My step-father began having problems getting erections when I was a senior in high school. How did I find out about this? He told me that he was using me to get an erection so that he could have sex with my mother. We were very religious people. We attended a Fundamentalist Baptist Church so sexually conservative I was not even allowed to wear jeans. But still, he would sit me down and discuss what he had been thinking on those nights when he pressed my body against his and stroked my hair, the curve of my hip and the area between my collar bone and breasts until his penis was hard against my thigh.

In those incredibly awkward and galling conversations he reassured me repeatedly that he would never do anything to compromise my virginity. Using the tone of a person explaining something perfectly logical that should be obvious to anyone with the IQ of a mollusk, he explained that my mother had gained weight and it was killing his boners. I was young, slender and attractive and he saw nothing terribly wrong with using my body to kick-start the old engine and thoughts of me to keep it humming along.

What baffled me then but makes perfect sense to me now is why he thought that I would be reassured by his repeated promises that he would not cross the arbitrary line of virginity. He had no real plans to stop using me as his fluffer. But my virginity, which he had pledged to protect and to keep safe for my future husband, was off-limits. As time went by and his fluff-sessions became more lurid, I feared the line of technical virginity would be like the Maginot Line, more an illusion of safety than an actual defense.

But he kept his promise. And now I understand why. The emphasis placed on virginity by the Purity Culture allowed my step-father to minimize his non-vaginal sexual abuse of my body.

http://www.alternet.org/how-christian-purity-culture-enabled-my-step-dad-sexually-abuse-me

Attorneys for an Oregon couple accused of allowing their daughter to die of untreated diabetes complications don’t want jurors to hear about their faith-healing beliefs at trial. Defense attorneys argue that evidence regarding the religious beliefs and practices of Travis and Wenona Rossiter would be prejudicial, reported the Albany Democrat-Herald.

The Rossiters, who are from Albany, are members of the fundamentalist Church of the First Born, which teaches that medical treatment is sinful and instructs followers to trust in God to heal them through faith. Since 1976, at least 82 children linked to the church have died from lack of medical treatment, according to Children’s Health Care Is A Legal Duty.

Prosecutors plan to show 12-year-old Syble Rossiter was deprived of life-saving medical care by her parents, who instead relied on faith-healing rites. “They knew she was in great peril,” said Prosecutor Keith Stein. “They didn’t seek out medical care, and the reason they didn’t do it was their religious beliefs. This is what the case is about, and in truth, this is what happened.”

An autopsy showed the girl died from diabetes complications, and prosecutors said she lost so much weight in the month before she died that a teacher confronted Wenona Rossiter about it.

The couple’s attorneys argued that evidence of their religious beliefs were irrelevant and prejudicial. “My client is requesting he be tried for the actions of that day, not for his religious beliefs,” said Tim Felling, Travis Rossiter’s attorney.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/23/or-couple-whose-daughter-died-untreated-wants-faith-healing-beliefs-kept-from-jury/#.U1faNtoMqyw.facebook

As the Catholic Church prepares for the canonization of the late popes John Paul II and John XXIII in what is being called a “Popapalooza” on April 27, concern that it may be too soon to elevate John Paul II — given his role in the ongoing child sex abuse scandal — is growing.

On Monday, the Associated Press published excerpts from 212 Vatican documents exposed in the book The Will to Not Know. They mostly concern the Reverend Marcial Maciel, leader of the troubled Order of the Legion of Christ, who possessed “a certain moral lassitude” and lived a life that “wasn’t very pious and at the same time quite comfortable.”

According to the documents, the Vatican knew about Rev. Maciel’s weaknesses beginning in 1948, and was complicit in hiding his crimes from the general public. An October 20, 1976 letter from Rev. Juan Vaca described the “disgrace and moral torment” that began when Rev. Maciel abused him one night in 1949 and listed 20 other Legion of Christ seminarians that Rev. Maciel also sexually abused.

A December 24, 1978 affidavit from another priest, Felix Alarcon, backed Rev. Vaca’s story, and added that “the fact that the drug-related and homosexual activity of the founder could occur for such a long period of time without correction is only a signal of the deeper problem of the congregation itself. The congregation is a ‘cult’ of regimented and indoctrinated followers dependent slavishly on a central dependent-figure.” (CH note: I think his irony meter is broken)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/21/pope-john-paul-ii-fast-tracked-for-sainthood-as-documents-reveal-he-knew-about-sex-crisis

Cardinal Timothy Dolan says that Christian businesses like Hobby Lobby should not be forced to obey government rules that require all health care insurance plans provide access to contraceptives because women can already buy birth control at 7-11.

In a interview that aired Sunday on CBS, host Norah O’Donnell asked Dolan where he stood on the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case.

“I would be inspired by the Hobby Lobby [owners],” Dolan said. “I think they’re just true Americans. They’re saying, look, the genius of America is that religious convictions affect the way we act… They sure have my admiration.”

“But doesn’t that set a dangerous precedent?” O’Donnell wondered. “If a private company can use religion to deny benefits to its employees?”

Dolan acknowledged that it could be dangerous in extreme circumstances, but he doubted that the Hobby Lobby argument was a detriment to the common good.

“Is the ability to buy contraceptives, that are now widely available — my Lord, all you have to do is walk into a 7-11 or any shop on any street in America and have access to them — is that right to access those and have them paid for, is that such a towering good that it would suffocate the rights of conscience?”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/20/cardinal-defending-hobby-lobby-tells-female-reporter-women-can-get-birth-control-at-7-11/

Beloved, let us rejoice, for this is a time of celebration. In the true spirit of this season, let our hearts be gladdened, and let us pray and pay tribute to the deity in whose honor this holiday comes…

…Eastre, the Germanic goddess of spring.

No, no, wait, that’s not right. Let’s try again.

Please forgive our previous silly mistake. As we all well know, beloved, this holiday comes not because of any primitive druidic goddess, but rather in honor of a heroic figure, a true god among men, who was born of a mortal woman and a divine Father. As should be obvious by now, the name of this very special child was…

…Hercules.

No – hold on. That can’t be right either.

Of course, of course. The hero of our story, the one whom we have gathered here to thank, was no figure of pagan Greek polytheism. He was a redeemer, one who came to earth to lift up sinful and ignorant humans, knowing full well he would pay the ultimate price for his actions, but willing to go ahead anyway out of love and compassion. As you all know, this blessed Savior was called…

…Prometheus.

No, no, give us just a minute. We’ll get it right.

We all know full well who is being described here, of course. He is the one, the One, who defeated death itself and rose from the grave, in a miracle that no other would-be savior has ever been able to duplicate. By dramatically displaying his power over death, he proved once and for all that he was the single true god. And his name was…

…Osiris.

No, wait. That’s not right either. Of course! What a ridiculous error to make. Our apologies. (more at link)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/essays/an-easter-blessing/

Celebrating Easter? Which Contradicting Biblical Account of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Are You Going to Pick?

Although pre-Christian religions are replete with the stories of dying and rising gods, the Easter tradition is founded in the Bible’s New Testament. Unfortunately for devotees of the Christian faith, the New Testament is replete with irreconcilable discrepancies.

The question is, which contradicting biblical account of Jesus’ death and resurrection are you celebrating this Easter?

Of the nearly 600 irreconcilable discrepancies and contradictions found in the Bible, a majority are found in the New Testament. This is understandable given the books of the New Testament were written no less than 50-100 years after the purported death of Easter’s central character, Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul hadn't even met Jesus, and they hadn’t met the people who had allegedly met Jesus. In other words, the New Testament contains not a single eyewitness testimony, much less even a secondhand account, nor is any account corroborated outside of the Bible.

Without going too far down the theological pathway, Mark, whoever he was, was the first to write a biography of Jesus, some 50 years after the crucifixion. Both Matthew and Luke, whoever they were, copied from Mark’s written account some 20 to 30 years later, each adding their own theological motives with the help of respective external sources, while John wrote his gospel nearly a full half-century after Mark.

http://www.alternet.org/belief/bible-one-big-mess-contradictions-about-easter

Authorities in Minnesota have launched a manhunt for a minister who is facing 59 counts of first-degree sexual assault in cases against girls — called “Maidens” — as young as 13.

The Star Tribune reported that authorities announced on Tuesday that the two women who had come forward with allegations against 59-year-old Victor Barnard, the former minister of a cult-like faith community in central Minnesota, were not the only girls raped by the religious leader.

In a phone interview with the paper, one of the women, Lindsay Tornambe, confirmed the details of charges that were filed in court documents by prosecutors.

Tornambe, now 27, said that she met Barnard at the age of 9 as a part of her parents’ home schooling. At age 11, her family joined the “Shepherd’s Camp.” And then, Barnard chose her to be “sacrificed to God” by raping her at age 13 in 2000.

The rapes continued over the course of nine years.

“If I wasn’t being spiritual or following his orders, he wouldn’t have sex with us,” she recalled. “If we were doing well, it was almost like he rewarded us.”

In the charging documents, the second victim explained how Barnard compared their relationship to Jesus and Mary Magdalene. And he spoke of the concubines of King Solomon. He allegedly told the girls that sex with him was normal because of “God’s word.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/16/minnesota-minister-told-girls-that-gods-word-made-raping-them-normal/#.U07eV5n3RKs.facebook

small group of Oregon teens have provoked controversy by wearing shirts that read “Gay Is Not OK” and “Gay Day Is Not OK” to their high school.

“I just made it say ‘Gay Day is not OK,’ because I don’t believe that it’s OK,” Oregon City High School student Alex Borho told KPTV.

Borho and some of his friends wore the shirts to school during the National Day of Silence on April 11. The event is intended to bring attention to bullying and harassment targeting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

“I don’t have a big problem with gay people. It’s just when they start parading around the school about how we have a day of silence for gays, lesbians and transvestites,” Borho told KPTV. “We don’t have a straight day.”

Borho told KATU News that he did not approve of gay people because he was religious.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/15/religious-oregon-teens-wear-gay-is-not-ok-shirts-to-school-to-protest-lack-of-straight-day/#.U01Li3BRtiY.facebook

A leading advocate of the patriarchal Quiverfull movement groomed a teenage girl as his “personal sex object” and then used the purity culture to shame her into silence, according to a lawsuit filed by his victim.

Douglas Phillips resigned last year from Vision Forum and Vision Forum Ministries over what he described at the time as an extramarital affair.

But the lawsuit, reported by Right Wing Watch, revealed more details about this relationship and the ways that women are treated in the Quiverfull movement – which has been popularized by the prolific Duggar family and their TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting.

Attorneys claim Phillips, a close friend to the Duggar family and an associate of actor Kirk Cameron, “methodically groomed” Lourdes Torres since she was 15 years old and led her to believe they would be married.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/15/lawsuit-reveals-teen-was-groomed-as-personal-sex-slave-in-the-duggar-familys-movement/#.U02Y8_uaQdI.facebook