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Sexual Abuse Doesn't Spring From Thin Air
Stopping Sexual Scandal In The Messianic Movement - Part 8
(Reading Part 7 first provides context for this article)
With the increasing popularity and ease of access to porn - and specifically violent porn - sexual abuse in religious circles is proliferating. It's not just taking the form of Shechem's abuse who "saw Dinah, took her, lay with her, defiled her, and his soul clave unto her and he loved her and spoke kindly unto her" (Gen 34:2,3). It's taking the form of Eli's family with minister's sons abusing daughters of the Most High on the Sabbath which Yahweh sanctified - and justifying it by their purported parents and grandparents behavior. We witnessed that occur in the Maine Congregation we came out of! It manifested there in fathers' failure to restrain their sons' wickedness; failing to report it to law enforcement; failing for the longest time to even acknowledge it, leaving their homestead they built from the ground up to hide out a half mile back in the woods, and ultimately fleeing the state of Maine altogether to reduce their chances of criminal prosecution. In 1 Sam 3:13 Yahweh says "For I have told [Eli] that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them."
Sexual abuse in faith-based settings is also taking the form of Amnon's abuse in 2 Sam 13:15 where "being stronger than her he forcibly raped [his half-sister], and afterward hated her with intense hatred so that he hated her more than he had lusted after her." The entertainment industry markets this under titles such as "1000 Shades of Gray" and "1000 Shades Freed". Religious people are buying it so-to-speak, practicing it, and acting out on it. Isn't it ironic that comparing the sexual predation of Shechem versus Eli's sons versus Amnon, it was the religious sexual abusers which Scripture puts down for the record as far more violent, and with no steps taken to right the wrongs done? We'd do well to not overlook that because sexual abuse is more than merely about lust; it's also about bondage and dominion; about control marketed as freedom. It flourishes in spiritually abusive environments and takes a wide variety of forms across the spectrum, from what we're prone to whitewash as overlookable to what is unfathomable that religion can even entail.
A majority of abusers don't fit the stereotype of abusers either. They're popular, charismatic and likeable, much like Andrew Tate. They have such good rapport that people simply don't believe they're capable of such horrendous things. They often are even able to secure the support of those they've abused standing behind them - a phenonem known as Stockholm Syndrome. These abusers take the form of parents, religious leaders, siblings, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Strangers like Shechem are a minority, only picking up the tail end of the line.
A majority of victims aren't believed when they muster the courage to speak. Some recant their testimony, even when corroborated with multiple witnesses. That is usually the result of misappropriated shame and misguided attempts to protect the person(s) responsible for abusing them. These victims are treated like it's better for "them to die in order to save a religion". What a sordid twist of John 11:50. Scripture in contract says "put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry, because of these things the wrath of Elohim is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5,6).
Some wives are afraid to speak out for fear of their marriages disintegrating. Some daughters are afraid to speak out for fear of their brothers or their dads. Some dad's say their daughter's would be any father's perfect daughter, but "any father" is excessively broad and in a morally duplitious religious sphere, what the hell does that actually mean? The carnage that I want my daughters to be fully ready to raise if they ever find themselves in a morally compromising situation again, means I want them to be the persona of the grim reaper before they are just "any fathers perfect daughter" ever again.
Some parents are afraid to speak out for fear of legal repercussions or alienation from their errant children, their own parents, or merely for fear of the family stigma that speaking out may bring. These are all errant reasons for remaining silent, and they only enable the continued proliferation of something which should never occur in any family, country, religion or absense of religion in the first place.
Speaking out about sexual abuse is not about slander. It's not lashon hara and it doesn't constitute speaking evil of dignitaries either. Those allegations are all designed for one purpose - to enable an illicit empire by keeping the truth from becoming known. Speaking out about such things is not a Matthew 18:15 or Luke 17:3 scenario but a Matthew 18:6 and Luke 17:1,2 scenario, even though attempting to address the defendant in a Biblical manner nonetheless remains imperative in attempts to call them to repentance.
Addressing the issues is about defending the defenseless among us. It's not about love covering all wrongs as Proverbs 10:12 is often misinterpreted to mean. It's not about keeping dark secrets to protect the artificial reputations of the wayward. It's about about James 5:20 which says "whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins". It's about enabling a sinners history to become a part of their testimony in calling others to repentance. It's about raising awareness so that these scandals stop occurring and so offenders actually have reason to be afraid of that millstone which Yeshua referenced.
Love does not fan the flames (delight in exposing evil - 1 Cor 13:6). Instead it covers or smothers the flames of evil, putting them to death by calling the sinner to repentance and insisting on Biblical retribution (Exodus 22:17) and justice in order to place distinction between the holy and profane (Ezekiel 44:23). You can't profess to live Torah and evade those Torah requirements.
Patriarchy, homeschooling, home-churching, modesty culture, and even the purity movement have all served as unintended conduits for the adversary to continue his dastardly destruction among us through a lack of accountability and an artificial covering of shame with outward appearances. If we don't confront this sin and put it to death among us, we will be the second generation who perishes in the wilderness. It's past the hour for men to be real men. It's past time to to stop fleeing and start confronting the enemy hidden among and within us. Like the story of Achan in the battle of Ai, there are enemies among us TODAY; ravening wolves wearing the fleece of slaughtered sheep. If we don't confront those enemies, we are the enemy. If we refuse to stop the abuse, we ourselves have become abusers and how disgustingly abominable is that?
Continue to Part 9 >>
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(Reading Part 7 first provides context for this article)
With the increasing popularity and ease of access to porn - and specifically violent porn - sexual abuse in religious circles is proliferating. It's not just taking the form of Shechem's abuse who "saw Dinah, took her, lay with her, defiled her, and his soul clave unto her and he loved her and spoke kindly unto her" (Gen 34:2,3). It's taking the form of Eli's family with minister's sons abusing daughters of the Most High on the Sabbath which Yahweh sanctified - and justifying it by their purported parents and grandparents behavior. We witnessed that occur in the Maine Congregation we came out of! It manifested there in fathers' failure to restrain their sons' wickedness; failing to report it to law enforcement; failing for the longest time to even acknowledge it, leaving their homestead they built from the ground up to hide out a half mile back in the woods, and ultimately fleeing the state of Maine altogether to reduce their chances of criminal prosecution. In 1 Sam 3:13 Yahweh says "For I have told [Eli] that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them."
Sexual abuse in faith-based settings is also taking the form of Amnon's abuse in 2 Sam 13:15 where "being stronger than her he forcibly raped [his half-sister], and afterward hated her with intense hatred so that he hated her more than he had lusted after her." The entertainment industry markets this under titles such as "1000 Shades of Gray" and "1000 Shades Freed". Religious people are buying it so-to-speak, practicing it, and acting out on it. Isn't it ironic that comparing the sexual predation of Shechem versus Eli's sons versus Amnon, it was the religious sexual abusers which Scripture puts down for the record as far more violent, and with no steps taken to right the wrongs done? We'd do well to not overlook that because sexual abuse is more than merely about lust; it's also about bondage and dominion; about control marketed as freedom. It flourishes in spiritually abusive environments and takes a wide variety of forms across the spectrum, from what we're prone to whitewash as overlookable to what is unfathomable that religion can even entail.
A majority of abusers don't fit the stereotype of abusers either. They're popular, charismatic and likeable, much like Andrew Tate. They have such good rapport that people simply don't believe they're capable of such horrendous things. They often are even able to secure the support of those they've abused standing behind them - a phenonem known as Stockholm Syndrome. These abusers take the form of parents, religious leaders, siblings, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Strangers like Shechem are a minority, only picking up the tail end of the line.
A majority of victims aren't believed when they muster the courage to speak. Some recant their testimony, even when corroborated with multiple witnesses. That is usually the result of misappropriated shame and misguided attempts to protect the person(s) responsible for abusing them. These victims are treated like it's better for "them to die in order to save a religion". What a sordid twist of John 11:50. Scripture in contract says "put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry, because of these things the wrath of Elohim is coming upon the sons of disobedience" (Colossians 3:5,6).
Some wives are afraid to speak out for fear of their marriages disintegrating. Some daughters are afraid to speak out for fear of their brothers or their dads. Some dad's say their daughter's would be any father's perfect daughter, but "any father" is excessively broad and in a morally duplitious religious sphere, what the hell does that actually mean? The carnage that I want my daughters to be fully ready to raise if they ever find themselves in a morally compromising situation again, means I want them to be the persona of the grim reaper before they are just "any fathers perfect daughter" ever again.
Some parents are afraid to speak out for fear of legal repercussions or alienation from their errant children, their own parents, or merely for fear of the family stigma that speaking out may bring. These are all errant reasons for remaining silent, and they only enable the continued proliferation of something which should never occur in any family, country, religion or absense of religion in the first place.
Speaking out about sexual abuse is not about slander. It's not lashon hara and it doesn't constitute speaking evil of dignitaries either. Those allegations are all designed for one purpose - to enable an illicit empire by keeping the truth from becoming known. Speaking out about such things is not a Matthew 18:15 or Luke 17:3 scenario but a Matthew 18:6 and Luke 17:1,2 scenario, even though attempting to address the defendant in a Biblical manner nonetheless remains imperative in attempts to call them to repentance.
Addressing the issues is about defending the defenseless among us. It's not about love covering all wrongs as Proverbs 10:12 is often misinterpreted to mean. It's not about keeping dark secrets to protect the artificial reputations of the wayward. It's about about James 5:20 which says "whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins". It's about enabling a sinners history to become a part of their testimony in calling others to repentance. It's about raising awareness so that these scandals stop occurring and so offenders actually have reason to be afraid of that millstone which Yeshua referenced.
Love does not fan the flames (delight in exposing evil - 1 Cor 13:6). Instead it covers or smothers the flames of evil, putting them to death by calling the sinner to repentance and insisting on Biblical retribution (Exodus 22:17) and justice in order to place distinction between the holy and profane (Ezekiel 44:23). You can't profess to live Torah and evade those Torah requirements.
Patriarchy, homeschooling, home-churching, modesty culture, and even the purity movement have all served as unintended conduits for the adversary to continue his dastardly destruction among us through a lack of accountability and an artificial covering of shame with outward appearances. If we don't confront this sin and put it to death among us, we will be the second generation who perishes in the wilderness. It's past the hour for men to be real men. It's past time to to stop fleeing and start confronting the enemy hidden among and within us. Like the story of Achan in the battle of Ai, there are enemies among us TODAY; ravening wolves wearing the fleece of slaughtered sheep. If we don't confront those enemies, we are the enemy. If we refuse to stop the abuse, we ourselves have become abusers and how disgustingly abominable is that?
Continue to Part 9 >>