Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #ChurchToo
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1. The singular reason that I am on social media is to share empathetic, evidence-based information regarding sexual harm against children and adults. I have a particular interest in elite deviance in faith based communities - for several reasons. A thread.
2. 93% of incarnated sexual offenders self identify as religious or very religious. The very religious committed the most heinous crimes, with the highest number, and youngest victims (Abel & Harlow).
3. "I considered church people easy to fool... they have a trust that comes from being Christian... I think they want to believe in people. And because of that, you can easily convince, with or without convincing words."
- an interview with a sexual predator
#churchtoo
- an interview with a sexual predator
#churchtoo
When you are the first person to ever tell an abuse victim you believe them, and you see their reaction to finally being told they are believed; the weight of the call to “believe women” takes on new meaning and an infinitely greater sense of urgency. #metoo #churchtoo
And I say this as a black man. Fully aware that there are a multitude of men who are in prison and have been to prison because of false accusations. I fully recognize that o could go to prison cuz of my ethnicity based on a false charge. Stil, I generally believe women.
“But here’s the thing, despite the history of false sex crime claims against black men by white women, I still have no problem believing women when they tell me they’ve been sexually assaulted...”
kylejhoward.com/blog/i-believe…
kylejhoward.com/blog/i-believe…
At least part of the reason Paige Patterson is back behind a pulpit with pews full of congregants happy to hear from him is this: the criteria relied upon to render many American Evangelical pastors "qualified" is more capitalistic than Christian, and Patterson still has capital.
In this system, men have more capital by virtue of being men, women have less capital by virtue of being women. Men who are pastors have more capital by virtue of being men who are pastors. Notice that I'm not saying more *responsibility.* I'm saying capital--worth, value, asset.
It's an economy arranged around power and money, number of seats filled, salvation decisions made, and a hundred other things that we can quibble over the virtue of all we want. If we end at a pastor's lack of integrity mattering not at all, hands over women's mouths, who cares.
“Get over it; it was a long time ago.”
I’ve been told this, including by a man who raped me.
Do you understand that an unwanted and unexpected touch from a principal during a meeting to advocate for my daughter can make me jump, yelp, cuss, because my body can’t get over it?
I’ve been told this, including by a man who raped me.
Do you understand that an unwanted and unexpected touch from a principal during a meeting to advocate for my daughter can make me jump, yelp, cuss, because my body can’t get over it?
“What could have happened 20 years ago that would still matter today.”
I’ve been told this, including by a man who trafficked me 20+ years ago.
Do you know trauma memories are stored differently, coming to life in nightmares in which it feels like it’s happening today?
I’ve been told this, including by a man who trafficked me 20+ years ago.
Do you know trauma memories are stored differently, coming to life in nightmares in which it feels like it’s happening today?
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
I’ve been told this, delivered not as a question but as a statement about my credibility.
Do you know all the ways I tried to tell with fresh cuts on my arms & meals revisited in the toilet & extreme overachievement to earn something like worth?
I’ve been told this, delivered not as a question but as a statement about my credibility.
Do you know all the ways I tried to tell with fresh cuts on my arms & meals revisited in the toilet & extreme overachievement to earn something like worth?
IDK who it was at @vicenews that greenlit whatever the hell I just watched but this is one of the most simultaneously laughable and dangerous things I've seen lately. This is evangelical ego-stroking at its finest.
First off, Matt Chandler was a "rising star" ten years ago and he's done nothing since then but put out a handful of shitty books regurgitating standard evangelical theology for people who already believe it
Second off, this was well before the #ChurchToo days or we would have had a field day with it, but please recall how "Village Church" tried to formally discipline a woman for annulling her marriage to a man who was caught with child pornography christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/may-we…
I’m not a tiny bit surprised by what this includes. I am quite a bit surprised by how blatant it has become.
This is the one of the first solid, self-driven nails in the coffin of Evangelical Christianity‘s irrelevance.
statementonsocialjustice.com
This is the one of the first solid, self-driven nails in the coffin of Evangelical Christianity‘s irrelevance.
statementonsocialjustice.com
The #SocialJusticeStatement is a hard line in the sand for any progressive, justice-oriented Christian who has attempted to work with evangelicals in the past. They will no longer accept your work. They will no longer accept your driving beliefs.
In the #SocialJusticeStatement evangelicals have successfully severed any practical ties to mainstream Christianity and their version of this religion will die with them. I’m flabbergasted and, in a way, a little relieved.
I don’t care what you think about Ariana Grande, her music or her dress. This is wrong. That bishop’s hand should not be on her breast: I just saw this because I’ve been working and not watching
The bishop who officiated Aretha Franklin's funeral apologized to Ariana Grande for how he touched her onstage and a joke he made about her name. ajc.com/news/exclusive…
Q: how did #purityculture fuck up my life?
A: how long you got? a thread..
#Exvangelical #ChurchToo
1/?
A: how long you got? a thread..
#Exvangelical #ChurchToo
1/?
purity culture is the pervasive set of beliefs, structures, & actions that place a heavy focus on the virginity & "physical/spiritual/emotional purity" of women/girls
2/
2/
it is heavily influenced by patriarchal beliefs such as male headship, women being unable to serve in the same capacity as men in the church (& sometimes world at large), complementarian gender roles (women are made to run the home, men to provide by working), etc
3/
3/
1. A few thoughts on Trump's dinner in honor of evangelicals, which I'll be discussing with @RickSmithShow later. Key context to consider is that fascism is concerned with defining who belongs to "the nation" or "the people," and who doesn't. Internal enemies (Others) are needed.
2. This dovetails neatly with the way in which fundamentalist believers police who does and does not count as a member of their religious confession. This is critical to understanding the Christian Right's politics of "religious freedom":
3. Indeed, as I have written elsewhere, "Fundamentalism is authoritarianism in microcosm, or on the margins. Fascism is essentially fundamentalism in power." The vast majority of white evangelicals are authoritarian and fundamentalist.
chrisstroop.com/2017/03/06/edu…
#EmptyThePews
chrisstroop.com/2017/03/06/edu…
#EmptyThePews
1/ Well for some evangelicals, gifting is far more important than character. My recent threads on sexual abuse cover-ups confirmed this fact. Someone recently shared with me the story of a twisted sexual misconduct cover-up in a French-speaking evangelical church here in Quebec.
2/ A couple of years ago, the lead pastor of an evangelical congregation instructed his entire leadership staff to cover-up the moral failings of another pastor. There were repeated cases of sexual misconduct, targeting vulnerable women in this church over the years.
#ChurchToo
#ChurchToo
3/ The pastor said that there was too much at stake (government funding programs, public reputation, influence on other churches tarnished, etc.). There are consequences in taking appropriate actions against leaders who have breached ethical standards.
1/ Be it in the Catholic Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses or in the Evangelical movement, these church leaders don't treat cases of sexual abuse & misconduct as a crime but as a "sin". For them, "sin" needs to be dealt with internally, not in public. Abusers are thus protected.
2/ I was interviewed on the reasons behind sexual abuse cover-ups in the JWs last March on @CTVW5. Their prescription for "sin" is to adopt a "biblical worldview"; this prevents and discourages victims of abuse to alert the authorities.
#SexualAbuse
#SexualAbuse
3/ I also provided some details concerning the reasoning behind the cover-up of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct cases in the Evangelical church this short @YouTube clip.
#SexualAbuse #ChurchToo
#SexualAbuse #ChurchToo
Thread:
A 21-year-old woman made an awesome video combatting legalism & telling girls that God values them.
In response, an army of middle aged men attacked her, calling her a sl@t, wh@re, & Jezebel all in the name of Jesus, often quoting Bible verses. This is that story.
A 21-year-old woman made an awesome video combatting legalism & telling girls that God values them.
In response, an army of middle aged men attacked her, calling her a sl@t, wh@re, & Jezebel all in the name of Jesus, often quoting Bible verses. This is that story.
My daughter made a video against the “men prefer debt-free virgins without tattoos.”
She was saying God loves us despite our pasts, and if people made mistakes (or, even worse, if they’re a sexual assault survivor), they should not be labelled unloveable.
She was saying God loves us despite our pasts, and if people made mistakes (or, even worse, if they’re a sexual assault survivor), they should not be labelled unloveable.
Her tribe of young, female fans loved it. In the comments section, many shared personal stories of redemption and coming to know Jesus better. So many shared about shame they have carried that they are trying to surrender to God. So many also shared stories of sexual abuse.
"The notion that there are large numbers of white evangelicals... who are not particularly religious is false."
Amazing how @TheAtlantic and @washingtonpost could get this so wrong! It's almost like they're influenced by confirmation bias!
pewforum.org/2018/07/05/how…
#EmptyThePews
Amazing how @TheAtlantic and @washingtonpost could get this so wrong! It's almost like they're influenced by confirmation bias!
pewforum.org/2018/07/05/how…
#EmptyThePews
It's also not as if anyone has been asserting otherwise using both data and experience. Not like #Exvangelical folks have been writing things all this time, such as:
chrisstroop.com/2017/05/03/abo…
Oh wait.
#EmptyThePews #WednesdayWisdom #ChurchToo #BeingExvangelical
chrisstroop.com/2017/05/03/abo…
Oh wait.
#EmptyThePews #WednesdayWisdom #ChurchToo #BeingExvangelical
Oh hey and also this. Just for example:
chrisstroop.com/2018/03/14/the…
#Exvangelical #EmptyThePews #WednesdayWisdom
chrisstroop.com/2018/03/14/the…
#Exvangelical #EmptyThePews #WednesdayWisdom
@neeratanden Neera please look at the attached graphic. None of this happening is a coincidence. Trump was part of a long-term plan of the GOP to seize power. People like me have been trying to get anyone to listen to us. People don't understand the dangers we truly face. 1/ 
@neeratanden This is the group behind this coup. Almost everyone in this regime is a member. Their goal is christofascist theocracy by 2020. Why do you think there's been a push to rewrite the Constitution? 2/
@neeratanden Please look at these documents from #CNP for Betsy DeVos for the department of education. They are Dominionists not Christians. There's a huge difference. 3/
Story time, #emptythepews edition.
Warning: suicidal ideation, depression, conversion therapy, unsupportive parents, Christian fundamentalism.
You have been warned.
Story begins in the next tweet.
Warning: suicidal ideation, depression, conversion therapy, unsupportive parents, Christian fundamentalism.
You have been warned.
Story begins in the next tweet.
1: Once upon a time in the late 90s, there were common websites, basic cable and magazines that put out various hotlines you could call in a crisis. If not, there were search engines where you could find the numbers to places like BoysTown and the Suicide Prevention Hotline etc.
2: My parents were SUPER controlling. So much so, that we felt the control in every little way, and suspected other means of control that we did not verify until we had all moved out.
Raised in the QF/ATI-adjacent communities, you can guess at what levels there were,.
Raised in the QF/ATI-adjacent communities, you can guess at what levels there were,.
1) A prediction: as the 2018 elections approach, we will see more and more mainstream news stories seeking to present the "other side" of U.S. evangelicalism. The wave is already cresting, and will only get larger.
2) Expect more stories about "good" evangelicals who beat guns into plowshares or help migrant workers. Expect to hear more about how "both sides" have points and there are "good people" on both sides — and how we need "balance" in covering evangelicals.
3) This, of course, how the media operate: they quite literally "mediate" — trying to convince us that there's some median path between one side or another. (Abolitionists were grand, but slavery, after all, had some things going for it.)
1. I'd like to return to @ryanjbell's question of what it means to be #Exvangelical. I suspect that the vast majority of us identifying with the term would agree that there's much more to #BeingExvangelical than dropping a label. But what else do we share? Some thoughts.
2. First off, let me say that no one can speak for all ex-evangelicals, or exvies, as we have come to be known. We do have many overlapping experiences (that are alien and confusing to most Americans) deriving from what @brchastain calls our shared toxic sociocultural heritage.
3. That being said, while some great memoirs and other projects have been out there for years exposing the rot at the core of conservative/white evangelicalism, theocracy rising in the form of Trumpism has galvanized us into forming a more self-conscious and cohesive community.
Complementarianism is like a potato peeler.
Stay with me here.
Stay with me here.
It's sold to Christians by its function: "This is how you obey God and have a good family."
We don't purchase potato peelers to do anything but peel things.
No one argues AGAINST "Comps think the best way to obey God and have a good family is by complementarianism."
We don't purchase potato peelers to do anything but peel things.
No one argues AGAINST "Comps think the best way to obey God and have a good family is by complementarianism."
[Content note: I'm about to use graphic violence to make a point. I'm a writer who likes Stephen King--sorry in advance.]
But, imagine if a husband took a potato peeler and started using it to peel a woman's skin. It's still serving it's function! It's peeling!
But, imagine if a husband took a potato peeler and started using it to peel a woman's skin. It's still serving it's function! It's peeling!
From 2015–before #metoo #churchtoo #silenceisnotspiritual. #THIS is most white-male-centered narcissistic drivel I have ever read in my entire life. @JohnPiper claims scripture is his authority then offers no exegesis of any text. “Principles” instead. 1/ desiringgod.org/interviews/sho…
Teaching “principles” rather than teaching excellent exegesis is a narcissistic tactic of control. ANYONE can claim the scripture says ANYTHING when they leave the scripture out. Brings followers into close relationship w/ leader, but leaves them not knowing Jesus (The Word). 2/
What .@JohnPiper did here was unbelievably manipulative. Demonstrated #ZERO submissiveness to scripture. Has nerve to guilt/shame women into “submission to scripture” then offers #NONE. Only offers his own “principles,” which scripture would drop-kick. 3/
There appear to be some points of intersection between the #ChurchToo and #QuietExodus critique of conservative evangelical churches/institutions. Some common tendencies in the way sexual abuse and racial sin/injustice are sometimes handled in such places:
1. Misconstrued and misapplied theologies of forgiveness, grace, and God’s sovereignty that undercut biblical requirements of repentance, discipline, and moral responsibility.
2. General blindness to the interpersonal and institutional dynamics of *power* that lie at the heart of abuse/racism—a blindness exacerbated by vertical authority structures in tradition-centered communities.
This week: 1 James Dobson encouraged Christians to fast & pray for the protection a serial sex abuser (Trump). 2 When a mega-church pastor's criminal sexual assault was exposed, he received a standing ovation from his congregation. 3 One of Roy Moore's victims' house burned down.
All of these stories point to why I'm sadly pessimistic about a #metoo-style cultural shift in evangelical Christianity (and, to an extent, the broader Church). I'm pessimistic because of the deadly combination of patriarchy & (as discussed recently) evangelical exceptionalism...
As I've stated before, evangelical exceptionalism understands "the world" or "the culture" to be filled with darkness & sin, teeming with people who are "lost," and evangelicalism & evangelicals to be the sole bearers of light, the counter-cultural path to salvation...
Lately, #metoo and #churchtoo victims have been emboldened to share their stories. In response, some abusers have issued statements in an attempt to define the "incident" in the way the way they want everyone to define it. Here are 12 of the many tactics we've seen recently:
1. The details of a victim's story are disruptive to the image of the abuser. Therefore, abusers will give it a label and say nothing more about it. Her details may destroy their definition of the "incident" and reveal coverup of a crime, not a mistake which the abuser regrets.
2. Although he was an adult in a position of authority and trust, the abuser gives the impression it could have been consensual and typical. This tactic is called blurring and hides the truth without putting the abuser in the indefensible position of telling an outright lie.
ICYMI: on Friday, a megachurch pastor whose brand is all about marriage and sexual purity admitted to sexually assaulting a 17yo girl when he was her youth pastor (he called it an "incident" not an "assault")
He didn't deny the details she shared, which make clear that it was an assault.
What's more, the men in charge of the church at the time of her assault further abused her by how they handled it.
1. I and many ex-Evangelicals share @DJSugi’s frustration. 2017 taught us some things about how to be heard.
“I’ve spent much of my adulthood terrified that Christian extremists would take over America, and... many of my peers seemed oblivious to my concerns.”
#EmptyThePews
“I’ve spent much of my adulthood terrified that Christian extremists would take over America, and... many of my peers seemed oblivious to my concerns.”
#EmptyThePews
2. Before laying out my thoughts on this, a couple of caveats. Firstly, it's not the fault of survivors of extremist Christianity that mainstream America has proven largely unwilling to listen.
3. An (untenable, circular) impulse to consider "real" religion benign is baked into American national DNA, although it functions disproportionately in favor of Christianity. Christian privilege is very real.
