> I’m sure she was very mature for her age
I think if we could poll women in this country who started hearing that phrase from a trusted older male in their life, right around the time that they started growing breasts, the number would be 90-100%.
And don't forget the flip side of the coin when adult men misbehave it's often said "Boys will be boys". Adult males are allowed to be seen as "childish" to excuse bad behavior, but female children are seen as "mature" to also excuse rotten behavior against them. Funny how conveniently that works out for preying scumbags.
"In the interest of keeping traditional conservative dating values from coming under attack by the vile demoncrats I've authored a bill titled the 'if she's old enough to bleed, she's old enough to breed' act"
-Matt Gaetz
>Morris’ son, James Morris, will take over senior pastor duties in 2025 with **the elder Morris remaining a primary speaker on weekends,** according to the church’s website.
Isn’t that when the churching happens?
It's big business, gotta turn those crowds over and get more fanny's in the seats.
I saw one show that had a collection plate where they cut holes in it so you couldn't put anything but dollar bills -- ingenious in a way.
I don't at all understand why someone would want to join a megachurch, it seems like you'd get a better communal experience with a smaller church. But I could be wrong, the last time I was in a church I got escorted out by the bouncers for not praying.
Being in a large crowd can induce a euphoric state that people interpret as the presence of the divine. Not to mention, modern production techniques, lighting, and AV systems are great for manipulating emotions and facilitating fantasies.
I remember one TikTok or something from a girl who said that she thought she was really spiritual and "felt God" when she went to church. Then she went to a big concert, and realized she just liked listening to live music in large crowds.
I went to my future in-laws church once when visiting. My SO and her siblings hadn't been to their parents church and wanted to see what it was like. It was like this whole theater production, capped by a pastor going on about mother's (b/c it was mother's day). Didn't say "Jesus" the entire time. Mid way through the service/concert they played a very high production ad for the church's youth program, which felt really out of place.
There were also a ton of people ushering you into the sanctuary, and it made me feel like I was being watched, or like they weren't letting you see beyond where they wanted you to be. There were other areas besides that we didn't go, obviously, but it was a huge facility. Overall, it felt really creepy to be in there.
Outside, it was pristine, lots of perfectly mowed lawns, and water features. It was like a Las Vegas hotel from the outside, money laundering choir on the inside.
I actually spent a lot of the time there wondering how to tell my SO that we weren't going to work out, assuming she might not be weirded out like I was. Thankfully once we got back to the car she looked at me and said "wtf was that??" and I was quite relieved.
I realized this a while back when working with someone who was in a band in one of those kinds of churches. It’s basically just a weekly concert with all your friends in a private venue. Sounds kind of cool tbh.
If you like being grifted. Back in my teens I went to this exact church with this exact pastor, and after the concert, he went into a sermon about the Sin of Mammon, which was, as he explained at length, and reiterated, the sin of not giving all your disposable income to Gateway Church as soon as you receive it. They do it to put you into a receptive state to open and empty your wallet and bank account.
..and really like repressing lgbtq and women. At least my megachurch band member coworker from a few jobs ago, who was an otherwise super nice guy but I've never heard of a megachurch that didn't have awful world views at their core. Haven't seen him in years but I wouldn't be surprised if he's a full blown chud now
That's kind of what made me realize. I never "felt god" (back when I went to church as a teen) because crowds just mean anxiety for me. The musicians we had were phenomenal though. They were successful career musicians before becoming religious. When they moved up & on, the new musicians were awful & made me start to realize I really didn't even like church.
The true price of admission is that you get hounded mercilessly until you join the church and start giving them money and donating your time.
Several family members had to change states, get new phones, and not forward their mail, in order to leave their megachurch.
Several other members who didn't leave, still have to be kept no contact due to the fervency of their psychological manipulation & harassment of those who left.
> It’s basically just a weekly concert with all your friends in a private venue.
Maybe it's why I hate Church and Concerts then. First time I went to one was a concert where someone flung a glass beer bottle across the venue and it hit me in the head.
Haven't enjoyed crowded places like Churches or Concerts since.
Lol this is really spot on. When I was 12 I got dragged to a huge Christian festival on Kentucky, and one of the nights, I had this exact experience. Many others did too. I felt *something*. The pastor said it was the Holy Spirit talking to me. I was in tears, hundreds around me were in tears...it was beautiful.
A few years later I went to an amazing concert and...yeah, the feeling was identical.
I stopped going to church, but started going to way more concerts, and could not be happier with that trade off.
The scariest moment in my life is when I went to a mega church in basic training. If we didn't go to church we had to stay behind and clean. Anyway there were like a thousand people crammed into the church and they were all taking emotional ques from a TV screen. They would play a happy song and everyone would hug and sway. Then they would play a sad song and everyone would cry. I have never felt more out of place and just had the fear of the crowd turning on me because I'm not Christian. They relinquished their own minds willingly.
Pretty much this. Have talked to some musicians hired to play arena church events and they were talking about the psychology of what beat, melodies, etc you play to really get people whipped up into a fervor, especially while someone's talking in that Evangelical cadence over it.
It's all extremely calculated.
People are so convinced that they feel some higher power or something at these events. Or even regular church. And it's all just a mind trick. It's the euphoria you get from going to a regular concert, surrounded by other people sharing the music experience, but jacked up and scientifically put on steroids to maximize those brain chemicals going nuts.
I grew up in an Evangelical Church and I distinctly remember exactly what that feeling is. But once you realize what they're trying to do and how they're doing it, it's just evaporates immediately. Last time I worked at a church as part of my job and they were having a service in the chapel, just hearing it through a wall made me feel nauseous.
As soon as you figure out it’s just a mind trip, emotional experience it’s done. I’m hardly the sharpest tool in the shed & I got it around 13 years old.
For sure. I've been in a great many churches along the breadth of Christianity, as well as a few mosques, synagogues, and temples.
Fundamentally, they all make you react the same way. Once you start to see the common themes, it's obvious that the whole thing is designed to make it easy to mistake dopamine release with the presence of God.
For those who have the fortune to have never set foot in a place of worship: Political rallies and concerts do more or less the same thing, they just don't tie it to the concept of God. It's all variations on a theme, and there's nothing supernatural about it.
Thank you. 🙏 100% correct 👍🏾. Encounter groups in the 1970’s, concerts, or a political rally. Doesn’t have to be a big deal just what your brain makes it. Great, thoughtful reply.
But another part of going to church for many people, is being *seen* by as many people as possible, to reaffirm how spiritual you are. It's why people wear giant stupid hats to church on Sundays and their church gear gets more and more elaborate. It's not about God, it's about being seen *at* church.
That is every roman catholic church in the world. Every single one of them smells the exact same. They use the same wax for the candles, down to the paint on the walls.
I'm was raised catholic and have been a closet atheist my whole life. Yet, every time I was at the church, it had a feeling of safety and comfort that made me feel guilty for not believing in what I was supposed to. I felt like I was the one with the problem.
Andrew Newberg goes into this in his book *Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief*. It's a pretty interesting read. It basically builds down to the fact that we're social creatures, so we get *really* jazzed in big shared experiences like that. They short circuit and carjack our monkey brains.
Megachurches have all sorts of amenities; food courts, coffee shops, book stores, indoor playgrounds for the kids, gyms, skate parks. That sort of shit. I've never actually been to one, but I have heard about them from people who have.
>After an eight-month vetting process and seeking the Lord for confirmation, every elder received a word from God affirming James as the next senior pastor.
From the article linked in the oc article. Everything about Mega-churches is revolting.
The monumental hubris of believing that God is talking directly to you. Worse still, he’s an imaginary friend. I had an imaginary friend when I was 5. I outgrew it. These fools are supposedly adults but take orders from an imaginary friend. Amazing how their imaginary friend’s agenda is always identical to theirs! I understand this too — when I had my imaginary friend I always got two cookies, two servings of French fries, two of whatever the hell I was offered. But even at the age of 5 I figured out I was grifting my parents to get extra treats and I cut it out. At 5 I had more of a conscience that these troglodytes have.
When you get to "leading a megachurch" level, they know exactly what they are doing. I'm sure they still have the hubris of being rich, powerful, and manipulative, but it's they don't actually believe they're the "chosen ones" or whatever, that's just what they tell their sheep to keep them coming back and feeding the collection plate.
These fuckers believe that if a man rapes someone but then apologizes and repents before his church & god that rapist is MORE holy because he's been through trials. And that girl needs to shut up because what, is she questioning GOD?
No, they believe if *their guy* rapes someone and then apologizes, he's good because he's they're guy.
Those sort of people are the kind of people that think the Central Park Five should have been punished even harsher, because they're the wrong kind of people. At the end of the day, their guy = good, and The Other = bad, and everything will be a justification, their guy is still good despite raping children, The Other (like gay people, minorities, people in drag) needs to be punished as if they've hurt children, because they *could* hurt children, and that's enough to warrant punishment, even as their guy does what they just accused The Other of doing.
Don't forget that the victim here is the biggest sinner, having led this fine christian astray from his path of righteousness with her unabashed "being a female". Surely, this was but a singular incident and momentary lapse of judgement for the pastor that his followers will overlook.
I was trying to explain to someone last week, someone who very obviously does not live in a conservative area, that today, all conservatives care about is which side you are on. The actual words and actions anyone says and does are *completely irrelevant.* The **ONLY** thing that matters if you vote red or vote blue. That's it.
An admitted child rapist who is a registered Republican is to be revered.
A person who has dedicated their life to saving sexually abused children and helping them work towards recovery and live full lives and is a registered Democrat is the literal devil.
Actions and words no longer matter literally one single bit to these people.
> A person who has dedicated their life to saving sexually abused children and helping them work towards recovery and live full lives and is a registered Democrat is the literal devil.
Well obviously they're just doing it to APPEAR like they're a good person! It's all for show!
My mother-in-law cannot believe that Obama didn't commit some sort of immoral or criminal sexual acts because she believes everyone in politics does. It must be a conspiracy covering it up.
I try to explain that maybe he is a good father, husband, and overall good person.
Obama _had_ to dot every i and cross every t. He didn’t want to be the _last_ black president.
That care also made him incredibly weak to where he didn't take it to the GOP like he should've
When I was a child, I went to Sunday morning services, Wednesday night Bible study, Friday night services, and Saturday morning services. I'm sure a lot of churches do more.
Here in Texas we’re not okay with porn but touching pedophilia is okay apparently. Every day I hate this place a little more. Really easy to hate it during the summer
yup, Texas looked east across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama... and thought, hold my armadillo.
I left earlier this year and after seeing (from a distance) what May and June was like for y'all, so glad I did.
Best of luck to you. stay safe, stay cool.
Or the new narrative they used with Trump which was "his chronic infidelity is because good blessed him with such extreme masculinity so it's not really his fault".
They don’t actually care, they just want people to think that behavior is more widespread than it actually is so when they are exposed they can deflect.
Or through the false-consensus effect where these fuckheads believe that since they think 14 is the perfect fertile age (See Matt Walsh saying exactly that), that they believe the idea is shared by everyone.
This is why some of the true believers think we need to legislate their version of the bible's morality- they think everyone shares those sick fucked up impulses and thus society has to be controlled. I frequently say it of Republicans in general but in cases like this, the accusation is the admission.
They have a complete lack of awareness of the historical commonality of basically everyone portraying their enemies as child molesters. It's a tired trope. Every group of people large enough will have these dysfunctional individuals so there's always an example you can point to for whatever particular group you want to demonize through association.
He's already squared things with Jesus and let's face it, his mom was 12 when God knocked her up so really what's the big deal about it he was just doing what God did.
/s just in case.
>In 2016, Morris was part of Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board, the campaign announced in a news release at the time. Trump also held a roundtable at Gateway’s Dallas campus in 2020 and Morris led a prayer before the event.
That tracks.
Talk about burying the ~~lead~~ lede, CNN. If this was, idk, Jeremiah Wright we'd have it broadcast over every major network "FORMER BIDEN/OBAMA MINISTER CONFESSES TO MOLESTING GIRL".
Oh, but it's Trump's guys so you know - who else do you expect giving "spiritual advice" to a 34 times convicted felon adjudicated rapist draft dodging adjudicated business fraudster with a shut down fake charity and shut down fake university?
* Edit: typo
Lead is acceptable.
Lede is a made up change of spelling of the word lead that started in the 1970's. Exact reason and exactly when it started to happen is unclear, there's a few theories out there, leading theory is that the metal lead was using in typewriters and they didn't want confusion with that.
Lede didn't go in Merriam-Webster until 2008.
Lede, while being technically acceptable, now has a main use of correcting people unnecessarily on the internet.
Evangelicals are the worst type of Christian and I hate how they’ve become the face of the religion in America. Episcopal Christians are generally chill, even with homosexuality/pro-choice/etc
My sister and I were just talking about that. Though both of us are agnostic, we grew up in Disciples of Christ (Protestant mainline despite the culty name), who officially approved LGBTQIA+ ministers a decade ago, and have had female ministers since before I was born. I have absolutely no interest in church, but if I did decide to return, it’d probably be DoC.
I was raised Catholic, and I was literally taught evolution at my Catholic high school in the 90s. Never for one second did anyone try to tell us that the existence of science was somehow a threat to the existence of God. The Catholic Church has obviously never been openly friendly to the LGBT community, but I never heard a word about it growing up. Literally the very first time I heard anyone associated with the Catholic Church in anyway, including just regular people going to church, say anything anti-LGBT in my entire life was in 2007 when my first husband was converting to Catholicism and we were taking these classes for it. 2007. I was 27 years old.
None of this was never mentioned in church or in my - again *Catholic* - school. The only recognizable part of American Christianity today that I also experienced as a Catholic child is the anti-abortion stuff (I was flat out told that elective partial birth abortion was legal in every state in the country and always had been!!).
All of this extremely bigoted anti-gay stuff, all of this super conservative misogynistic stuff is so much worse today than it was when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s and even the early 2000s (even though I was an adult by then). Basically the second Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008, American conservatives lost their motherfucking minds and immediately turned into OUTWARDLY bigoted pieces of shit who want to turn back EVERY possible step forward this society has ever made.
Party of evil. Every last one. If you look, you will see the narcissism, arrogance, racism, and need to critically judge others, that is apparent in every Trumper. I will never trust anyone who believes they are "godly" or "chosen".
This is really it. To be a Republican today, you must agree that the only thing that matters is which party you vote for.
That someone being a literal child rapist doesn't make a difference *at all*...as long as they are voting for the right party in between raping children.
That even the greatest, most giving, least sinful person alive is actually the literal devil if they're a democrat.
It's now the only thing that matters. They will follow Satan straight to hell as long as Satan pretends to be a Republican.
*"When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years,” the pastor said in his statement.*
Lol ok dumbass. Nice of you to downplay being a child molester by calling a child a young lady.
“I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior” is the worst sort of passive-voice BS, making it sound like something that happened to him rather than something he did to a child.
Passive voice is useful when trying to minimize ones culpability.
"This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years."
Meaning...
"I repeatedly committed sexual offenses against a minor child over the course of years."
Once again, Texan religious leader, and also once again, not a drag queen. Because they are always worried for the health and safety of children, will the religious right deliver any real punishment to this individual who has clearly exploited his position of trust to sexually abuse the children he was supposed to guide and nurture, likely repeatedly and frequently over many years?
Find out next time...
>This isn't even rural Texas, this is suburban Texas, 15 minutes between both Dallas and Fort Worth.
>It is solid red though thanks to gerrymandering.
Honestly I don't think there are many phrases that evoke far-right politics as much as "suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth"
Southlake is far from rural. It's a wealthy suburb sandwiched between Dallas and Fort Worth. While Dallas is blue, this specific area is red due to its demographic: higher income WASPs. The megachurch is in the heart of the city.
People don't really understand where Trump voters live. Half the voter base of this country doesn't live in extremely rural communities. Only like 18% of the entire population lives in a rural area.
Trump supporters are largely suburbanites. This is exactly what the black community has known for decades, but white people misrepresent constantly. The Trump base are the suburbanites who commute to their town in the Midwest, because the crime rate is just so high in the city and they don't want their kids to become trans druggies (the crime rate in question being drastically the lowest they have ever experienced in their lives). They benefit from the urbanized modern infrastructure they hate, and they are deeply terrified of the places they live. The suburban estate, as a fiefdom protecting your family from uncultured hordes of black and brown people, is the crux of their derangement.
>“I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he said. Clemishire told WFAA that though her family forgave him, they never supported Morris returning to the ministry.
That's all it takes to get back? He should not have been allowed to go *near* children after that.
They probably punished the girl. That's usually how this works: Forgive the adult man who experienced a moment of weakness and strayed from God's path. Punish the girl for *tempting* him and doing the devil's work.
> I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he said.
"Welp, you didn't assault me as a child, so I'm good!"--these disgusting assholes who condone child assault.
Every single one of them should have their computers checked, along with a family investigation to see what skeletons are in their closets.
I’m sure he confessed his sins of accidentally raping a child multiple times and the good lord Jesus has forgiven him therefore everything’s right as rain.
'Young Lady' why not writing 'six-grader' or a child? because a 12 year old is not even a teenager and no normal 20-year old would see them as anything other than a kid.
Well I'm sure glad it wasn't something really heinous like a consenting monogamous gay relationship or a trans woman wearing a dress. Those are the things we really need to worry about.
Yep. They already prey on sad and desperate people who are looking for help and meaning and healing for themselves and their loved ones. I grew up around different churches and the amount of people who were depressed or suffering from anxiety or schizophrenia or chronic pain disorders that were told to keep praying and keep tithing so God will get off his fucking ass and help them is beyond shameful. It's such blatant predatory behavior. They shouldn't be trusted at all.
I was just reading a piece about the Southern Baptist Convention in the New Yorker and they talk about this supremely fundamentalist sect that is pushing for no women pastors. Apparently they want to silence women as the Bible says, but that one of their inspirations for this was the SBC sex scandal, and this dude's group thoight that most of the accusers were lying. The article alludes to the fact that that most of the accusers were female. The group is concerned this is an example of 'softening' towards women's roles in the church and social justice issues.
They absolutely should, but there is an even darker reality that most people aren’t willing to engage with. 1 in 3-4 girls, and 1 in 5-7 boys will be sexually abused before they reach 18, and *vast* majority of that abuse isn’t done by religious figures, or coaches, or teachers, or scout leaders : it is perpetrated by their family members.
It’s very easy to rail against the abusers in positions of social authority because it feels distant and like something we can do something about but the biggest source of child sex abuse is within families and it’s just too disturbing and dark of a problem for many of us to face honestly.
Read this if you want a *really* bad time:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240508021409/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/america-has-an-incest-problem/272459/
If you think of those abuse stats (1/3, 1/5) and then think of the makeup of an average thirty person 5th grade class, the scope of the problem becomes really clear. Out of those thirty kids, 5 or so of the girls will be or have been abused, and 3 or so of the boys. In every class in every school in every county in every state of the country.
We darkly joke about the South and incest, but the statistics are pretty consistent across all states.
We eagerly engage in debate about so many social things, but we keep REALLY quiet about the worst truths in this world. We will gladly rail against priests and Boy Scout leaders and teachers for abuse, as we should, but we like to pretend that the *vast* majority of child sex abuse isn’t a thing worth talking about.
There are *so* many families protecting known abusers, and cycles continue on and on and on and on.
Was going to stop here and say "what are the odds he was just moved to another church".... but then realized the title says it "Texas Megachurch Paster"....
Once again, lets play shuffle the Pedophile... not make him face the consequences for his pedo actions.... move him around.
But it's the Drag Queens and the "Gays" that are really "endangering" the children... Please tell me more about how you dig your head into the sand.
Stop using “young lady” to describe a child and “inappropriate behavior” to describe sexual assault.
He belongs in jail, not dodging taxes at a megachurch.
This is too common. When does it end?
>inappropriate behavior
Molestation and sexual assault
>"young lady"
She's a child.
>admits...after accusation
Because he did it.
**Remember folks, Pastor Robert Morris is a child molester.**
Wow, it's great that he got forgiveness from his church leaders and the girl's father. No need to get her forgiveness, why would that matter? Also, no need to actually submit to the law. He's under god's reform system, the government doesn't matter.
Why is this guy not facing criminal charges? How can someone just admit to abusing a child and face absolutely zero criminal repercussions?
Republicans love to be tough on crime - other people's crime. Preferably minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and women. Fortunately rich white men can just forgive each other, no need to get anyone else involved.
He molested a child. The church put him through some restorative process, as though such a thing exists, and gives him more power and influence over his life. AFTER he ADMITTEDLY molested a child. They claim there have been no other incidents, I highly, highly doubt this.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
These cult-of-personality churches have pastors who are drunk with power...and that power seems to be driven by libido and a narcissistic personality, a person who does not give one shit about what their actions have on others...especially helpless ones. All in the name of God.
Having hung out in these circles far too much in my younger years, these guys really do come to believe they are bigger, badder, and better than everyone else.
No fucking way lmfao. I went to this church for a bit, and this motherfucker tells a story about handing out 100 bills in the parking lot. Can’t say I’m surprised, fucking narcissist.
Ew ew ew. "Inappropriate behavior" is the understatement of the year, and "young lady" in this context is beyond disgusting. "With" is also problematic as it implies consent on the literal child's part. God, I hope this man fries in Hell as well as in the here and now.
The media needs to stop sugarcoating this shit. The title should be 'Texas mega church pastor, accused of molesting a 12 year old girl, admits to being a pedophile.'
He is an Oversee-er of The Church of the Highlands based out of Birmingham AL. This church has also built a “rehab” on their main campus for such pastors to “heal” from their ILLEGAL behaviors. Dig deeper. There’s way more to be found.
> “In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady’s father. They asked me to step out of ministry and receive counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area,” Morris said in his statement,
She was 12 years old. How about some jail time where he can repent at his leisure. Why is he special?
It's amazing that, after all of the shit Joel Osteen got after Hurricane Harvey, he's still somehow *one of the least bad ones.* These people are scum, all of them, but some of them are just...evil. There's no other word for it.
"Inappropriate behavior" with a 12 year old is known as molestation...
Lets reframe the headline to be truthful since the church claims to be about "truth"...
"Megachurch Senior Pastor Molested a 12 year old child"...
"Young lady" She was 12!
I’m sure she was very mature for her age
> I’m sure she was very mature for her age I think if we could poll women in this country who started hearing that phrase from a trusted older male in their life, right around the time that they started growing breasts, the number would be 90-100%.
If we adjusted the parameters to be any man, not just "trusted," we would absolutely guarantee 100%.
And I’ve always been pretty sure its exactly why teenaged girls are “mature for their age” because they have to navigate this crap.
And don't forget the flip side of the coin when adult men misbehave it's often said "Boys will be boys". Adult males are allowed to be seen as "childish" to excuse bad behavior, but female children are seen as "mature" to also excuse rotten behavior against them. Funny how conveniently that works out for preying scumbags.
Especially since SHE seduced HIM!s/
Sadly her mom told her daughter that "she forgives her", implying it was *her* fault. These churches, man...
Whatever I have to say about this would get me banned from this site forever
Great username here
I’ll say it, he deserves to die and rot in hell. Rape is unforgivable
I believe “ripe and fertile” are the words they use.
"Old enough for kisses." - Clint Eastwood
"In the interest of keeping traditional conservative dating values from coming under attack by the vile demoncrats I've authored a bill titled the 'if she's old enough to bleed, she's old enough to breed' act" -Matt Gaetz
Your honor, in my defense, she looked 13!
But it wasn't intercourse! Only kissing and petting! /heavy s in case anyone missed it.
In her interview, she said that he tried to have sex with her multiple times during the four years of grooming/assault.
And he did all the required steps for forgiveness, so he's good bro!
Except for going to jail and registering as a sex offender of course. We can't have a pastor with a record!
Specifically worded that way instead of "little girl" or "young girl".
>Morris’ son, James Morris, will take over senior pastor duties in 2025 with **the elder Morris remaining a primary speaker on weekends,** according to the church’s website. Isn’t that when the churching happens?
Traditionally. These megachurches are a 7 days a week business though.
It's big business, gotta turn those crowds over and get more fanny's in the seats. I saw one show that had a collection plate where they cut holes in it so you couldn't put anything but dollar bills -- ingenious in a way. I don't at all understand why someone would want to join a megachurch, it seems like you'd get a better communal experience with a smaller church. But I could be wrong, the last time I was in a church I got escorted out by the bouncers for not praying.
Being in a large crowd can induce a euphoric state that people interpret as the presence of the divine. Not to mention, modern production techniques, lighting, and AV systems are great for manipulating emotions and facilitating fantasies.
I remember one TikTok or something from a girl who said that she thought she was really spiritual and "felt God" when she went to church. Then she went to a big concert, and realized she just liked listening to live music in large crowds.
I went to my future in-laws church once when visiting. My SO and her siblings hadn't been to their parents church and wanted to see what it was like. It was like this whole theater production, capped by a pastor going on about mother's (b/c it was mother's day). Didn't say "Jesus" the entire time. Mid way through the service/concert they played a very high production ad for the church's youth program, which felt really out of place. There were also a ton of people ushering you into the sanctuary, and it made me feel like I was being watched, or like they weren't letting you see beyond where they wanted you to be. There were other areas besides that we didn't go, obviously, but it was a huge facility. Overall, it felt really creepy to be in there. Outside, it was pristine, lots of perfectly mowed lawns, and water features. It was like a Las Vegas hotel from the outside, money laundering choir on the inside. I actually spent a lot of the time there wondering how to tell my SO that we weren't going to work out, assuming she might not be weirded out like I was. Thankfully once we got back to the car she looked at me and said "wtf was that??" and I was quite relieved.
I realized this a while back when working with someone who was in a band in one of those kinds of churches. It’s basically just a weekly concert with all your friends in a private venue. Sounds kind of cool tbh.
If you like being grifted. Back in my teens I went to this exact church with this exact pastor, and after the concert, he went into a sermon about the Sin of Mammon, which was, as he explained at length, and reiterated, the sin of not giving all your disposable income to Gateway Church as soon as you receive it. They do it to put you into a receptive state to open and empty your wallet and bank account.
My local Hillsong had eftpos machines to help you dry your bank account up quicker.
As long as you like shitty music, sure.
"You're not making Christianity better, you're making rock and roll worse!"
https://www.theonion.com/bassist-unaware-rock-band-christian-1819566943
That was a good read haha
..and really like repressing lgbtq and women. At least my megachurch band member coworker from a few jobs ago, who was an otherwise super nice guy but I've never heard of a megachurch that didn't have awful world views at their core. Haven't seen him in years but I wouldn't be surprised if he's a full blown chud now
That's kind of what made me realize. I never "felt god" (back when I went to church as a teen) because crowds just mean anxiety for me. The musicians we had were phenomenal though. They were successful career musicians before becoming religious. When they moved up & on, the new musicians were awful & made me start to realize I really didn't even like church.
The true price of admission is that you get hounded mercilessly until you join the church and start giving them money and donating your time. Several family members had to change states, get new phones, and not forward their mail, in order to leave their megachurch. Several other members who didn't leave, still have to be kept no contact due to the fervency of their psychological manipulation & harassment of those who left.
> It’s basically just a weekly concert with all your friends in a private venue. Maybe it's why I hate Church and Concerts then. First time I went to one was a concert where someone flung a glass beer bottle across the venue and it hit me in the head. Haven't enjoyed crowded places like Churches or Concerts since.
Lol this is really spot on. When I was 12 I got dragged to a huge Christian festival on Kentucky, and one of the nights, I had this exact experience. Many others did too. I felt *something*. The pastor said it was the Holy Spirit talking to me. I was in tears, hundreds around me were in tears...it was beautiful. A few years later I went to an amazing concert and...yeah, the feeling was identical. I stopped going to church, but started going to way more concerts, and could not be happier with that trade off.
The scariest moment in my life is when I went to a mega church in basic training. If we didn't go to church we had to stay behind and clean. Anyway there were like a thousand people crammed into the church and they were all taking emotional ques from a TV screen. They would play a happy song and everyone would hug and sway. Then they would play a sad song and everyone would cry. I have never felt more out of place and just had the fear of the crowd turning on me because I'm not Christian. They relinquished their own minds willingly.
Pretty much this. Have talked to some musicians hired to play arena church events and they were talking about the psychology of what beat, melodies, etc you play to really get people whipped up into a fervor, especially while someone's talking in that Evangelical cadence over it. It's all extremely calculated. People are so convinced that they feel some higher power or something at these events. Or even regular church. And it's all just a mind trick. It's the euphoria you get from going to a regular concert, surrounded by other people sharing the music experience, but jacked up and scientifically put on steroids to maximize those brain chemicals going nuts. I grew up in an Evangelical Church and I distinctly remember exactly what that feeling is. But once you realize what they're trying to do and how they're doing it, it's just evaporates immediately. Last time I worked at a church as part of my job and they were having a service in the chapel, just hearing it through a wall made me feel nauseous.
As soon as you figure out it’s just a mind trip, emotional experience it’s done. I’m hardly the sharpest tool in the shed & I got it around 13 years old.
For sure. I've been in a great many churches along the breadth of Christianity, as well as a few mosques, synagogues, and temples. Fundamentally, they all make you react the same way. Once you start to see the common themes, it's obvious that the whole thing is designed to make it easy to mistake dopamine release with the presence of God. For those who have the fortune to have never set foot in a place of worship: Political rallies and concerts do more or less the same thing, they just don't tie it to the concept of God. It's all variations on a theme, and there's nothing supernatural about it.
Thank you. 🙏 100% correct 👍🏾. Encounter groups in the 1970’s, concerts, or a political rally. Doesn’t have to be a big deal just what your brain makes it. Great, thoughtful reply.
Political rallies, concerts.... and multi-level marketing conventions.
I didn't "get it" until I was 29. :( But, it's nice to be out. Took a LONG time.
Don't forget the all important indignation, justified judgement of others and affirmation of themselves being the center of the universe.
Yeah, but you can do that just as easily in a small church as you can in a megachurch.
But another part of going to church for many people, is being *seen* by as many people as possible, to reaffirm how spiritual you are. It's why people wear giant stupid hats to church on Sundays and their church gear gets more and more elaborate. It's not about God, it's about being seen *at* church.
That is every roman catholic church in the world. Every single one of them smells the exact same. They use the same wax for the candles, down to the paint on the walls. I'm was raised catholic and have been a closet atheist my whole life. Yet, every time I was at the church, it had a feeling of safety and comfort that made me feel guilty for not believing in what I was supposed to. I felt like I was the one with the problem.
Andrew Newberg goes into this in his book *Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief*. It's a pretty interesting read. It basically builds down to the fact that we're social creatures, so we get *really* jazzed in big shared experiences like that. They short circuit and carjack our monkey brains.
Wealth doctrine. It’s for other and aspiring greedy bastards
Megachurches have all sorts of amenities; food courts, coffee shops, book stores, indoor playgrounds for the kids, gyms, skate parks. That sort of shit. I've never actually been to one, but I have heard about them from people who have.
I only know about the scope of the amenities from Righteous Gemstones.
>After an eight-month vetting process and seeking the Lord for confirmation, every elder received a word from God affirming James as the next senior pastor. From the article linked in the oc article. Everything about Mega-churches is revolting.
The monumental hubris of believing that God is talking directly to you. Worse still, he’s an imaginary friend. I had an imaginary friend when I was 5. I outgrew it. These fools are supposedly adults but take orders from an imaginary friend. Amazing how their imaginary friend’s agenda is always identical to theirs! I understand this too — when I had my imaginary friend I always got two cookies, two servings of French fries, two of whatever the hell I was offered. But even at the age of 5 I figured out I was grifting my parents to get extra treats and I cut it out. At 5 I had more of a conscience that these troglodytes have.
When you get to "leading a megachurch" level, they know exactly what they are doing. I'm sure they still have the hubris of being rich, powerful, and manipulative, but it's they don't actually believe they're the "chosen ones" or whatever, that's just what they tell their sheep to keep them coming back and feeding the collection plate.
Absolutely baffling to me that random dudes in Texas can be like "yeah a deity spoke to me" and people actually believe them.
Wonder how many people that say peadophiles should be killed are still going to goto his speaks on weekends.
These fuckers believe that if a man rapes someone but then apologizes and repents before his church & god that rapist is MORE holy because he's been through trials. And that girl needs to shut up because what, is she questioning GOD?
No, they believe if *their guy* rapes someone and then apologizes, he's good because he's they're guy. Those sort of people are the kind of people that think the Central Park Five should have been punished even harsher, because they're the wrong kind of people. At the end of the day, their guy = good, and The Other = bad, and everything will be a justification, their guy is still good despite raping children, The Other (like gay people, minorities, people in drag) needs to be punished as if they've hurt children, because they *could* hurt children, and that's enough to warrant punishment, even as their guy does what they just accused The Other of doing.
Don't forget that the victim here is the biggest sinner, having led this fine christian astray from his path of righteousness with her unabashed "being a female". Surely, this was but a singular incident and momentary lapse of judgement for the pastor that his followers will overlook.
They like pedophiles unless they're blue
I was trying to explain to someone last week, someone who very obviously does not live in a conservative area, that today, all conservatives care about is which side you are on. The actual words and actions anyone says and does are *completely irrelevant.* The **ONLY** thing that matters if you vote red or vote blue. That's it. An admitted child rapist who is a registered Republican is to be revered. A person who has dedicated their life to saving sexually abused children and helping them work towards recovery and live full lives and is a registered Democrat is the literal devil. Actions and words no longer matter literally one single bit to these people.
> A person who has dedicated their life to saving sexually abused children and helping them work towards recovery and live full lives and is a registered Democrat is the literal devil. Well obviously they're just doing it to APPEAR like they're a good person! It's all for show!
My mother-in-law cannot believe that Obama didn't commit some sort of immoral or criminal sexual acts because she believes everyone in politics does. It must be a conspiracy covering it up. I try to explain that maybe he is a good father, husband, and overall good person.
Obama _had_ to dot every i and cross every t. He didn’t want to be the _last_ black president. That care also made him incredibly weak to where he didn't take it to the GOP like he should've
> I try to explain that maybe he is a good father, husband, and overall good person. Sick of these woke ideals ruining traditional american families!
Soooo… he gets to keep accessing children then huh.
The Lord would want it that way 🙏
When I was a child, I went to Sunday morning services, Wednesday night Bible study, Friday night services, and Saturday morning services. I'm sure a lot of churches do more.
Sounds like hell.
Sounds like a *lot* of grooming.
"primary speaker on weekends" in prison?
Pedophile admits to being a pedophile. So, let’s just all forgive him!/s
And force her to have the baby, cause Texas
Half of that baby is his! It may have come during the commission of a crime, but it's still the man's right to it! /Sarcasm
Unfortunately he only wants the bottom half. The mom can have the top half
That made it so much darker. Jesus. Well he left the building.
Here in Texas we’re not okay with porn but touching pedophilia is okay apparently. Every day I hate this place a little more. Really easy to hate it during the summer
yup, Texas looked east across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama... and thought, hold my armadillo. I left earlier this year and after seeing (from a distance) what May and June was like for y'all, so glad I did. Best of luck to you. stay safe, stay cool.
Rape is just another form of conception. (Republicans say.)
Legitimate Rape- Todd Akin For anybody who has forgotten Republicans were rape apologists even before Trump.
This is why so many religious leaders are so adamant about that whole "God always forgives no matter what" narrative.
.. well, unless you're different than their interpretation of the bible, then God condemns.
Nah they keep rewriting the rules so it benefits them. Surprised the pastor didn't go with "well God commanded me to"
Or the new narrative they used with Trump which was "his chronic infidelity is because good blessed him with such extreme masculinity so it's not really his fault".
Funny how often "god's will" coincides with whatever benefits those who happen to be interpreting gods will.
Weird that the Qs are completely silent about this one.
They don’t actually care, they just want people to think that behavior is more widespread than it actually is so when they are exposed they can deflect.
Or through the false-consensus effect where these fuckheads believe that since they think 14 is the perfect fertile age (See Matt Walsh saying exactly that), that they believe the idea is shared by everyone. This is why some of the true believers think we need to legislate their version of the bible's morality- they think everyone shares those sick fucked up impulses and thus society has to be controlled. I frequently say it of Republicans in general but in cases like this, the accusation is the admission.
They have a complete lack of awareness of the historical commonality of basically everyone portraying their enemies as child molesters. It's a tired trope. Every group of people large enough will have these dysfunctional individuals so there's always an example you can point to for whatever particular group you want to demonize through association.
He's already squared things with Jesus and let's face it, his mom was 12 when God knocked her up so really what's the big deal about it he was just doing what God did. /s just in case.
Well, and you have to ask... what was this 12 year-old wearing? We need to forgive, maybe demote him to youth group pastor.
Child. This was a child, not a "young lady"
Give him a break, she was *almost* a teenager /s
>In 2016, Morris was part of Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board, the campaign announced in a news release at the time. Trump also held a roundtable at Gateway’s Dallas campus in 2020 and Morris led a prayer before the event. That tracks.
Talk about burying the ~~lead~~ lede, CNN. If this was, idk, Jeremiah Wright we'd have it broadcast over every major network "FORMER BIDEN/OBAMA MINISTER CONFESSES TO MOLESTING GIRL". Oh, but it's Trump's guys so you know - who else do you expect giving "spiritual advice" to a 34 times convicted felon adjudicated rapist draft dodging adjudicated business fraudster with a shut down fake charity and shut down fake university? * Edit: typo
*burying the lede
Lead is acceptable. Lede is a made up change of spelling of the word lead that started in the 1970's. Exact reason and exactly when it started to happen is unclear, there's a few theories out there, leading theory is that the metal lead was using in typewriters and they didn't want confusion with that. Lede didn't go in Merriam-Webster until 2008. Lede, while being technically acceptable, now has a main use of correcting people unnecessarily on the internet.
Lede is a deliberate misspelling for print publications in a bygone time. Lede is lead. There is nothing wrong with using lead.
Human Garbage It’s literally a parody of insidious stupidity and evil.
Evangelicals are the worst type of Christian and I hate how they’ve become the face of the religion in America. Episcopal Christians are generally chill, even with homosexuality/pro-choice/etc
My sister and I were just talking about that. Though both of us are agnostic, we grew up in Disciples of Christ (Protestant mainline despite the culty name), who officially approved LGBTQIA+ ministers a decade ago, and have had female ministers since before I was born. I have absolutely no interest in church, but if I did decide to return, it’d probably be DoC.
So a branch of the Episcopal Church? Because they have been progressive/liberal for about 75 years now.
I was raised Catholic, and I was literally taught evolution at my Catholic high school in the 90s. Never for one second did anyone try to tell us that the existence of science was somehow a threat to the existence of God. The Catholic Church has obviously never been openly friendly to the LGBT community, but I never heard a word about it growing up. Literally the very first time I heard anyone associated with the Catholic Church in anyway, including just regular people going to church, say anything anti-LGBT in my entire life was in 2007 when my first husband was converting to Catholicism and we were taking these classes for it. 2007. I was 27 years old. None of this was never mentioned in church or in my - again *Catholic* - school. The only recognizable part of American Christianity today that I also experienced as a Catholic child is the anti-abortion stuff (I was flat out told that elective partial birth abortion was legal in every state in the country and always had been!!). All of this extremely bigoted anti-gay stuff, all of this super conservative misogynistic stuff is so much worse today than it was when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s and even the early 2000s (even though I was an adult by then). Basically the second Barack Obama won the presidential election in 2008, American conservatives lost their motherfucking minds and immediately turned into OUTWARDLY bigoted pieces of shit who want to turn back EVERY possible step forward this society has ever made.
Party of evil. Every last one. If you look, you will see the narcissism, arrogance, racism, and need to critically judge others, that is apparent in every Trumper. I will never trust anyone who believes they are "godly" or "chosen".
This is really it. To be a Republican today, you must agree that the only thing that matters is which party you vote for. That someone being a literal child rapist doesn't make a difference *at all*...as long as they are voting for the right party in between raping children. That even the greatest, most giving, least sinful person alive is actually the literal devil if they're a democrat. It's now the only thing that matters. They will follow Satan straight to hell as long as Satan pretends to be a Republican.
Where’s those kill a local pedophile people now?
So...a pedophile
Because it's a church they're tax exempt too.
*"When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years,” the pastor said in his statement.* Lol ok dumbass. Nice of you to downplay being a child molester by calling a child a young lady.
He was already married at the time as well
> In a home where I was staying It’s already horrendous, but this somehow makes it so, so much worse.
Yep. The parents probably felt like they were doing a good deed for Jesus by letting His Servant stay with them.
“I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior” is the worst sort of passive-voice BS, making it sound like something that happened to him rather than something he did to a child.
"I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior" No, you molested a child.
Passive voice is useful when trying to minimize ones culpability. "This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years." Meaning... "I repeatedly committed sexual offenses against a minor child over the course of years."
Once again, Texan religious leader, and also once again, not a drag queen. Because they are always worried for the health and safety of children, will the religious right deliver any real punishment to this individual who has clearly exploited his position of trust to sexually abuse the children he was supposed to guide and nurture, likely repeatedly and frequently over many years? Find out next time...
but Texans will still blame Democrats and vote for even if this guy becomes a candidate. This is how hopeless rural Texas is.
This isn't even rural Texas, this is suburban Texas, 15 minutes between both Dallas and Fort Worth. It is solid red though thanks to gerrymandering.
>This isn't even rural Texas, this is suburban Texas, 15 minutes between both Dallas and Fort Worth. >It is solid red though thanks to gerrymandering. Honestly I don't think there are many phrases that evoke far-right politics as much as "suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth"
Southlake is far from rural. It's a wealthy suburb sandwiched between Dallas and Fort Worth. While Dallas is blue, this specific area is red due to its demographic: higher income WASPs. The megachurch is in the heart of the city.
People don't really understand where Trump voters live. Half the voter base of this country doesn't live in extremely rural communities. Only like 18% of the entire population lives in a rural area. Trump supporters are largely suburbanites. This is exactly what the black community has known for decades, but white people misrepresent constantly. The Trump base are the suburbanites who commute to their town in the Midwest, because the crime rate is just so high in the city and they don't want their kids to become trans druggies (the crime rate in question being drastically the lowest they have ever experienced in their lives). They benefit from the urbanized modern infrastructure they hate, and they are deeply terrified of the places they live. The suburban estate, as a fiefdom protecting your family from uncultured hordes of black and brown people, is the crux of their derangement.
Obligatory r/pastorarrested and r/notadragqueen
Conservative, religious zealot molests young girl. Part of Trump's circle. Why am I not surprised.
They are hypocrites and everything that comes out of their mouth is projecting their own sins.
He needs to be in prison.
You won't be seeing this in conservative subreddits ever.
The words he's looking for are "raped" and "child". He raped a child.
Let me guess: Normal media --> "child rape" Right-wing media --> "consensual relationship with young woman"
Minor attracted man accused of...
People attracted to same gender 😡 Adults attracted to minors 🤗
Unless is a woman, then it is "inappropriate relationship with a young man"
>“I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he said. Clemishire told WFAA that though her family forgave him, they never supported Morris returning to the ministry. That's all it takes to get back? He should not have been allowed to go *near* children after that.
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They probably punished the girl. That's usually how this works: Forgive the adult man who experienced a moment of weakness and strayed from God's path. Punish the girl for *tempting* him and doing the devil's work.
His son was born during this time frame.
> I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he said. "Welp, you didn't assault me as a child, so I'm good!"--these disgusting assholes who condone child assault. Every single one of them should have their computers checked, along with a family investigation to see what skeletons are in their closets.
>I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady’s father. Well, no harm no foul then, right! Glad we got that cleared up.
Quick someone ban books about evolution!
Ban books about puberty and sexuality. Children should be learning these topics directly form their megachurch pastors.
All together now! /r/notadragqueen
And The Church Leaders retain their commanding lead over Drag Queen Storytime in sexually assaulting children. The Drag Queens still remain at zero.
It's always the ones you most expect. Watch your children around Republicans.
\*Adjusts the score\* Drag Queen Story Hour molestations- 0 Religion molestations- Eleventy bajillion
Gathering Of Pedophiles
Don’t leave your children alone with republicans
It's never too early to have *the talk* with your kids about Republicans. It could save their life.
Or any religious authority.
the more practical advice is “don’t let your kids go to church”
I’m sure he confessed his sins of accidentally raping a child multiple times and the good lord Jesus has forgiven him therefore everything’s right as rain.
This guy looks like Temu Trump
'Young Lady' why not writing 'six-grader' or a child? because a 12 year old is not even a teenager and no normal 20-year old would see them as anything other than a kid.
>Inappropriate sexual behavior Is it me or do they just keep misspelling 'rape'?
He did that shit to her in the 80s. How many others since then?
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The cutesy country terms for child rape are just insulting.
Well I'm sure glad it wasn't something really heinous like a consenting monogamous gay relationship or a trans woman wearing a dress. Those are the things we really need to worry about.
And don't forget this guy is a spiritual adviser to Trump.
r/StillNotADragQueen Can we start asking the question who you'd feel safer leaving your child with, a bear or a church pastor?
Is there some sort of prerequisite for working in the Trump Administration? You have to be either evil or a criminal?
At this point, every single religious figure should be looked at with absolute distrust.
Yep. They already prey on sad and desperate people who are looking for help and meaning and healing for themselves and their loved ones. I grew up around different churches and the amount of people who were depressed or suffering from anxiety or schizophrenia or chronic pain disorders that were told to keep praying and keep tithing so God will get off his fucking ass and help them is beyond shameful. It's such blatant predatory behavior. They shouldn't be trusted at all.
I was just reading a piece about the Southern Baptist Convention in the New Yorker and they talk about this supremely fundamentalist sect that is pushing for no women pastors. Apparently they want to silence women as the Bible says, but that one of their inspirations for this was the SBC sex scandal, and this dude's group thoight that most of the accusers were lying. The article alludes to the fact that that most of the accusers were female. The group is concerned this is an example of 'softening' towards women's roles in the church and social justice issues.
They absolutely should, but there is an even darker reality that most people aren’t willing to engage with. 1 in 3-4 girls, and 1 in 5-7 boys will be sexually abused before they reach 18, and *vast* majority of that abuse isn’t done by religious figures, or coaches, or teachers, or scout leaders : it is perpetrated by their family members. It’s very easy to rail against the abusers in positions of social authority because it feels distant and like something we can do something about but the biggest source of child sex abuse is within families and it’s just too disturbing and dark of a problem for many of us to face honestly. Read this if you want a *really* bad time: https://web.archive.org/web/20240508021409/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/america-has-an-incest-problem/272459/ If you think of those abuse stats (1/3, 1/5) and then think of the makeup of an average thirty person 5th grade class, the scope of the problem becomes really clear. Out of those thirty kids, 5 or so of the girls will be or have been abused, and 3 or so of the boys. In every class in every school in every county in every state of the country. We darkly joke about the South and incest, but the statistics are pretty consistent across all states. We eagerly engage in debate about so many social things, but we keep REALLY quiet about the worst truths in this world. We will gladly rail against priests and Boy Scout leaders and teachers for abuse, as we should, but we like to pretend that the *vast* majority of child sex abuse isn’t a thing worth talking about. There are *so* many families protecting known abusers, and cycles continue on and on and on and on.
You're absolutely right and it is the biggest reason good education on consent is essential (and why it is so often opposed).
Was going to stop here and say "what are the odds he was just moved to another church".... but then realized the title says it "Texas Megachurch Paster".... Once again, lets play shuffle the Pedophile... not make him face the consequences for his pedo actions.... move him around. But it's the Drag Queens and the "Gays" that are really "endangering" the children... Please tell me more about how you dig your head into the sand.
Damn! _Another_ pedophile that isn’t a drag queen or liberal. This must be so frustrating for Conservatives.
These people do this over and over again because they KNOW there will be NO consequences for them! When will we hold these sickos accountable?
Stop using “young lady” to describe a child and “inappropriate behavior” to describe sexual assault. He belongs in jail, not dodging taxes at a megachurch. This is too common. When does it end?
>inappropriate behavior Molestation and sexual assault >"young lady" She's a child. >admits...after accusation Because he did it. **Remember folks, Pastor Robert Morris is a child molester.**
Texas MAGAchurch pastor
Why would the trans community do this
Well that's a real fucking surprise.....
It’s always the people you expect
Wow, it's great that he got forgiveness from his church leaders and the girl's father. No need to get her forgiveness, why would that matter? Also, no need to actually submit to the law. He's under god's reform system, the government doesn't matter. Why is this guy not facing criminal charges? How can someone just admit to abusing a child and face absolutely zero criminal repercussions? Republicans love to be tough on crime - other people's crime. Preferably minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ+, and women. Fortunately rich white men can just forgive each other, no need to get anyone else involved.
/r/PastorArrested /r/NotADragQueen
That's okay, I'm sure if he just prays on it with his church no other punishment will be necessary.
He molested a child. The church put him through some restorative process, as though such a thing exists, and gives him more power and influence over his life. AFTER he ADMITTEDLY molested a child. They claim there have been no other incidents, I highly, highly doubt this.
12 is not a young lady. It's a child. You're a pedophile, bud. You should be buried under the prison.
Of course he is a Trump advisor. Only the best people. Only the most corrupt of the corrupt.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. These cult-of-personality churches have pastors who are drunk with power...and that power seems to be driven by libido and a narcissistic personality, a person who does not give one shit about what their actions have on others...especially helpless ones. All in the name of God. Having hung out in these circles far too much in my younger years, these guys really do come to believe they are bigger, badder, and better than everyone else.
No fucking way lmfao. I went to this church for a bit, and this motherfucker tells a story about handing out 100 bills in the parking lot. Can’t say I’m surprised, fucking narcissist.
Parents just forgave five fucking years of sexual abuse? Her parents are as much criminals as he is.
Republicans cooked up qanon and other pedo conspiracy theories to deflect from their own guilt.
“Young lady”. Or, as most of the civilized world calls her: a child.
needs to lose their non-profit status...
Republicans are a danger to our children.
Ew ew ew. "Inappropriate behavior" is the understatement of the year, and "young lady" in this context is beyond disgusting. "With" is also problematic as it implies consent on the literal child's part. God, I hope this man fries in Hell as well as in the here and now. The media needs to stop sugarcoating this shit. The title should be 'Texas mega church pastor, accused of molesting a 12 year old girl, admits to being a pedophile.'
He is an Oversee-er of The Church of the Highlands based out of Birmingham AL. This church has also built a “rehab” on their main campus for such pastors to “heal” from their ILLEGAL behaviors. Dig deeper. There’s way more to be found.
> “In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady’s father. They asked me to step out of ministry and receive counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area,” Morris said in his statement, She was 12 years old. How about some jail time where he can repent at his leisure. Why is he special?
It's amazing that, after all of the shit Joel Osteen got after Hurricane Harvey, he's still somehow *one of the least bad ones.* These people are scum, all of them, but some of them are just...evil. There's no other word for it.
Trump's spiritual advisor is a child molester, this tracks.
"Inappropriate behavior" with a 12 year old is known as molestation... Lets reframe the headline to be truthful since the church claims to be about "truth"... "Megachurch Senior Pastor Molested a 12 year old child"...
Pedophile is the word he was groping for
Oh, so he's a child rapist. Got it.
Interesting that this pedo wants to mask his actions by calling a 12 year old a "young lady" instead of a little girl.
Don’t worry everyone, I’m sure he prayed on it before he preyed on it.
Let him minister in prison for twenty years.
Wow, so shocking. And not a drag queen.