The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Bobby Cornealius Smith, pastor of New Beginnings Ministries in Las Vegas, Nevada, stands accused of eleven felony charges, including nine counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, and one count of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment. His wife, Lashawn Nicole Smith, was also indicted on two felony charges including sexual assault and child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
A Las Vegas pastor is accused of sexually assaulting three women including one family member and two women who he referred to as “God daughters.”
Bobby Cornealius Smith, 46, was indicted by a grand jury for eleven felony charges, including nine counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, and one count of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
A woman identified as his wife, Lashawn Nicole Smith was also indicted on two felony charges including sexual assault and child abuse, neglect, or endangerment.
Bobby Smith is the pastor of New Beginnings Ministries and his wife is the “First Lady” of the church, according to the church’s website.
A family member testified in front of the grand jury that Smith forced her to use sex toys multiple times starting when she was 17 years old and a senior in high school, according to transcripts obtained by the 8newsnow.com Investigators. She said that Bobby Smith told her, “God is telling me that it is important for you to do this,” and insisted that the sex toys would prevent her from ruining her life and giving into “urges.” Smith later showed her how to use the toy and would tell her to meet him at hotels, she said.
The woman testified that she had reported what had happened to Lashawn Nicole Smith who failed to contact the police.
A second woman who said that she was a member of the church testified that Bobby Smith begged her to perform oral sex on him. He blocked a stairway and dropped his pants, she said. She testified that she panicked and eventually pushed him off.
A third woman testified that her family became involved with New Beginnings Ministries when she was 16 years old. At 17, she said, Bobby Smith texted her a photo of a sex toy. She told him that she did not want to use it. Bobby Smith later brought up the sex toy again, telling her that sex toys are not a sin and that he wanted to show her how to use one, she said.
The woman said that Bobby Smith would then use the sex toy on her at various locations including at least two Las Vegas area hotels. After telling Smith’s wife, the woman says she received a text message from Bobby Smith stating “…you guys want to paint me to be like this monster or like I’m doing something wrong when I’m just trying to help you all.”
She said that Bobby Smith requested a meeting and when she showed up, he and his wife were both there and he told her to perform sexual acts with his wife.
North Las Vegas Police started investigating the allegations against the pastor after the first alleged victim made a report, according to Detective Ashley Bertschy. She had learned that the third alleged victim had reported what had happened in 2014 and that she had been examined by a nurse at University Medical Center who also collected a rape kit. Bertschy testified that Las Vegas Metro Police had closed the case and she reopened it.
Police executed a search warrant at the Smiths’ home in North Las Vegas and found over 20 sex toys, according to Bertschy.
A jury trial is set for Bobby Smith on July 17. Jail records show that he remains in the Clark County Detention Center. His bond is set at $225,000.
Lashawn Nicole Smith is currently out of custody. No trial date has been set for her.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Daryl Hayes, pastor of Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ in Franklin, Tennessee, stands accused of sexually exploiting a minor.
Members of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force recently arrested Daryl Hayes, 50, following a Williamson County Grand Jury indictment for six counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.
The WCSO-ICAC Task Force began investigating Hayes after receiving a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) concerning the upload of child sex abuse material from a local church’s internet connection, where Hayes was the lead pastor. The investigation led to a search warrant being executed at the church and Hayes’ residence.
Neither Hayes’ family, nor the church where he was pastor — Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ in Franklin — were aware of Hayes’ activities. The church was fully cooperative and Hayes was terminated from his position immediately. Nothing in this investigation led detectives to believe there were any local child victims, or any additional concerns for the public.
Church members and neighbors are in shock after the pastor of a Franklin church was arrested for sexually exploiting minors.
The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office said Daryl Hayes, 50, was charged with six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. He is the lead pastor at Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ. He is accused of using the church’s internet connection to upload images of child sex abuse online.
“Oh, my goodness. Are children safe anywhere?” Debby Leddy, a church member who lives near the church, said.
Leddy is just one of many Berry’s Chapel church members confused about the pastor’s arrest.
“It’s very shocking because we don’t know where we can have our kids safe, and we don’t know people as well as we thought we did,” Leddy said.
After getting a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Williamson County investigators said they searched Berry’s Chapel and found Hayes had had been uploading child sex abuse pictures using the church’s internet connection.
“When I was growing up, my father was a pastor and never did you hear anything like this, and to do this so obviously on the church’s wi-fi,” Leddy said.
To make matters worse, members who spoke to WSMV4 –who didn’t want to go on camera– said Hayes had access to dozens of children.
“I often did programs for the preschool that they have there and they’re so many children there,” Leddy said.
When other church leaders found out what happened, they said they fired Hayes immediately.
“I hope that they get him the help he needs and some sort of guidance because definitely something has to be wrong,” Leddy said.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2019, Bicente Velasquez Morales, pastor of House of Restoration Ministry in Sarasota, Florida, was arrested and charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a six-year-old girl.
A Sarasota pastor was arrested Friday evening after allegedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl.
Bicente Velasquez Morales, 43, was arrested around 7:10 p.m. Friday on a felony charge of sexual battery of a victim under 12.
Detectives say on Thursday, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office received a report from the girl’s mother that Morales sexually abused her daughter. The mother reported the incident after detectives say her daughter told her about the abuse.
The child said Morales digitally penetrated her on three separate occasions, according to documents from the Sarasota Police Department. In one of the alleged occasions, Morales stopped sexually abusing her because it was time to get ready for church, the victim was cited saying in documents.
Morales is a pastor at the House of Restoration Ministry in Sarasota.
A Sarasota pastor was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after he was arrested in July 2019 when the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office received a report that he’d sexually abused a 6-year-old child, according to a news release in the case.
Twelfth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodsky announced Bicente Velasquez Morales, 47, was convicted on April 19 of sexual battery upon a child less than 12 years of age, and lewd and lascivious molestation upon a child less than 12 years of age. Morales was sentenced to life in prison on both charges, according to the release.
The news release stated that Morales “used his position of trust within this family to take advantage of a 6-year-old child,” but the victim was taught which parts of her body shouldn’t be touched by anyone other than a doctor. She confided in her brother and mother that she’d been touched inappropriately. Her mother then alerted the police.
The child told her mother that she’d been assaulted three times by Morales, stating the pastor had “digitally touched and penetrated her” while at Morales’s home, according to the affidavit in the case.
At the time, Morales was a pastor at the House of Restoration Ministry in Sarasota, according to previous reporting.
“Taking advantage of a little girl is never acceptable and will not be tolerated in our community,” said Assistant State Attorney Kate Metz, who prosecuted the case. Metz praised Detective Maria Llovio’s efforts, stating the detective conducted a thorough investigation and left no stone unturned.
“Based on the strength of the victim’s testimony, the defendant’s own statements, and the investigation by Detective Llovio, we were able to hold this defendant accountable and get a dangerous, manipulative predator off the street,” Metz said.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Over the weekend, Merle asked me several thoughtful questions about what I think should be done about the war in Ukraine. Here’s what he had to say:
Bruce, can you let us know what you think Ukraine should do?
I share your concern with America’s emphasis on war. But I see there is also a time and place for legitimate defense. Is Ukraine in a place where defense is justified?
I see no way to describe the Russian attack on Ukraine as anything other than state-sponsored terrorism. Surely nations have the right to respond to most acts of terrorism. Do we come to the point where the terrorist actor is so powerful (Russia) that one is better off just stepping back and letting them ransack the country?
So what should Ukraine do? Should they fight back? Should they seek help from America? To what extent should America help?
I am a pacifist. I oppose all war on principle. I believe war never brings peace. At best, it brings a temporary cessation of hostilities. I can’t think of one war that brought permanent peace to a nation-state. Far too often, wars get recycled. The “War to End All Wars” gave birth to The “War to Really End All Wars — We Really Mean It This Time” in 1939. George H.W. Bush’s Iraq War gave birth to his son, George W. Bush’s Iraq War a decade later. The French War in Vietnam gave way to what Americans call Vietnam. The Soviets admitted defeat in Afghanistan, only to have the United States move in, thinking We’re #1, We’re Number #1, leaving twenty years later in defeat.
The United States has been at war with North Korea for seventy years. Currently, the U.S. is threatening China over Taiwan and threatening Iran over nuclear development. America has troops on the ground in numerous African countries, along with having tens of thousands of troops stationed in Europe, Japan, South Korea, and other countries. And thanks to the recent release of top-secret military documents, the American people now know that the U.S. has troops in Ukraine! Oh, they are just advisors, the Biden administration says. Oh where, or when, have I heard that before? Advisors on the ground in Vietnam turned into 500,000 American troops in Vietnam a few years later.
The United States is the world’s policeman, thanks to many countries across the globe abdicating their responsibility to provide for their own protection. The United States has the largest defense and security budget in the world. We give nation-states billions of dollars a year to protect themselves and sell other countries billions of dollars more of weaponry. The United States is in the war business. In 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower gave a nationally televised speech warning about the danger of the military-industrial complex:
As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
….
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations.
Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
The American people have been taken hostage by the Pentagon, NSA, CIA and the military-industrial complex. Convinced by both Republican and Democratic politicians, most Americans believe that bad actors on the world stage are trying to take away from them the “American Way of Life”; the mythical “American Dream.” This, of course, is a bald-faced lie, yet we believe it to be true. And with over a trillion dollars in tax money, we pay for our protection from a mythical enemy. We send American men and women to bleed and die “over there,” so we don’t have to fight them “over here.” We as a people have bought into the lie called “American Exceptionalism”; that we are a city on a hill, ordained by the Christian God to advance the cause of Western democracy to the ends of the earth, and now, to outer space too.
We can no longer afford the heroin addiction of the defense department and the various U.S. security organizations. The first thing I would do is cut the defense and security budget by twenty-five percent. Second, I would drastically reduce the number U.S. military bases and outposts. Third, I would put an end to the military’s use of private contractors and private soldiers. Fourth, I would cut our nuclear weapons stockpile from 3,700 to 1,000 — still enough missiles to destroy the world.
My goal would be to neuter the United States’ ability to engage in nation-building, regime change, and fighting offensive wars on multiple fronts. Doing so would force America to seek other means of conflict resolution besides violence, bloodshed, and slaughter. I would, in certain circumstances, support the defensive use of the military.
I would fully fund the State Department while firing all of the CIA and NSA agents who are currently manning Department stations. The State Department should be tasked with one thing: promoting global peace. We must stop thinking that our way of life must be the way of life for everyone; that every nation must be a democracy and have a capitalist economic system.
Until we make systemic changes such as the ones I have mentioned in this post, we will continue to involve ourselves in the affairs of sovereign states. My God, there are Republican legislators calling for the U.S. military to invade Mexico in the latest chapter of the war on drugs.What’s next, invading Canada because they are “socialists?” This is what happens when we have a government that thinks every problem can be solved at end of a rifle.
The United States is currently fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. The United States is more than happy to sacrifice Ukraine, its soldiers, and civilians to destroy Russia’s military capabilities. We have no interest in peace between the warring factions. We have convinced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the war can be won, with all contested lands remaining Ukraine’s. And this is true as long as the United States and NATO continue to send Ukraine billions of dollars of weaponry. If Ukraine had to fight this war on its own, Russia would have won by now.
Let me be clear, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is immoral. I am not pro-Russia, I’m pro-peace. I also know the United States, NATO, and Ukraine are culpable in the war too. From NATO’s expansion to Ukraine’s refusal to address the concerns of ethnic Russians in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, Russia felt threatened. And when authoritarian leaders feel threatened, what do they do? They bite; they push back. Peace cannot be brokered in Ukraine without understanding its complex history. The United States paints the war as a fight between democracy and capitalism on the one hand, and authoritarianism and communism (communism) on the other. This picture distorts the complexities on the ground. It lacks historical context and nuance.
Peace can be had in Ukraine if the United States and NATO stop fueling Ukraine’s war machine. I am not suggesting that we stop helping Ukraine defend itself. Ukraine has a right to self-defense and to repel Russia’s aggression, but the countries paying for this war must draw a peace line in the sand, telling Ukraine they must broker peace with Russia, and if they don’t the flow of weaponry will be cut off. (The idea that dirt is more important than people is insane.) Further, NATO must swallow their pride and stop its expansion farther into Europe. Admit Sweden, but that’s it. What about Ukraine? Were they NATO-worthy before the war? If not, I would not admit them into NATO. Russia must also stop its expansionist tendencies. Further, the United States, along Russia, and other countries bordering the Arctic Sea must begin immediately to engage in negotiations and peace talks over the North Pole. If they don’t, the Arctic Sea could be the next place there’s a war between the United States and Russia. We must to everything in our power to keep Santa’s home safe (a little levity with a serious subject).
While I am a pacifist, I am also a pragmatist. I know there will be times when defensive wars are inevitable. That said, I believe world peace must be our top priority. This priority must be shown in our government’s spending and military use. We must show by our actions that we are a peaceful people. As it stands now, the United States is viewed as a bully; a people who use violence and slaughter to advance their agenda and gain their objectives. Eighty years ago, the world largely thought well of the United States. Those days are gone. Even in Europe, people have soured on America. We must rehabilitate our image, and the only way we can do that is to change our behavior. Most of all, we must see things as they are. Ask the average American who was behind 9-11, and they will tell you Afghanistan and Iraq. This, of course, is untrue. It was Saudi Arabia who was behind 9-11, a fact that the US government refuses to acknowledge to this day. Why? One word: oil.
If we want peace, we must stop lying to ourselves about our own history. I don’t think, for a moment, that the United States is evil, but I refuse to turn a blind eye to the bloody, violent, murderous history of the country I proudly call home. Merle used the word terrorism to describe Russia’s murderous actions in Ukraine. I wonder if he would use the same word to describe the United States’ actions in Yemen, Syria, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and countless other countries.
War is terrorism, period. Flying drones over civilian populations and killing men, women, and children is terrorism. Bombing Dresden and Tokyo is terrorism. Dropping atomic bombs on civilian populations in Nagasaki and Hiroshima is terrorism. Using napalm in southeast China is terrorism. The United States has slaughtered millions of non-combatants in its many wars. Aren’t these injuries, deaths, and property destruction terrorism too? As long as we call what other nations do in war terrorism, but call our violent actions “just war,” we will not truly understand the depravity and terror of war, and why peace must be our highest priority as a people.
When we fail to make peace our highest priority, we make war possible. The United States has largely given up on the United Nations ideal. We use the U.N. to advance our agenda, and when “peace” might cost us something, we bow out. We refuse to sign treaties that would reduce war in the world. Why does the United States refuse to participate in the International Court of Justice? It seems like we want one set of rules for the United States, and another set of rules for the rest of the world.
Peace in Ukraine is possible, but until the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and NATO choose a different path, the only thing that will happen is more bloodshed. A cessation of hostilities will happen sooner or later, but peace? I am not sure the warring parties have an appetite for real, lasting peace.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Ken Ham, the CEO of Answers in Genesis, and the builder of two monuments to ignorance, the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, recently took U.S. Representative Ted Lieu to task for misrepresenting what a nine-week fetus looks like; saying that Lieu was a liar. In doing so, Ham told his own lie about a four-week-old embryo.
Your [four-week-old] baby, or embryo, is about 2mm long (about the size of a poppy seed) and growing rapidly in your womb. It’s protected by an amniotic sac, which is filled with cushioning fluid, and attached to a tiny yolk sac that provides all the nourishment it needs. The outer layer will later develop into the placenta and provide your baby with oxygen and nutrients.
According to the NHS, a four-week-old embryo is 2 mm long. For us Yanks, who are metric ignorant, that is .08 of an inch. As you can see, Ham lies about the size of the embryo, overstating its size by three hundred percent.
Ham also uses a classic sleight of hand used by forced birthers to distort public perception of fetal development and abortion. A four-week-old embryo is the size of a poppy seed. Yet, Ham blows up the picture to show an embryo that is five inches long — sixty-three times larger than it actually is. Ham knows that if he displayed the actual size of a four-week-old embryo, his readers would be unimpressed and might even approve of women taking Mifepristone at this stage of fetal development.
It is common for forced birth zealots (I do not use the term pro-life) to use pictures of fetuses aborted late term in their propaganda — even though very few abortions are performed in the last trimester. Why is that? People such as Ham know that abortion is an emotional issue. What better way to stir emotions than deceitfully using pictures of late-term fetuses, misrepresenting what most embryos/fetuses look like when pregnancies are terminated?
Ken Ham and the zealots at Answers in Genesis do not traffic in facts. Their agenda is to promote and advance the teachings and beliefs of Fundamentalist Christianity. Their “facts” always serve that end, and that’s why Ham was willing to lie in his post.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent towards religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.
Today’s Song of Sacrilege isby Autotheist by Baby Bugs. Baby Bugs is a nonbinary artist who was raised in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement.
Dear god up in heaven Are you glad I learned my lesson? I’m not making any promises That it’ll end any time soon
And dear god up in heaven How do I fucking get in? You tried to make me scared of hell But I’m living there, I’m living there
And if I was god, I’d kill the people who believe in me And if I was god, I’d make everybody bow to me And who says that I’m not a god? I am god to me And if I was god, I’d make you all believe in me
Dear god up in heaven You saved my soul, held me for ransom You said my life was yours, and I tried so fucking hard
And dear god up in heaven Who do you really let in? I pray that it’s not me I’d rather die than be with you
And if I was god, I’d kill the people who believe in me And if I was god, I’d make everybody bow to me And who says that I’m not a god? I am god to me And if I was god, I’d make you all believe in me
You are not my god You sent all of these people after me You are not my god You kept me from feeling anything And who says you’re a god at all? God is only me And when I become god, I promise you’ll believe in me
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Who would have thought that banning books, defunding libraries, and closing them would be front-page news in 2023? Yet, here we are. Library books are under assault, primarily by Evangelical Christians. Once again, the media refuses to “see” that religion is what is motivating the war on books, particularly Evangelical Christianity; the same religion behind Trumpism, the January 6 insurrection, the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the frontal assault on LGBTQ people. I am not suggesting that Evangelicals are the ONLY religious people behind the present culture war — conservative Catholics. Mormons, and a smattering of people from other groups play a part too — but without the support of Evangelicals, the culture wars die overnight.
I am sixty-six years old. I was part of the Evangelical church for fifty years, both as a member and a pastor. In 2008, I left Christianity, but I have continued to follow closely the machinations of Evangelicalism. For all of my adult life, Evangelicals have been waging a war against secularism, people who are different from them, and violators of their peculiar interpretations of the Bible’s moral code.
Evangelicalism is a fear-based religion. Taught to fear God, Evangelicals also fear anyone who is different from them socially or politically. Not known for their support of tolerance and diversity, Evangelicals want to live in a monoculture; one where everyone is a Christian who thinks and believes as they do. In recent years, some Evangelicals have been very clear about their objective: the establishment of a Christian theocracy; one where Jesus and the Bible (as interpreted by them) rule supreme.
Here in the United States, there was a time when Evangelicalism was a dominant force, both politically and socially. Those days are gone. Evangelical church attendance is in decline, and younger adults are exiting stage left in droves. Paranoia and fear are in the air, and instead of taking a hard look at themselves, Evangelicals blame American culture; especially mass media, public schools, secularism, atheism, humanism, liberals, progressives, Democrats, LGBTQ people, and anyone and anything else that doesn’t comport with their worldview. Of course, this behavior is not unusual for Evangelicals. Known for blaming the Devil for all sorts of things, Evangelicals are experts at pointing fingers and judging people they disagree with. That’s why many of the readers of this blog who have Evangelical backgrounds are estranged from their Evangelical parents and families. Their loved ones refuse to accept them as they are; refuse to play nice with anyone who doesn’t believe exactly as they do.
Cartoon by Grant Snider
American culture is changing. Secularism, humanism, atheism, and indifference toward organized religion are on the rise. Evangelicals feel threatened by the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. In their minds, the Huns are at the gate. Never mind the fact that the Philistines and Huns just want to be left alone. They want the freedom to fuck whomever they want as long as it is a consenting adult relationship. They want the freedom to read what they want, watch what they want, and buy what they want. They want the freedom to marry whomever they want and seek out reproductive care. Simply put, they want Evangelicals to fuck off and leave them alone.
Of course, Evangelicals cannot and will not do that, and that is why they are trying to ban library books they consider “inappropriate” — mainly books which are LGBTQ-friendly, critical of Christianity, or which portray Whites in a less than flattering light. Evangelicals don’t want people to have the freedom to read ANY book that offends their sensibilities. We see similar behavior from Evangelicals when it comes to television programming. Evangelicals are determined to become the arbiters of what all of us can read and see. Instead of not checking out certain books or changing the channel, Evangelicals expect all of us to obey their interpretations of the Bible — even though they don’t do so themselves.
I am sure some of my critics will say, “Bruce, you were an IFB preacher. You homeschooled your six children. I bet you controlled what books they could read!” Welp, I hate to disappoint you, but Polly and I allowed our children to read whatever they wanted. Five of our children learned to read at an early age, and by the time they were in sixth grade, they were getting books from the adult part of the library. I remember one librarian quizzing me about our children perusing the adult sections of the library. She thought they should be reading “age-appropriate” books. I explained to her that our children were advanced readers, and they had our permission to check out whatever they wanted. It was not uncommon to see our children coming home with 12-15 library books at a time. Remember, we didn’t have a TV for twenty years. Did we look at the books they brought home? Sure. Were there a couple of occasions when we said one of them couldn’t read a certain book? Sure. Outside of that, our children were free to read to their heart’s content. (I am delighted to see these same reading habits in most of my grandchildren today.)
Cartoon by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
Books are not the problem; fear and closedmindedness are. Religious Fundamentalists fear the “world.” They are afraid if their children are exposed to the real world, that they might start to have questions and doubts about Mom and Dad’s Christian worldview. That’s why so many Evangelical parents either homeschool their children or send them to private Christian schools. Most Evangelicals aren’t countercultural, as Jesus was, they are anti-culture. That’s why they are waging war against American culture, one book and one movie at a time. Their goal is to return the United States to the “good” old days of the 1950s; a time when heterosexual married women were barefoot and pregnant, keepers of the home, and on-demand sex machines; a time when LGBTQ people were closeted; a time when Blacks knew their place; a time when most families went to church on Sundays and showed, at least, outward respect for the Christian God and the Bible; a time when abortion and birth control were illegal; a time when stores were closed on Sundays and Wednesday nights; a time when public school teachers read the Bible to students and led them in prayer; a time when churches, preachers, and the Bible were respected by even unbelievers.
Evangelicals are free to party as if it’s 1953. Have at it. People are free to live any way they want, as long as doing so is legal and doesn’t infringe on the rights of others. Most Americans want to party as if it is 2023. Evangelicals are free to retreat to their houses of faith and the privacy of their homes; free to live their lives according to the dictates of the Bible. However, the rest of us demand the same freedoms to do otherwise. And when you try to turn the United States into a theocratic state, we will push back. When you try to institutionalize hate, bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia, we will use the ballot box to fight back.
I don’t know how many years I have left; probably not many. My body tells me every day that time is running out. While some of the present Evangelical assaults on freedom and democracy seem overwhelming — looking at you Ohio, Texas, and Florida — we must not give in or give up. Evangelicalism has a demographic problem. Their core is aging, and as they die off, these Evangelical culture warriors are not being replaced. We must continue to fight and push back, even when it seems there is no hope. We must have the future of our children and grandchildren in front of us. They deserve a better tomorrow, one not dominated and controlled by religious Fundamentalism.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Many in the secular community respect and admire the Dalai Lama. I know I did. The Dalai Lama is the fourteenth spiritual leader of the Yellow Hat school of Tibetan Buddhism. Recently, the Dalai Lama was in the news for inappropriately asking a young boy to suck his tongue.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama apologized Monday after a video showing him kissing a child on the lips triggered criticism.
A statement posted on his official website said the 87-year-old leader regretted the incident and wished to “apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.”
The incident occurred at a public gathering in February at the Tsuglagkhang temple in Dharamsala, where the exiled leader lives. He was taking questions from the audience when the boy asked if he could hug him.
The Dalai Lama invited the boy up toward the platform he was seated on. In the video, he gestured to his cheek, after which the child kissed him before giving him a hug.
The Dalai Lama then asked the boy to kiss him on the lips and stuck out his tongue. “And suck my tongue,” the Dalai Lama can be heard saying as the boy sticks out his own tongue and leans in, prompting laughter from the audience.
While the Dalai Lama quickly apologized, others defended his behavior. One defender blamed China for the Dalai Lama’s behavior being so widely reported in the news. To that, I say, were the reports true? Did the Dalai Lama do what reporters say he did? He quickly apologized, so we know he did it. Sure, China is going to use this to discredit the Dalai Lama. That’s the world we live in.
Another defender suggested that the Dalai Lama was so pure and innocent that he couldn’t have done anything inappropriate. While the Dalai Lama is a humble, peaceful man, he is also shrewd and wise to the things of the world. I doubt that he is “innocent.”
And finally, one defender, Penpa Tsering, the political leader of Tibet’s government-in-exile said, I kid you not:
[The Dalai Lama displayed] “innocent grandfatherly affectionate demeanor.”
“His holiness has always lived in sanctity, (following the life of) a Buddhist monk, including celibacy. His years of spiritual practice have gone beyond sensorial pleasures.
His holiness is now being labeled all kinds of names.”
Grandfatherly behavior? To the grandfathers who read this site, have you ever asked one of your grandchildren to suck your tongue? Of course not.
Tsering saying the Dalai Lama is “beyond sensorial pleasures” is laughable. None of us is beyond sensorial pleasures. I don’t care how spiritual someone might be, he is still a human with all the desires humans have.
We in the West love to romanticize symbols and people from the East. From India’s Mahatma Gandhi to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela to the Dalai Lama. And in most cases, rightfully so. These are incredible humans who have dedicated their lives to liberate their countries, fight for their beliefs, for the rights of their people.
But despite all the glory, respect, and worship we place upon them, it’s important not to do so blindly and to remember that at the end of the day, they are also just people. They are human beings. And the Dalai Lama just gave us all a great lesson in how you can be a revered person, and still be in the wrong.
On Monday, footage of the Dalai Lama kissing a young boy on the lips and then prompting the child to “suck my tongue” during a public event went viral online. The young Indian boy had come forward to pay his respects during a temple event. Some clips garnered more than five million views. The Dalai Lama’s representatives had a swift response to a clip that seemed odd at best, abusive at worst.
“A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused. His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”
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While it’s great that His Holiness “regrets” asking a child to “suck my tongue,” this “apology” is not only insufficient and offensive but feels more like the Dalai Lama is gaslighting rather than apologizing.
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But the tricky thing is that when people we respect and revere are accused of predatory behavior they still hold a lot of power. And that influence is something they can and do use to shield them from not only accusations, but any kind of accountability.
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While some people still prefer to look the other way, or remain in deep denial, when it comes to the possibility that religious and spiritual leaders could be abusing children, history has a very clear pattern. We like to sweep everything under the rug, defend whoever their holiness may be, and act like everything’s fine. Isn’t that what we did and still do when it comes to the Catholic Church and their endless child abuse allegations—including new revelations in Baltimore?
But now it is 2023 and we are more aware of the sexual predators in positions of influence than our parents or even their parents were. We are more open about the need to protect our children and what messages we can give them, so they know how to protect themselves, too.
We are at a pivotal point where we either teach our kids not only about consent, but about how predators are everywhere—even in our religious houses of worship, no matter the faith. Child sexual abuse happens in every religion.
Even if we want to give the Dalai Lama the benefit of the doubt, we can’t. Just watch the video and pay attention to how it makes you feel. It looks wrong and feels wrong because it is wrong. And as a mother of two young girls, I know we must talk to our children regularly about boundaries, consent, and predators.
Because they are everywhere.
Is the Dalai Lama a sexual predator? I don’t know. This could be a one-off, but my gut tells me it is not. The Dalai Lama’s behavior deserves careful scrutiny, but I doubt that will happen. Does this mean he is an evil man? That’s for others to decide, especially the Tibetan people. For me personally, this is a poignant reminder that my heroes have clay feet; that the moment I idealize and glorify someone, it is only a matter of time before I learn that he or she is just as frail and fallible as the rest of us are.
I will frequently receive emails and social media messages from people gushing over my writing. I typically thank such people for their kind words, but then I say to them: trust me, I will disappoint you one day! 🙂 I have had people send me glowing emails about my writing on Evangelical Christianity. Some of them even start donating money via PayPal or Patreon. And then, I write about this or that political issue, revealing my uber-progressive, socialist, pacifistic beliefs. All of a sudden, all their “love” turns into outrage. They cancel their monthly donations and let me know they can’t believe I am a _________ (fill in the blank with any of the numbers of labels I wear). Such is life. I am, who I am. (I lost several readers recently because they don’t like my support of transgender people.)
Years ago, I revered Gandhi and Mother Teresa. Over time, I learned that my idealized view of each of them could not be sustained. In the case of Mother Teresa, thanks to Christopher Hitchens and several other authors, I learned she was a despicable, deceitful human being. Yet, Mother Teresa is still revered by Catholics and others worldwide. I suspect that this will be the case for the Dalai Lama too.
I can’t unwatch the Dalai Lama’s inappropriate behavior with a young Tibetan boy. This is no different from me learning that Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) megachurch pastor Bob Gray of Jacksonville — one of the best preachers I ever heard preach — was accused of French kissing school girls; that he had been doing so for years. Gray was arrested for his crimes but died before he could be prosecuted. Will the Dalai Lama face investigation and, if warranted, criminal prosecution? I suspect we all know that the answer to that question is no. When societies deify religious figures, it becomes almost impossible to see the figures as fallible (and even criminal) human beings. Think of how many times people have come to this site to defend this or that preacher accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. No amount of evidence will change their minds. To this day, countless Evangelicals believe disgraced IFB preacher Jack Hyles was the greatest preacher since the Apostle Paul. They cannot and will not accept the fact that Hyles was not the man they thought he was. I suspect this will be exactly how many people across the world will continue to treat the Dalai Lama.
How has the Dalai Lama’s recent inappropriate behavior affected your view of the man? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade and returned the regulation of abortion to the states, many liberals and progressives thought that culture warriors would move on to other hot-button issues such as same-sex marriage, gender-affirming care for transgender people, and banning library books that offend their religious sensibilities. As someone who was an Evangelical pastor for twenty-five years, I warned my fellow progressives that Evangelicals, conservative Catholics, and Mormons were not finished on the abortion front; that their true objective is to pass total abortion bans. No exceptions for rape and incest. No exceptions for the life of the mother or fatal fetal abnormalities. From the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg — no abortion. Period.
Eighty-eight percent of abortions take place in the first trimester. Late-term abortions are rare, and usually the result of fatal fetal abnormalities or threats to the lives of mothers. Yet, forced-birth groups, including those in rural Northwest Ohio, almost always use gruesome photos of late-term aborted fetuses to inflame the passions of supporters. Why is that? I suspect a photo of a zygote or a four-week-old blastocyst doesn’t stir people to open their checkbooks to give money to forced birth groups as a bloody fetus does.
Currently, signatures are being collected for a ballot initiative that will legalize abortion in Ohio. Hopefully, this initiative will be on the ballot in November. Ohio Republican legislators are doing everything in their power to derail the ballot initiative, including upping vote percentage for an amendment to pass.. It is likely Republican attempts to hinder the democratic process will fail and Ohioans will be able to put an end to the religious rights frontal assault on reproductive rights.
The good news is that the majority of voters support reproductive rights. While they may want certain restrictions on post-viability abortions, most Ohioans support a woman’s right to choose. This is especially the case for younger adults who generally oppose the religious right’s culture war. If younger adults turn out to vote, that will put an end to forced birth laws.
We mustn’t underestimate the goal of Evangelicals and conservative Catholics; not only in banning abortion but also banning many forms of birth control. Their goal is to return Ohio and the United States to the good old days of the 1950s. We must not let this happen.
Bruce Gerencser Ney, Ohio
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Disney has announced a new German original series for Disney+ called “Pauline”, which is about, an 18-year-old teenager, who accidentally becomes pregnant – from a one-night stand. With school stress, the climate crisis and the downfall of society weighing heavily on her mind, something she doesn’t need at all right now is catching feelings, especially not for her one-night stand Lukas, who, as it turns out, is the devil himself.
James Lasher, a staff writer for Charisma, is outraged over the show. How dare a supernatural being impregnate a human teenage woman and she gives birth to a Devil-Human hybrid baby. Do you sense irony coming on? 🙂
The Disney that once brought wholesome, family-oriented entertainment to millions across the globe has been replaced with an organization aimed at influencing children and young people with radical, woke messaging.
Not content at pushing hyper-sexualized material at children, Disney has announced a new series for their streaming platform in which a teenage girl falls in love with none other than the lord of the underworld, Satan.
The series “Pauline” focuses on an 18-year-old girl who gets pregnant after a one-night stand.
Not exactly a run-of-the-mill episode of The Mickey Mouse Club, is it?
Her midnight rendezvous, Lukas, turns out to be the devil in disguise, and why not? This new satanically-driven series is being brought to the world by the same group that created Netflix’s “How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast).”
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If a show about Satan impregnating an 18-year-old girl is close to a person’s heart, not only do they need deliverance before they end up meeting him face to face, but parents need to recognize the red flag—practically on fire at this point—and keep their children and teenagers away from this type of content.
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Parents should not drop their guard in the slightest however, as much of the programming on Disney+ in America is filled with the occult, witchcraft, LGBTQ propaganda and other spiritually destructive material.
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As expected, many have taken issue with the adult, and heretical, subject matter of “Pauline”. The group One Million Moms issued an “urgent warning” regarding the show’s nudity, profanity, explicit graphic violence and how the show “makes light of hell and the dangers of the demonic realm.” [I found no evidence for this claim. Please see One Million Moms, who are actually a few thousand moms.]
These are the types of shows that Disney is trying to get children and young adults to watch. This is the type of programming that evil spiritual forces want to get out to the world so that it continues the desensitization to the true dangers in dancing with the devil and the eternal judgement that comes with it.
Satan is not a laughing matter.
He’s succeeding more than ever in his original and greatest deception over generations—fooling the gullible into believing he does not exist.
He wants to take every human soul on earth with him to the bowels of hell, and he is not stupid. He has been manipulating humanity for thousands of years. It is up to Christian parents to recognize these attempts at seducing their children away from the Lord and raise them up with a solid foundation in the Word of God.
Oh, the irony. Lasher is an Evangelical Christian. He believes a supernatural being, his God, impregnated a teenager, Mary, and she gave birth to a God-Man child named Jesus.
Why is the Devil copulating with a teenager any different from the Evangelical God copulating with a teenager? Just saying . . .
Lasher, with all the arrogance and certainty of a Fundamentalist Christian, says that “Satan is no laughing matter.” Au contraire, the Devil is very much a laughing matter. He is a myth, a character conjured up by clerics to scare congregants into obedience, under the threat of eternal punishment in Satan’s Trump Hotel. We can laugh, mock, and make shows and movies about the Devil because he doesn’t exist. Satan is as real as Harry Potter or Bugs Bunny.
If Lasher and other Evangelicals are afraid that the Devil is going to magically attack and control their children, I suggest they keep them away from church. To hear Evangelicals talk, the Devil goes to church on Sundays, and he delights in attacking, molesting, and abusing God’s chosen ones. And if Disney+ is such a threat to their children, I suggest they not watch certain shows or cancel the service. Evangelicals have Pure Flix. What more do they need? 🙂 Oh wait, they want to watch the same shows the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world do. For all their bitching, whining, and complaining, Evangelicals enjoy and “lust” after the “world’s” entertainment just like the rest of us.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
