape him.
  • David’s son rapes all of his father’s concubines in front of everyone to prove he’s the new king.
  • God tells Joshua that when the Jews slays their enemies, they can take any virgin who survive as “spoils of war”.

That’s just a few examples, but as you can see, “Biblical Love” is pretty disgusting. The good news is that Caudill was sentenced to life in jail. His sojourn is probably going to be rough, considering what happens to child rapists in jail.

So, remind me again: why should any sane person base their lives on this vile book? I just can’t figure it out.

The Good Atheist Podcast: EP 353

This episode, we talk about Ghana’s new repressive anti-LGBT laws, the Vatican protecting rapists, victims of Nuns seeking justice, and American’s thinking Religions is losing influence. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

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Catholic Church Strikes Again

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Imagine that you dedicate your whole life to one organization. You give countless hours of your time, and make huge sacrifices to work there. Then, one day, you find out that a coworker of yours has been sexually abusing your own child. Now, can you guess what happened next? Was it a) the organization punished the culprit, b) they apologized to the family and gave some form of compensation, or c) did nothing? Well, if the organization is the catholic church in Lafayette, then you do option d) throw the child rapist a goodbye party, and use your massive wealth to pressure the state’s supreme court to get rid of laws that would give a legal window to allow such institutions to get sued by victims. You can’t make this stuff up.

Michael Guidry, now 78, later pleaded guilty to abusing Oliver Peyton, who was an altar boy. And after Guidry’s church honored him with a goodbye luncheon for which the diocese was forced to apologize, he received a seven-year prison sentence.

That’s not all. When Scott Payton found out about the molestation, he did something most priests refuse to do: he actually bothered to do something about it. First, in 2021, he secured a $350,000 judgement against the Lafayette diocese, a paltry sum for sure, but more than most victims tend to get. Secondly, he actually fought against the churches effort to repeal laws that would allow victims to seek compensation, calling them unconstitutional. As a reward for his hard work, Payton was excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

Keep in mind that the Church has never excommunicated any of their members for actually raping kids. That’s forgivable. But going after the Churches money? That’s going too far! We’re non believers, so something as silly as excommunication might seem pretty trivial to us. It is a spiritual death sentence for believers, however. Payton correctly argued that such actions send a chilling message to people who have been abused: talk about it, and we’ll make sure you go to hell.

Now, what find sad in all of this is Payton hasn’t discarded the very beliefs that created the problem in the first place. He still thinks that his belief system can still be redeemed somehow.

“[This] has deeply shaken my faith and trust in the institution to which I have dedicated a significant portion of my life,” Peyton said in his resignation email to Deshotel, which was shared with the Guardian. “This decision is not a rejection of my faith in God or my commitment to living a life guided by Christian principles. Instead, it reflects … a desire to distance myself from an institution that, currently, falls short of the values it professes.”

Falls short? Desires a distance? This guy just admitted that the church does nothing but throw parties for child rapists, and this is considered “falling short”? You have to have your head buried in the sand pretty deep to consider an institution that cast you into the fires of hell for daring to ask for accountability as “falling short”. Does it need to also be engaged in money laundering, or murder to finally get off this dog and pony show? I got news for you: they do that, and much worse, and yet, there are still millions of people convinced that these men are holy. It’s frankly baffling.

So note to self: these guys can rape your own kid, and that still won’t shake your faith in them. Good to know there is no level of depravity low enough for the rest of the world to open their eyes in the face of such fucking evil.