Some snide commenters - who, of course, cowardly remain anonymous - would have readers and others believe that I only tell what I believe to be the truth about the Roman Catholic Church while other denominations go unaddressed. Long time readers know that such is not the case, although I do single the Catholic Church out for special treatment for two reasons: (1) the Church hierarchy is obsessed with condemning all things sexual and gays in particular, and (2) the Church is the only denomination where the cover up efforts and obstruction of justice clearly go all the way to the top of the Church leadership. Another denomination nearly as obsessed with sexual matters and the condemnation of gays is the Baptist Church, especially the Southern Baptists and its lead homophobe, Richard Land (pictured above). I have followed the SBC's refusal to put in place programs to help identify and expel predator pastors as well as posted about Baptist hypocrites. Consistent with these past observations, here are highlights from two recent Baptist pastors' sexual misadventures. First some highlights from the Associated Baptist Press on a former high profile Jacksonville, Florida pastor: *
A former pastor once touted by Southern Baptist leaders as America's next great black preacher has admitted to fathering the child of a woman who claims he raped her during a counseling session in 2004.
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Darrell Gilyard, who is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for molesting a different girl in his church and sending lewd text messages to yet another, signed a consent judgment to resolve a paternity suit the woman filed against him, the Florida Times-Union reported Dec. 11. The admission came after a court-ordered paternity test. Gilyard was not charged with rape.
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Gilyard resigned Jan. 4, 2008, after 15 years as pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan, a 7,000-member predominantly African-American congregation. As a young minister in the 1980s, he was mentored by prominent Southern Baptist Convention leaders including Paige Patterson and Jerry Vines and promoted on Jerry Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour.
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Gilyard's relationship with SBC leaders soured in 1991, when he resigned under pressure after admitting to several adulterous affairs with women he was counseling while pastor of a multi-racial SBC church in Richardson, Texas. Over the years Gilyard resigned from a total of five churches over charges of sexual misconduct.
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Obviously, the Catholic Church is not the only denomination that likes to shuffle sexual predators off to unsuspecting parishes. Although in no other denomination has a "smoking gun" been found like a 1960's vintage Vatican directive that ordered the cover up sexual abuse allegations world wide. Next are highlights about another Baptist predator in Canada:
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A 57-year-old Baptist pastor accused of sex crimes dating back to the 1970s was arrested Christmas Eve at the Sarnia border crossing by members of the Canada Border Services Agency.
Ontario Provincial Police had issued an arrest warrant earlier in the day for Ronald Burning, pastor of the Johnsfield Baptist Church in Ohsweken, near Brantford.
Acting Sergeant Aaron McPhail said Burning faces eight charges involving three victims, some of which date from the 1970s and others more recently. They include two counts of sexual assault, anal intercourse, sexual exploitation of a child, rape, intercourse with a female under 14, indecent act on a female and forcible confinement.
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Darrell Gilyard, who is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for molesting a different girl in his church and sending lewd text messages to yet another, signed a consent judgment to resolve a paternity suit the woman filed against him, the Florida Times-Union reported Dec. 11. The admission came after a court-ordered paternity test. Gilyard was not charged with rape.
*
Gilyard resigned Jan. 4, 2008, after 15 years as pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan, a 7,000-member predominantly African-American congregation. As a young minister in the 1980s, he was mentored by prominent Southern Baptist Convention leaders including Paige Patterson and Jerry Vines and promoted on Jerry Falwell's Old Time Gospel Hour.
*
Gilyard's relationship with SBC leaders soured in 1991, when he resigned under pressure after admitting to several adulterous affairs with women he was counseling while pastor of a multi-racial SBC church in Richardson, Texas. Over the years Gilyard resigned from a total of five churches over charges of sexual misconduct.
*
Obviously, the Catholic Church is not the only denomination that likes to shuffle sexual predators off to unsuspecting parishes. Although in no other denomination has a "smoking gun" been found like a 1960's vintage Vatican directive that ordered the cover up sexual abuse allegations world wide. Next are highlights about another Baptist predator in Canada:
*
A 57-year-old Baptist pastor accused of sex crimes dating back to the 1970s was arrested Christmas Eve at the Sarnia border crossing by members of the Canada Border Services Agency.
Ontario Provincial Police had issued an arrest warrant earlier in the day for Ronald Burning, pastor of the Johnsfield Baptist Church in Ohsweken, near Brantford.
Acting Sergeant Aaron McPhail said Burning faces eight charges involving three victims, some of which date from the 1970s and others more recently. They include two counts of sexual assault, anal intercourse, sexual exploitation of a child, rape, intercourse with a female under 14, indecent act on a female and forcible confinement.
*
The real issue behind all of this discussion is the hypocrisy of denominations that demonize sex and gays - and reject modern knowledge - even as they fail to police their own clergy ranks. Just like with Watergate, it's the cover up and lies and refusal to admit wrongdoing that are the heart of the matter and why church hypocrites of all stripes need to be exposed.
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