Children have always suffered the most from human thirst for dominance, power, and control. Governments and political leaders regret their deaths in war, but see them as necessary collateral damage in their quest for real estate. Fundamentally, the war between Israel and Palestine is about a promise the Jewish God allegedly made to a storybook character named Abraham. Thousands of years later, Israel demands the world accept as fact that God gave them all the land (and more) that currently makes up Palestine and Israel. Countless people have died and will continue to die as Isaac and Ismahel continue to fight over whom the land belongs to.
Israeli and Palestinian children bleed and die without difference. Yet, for some reason, many Americans think Palestinian children “deserve” suffering and death; that they must pay the price for the sins of others. Of course, this should not surprise us. The Old Testament is a written record of God commanding his chosen ones — Israel — to slaughter his (their) enemies. Why should we expect Israel to do anything differently today? Hamas can be brought to justice without destroying Palestine, but Israel has no interest in doing so. Much like the United States did after 9-11, Israel plans to kill anyone and everyone — including children and civilians — who stands in their way of destroying Hamas (and by extension, Palestine).
And so Israeli and Palestinian children will continue to die.
Thousands of miles away, Ukrainian and Russian children will continue to die.
Syrian children will die.
Yemeni children will die.
African children will die, both from war and starvation.
The world says it cares about children, but the actions of major world powers and militia leaders alike suggest that children are an inconvenience; their deaths are a necessary consequence of humankind’s endless fight over real estate.
Americans wept over the children killed on 9-11, yet when it comes to Afghan, Iraqi, and Palestinian children, their deaths are considered necessary consequences of the war.
As long as the blood of innocents flows in the streets, don’t tell me about the justness of your war and the greatness and rightness of your God. All I see are bloody hands.
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.
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Earlier today, an Israel Defense Force (IDF) official said that the Israeli plan to level and destroy Gaza and kill countless civilians — including children and babies — is meant for the “good” of the Palestinian people; that once Hamas is defeated, all will be well for Palestine (both the West Bank and Gaza). What will this “good” look like once Hamas is defeated and removed from power? A free Palestinian State? “Good” requires putting an end to Israel’s apartheid practices. “Good” requires turning the electricity and power back on and ensuring that Palestinians have sufficient food. “Good” requires access to medical care. “Good” requires rebuilding Gaza’s infrastructure and family dwellings. I have not read one word from Israel’s military and political leaders that suggests that they have any interest in “good.” Motivated by rage, vengeance, and retribution, Israel is poised to cause untold harm and carnage. Hamas will most certainly respond, adding to the blood of combatants and innocents flowing through the streets.
The idea that bombing and killing people because it is “good” for them is a common delusion of the powers that be in the West. The United States told the citizens of Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq that our invasions of their sovereign states were “good” for them; that clap-happy freedom and democracy awaited once their lands were bombed into oblivion and hundreds of thousands of civilians were wiped off the face of the earth. Fifty years later, a unified Vietnam has returned to some sense of normalcy, but Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries that we have bombed with “good” munitions remain shadows of the countries they once were.
Americans wrongly assume that our “good” is what every nation needs. Who doesn’t want to be just like the good ‘ole United States of America, right? For those blinded by American exceptionalism, manifest destiny, and Christian nationalism, the only “good” they see is the continuance of the “American Way” — whatever the hell that is — and laissez-faire capitalism. No introspection, no repenting of our national sins. We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re #1! We never seem to stop for a moment to consider whether our quest for “rightness,” dominion, and power is “good.” If I asked one hundred residents of rural Northwest Ohio whether the United is “good,” all of them would unequivocally say YES! Ask one hundred residents from Europe, Africa, South America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East the same question, and I suspect most of them would have a very different definition of “American Good.”
As long as we continue to use military force — either directly or through proxies as we are doing in Ukraine and the Middle East — to expand the American Empire, we should not expect the world at large to think we are “good.”
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.
A quick public service announcement from Science-Based Medicine, or at least from me: hitting children is fundamentally wrong. It’s also not effective when done in an attempt to improve their behavior. Back in 2014, I wrote about the use of corporal punishment to discipline children, mostly focusing on its use by caregivers in the home. Sadly, not much has changed since I wrote this opening paragraph:
One of the most commonly practiced strategies used by parents to alter the long-term behavior of their children is corporal punishment, commonly referred to as spanking. But the use of the term spanking is problematic in that how caregivers interpret it varies widely, and there is frequent overlap with what pediatricians consider to be abuse. Despite a great deal of evidence showing that spanking is ineffective, is a risk factor for greater forms of physical abuse, and can negatively impact the behavioral and cognitive development of children in a variety of ways, it remains a controversial issue in the United States. The American Academy of Pediatrics and numerous other professional organizations have come down firmly against the use of physical punishment by parents, but unlike 34 other developed nations, there are no federal laws banning spanking.
There are still no federal laws banning spanking, either in the home or in schools, which is what today’s post will focus on. Pediatricians, though not all of us, unfortunately, are generally united in their stance that this is a problem. The American Academy of Pediatrics is naturally opposed to the practice of physical violence against children in all forms and recently issued a policy statement to specifically address when it is used as a form of discipline in schools.
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Why is beating children in schools allowed? Great question. In 1977, the Supreme Court had an opportunity to protect children but failed. A 5-4 decision in Ingraham v Wright provided constitutional cover for school-based physical punishment, saying that 8th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment don’t apply to students. They left it up to the states, many of which are seemingly incapable of thinking about the (born) children in any meaningful capacity.
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The majority of children being hit at school in the United States live in the South, with the majority (nearly 3 out of every 4) living in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas. Mississippi and Texas are the worst offenders, with a third of all kids being attacked by teachers or other school administrators living in those two states. It gets worse.
When a school allows faculty to hit students, which students tend to get hit? Another great question, and one that requires a thoughtful and nuance re..black kids. It’s black kids. Children with disabilities have it the worst, however, with national data showing that 16.5% of kids who are hit at school being served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The tragic reality is that the more marginalized a child is, for example, a black child with autism, the more likely they are to be physically attacked at school by someone charged with their education and safety.
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.
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Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series looking at the language of Ohio Issue 1 and the reproductive rights it would impact. The full language of the amendment can be found here.
The topic of parental rights does not appear in Ohio Issue 1 on the ballot Nov. 7.
There is no mention of denying any rights to parents in the process of enshrining reproductive rights like abortion, contraception, miscarriage care, and infertility treatment into the Ohio Constitution.
“I don’t think Issue 1 would affect parent’s rights at all,” said Tracy Thomas, the Seiberling Chair for Constitutional Law and director of the University of Akron’s Center for Constitutional Law.
Having studied reproductive rights cases in Ohio and nationwide, including the Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade, Thomas said historically, “parental rights have consistently been retained.”
“I would expect that those (rights) can all stay consistent,” Thomas told the Capital Journal.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also acknowledged that previous abortion rights court cases have upheld parental consent in a legal analysis of Issue 1 he released in early October.
Yost went on to say “The amendment does not specifically address parental consent.”
But, Yost argued, that consent “would certainly be challenged on the basis that Issue 1 gives abortion rights to any pregnant ‘individual,’ not just to a ‘woman.’”
The term “individual” is currently used 36 times in the Ohio Constitution, including in the definition of “health care system,” the eligibility of officeholders, and clauses on temporary housing and corporate property.
Only one use of the word “individual” is connected to a gender specifier: the constitutional language on marriage status “only one man and one woman” can be in a marriage “valid or recognized by this state,” and “relationships of unmarried individuals” can not hold the same legal status.
Still, Religious lobbies and anti-abortion rights groups that oppose the amendment have used that message as one of their primary arguments against the measure since the effort to get it on the ballot began.
In a new ad for the Issue 1 opposition group Protect Women Ohio, a coalition including Ohio Right to Life and other anti-abortion rights groups, Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine feature as leaders against the measure.
Fran DeWine is shown in the ad saying Issue 1 “would deny parents the right to be involved when their daughter is making the most important decision of her life.”
Gov. DeWine admits in the ad that Ohioans “are divided on the issue of abortion,” but calls Issue 1 “not right for Ohio.”
The Catholic Conference of Ohio pointed to the first line of the proposed amendment and the word “individual,” saying the use of the word would allow anyone under age 18 to “have an abortion, or make any reproductive decision without their parents’ consent or notification.”
State Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, the sponsor of the six-week abortion ban law that is currently on hold as court cases determine its fate, co-sponsored a resolution in the Ohio Senate on Oct. 11 officially standing against Issue 1.
In opposing Issue 1, she said the measure was “extreme, nefarious” and would “harm women and take away parental rights.”
The resolution passed with the GOP majority unanimously approving it. The seven Democratic senators all voted against the measure.
The resolution itself proclaims “parents are the ultimate arbiter of what is best for their children.”
In one paragraph of the resolution, sponsors Roegner and state Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, write that Issue 1 “will eliminate many, if not all, state laws regarding abortion,” including “parental notification requirements.”
In the next paragraph, the resolution states Issue 1 “may” eliminate parental rights.
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, pushed back against the resolution by bringing up a decade-old legal process present in Ohio called “judicial bypass.”
Judicial bypass, as it stands now, has been around since 2012 in the state, after then-Gov. John Kasich signed a law that prohibits forcing a minor to have an abortion, but leaves in place a legal way for minors to petition juvenile court to bypass parental consent.
The Ohio Supreme Court explained the process in Rule 23 of a 2015 amendment to its “rules of superintendence,” an internal operations document for all Ohio courts.
The legal method uses the court system to allow underage individuals to make decisions for themselves where parental consent would typically be necessary, such as in cases of abuse.
“If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is sufficiently mature and well enough informed to decide intelligently whether to have an abortion, the court shall grant the petition and permit the minor to consent to the abortion,” the law states.
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.
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On the fictional cop show Blue Bloods, in the appropriately titled episode “Pain Killers,” detective Maria Baez picks up a tray containing drug paraphernalia and a white powder and is soon seen on a gurney, fighting for her life, as a healthcare worker proclaims, “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. The slightest exposure can trigger an overdose.” As reported by Lindsey Ellefson for BuzzFeed News, the night the episode premiered, over eight million people watched it.
The belief that simply coming into contact with fentanyl can kill you is widespread within law enforcement. But is it true?
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Given the clear hazard posed by potent opioids like fentanyl, it’s no wonder that many first responders are afraid to be anywhere near them. This fear, though, is misplaced and can have dire consequences for the people in need of medical attention.
It started in Montreal. In April 2013, police conducted seven raids around Montreal and seized drug-making equipment and synthetic drugs, including a fentanyl derivative called desmethyl fentanyl. The clandestine labs making these drugs contained many chemicals, and the Montreal Gazette reported at the time that four police officers became ill from handling some of these drugs. One was hospitalized with heart problems, while three other cops, who were wearing masks and gloves, developed rashes on their arms. The link between touching fentanyl and getting sick was born.
But what really cemented the fear that merely touching fentanyl or one of its analogs causes instant harm was a case in Ohio four years later. A man who had just been released from jail on bond was driving and was pulled over by a police officer, who was joined by Chris Green, a local off-duty cop who happened to be nearby. The two officers found drugs in the car and the man admitted that the powder in his vehicle might include fentanyl. Green noticed some powder on his shirt and brushed it off with his naked hand.
An hour or so later, Green was sweaty, barely coherent, and not feeling well. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for an overdose. The man he had arrested was charged with drug trafficking and possession, yes, but also with assault on a peace officer because he had exposed Green to fentanyl. The attorney general for Ohio released a statement to the press during sentencing which would echo for years to come: “Fentanyl is so dangerous,” he said, “that even the slightest exposure can be deadly.” The news media was quick to repeat this memorable quote.
The belief that simply touching fentanyl will cause physical harm is very common among law enforcement officers. It is reinforced by media coverage, which often repeats this presumption with no pushback. Cops who survive their encounter with unknown white powders will tell journalists that “something as simple as the wind could expose you” or “I almost died.”
So, are there any reported cases of harm caused by touching fentanyl?
“No.” The man who gave me this unambiguous answer is Dr. Ryan Marino. He is a medical toxicologist and an associate professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also one of a handful of experts frequently pushing back against opioid myths through the website WTFentanyl. His stance on this issue is backed up by the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT), which deems the risk to emergency responders as “extremely low,” and is echoed in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, in which rescue specialist Simon Taxel reminds us that this position is unanimously agreed upon by physicians and toxicologists. “If there was a real hazard,” Taxel writes, “it would stand to reason that the people who produce fentanyl, distribute it, or use it would suffer similar exposures. This is simply not happening.” Same with carfentanyl, the extremely potent synthetic opioid. “It’s more potent,” told Dr. Joshua Radke, an ER doctor, to Emergency Medicine News, “but it’s not magically more dangerous.”
ou may be skeptical if you know that fentanyl patches exist, in which the opioid is allowed to seep through the skin and provide relief to patients dealing with chronic pain. But these transdermal patches were the fruit of significant investments to devise a technology that would allow fentanyl to be absorbed through the skin. Even with this patented delivery system, a patient will start to benefit from the fentanyl only three to 13 hours later. The effect is far from instantaneous. In fact, you can witness Chad Sabora on Facebook showing that a heroin powder tests positive for fentanyl and then holding it in his left hand for an extended period of time. “I’m experiencing no signs of toxicity, no overdose symptoms, nothing whatsoever,” he calmly states. “I don’t know what else to do.”
But what about the danger of accidentally inhaling fentanyl while conducting a drug bust? Reassuringly, the drug and its analogs are not easily airborne, with the ACMT referring to this hypothetical situation as “exceptional circumstances.” There would need to be large quantities aerosolized and breathed in for hours to get a meaningful amount in the bloodstream. The closest thing might have been the Moscow theatre hostage crisis of 2022, in which Chechen terrorists occupied a theatre. The Russian Federation responded by pumping in a gas that killed 129 of the more than 800 hostages, as well as at least 33 terrorists. The Russian government did not initially reveal the composition of the gas. An analysis by a British laboratory of the clothing worn by two British survivors and the urine from a third revealed the presence of carfentanyl and remifentanil. Even if those were indeed the gases used to subdue the terrorists, it is clear that this situation bears little resemblance to first responders arriving at the scene of a fentanyl overdose, or even to police officers raiding a fentanyl laboratory.
First responders who believe they are overdosing on fentanyl from simply touching it in fact exhibit the exact opposite of the symptoms we would expect. While fentanyl makes you euphoric and slows down your breathing, cops start breathing faster, sweat a lot, and become anxious. “I don’t want to discredit anyone or say they’re faking,” says Dr. Marino. “I do think people are having a true medical emergency when this happens. The symptoms seem most consistent with a panic attack or anxiety or a fear reaction.”
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This panic over accidentally touching fentanyl is causing actual harm. “I have seen this play out,” Dr. Marino tells me, “People are scared to resuscitate an overdosing person, because they’re worried about getting close to them.” Police departments spend unnecessary money on hazmat suits and special “fentanyl-resistant gloves.” Regular disposable nitrile gloves have been tested and are more than suitable; in fact, the human skin is already a pretty good barrier. But because of this dread, people are being charged with imaginary crimes for exposing a cop’s bare skin to fentanyl, and a coalition of attorneys general urged President Joe Biden to classify fentanyl, one of the most frequently used drugs in medicine, as a “weapon of mass destruction.” Fear spreads while science crawls.
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Blue Bloods may have fueled the fear over accidental fentanyl poisoning, but another cop show took a different approach. On an episode of Will Trent, a law enforcement officer starts panicking after believing he’s touched fentanyl. The show’s protagonist, Will Trent, replies, unphased: “Pretty sure that’s laundry detergent. Just wash your hands. Either way, you’ll be fine.” We need more scientifically accurate representations like this one.
Jonathan Jarry Bio:
Jonathan Jarry is a science communicator with the McGill Office for Science and Society, dedicated to separating sense from nonsense on the scientific stage. He has a Master’s degree in molecular biology and he brings his experience in cancer research, human genetics, rehabilitation research, and forensic biology to the work he does for the public. He was the creator, writer, and host of the YouTube show Cracked Science, which used a late-night deep-dive format to debunk pseudoscience and denounce bad science. With cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos, he co-hosts the award-winning medical podcast The Body of Evidence, which aims to contextualize findings in the realm of health research and answer the public’s most pressing questions about the biomedical sciences while also being funny and entertaining.
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.
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Bruce and Polly Gerencser, July 1978, with Bruce’s mom and dad
What follows are fifteen things I learned as a young married man. Polly and I married in July, 1978. We recently celebrated our forty-fifth wedding anniversary. What were some of the lessons you learned as a young married person? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Love doesn’t pay the bills.
If you put gas in your car, it won’t run out.
The balder the tire, the more you will need to use your car jack.
A spare tire is of no use if it’s flat.
You will have to teach your wife to drive a stick shift, check the oil, start the car with a screwdriver, and change a flat tire.
Children change everything.
If you pay the light bill, you will always have electricity.
Living across the street from your in-laws is not a good idea.
It is not a good idea to quit your job before you have found a new one.
Having sex in a car is not as much fun as the movies say it is.
Driving too fast is a sure way to get speeding tickets — lots of them.
If you write a check with no money in the bank, it’s going to cost you.
Guinea pigs, hamsters, and gerbils die.
It’s a miracle any couple stays married.
Giving substantial sums of money to the church is not a good idea when you can’t pay your bills. Contrary to what preachers say, Jesus will not provide.
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.
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Evil is a word bandied about these days, used to describe people, groups, and institutions that commit violent, vile, abominable acts against innocents. The word evil is also used to describe offending political and social beliefs. In Evangelical circles, the word evil is used to describe human behaviors that run afoul of their interpretations of the Bible or standards. Thus, two people of the same sex engaging in sexual intercourse are evil. Both the person and the act are evil.
Scores of Evangelicals have emailed or messaged me to let me know that I am “evil.” Never mind the fact that I have never committed evil. My beliefs and/or behavior offend these riders of the high moral plains, so I am given the “evil” label.
Evil is used so often that the word has lost a lot of its power and meaning. There was a time when we reserved the word evil for Hitler and Stalin. Today, a person is evil just because he wrote a blog post that denied the existence of God.
Israel and Hamas are currently at war. Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,200 people, many of whom were innocent men, women, and children. Hamas’ wanton slaughter of innocents certainly meets the qualifications for the label “evil.” I have listened to and watched a lot of programs over the past two days where Hamas was called evil. I have yet to hear a podcast host, news anchor, or Middle East expert, say the same about Israel. Oh, I heard the voices of people who recognize Israel’s barbaric response to Hamas’ attack, but none dare utter the word “evil.” To do so would be professional suicide.
Let me be clear, Hamas is evil; its murderous actions against Israel are evil. What I refuse to ignore is the fact that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people is evil too; that its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza is every bit as evil as the violent, murderous actions of Hamas insurgents. The West seemingly wants to give Israel a pass on its war crimes, much like they did to the United States when it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan — killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
Fundamentally, war is evil. How can it be otherwise? The goal of every war is to inflict maximum violence on your opponent, hoping that the bloodshed, carnage, and death will cause them to surrender. There’s no such thing as a “good” war. As a hypocritical pacifist, I recognize that war is inevitable; that as long as humanity is divided by race, ethnicity, economic status, resource availability, and geographical borders, men and women will kill each other, hoping to either maintain the status quo, gain power, or financially profit. That said, there’s no moral high ground when it comes to war. Calling a war “just” as Christians often do doesn’t change the fact that the machinations of war run contrary to all that is just, holy (for the religious), and good.
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 2021, David Nims, a children’s church leader at Calvary Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, was arrested several times on child porn and voyeurism charges.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons says the Pensacola church children’s director who has already been arrested multiple times may have more victims.
37-year-old David Nims was arrested late Friday for a third time after investigators say he secretly recorded people in public restrooms at a church in Escambia County.
Simmons says deputies recently discovered that eight additional victims were secretly recorded. This follows Nims’ initial arrest back in June regarding a secret camera hidden in a church’s men’s bathroom.
According to Nims’ most recent arrest report, investigators reviewed over 180 videos that showed multiple people using the restroom.
Sheriff Simmons told Channel 3 that there is a chance they could find more victims as they continue their investigation.
According to Sherriff Simmons, the videos were taken in three locations: Calvary Baptist Church (where Nims volunteered as a children’s director), his home and his wife’s work.
Reports indicate he was recording men, women and children.
“Every time we arrested him and we seize more storage devices and more computer equipment then we end up finding more,” Simmons said. “Unfortunately we end up finding more evidence of video voyeurism.”
Nims was charged with 25 counts of child pornography possession and 16 counts of video voyeurism. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
40-year-old David Nims was charged with 25 counts of child pornography possession and 16 counts of video voyeurism. He faced more than 500 years in prison, but he took a plea deal. Some charges were dropped, and Nims was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Friday.
Nims set up a camera under a sink in a restroom at Calvary Baptist Church. In March 2021, he recorded not just adults but kids between the age of 6 and 14 years old. Investigators later found SD cards with more than 100 child porn images in his home.
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.
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U.S. President Joe Biden informed the American people that he personally contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, reminding him that Israel must play by the “rules of war” when they attack, level, and destroy Gaza.
The “rules of war?” Really? There are no rules of war. Oh, there are conventions, treaties, and agreements, but nation-states rarely abide by them. When it comes to war, there are no rules. States agree to abide by rules until they don’t.
In the present conflict between Hamas and Israel, both parties have already ignored the “rules of war” and committed horrific war crimes. It is certain that both Hamas and Israel will continue to commit war crimes in the days and months ahead. As of today, Israel turned off the electricity and water in Gaza. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are under siege. Told to flee the rage bombing of Israel, Palestinians literally have no place to go.
Let’s stop with the talk about the “rules of war” and “war crimes.” Such rules may exist on paper, filed somewhere in the bowels of government, but practically speaking, these rules are ignored with nary a thought. War crimes? Let me be clear, “war” itself is a crime against humanity. The governments of the world have spent most of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries slaughtering one another. And to what end? Hostilities cease for a time, something will provoke a military response, and war returns with a vengeance, with no thought given to the rules of war or whether their actions are crimes.
To President Biden, I ask, “Israel has already committed war crimes and will continue to do so as God’s chosen people turn Gaza into a rubble-strewn parking lot. Will you commit to holding them accountable for their crimes against innocent men, women, and children?” No need to respond, I already know the answer. It’s no; it is always no. The United States has a long history of committing war crimes — both intentional and accidental. We have no moral high ground on this issue — or any other, for that matter. If President Biden wants to do something that will save lives in Palestine, how about ending U.S. military funding to Israel? Instead, the President plans to give Israel billions of dollars more in military aid. The United States is funding multiple wars across multiple fronts. According to Reuters, the U.S. is the largest arms exporter in the world — $206 billion in 2022. In 2021, that number was $138 billion. War is certainly good for business, with no thought about the war crimes men and women will commit with these weapons of mass destruction.
Rules of war? There are no rules of war, only carnage and death. There are no winners, only losers.
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.
Christopher “Chris” Pruitt, pastor of Our Father’s House Ministries in Beaverton, Oregon, stands accused of sexually abusing two minor church girls. Pruitt was indicted on six counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.
A Beaverton pastor was jailed last week after being accused of inappropriately touching two young girls who were members of his congregation.
A Washington County grand jury indicted Christopher Michael Pruitt, 39, of Beaverton on six counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Pruitt allegedly touched two girls, one under 14 years old, one under 18 years old, on Sept. 29 in Washington County, according to court documents. The girls were members of Pruitt’s congregation of Our Father’s House Ministries Church.
The church had been operating out of Pruitt’s home in Beaverton before moving to North Portland recently.
Pruitt was arrested Thursday, Oct. 5, and remains in jail as of Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 11. He has a probable cause hearing and a pre-trial release hearing scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13.
In 2017, Pruitt pleaded guilty to public indecency in Multnomah County. He was put on probation for one year for the Class A misdemeanor, according to court records.
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.
