Texas megachurch pastor Robert Morris, who Donald Trump once named as a spiritual adviser to his administration, announced he was stepping down from Gateway Church amid allegations he molested a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.
The resignation comes days after Morris, 62, seemingly admitted to molesting the girl in a statement to The Christian Post. In that statement, he conceded that he engaged in “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a “young lady” when he was already married with a child in his early 20s.
Morris didn’t mention the girl’s age—but his alleged victim, Cindy Clemishire, told the religious watchdog blog The Wartburg Watch on Friday that she was only 12 when she was first sexually abused by Morris on Christmas Day in 1982. She claimed that he invited her into the room he was staying in at her family home during a visit, and touched her inappropriately on her breasts and “under her panties.”
Look, it’s true that Trump is surrounded by horrible people who do horrible things, and that Religion, Pageantry, and Wealth are all vectors for child sex abuse.
But let’s not fall for the same intellectually bankrupt rhetoric of the far right. “Everyone who is a part of x is also a pedophile” arguments, with very few exceptions, are going to be bullshit.
Pedophile priests don’t validate your claim that all clergymen are pedophiles. There’s no evidence for it, you just hate Christianity.
The weirdness of child pageantry doesn’t validate your claim that everyone involved is a pedophile. One of the leading drivers of that industry is moms living vicariously through their daughters, which is still an issue, but not the same issue.
As for rich people. Sure, we can hate the ultra-rich, but you’re just being slanderous with the claim that every rich person is a pedophile. There’s literally no evidence of this, you’re just saying it because it’s a nasty thing to say.
I really hate this pattern of choosing accusations of pedophilia as a cudgel, just because it is such a severe accusation. Making this claim so baselessly comes across as rather extreme indifference to actual victims, since one clearly has no issue using a dishonest portrayal of child sex abuse just to smear political enemies.
Okay I agree there is a problem with people using pedophilia as a bludgeoning instrument politically.
However I stand by what I said. Putin and Trump are pedos and so is any male involved in child pageants of any sort. Probably some women too
But that’s the thing: most people involved in church, pagentry, etc are not. There’s issues with the institutions, but by claiming everyone involved is a pedophile you gut any actual criticism of the institutions - including their exposure to predators.
I disagree I do think the church and pageants are largely pedos
And because that’s your claim, you instantly put the majority of people who are not on the defensive about everything.
If someone falsely called you out as a pedophile, would you then listen to anything else they had to say about you, no matter how reasonable it is? No. Because they obviously don’t know you and are wildly ignorant about who you are and what you stand for. Also: fuck them for spouting off that bullshit about you and your friends.
That’s what’s been happening with pedophiles in the church. People claim *everyone is a pedophile, so they circle the wagons to defend themselves from false allegations, and the actual predators end up being better-defended.
By falsely claiming everyone in the church is a pedi, people like you are enabling the pedophiles.
Good job!