Author Archives: chucklestravels

Looking Beyond

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"Jesus Knows"

“Jesus Knows”

When the Editorial Board asked me to write this post, I warned them I would go “heavy on grace and redemption”. Chuckles and the rest said that was fine. In fact, they know me well enough to expect nothing else. The gist of the post is to follow up now that Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (G.R.A.C.E.) is done with the initial survey at BJU, plus try and bring everybody back to a “center point” given the years of neglect both on Wade Hampton Blvd and elsewhere. Frankly, given the venom we’ve seen by people attempting to intimidate victims and the “gee, shucks, thanks” attitude from none other than Stephen Jones himself – well, it just strengthens our resolve here at Chuckles Travels to be there for all of you who hurt so badly to this day. Oh, and a word of caution for those whose faith has either been pressed to the limit or who don’t believe there is a God anyway. If you’ve read me before, you know I don’t pull punches in that area. You also know I won’t clobber you over the head with my beliefs or my Bible. You’ve seen enough of that to last you a lifetime. OK, here we go …

I’ve been privileged to be part of a team teaching a class on the C.S. Lewis classic Mere Christianity. I’ve read excerpts many times before, but this is has provided a chance to really dig into the book and understand the perspective from which Lewis wrote it. Couple this study with so many other books, talks, and material I’ve come across during the past few years of my journey and I am more convinced than ever that God – and I’m talking the God of Christianity here – is good and trustworthy. His ultimate act of grace and redemption in Jesus is beyond adequate thoughts and words. All the stories we’ve read that talk about some angry, vindictive God who punishes people and causes the strife we see are just plain bunk. Oh, I know he offers correction at times, but it never comes in the punitive form we’ve been taught in so many, many times. He is always the loving Father we long for. It’s the people who have twisted this that cause all the harm. I don’t have to mention names – you all know what was represented to you by some of these monsters. And then the had the nerve to come back at you and say it was all for your own good (or because of your sin) and that you need to “get over it”. Yep – that “bitter card” just keeps coming out of their hands.    

Jesus Holding Girl

But I’d like to challenge you to look deep into your own soul. The very design of it is for a loving relationship. The core of your being longs to be rescued. It shouts out – sometimes into what only seems like darkness – for somebody to care. And I can point you to the answer, but it won’t’ necessarily look like you think it should. I know some of you are asking, “Where was God when I was beaten and abused?” That’s a fair question and I don’t take it lightly. I will offer the answer, “He was right there” but I won’t do so in some flippant way. Much like the author of The Shack came to know in that powerful allegory, the abuse and neglect do hurt God. He had such better designs for our world – but he also wasn’t going to force anybody to love him. He knew that would be a hollow thing in the end. So he gave the beings he created choice. And, as Lewis and so many others tell us, with the choice comes the ability to select both good and evil.

The men and women who abused and accused you would minimize this aspect of God and also the impact of the Evil One. Yes, I believe that Satan is a real being and I believe he is intent on doing as much damage as possible. He is the one who brought your tormentors to do what they do. It wasn’t because of your “bad” – it was because of their choice to see God as a punisher and be agents of evil. They may have even thought they were bringing “God’s correction” but they knew nothing about his love and they were never in a position to help. Their own egos and needs took over and they did not do God’s work, instead choosing to perpetrate evil. But even this dark side of the story has the chance for a happier ending.

You, my friend, hold the keys to your own destiny. You have that same power of free will. You can choose to enter into the Mystery of who God really is and what he has promised to do for us. This is the same God that used even the evil done on poor Joseph to save a nation – in fact, save the known world. This is the same God who stands like the Prodigal Father ready to welcome us, dress us, and feed us lavishly. We can choose to run toward him through our Divine Brother. It will not undo the past. In some cases, those who did the evil things may appear to “get away with it” as even our laws fail to bind them. But I can promise that God will redeem it all and will never tell us to “get over it”. Instead, he will wrap us in his arms and encourage us to look beyond and find Him.

He may ask us to tell our stories to others so that the cycles of neglect and abuse can be broken. He may ask us to seek legal justice so that people are punished for their crimes. But whatever he does, he has promised to be with us and love us. He is not the “vending machine” God of the fundamentalists. He will not be “tamed” like they want him to be. His love is, as Brennan Manning put it, a reckless and ravenous thing. And he welcomes all without regard to what has happened. He tells us we are not some flawed, reprobate beings. He calls us his own children and he laughs and delights to see us come. Looking beyond is possible because he has already provided for it … and he invites us to see things as he does. He invites us to take his hand, experience his grace, and know we aren’t alone anymore.

May you find his peace in a new way today …

C.P. Traveler

And Now We Wait …

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The GRACE survey is closed.  Some of you were contacted for follow-up and even interviews.  Some of you were not contacted because the nature of your abuse doesn’t fall under the scope of the GRACE investigation or perhaps (we actually heard this) it happened someplace other than BJU (even if it was an affiliated-notwork joint).

Now we wait … patiently for the competent and qualified persons at GRACE to do their job.  We trust that the truth comes out no matter how many people Jim Berg or his minions (yes, he has them – “Concerned” is one) tried to intimidate people.  No matter how many former people who get the “money beg” letters (one actually arrived the day the survey closed) but have not seen any communication about the investigation.  We wait, we trust, and we believe that truth prevails.

C.P. Traveler

T Minus 4 Days and Counting

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Despite urstwhile President Jones’ pretense that 1) they were “partnering” with GRACE and 2) they had reached everybody on their mailing lists … the disingenuous way BJU continues to conduct itself is despicable.  Intimidation (direct or indirect), ignoring facts, and even attempting to alter history in some cases … all shameful acts of desparate people.

You know the drill, friends, Keep Calm and Tell GRACE … (click the picture for more info)

 

Sick Puppy: Joshua Budgett

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According to the Concord Monitor:    

A jury found Joshua Budgett of Pittsfield guilty of all 10 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault against him after one hour of deliberation in Merrimack County Superior Court yesterday. He was immediately taken to the Merrimack County jail and will be sentenced April 30.

Budgett, 39, was convicted of assaulting his stepdaughter in their Pittsfield home repeatedly from September 2009 to April 2012, using multiple forms of penetration. Four of the 10 counts were for pattern sexual assault. The girl said it happened nearly twice a week and in every room of the house over that period. At the time, she was living in the home with Budgett, her mother and three younger siblings. The girl first reported the assaults in April 2012 to her boyfriend, then to a school counselor later that day.

Budgett is also a registered sex offender for two convictions of aggravated felonious sexual assault in 1994 with a victim under the age of 13. Under state law, someone with two previous convictions for aggravated felonious sexual assault could be sentenced to a lifetime in prison without parole.

Strained relationship

When the verdict was read, the girl hugged her boyfriend and a family friend, as her mother, Shirley Budgett, sat with her head on the bench in front of her a few rows back. The two did not sit together during the trial, speak in the courtroom or leave the courthouse together. Shirley Budgett had testified the day before that she and the girl used to talk about everything, but their relationship changed after the allegations surfaced last year. She also said she did not want Joshua Budgett to go to jail for the rest of his life.

The girl’s credibility was the key issue in the trial, with the two attorneys painting different pictures of her motivations during closing statements. Defense attorney Andrew Winters tried to poke holes in her statements and show that the state hadn’t proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. But Deputy County Attorney Catherine Ruffle said the girl had no reason to lie and the evidence proved she was telling the truth.

Katie Swango, a criminalist with the state who specializes in forensics and serology, testified about DNA found on a rag that the police seized during a search of the family’s home in April 2012. The girl told authorities Budgett had cleaned himself with that rag and tossed it under a work bench after he had sex with her, shortly before she told people about the assault.

Swango tested two stains on the towel that contained seminal fluid and found the stains had a mixture of Budgett’s and the girl’s DNA. On Monday, Shirley Budgett had testified that she and Budgett had sex in the garage a few times and that he probably used a towel to clean up. But Swango said there was no evidence of Shirley Budgett’s DNA on the towel.

Swango said she couldn’t identify the source of the girl’s DNA and could not tell for how long the DNA had been on the towel. She did know, however, that the seminal fluid was Budgett’s, and that DNA from the two was mixed together.

“The DNA testimony is not nearly as incriminating as the prosecutor I think will suggest, because although the DNA was there, the DNA analyst can’t tell you anything about when the DNA was deposited,” Winters said during his closing arguments.

When Sgt. Richard Walter with the Pittsfield Police Department took the stand, Winters questioned why he had seized that particular rag in the garage and no others. Walter said it matched the description and location provided in the search warrant.

Kayla Page, the counselor whom the girl first told about the assaults, also testified. She said the girl was calm and clearheaded on the day she told her. The girl said she was worried about the safety of her mother and three younger siblings. Refreshing her memory with a copy of her initial report of the girl’s disclosure, provided by Winters, Page said the girl first told her the abuse began when she was 11. On Monday, the girl said it began when she was 13 or 14.

That discrepancy was one of several pieces of testimony Winters pointed at to say the state had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The girl said the assaults happened nearly 300 times, but that no one ever saw because her mother was always sleeping or in another room. Shirley Budgett testified that it was easy to hear things around the house, and she never saw or heard the two engaging in inappropriate behavior or acting suspiciously.

There “was a total of six people living on that one floor,” Winters said. “It would be incredibly brazen to try to pull off such a sexual assault repeatedly.”

Furthermore, he said, Swango’s testimony was not definitive enough to prove the mixed DNA on the towel came from sexual intercourse. He also pointed to the girl’s admittedly bad relationship with Budgett, who was always disciplining her and setting strict rules. She told her boyfriend and the counselor about the assaults the day after her boyfriend heard Budgett yelling at her.

“If you look at the genesis of how this report came forward, that makes a lot more sense of how a story like this could be fabricated in a teenage girl’s mind,” he said.

No reason to lie

But Ruffle said the girl’s dislike of Budgett wasn’t a reason to lie. She had made her own plans to get out, getting good grades in school and working two jobs to save money for college. She never told because Budgett had groomed her to believe that what was happening wasn’t wrong.

“He was smart, he was sneaky, he was controlling and he was manipulative,” Ruffle said.

The girl couldn’t remember every detail of the assaults because it had happened so many times, she said. The defense called the accusations unbelievable. But if the girl was lying, Ruffle said, she would be more likely to create a story that was simple and neat.

“Why would she make up an unbelievable story?” she asked the jury. “The reason is, she didn’t make up this story – she told you what happened in her life.”

 

What makes this story even worse is that Chuck Phelps  married Joshua Budgett  to a single mother in Phelps’ congregation while Budgett was still in a half way house on a previous conviction for two counts of Felonious Sexual Assault (Victim under 13 years of age.) Joshua Budgett is listed on the Sex Offender registry related to this 1994 conviction.  Phelps actually officiated the ceremony at the half way house.  The bride had a small child already, and later the two had children of their own.

Chuck Phelps On the Stand at the Rape Trial for Tina Anderson Playing the Victim

Chuck Phelps On the Stand at the Rape Trial for Tina Anderson Playing the Victim

Perhaps Chuck Phelps honestly thought he was doing the right thing. But this is a clear example of how unfit Phelps was to pastor or give any advice to anyone. At best, his actions show he was incapable of thinking that a man whom he considered a believer, to be a predator. At worst, Chuck Phelps couldn’t care less what happened to the vulnerable and innocent.
Other pastors/ religious leaders need to be shown Phelps is  an example of how not to operate and treat the most vulnerable. We here at Chucklestravels are saddened for the victim and her siblings.

This paragraph from the above article about Shirley Budget makes our blood run cold.

When the verdict was read, the girl hugged her boyfriend and a family friend, as her mother, Shirley Budgett, sat with her head on the bench in front of her a few rows back. The two did not sit together during the trial, speak in the courtroom or leave the courthouse together. Shirley Budgett had testified the day before that she and the girl used to talk about everything, but their relationship changed after the allegations surfaced last year. She also said she did not want Joshua Budgett to go to jail for the rest of his life.

Shirley!

This man raped your daughter.

Repeatedly.

As a mom you, Shirley still believe in the offender?

Gary Weir Cries, The Chancellor Rants…

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I, Chuckles, didn’t want to write about  Joseph Bartosch.

No, I loathe even to think about a cabinet member and administrator from Bob Jones University having plead guilty to a sex-related crime.  Especially when Bartosch was just promoted to the position of Chief Branding Officer for Bob Jones University in December 2012.

It didn’t warm any of the hearts of the Editorial Board of Chucklestravels to find out the man who Bob Jones chose promote from within, whose job was to market the University had plead guilty to soliciting a prostitute for which he served three years probation.

Joseph Bartosh California Conviction

 

Since it appeared it had already been reported by the media in many different places.  We made the editorial decision to pass on by this one.

On Wednesday, March 27, 2013, Bob Jones III went on a verbal rampage in Chapel about “bloggers who ruin lives,” referring to the University’s decision to suspend Joseph Bartosch.

The Ranting Chancellor, Bob Jones University. http://www.bju.edu/about-bju/administration/bob-jones.php

Wait a minute….

Hold the phone, Bob.

 

First of all, the blogs hadn’t posted anything about Joseph John Bartosch .

It was Bob Jones University that  released the following press release late in the afternoon on Friday, March 22, 2012 by Bob Jones University’s Chief Communications Officer

 

From: Keirstead, Carol

Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 3:13 PM

Subject: Message from BJU executives

 

Friday afternoon, March 15, Bob Jones University learned of an allegation that a cabinet officer, Dr. Joseph Bartosch, had been charged with soliciting prostitution in another state over two decades ago prior to his current BJU employment. He quickly came to administrators, confirmed the allegation and put himself at their disposal. That afternoon the University suspended him indefinitely from his position as Chief Brand Officer while we gather facts to reach an appropriate decision about his continued employment. In making the decision, we will consider such things as the incident itself, his subsequent walk with the Lord and current testimony. Our objective is to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, David Lovegrove will be the university contact on behalf of the marketing and enrollment planning team. Please pray for wisdom on the part of the administration and for Joseph and his family.

 

Bob Jones executives made the decision to suspend John Barotsch because of his prostitution conviction, but…now Bob III is somehow claiming Bartosch is a victim whose life is being ruined by bloggers?

Nice try, Bob.  But it ain’t gonna’ work.  Not this time.

Here are the facts that the blogs did not cover.

Joseph Bartosch birth date is in March 1960.  According to the filing date for his conviction for soliciting a prostitute was March 15. 1990.  If my math is correct,  that made Joseph Bartosch was thirty-years-old.  How does a 30 year old man a victim when he is the one who chose to go out, look for a prostitute, pay the prostitute, sleep with said prostitute, then plead guilty to the charge, serve his sentence.

A thirty-year-old man doesn’t just roll out of bed one morning, stumble out onto the sidewalk into the arms of a prostitute.   What Barotsh did was premeditated, Bob.

 

But then it’s not the first time, Dr. Bob III has taken the side of perpetrators.

Dr. Bob Jones, III endorsed a book written by a pastor while still incarcerated for beating a little boy until the boys kidney’s failed:

Caleb Thompson’s book on God’s grace has a ring of authenticity to it, more than any I’ve read on the subject. The circumstance under which he wrote it provided a seedbed which could have grown either bitterness or grace. It grew grace; and from prison, that beautiful bloom of God’s grace is unfolded and expounded. The richness of God’s grace is real to Caleb, and he makes it real to us. –Dr. Bob Jones III – Chancellor of Bob Jones University

 

Here is the link to the Caleb Thompson appeal decision brief to the Texas Court of Appeals, Third District.  There is enough information for an objective, third party to understand the gruesome details of the case and the need for the sentence which was handed down. If Bob Jones III was ever truly interested in the facts of the case, he has never retracted his endorsement despite Bob Jones III’s later claimed that he did indeed read the appeal decision posted above.

 

We all remember Bob III and Bob Jones University digging in his heels to defend Chuck Phelps.  Bob Jones University told us all to call Phelps to get Phelps’ side of the story.  Bob Jones III, nor anyone on the Board of Bob Jones University never reached out to Tina Anderson or her family.

In May 2011, Tina’s rapist, Ernie Willis, was convicted by a jury on three counts of forcible rape and one count of felonious sexual assault.  Yet, Bob Jones III was recorded making the following statement:
“Well, the truth is she [Tina Anderson] was raped but it was a consensual rape.” ~Bob Jones, III, November 2011.

So you see, in November 2011, the Chancellor of Bob Jones University was telling people a girl could be have been consensually forcibly raped in an attempt to explain away why Bob III would keep the pastor who made a 15-year-old girl stand before the congregation and apologize for putting herself in a compromising situation [getting raped].  Then the pastor who Bob III insisted on keeping on the Co-operating Board of Bob Jones University set it up with Tina’s mother and sent Tina, the young rape victim, halfway across the nation to live with strangers. The 15 year-old’s rapist remained in church–a free man.  A free man who could have potentially preyed on other teen girls.
Yet, Bob III saw Phelps as the victim.

 

Chucklestravels has been informed, yesterday Gary Weir had a meeting with those who report directly to Joseph Bartosch .  People who attended the meeting report, Gary Weir was crying over the decision whether to make Bartosch’s suspension permanent.

Gary Weir the [Crying] VP for Academic Affairs, Cheif Administrative Oversight Officer http://www.bju.edu/about-bju/administration/weier.php

Really Gary?  Bob Jones University has shown the sidewalk to numerous elderly faculty who are “let go” just a few years from retirement without Bob Jones University’s “Promise” to take care of them in their twilight years.

Bob Jones, III has the nerve to rant about “bloggers” who are ruining people’s lives?!

 

Bob Jones University, let us make things crystal clear.  If Bob Jones University chooses to retain Joseph Bartosch, Bob Jones University had better publish publicly one darn good reason!

If you’re not sick enough, listen to the audio of this sermon on the “Sanctity of Marriage” by Joseph Bartosch. Bartosch was at the time was a 50-year old single man. Make sure you get to about ~23 minutes in where he describes watching from “afar” the push-up bra he claims was worn by a young lady.

 

 

The various news accounts appear to be unaware just how long Joseph Bartosch has been employed by Bob Jones University.

 

Here’s the accurate timeline:

982 05 00 — Graduated BJU as Speech Ed

 

1991 03 15 — Court Filing Date of Prostitution conviction https://services.saccourt.ca.gov/indexsearchnew/CaseNumberList.aspx?SearchValues=BARTOSCH%2CJOSEPH%2CJOHN%2C2079228

 

1991 03 26 — Arraignment

 

1994 04 20 — Probation ended.

 

1994 06 07 — Filed to start Sacramento Preparatory Academy

 

2001 08 00 — Assumes Staff GA over Perf Hall while he pursues MA in Dramatic Production while “on sabbatical” from SPA.

 

2002 05 00 — Bartosch appears in the yearbook as a Graduate Assistant from Sacramento, CA.

 

2002 05 01 — Played Antigonus in Winter’s Tale

 

2005 08 00 — Returns to BJU for a MS in Counseling.

 

2006 05 00 — Listed as a GA from Greenville, SC. Masters in Biblical Counseling.

 

2006 11 15 — Vincentio in Taming of the Shrew

 

2007 05 00 — Not listed in the yearbook.

 

2007 05 02 — Lord Chief Justice in Henry IV

 

2007 00 00 — Successfully defended his EdD diss in Curriculum and Instruction with proficiencies in biblical counseling, communications, and theology

 

2007 08 00 — Manager of IT.

 

2008 04 30 — Duke of Exeter in Henry V

 

2008 05 00 — Listed in the yearbook as Staff in IT from Greenville, SC

 

2009 05 00 — Listed in the yearbook as Staff in IT from Greenville, SC

 

2009 11 18 — Jaggers in Great Expectations

 

2010 05 00 — Listed in the yearbook as Staff in IT from Greenville, SC

 

2010 12 06 — PROMOTED: Dean of Distance Learning.

As reported in the Greenville News: 

BJU Names New Dean of Distance Learning

Bob Jones University announced today the appointment of Dr. Joseph Bartosch as Dean of Distance Learning. Reporting to Dr. David Fisher, Provost, Dr. Bartosch is responsible for the further development of BJU’s online education program.

Joseph Bartosch

Dr. Bartosch graduated from BJU in 1982 with a Bachelor of Education degree. He continued his education at BJU and received a Master of Counseling degree in 2006 and an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction in 2007. His service at BJU began in 2001 as a graduate assistant in the School of Fine Arts while on sabbatical from his position as Head Master at the Sacramento Preparatory Academy to earn his master’s degree. He returned to BJU in 2007 as the Manager of IT Administration.

“We are excited about this new position,” says Dr. Gary Weier, BJU’s vice president for administration, “as it is a major step in expanding our distance learning opportunities in ways compatible with our mission.”

As the dean of distance learning, Dr. Bartosch will provide oversight of the distance learning program in the areas of business and financial planning and curriculum and course content development. He also will serve with the other academic deans on BJU’s academic leadership committee and will assist the director of enrollment planning in establishing recruiting strategies and enrollment targets for the distance learning program.

Dr. Bartosch stated, “BJU’s distance learning program will grow dramatically. Our biggest, strategic challenge then is to meet distance learning students where they are with the finest Christian distance learning options available while instilling in them the core competency of Christlike character.”

BJU’s distance learning program targets high schoolers who are eligible to take college courses prior to college enrollment and students who want to take some of their college courses during the summer. The online courses also are ideal for adults who wish to further their college education and work toward an undergraduate or master’s degree.

BJUOnline offers undergraduate classes in accounting, art, Bible, English, history, mathematics and psychology.Graduate level classes are offered in the subjects of Bible, business administration, education and philosophy. BJU also offers 3 online graduate degrees: Master of Business Administration, Master of Education and Master of Arts in Biblical Studies.

“I am thrilled about helping BJU extend its course offerings beyond Greenville. It’s time to assess the market needs, write the business plan, and implement the next generation of distance learning at BJU,” Dr. Bartosch said.

Learn more about BJUOnline and online courses

 

2011 05 00 — Listed in the yearbook as Staff in IT from Greenville, SC

 

2011 11 16 — Solinus in Comedy of Errors

 

2011 12 17 — Marries Christina Davis

 

2012 05 02 — Brabantio in Othello

 

2012 05 00 — Appears in the Bob Jones University Vintage (BJU’s yearbook) as an Administrator, “Dr. Joseph Bartosch, Dean of Distance Learning.”


2012 12 00 — PROMOTED: Appointed Chief Branding Officer

Let’s Pack Up the Victim Blaming Mentality and Leave it in the Rearview

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock its very likely you’ve heard of the rape case out of Steubenville, Ohio.

Actually, the more I hear of this horrible case, the more I wish I did indeed reside under a rock.

Although there is much more to this case that can be covered in this post, the basic facts of the case is a sixteen-year-old girl was gang raped by two high-school football players, Ma’lik Richmond (age 16) and Trent Mays (age 17). The incident came into the public view as gruesome photos, videos and other online postings depicting and referencing the crime were circulated over the Internet.  Early on the victim was blamed by the Steuberville Sheriff, the football coach and others as she was “asking for it.”  As the case moved forward the feeding frenzy of victim blaming played out on that national stage on a level rarely seen since the 1960’s and 1970’s in the United States of America.
Even after the verdict, two teen girls were arrested for threatening the victim on twitter.

The media was not immune from the foray.   CNN’s Poppy Harlow  reported that it’s “incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures, star football players, very good students, literally watched as they believe their life fell apart.”  There was immediate outrage. Critics labeled CNN reporter Poppy Harlow and Candy Crowley as “rape sympathizers,” because of the fact there wasn’t any mention of concern as how the crime had impacted the victim and the victims future.

As the situation with CNN where unfolding a friend and I were discussing the Steubenville case when the subject turned Evangelicals, especially those in Fundamentalist circles  and the treatment of sexual assault victims.  We discussed  cases where even if it is a child who was victimized, sadly in our churches, Christian schools and Christian colleges and University’s more often than not it is the victims are the ones blamed, berated, scorned and treated with derision.

It is the victim who is instructed to remain silent for the ‘cause of Christ.’

It is the victim who is told it is their responsibility before God to quickly and completely forgive the perpetrator while justice is often denied.

If the victim is unable or unwilling to forced to suffer in silence, all too often it is the victim who is driven out of the church while the perpetrator is met with sympathy and often excused as a “good man” that “stumbled” and “fell” into sin.

Next my friend said, “While there’s a great deal of outrage surfacing concerning the treatment of the Steubenville victim, by the media and others…. how many times do Christians treat their most wounded such as this girl, in the same–or even in a even worse ways—yet few in the church will dare stand up for the victim?  To do so, in almost every case, means such a person will be berated and shunned along with the victim by Church leaders and church members alike.  It’s time for the church pack up the moving van and leave  victim-blaming mindset of Steubenville in its rear-view mirror.”

He is right of course.  In Conservative Evangelical Christian circles, and  specifically fundamentalist circles there is often little concern for victims whose lives may crumble in the aftermath of these crimes.  If the victims life does take a nose dive, the victim is blamed as she is counseled by church leaders and Christian College counselors the victim’s life wouldn’t be falling apart if she were “letting go and letting God,” now would it?  Verses such as Philippians 3:13b “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before,” are quoted out of context if the victim shows signs of Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS) or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Often it is Nouthetic counselors who refuse to believe such conditions as RTS and PTSD are true disorders as a result of trauma. but instead label symptoms the victim may have (intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, or reliving the event) as signs the victim is just “dwelling on it, or “not wanting” to give it to God and “get over it.”

I’ve often thought to myself, if such a counselor could just live through one day of severe, complex PTSD, it would no doubt scare the Beelzebub out of such a person.  Maybe perhaps if such a counselor had to relive lurid details strewn across their own minds as something that triggers a PTSD sufferer on a daily basis, then perhaps such a counselor wouldn’t make hurtful, preposterous claims.   Few PTSD sufferers would wish that on anyone.

Another sobering reality is it is most often Christians who are lineup and surround the perpetrator while the victim is scrutinized at every turn with little  if any concern for the victims healing and physical and emotional recovery.  No one need look further than recent events surrounding  Jack Schaap  One need only read the 140 + letters written to the federal judge asking for leniency to get a picture of the lengths some will go to blame the victim.  While the same people ignored the victim whose life once bright with promise faces a future that will never be the same.  The actions of the people of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana could be used as a case study in victim blaming.

All too often we hear it’s the victims fault, (or at least partially the victims fault.)
Lest you think this is just a Jack Schaap/Hyles-Anderson problem…
How can we ever forget Chuck Phelps?
But, alas, it’s not a problem limited to Hammond Indiana or Chuck Phelps.

We’re aware of administrators at Bob Jones University telling many different victims “tell me exactly what you were wearing with the incident occurred.”

The same administrator and his wife have  repeatedly told victims they need to repent if during the assault(s) the victim felt any pleasure.

Other administrators have been known to ask both male and female victims and students sent to them for counseling about masturbation.

A well-respected Bible professor has told survivors of child sexual abuse,  ”impure children” attract sexual abuse.

Yes, folks this is just a small taste what has passed the mustard for years at 1700 Wade Hampton Boulevard for counseling of survivors of child and adult sexual assaults.

One last thing…. if women’s clothing prompts men to rape, it seems our churches, Christian Schools and Colleges hold very low standards for masculine self-control. Are men really all beasts who can’t help themselves? If not, then why must we expect women to police themselves to protect themselves from men as if men where mere male tomcats who can’t help themselves… but to romp about as  a female feline’s lissome body meanders across the garden path?

Woe Unto You Who Call Good Evil and Evil Good!

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Schaap

http://chucklestravels.com/2013/03/14/sick-puppy-jack-schaap/

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Isaiah 5:20

The Prosecution’s sentencing memorandum has been published online.   LINK

A few quotes along with my (Chuckles) thoughts:

“Schaap later lied to his staff when they grew concerned about the amount of time he spent with the girl by claiming the girl was on her period and was just resting on his couch.”

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE?

Who thinks it’s normal for any pastor to know when a girl is on her period?

“Now she’s had to transfer schools, and her family was told it wasn’t safe for them to return to the church, according to letters from her parents.”

Again!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL THOSE PEOPLE?

Why was she told it wasn’t safe to return to her church? Was she being threatened or had something happened to her at church?

Are some of these people making it unsafe for the victim the same people who sat idly behind him and remained mute while Jack Schaap demonstrated masturbation at a youth conference?

Are these people making it unsafe for the victim the same folks who listened and remained silent while he said from the pulpit the vile things  contained in the video below about teen girls less that one month before he was arrested?

Starting near the middle of page 17 of the sentencing memorandum:

“As mentioned in her letters, the victim is participating in regular psychotherapy to help her cope with this incredibly difficult situation and her evolving feelings for the Defendant. Undersigned counsel has met with many victims during the time she has been prosecuting sex offenses but has never before worked with one who was groomed and sexually abused by a religious figure who expertly used his “inside track” to God to justify his illegal conduct to his victim.”

To the victim and the victims family.  We here at Chucklestravels hurt for you.  You’ve suffered enough.  Those people at FBCH were never your friends.   They aren’t Godly either.  They’re going to have a lot to answer for to their Maker.

Ezekial 34:1-10 The Message says:

God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones, don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays, don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!

7-9 “‘Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:

10 “‘Watch out! I’m coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They’re fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I’ll rescue my sheep from their greed. They’re not going to feed off my sheep any longer!

Sick Puppy: Jack Schaap

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jack schaap

The Chicago Post Tribune reports.

Preacher: Sex with 17-year-old was Lord’s work

BY Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com

Former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor Jack Schaap’s affair with a 17-year-old girl last summer not only wasn’t wrong but was desired by Jesus Christ.

That’s what he claimed in one of several letters he wrote to the victim during his crime, couching the sexual relationship as part of her personal salvation and something Jesus Christ wanted.

“In our ‘fantasy talk,’ you have affectionately spoken of being ‘my wife,’ ” Schaap wrote in one letter. “That is exactly what Christ desires for us. He wants to marry us + become eternal lovers!”

Federal prosecutors included the letters in the government’s sentencing memorandum for Schaap, which was filed Wednesday evening in U.S. District Court in Hammond.

Schaap has pleaded guilty to causing the girl to be transported to Illinois and Michigan last year for a sexual relationship. Schaap resigned from the megachurch, one of the largest in the country, last summer after church members discovered his relationship with the girl and reported it to local law enforcement.

In his letters to the girl, Schaap often discusses how he helped save her from self-destruction, helping to put her on a “better path of living — that’s what we call Righteousness.”

In another letter, he talks about how he wanted their time together for three days — which appears to reference their time in Michigan — to show her how much she matters to Jesus Christ.

The girl and her family are still dealing with the ramifications of the relationship, according to letters they wrote to the court.

The girl wrote about how she spent her entire life in the church, listening to Schaap preach three times a week and being taught that he was a messenger of God.

“He told me to confide in him, to trust him, and he made me feel safe and comfortable around him as a man of God,” she wrote. “(Schaap) preyed on that trust and my vulnerability.”

In another letter written to Schaap, she says she was shocked when he first kissed her. When she asked if it was wrong, Schaap told her it was OK.

“You told me that I was sent to you from God, I was his gift to you,” the letter says.

She admits that by the time they were discovered, she thought she was in love with him and at first didn’t admit he had victimized her.

Now she’s had to transfer schools, and her family was told it wasn’t safe for them to return to the church, according to letters from her parents. The girl writes that although she still struggles every day, she is determined to “get through this and grow from it.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster says in the sentencing memorandum that Schaap started grooming the victim in April 2012, after an administrator at the girl’s high school, run by the church, emailed Schaap about how she was “frightened, confused and emotionally traumatized” and in need of guidance.

The administrator wrote that he told the girl to let other people guide her life for now and to trust her leaders.

Schaap encouraged her to talk to him about a past romantic relationships and to view him as a friend. The two called and texted each other frequently, including 662 times in the month, before he was discovered. Phone records show he instigated contact in all but five of those days.

The government’s filing says he duped church employees into helping transport the girl across state lines, telling them the girl was “in an extremely vulnerable state” and that he needed prolonged alone time with her to help her.

However, he really took her to his personal property in Crete, Ill., and to his cabin in Cadillac, Mich., once spending 36 hours alone with her. When the employee grew concerned about the girl’s continued absence and texted Schaap, he claimed the girl had fallen asleep on his couch.

He also engaged in sexual behavior with her in his office at the church during a youth conference, according to the government’s filing.

Schaap later lied to his staff when they grew concerned about the amount of time he spent with the girl by claiming the girl was on her period and was just resting on his couch. A staff member found photos of the two a few days later, which led to the federal investigation.

Koster disputes claims in Schaap’s own sentencing memorandum that he was stressed from the church’s decreasing finances and having to work 100 hours a week to make up for fewer staff members.

“The only way (Schaap) could have been working 100-hour weeks during the time period investigated by the government is if he’s counting the many hours he dedicated to grooming and sexually abusing the victim,” Koster says in the filing.

She defends the government’s agreement to recommend a 10-year sentence for Schaap, noting he agreed to plead guilty even before he was charged.

The victim dropped her request for restitution as her doctors still cannot estimate how much help she will need to recover from the crime. Defendants convicted in such crimes are legally required to pay their victims’ medical fees through restitution.

Schapp is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning.

Facepalm

Does Timothy and Robbie (Ford) Johnson Have Amnesia?

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We here at Chucklestravels have been informed, Timothy Johnson is claiming he knew of no abuse at New Bethany.

Starting with the second paragraph from the  legal document at the bottom of this post;

The purpose of this special session was the disposing of properties owned and operated by the New Bethany Home for Girls, Inc.   Having lost state and federal cases with no further recourse available it has become necessary to seek other options for holdings.

A motion was made by Timothy Johnson that New Bethany Home for Girls, Inc. be closed permanently…. (Emphasis Chucklestravels)

We present to you,  a statement from a New Bethany Survivor who contend his wife, Robbie (Ford) Johnson knew.  Tim was on the Board of New Bethany?

Tim and Robbie Johnson

Tim and Robbie Johnson

“There has been some discussion about whether or not Brother Ford ever sexually abused anyone.” 

“Yes, he did. I will tell my story on here sometime. I’ve told it to ___, but never have posted it here.” 

“He took advantage of his position of authority. His family is aware of these things. Robbie (Ford) helped me get away from New Bethany when I was in a “situation” with him. She did it out of love for her mother.”

“I do understand that if you found peace and help and had your life turned around for the better at New Bethany, it’s hard to hear him being accused of sexual abuse. But we know that we as people are capable of doing both very good and very bad things.”

:Try to understand where women here who defend Ford are coming from. It’s very painful to hear that the man you respected apparently betrayed your confidence and trust by having sexual contact with your friends.”

“And please be extra gentle with women here who talk about how Brother Ford abused them. It did happen. It happened to me.”

“I think one problem we have when we try to talk about these things here is that we were teenagers when we lived at New Bethany, and when we try to talk about it now, we return emotionally to those days. Just like sometimes when we’re with our parents and siblings, we return to the emotions we had when we lived at home.” 

“We don’t live there anymore. I hope we can talk about these things with perspective now.”

“Peace to all, “

New Bethany Survivor (Survivors name redacted by Chuckles for privacy)

New Bethany Tim Johnson Board Member

Who are we to believe?

Tim and Robbie?

….Or our lying eyes?

You decide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.
    • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
    • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
    • Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls acrosss state lines?
    • It’s not too late.  Some New Bethany Survivors who allege being raped by Mack Ford, Statute of Limitations has NOT expired! nb-meme

Emeli Sande Read All About It Part 3

You’ve got the words to change a nation

but you’re biting your tongue

You’ve spent a life time stuck in silence afraid you’ll say something wrong

If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?

So come, on come on Come on, come on

You’ve got a heart as loud as lions So why let your voice be tamed?

Baby we’re a little different there’s no need to be ashamed

You’ve got the light to fight the shadow so stop hiding it away

Come on, Come on

I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers,I’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh oh-oh-oh
At night we’re waking up the neighbors while we sing away the blues

making sure that we remember yeah cause we all matter too 

if the truth has been forbidden then we’re breaking all the rules 

so come on, come on come on, come on,

let’s get the tv and the radio to play our tune again

 its ’bout time we got some airplay of our version of events 

there’s no need to be afraid I will sing with you my friend Come on, come on[ 

I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers, i’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-oh

Yeah we’re all wonderful, wonderful people 

so when did we all get so fearful? 

Now we’re finally finding our voices so take a chance, come help me sing this,

Yeah we’re all wonderful, wonderful people so when did we all get so fearful?

and now we’re finally finding our voices, so take a chance, come help me sing this
I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out

so put it in all of the papers, i’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it

ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-ohoh-oh-oh
I wanna sing, I wanna shout I wanna scream till the words dry out.

so put it in all of the papers,

I’m not afraid

they can read all about it read all about it oh

Timothy Johnson Has Blood on His Hands

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In June 2012, Mechille Searles left this rock we live on before she could receive justice for the multiple rapes Mack Ford committed on her as a tender teenage girl.  See THIS POST

Mack Ford  is alleged to have physically abused and raped girls for four (4) decades.

The Editorial Board of Chucklestravels is determined to show what Tim Johnson allowed to occur for that last decade New Bethany Girls home in Arcadia Louisiana. Tim chose not to “call the law“ as he promised if New Bethany were to reopen.

Tim Johnson

Tim Johnson

We could think of no better way than to just post the words of a few New Bethany Survivors speak for themselves.

Simone Jones comment

“Timothy Johnson and his wife Robbie (Ford) Johnson have stood behind Mack Ford for years. They took it upon themselves to remove the young girl who had recorded Ford assaulting her. Also after this girl was removed several other children were interviewed by Thelma Ford (Macks wife) and Nora Carter (dorm mother). He had been sexually abusing MANY of the children during that time (He had been sexually abusing children since the 70s) They promised the girls that Ford was gone and could no longer harm them.

This was the time that Ford jumped out of the bushes, with a GUN, and threatened to kill everyone there, and also threatened to burn the place down. Here he was, the very man that had been assaulting many, running around like a crazed lunatic. What a horrific thing for any child to have to witness.
Sure the children went home, but it wasn’t long before many of the same children, as well as a whole new group of children came to the home and it was open and running again.
Had Timothy and Robbie Johnson kept their word and called the authorities, we wouldn’t have a whole separate decade of survivors from the New Bethany home.

I am wondering HOW Timothy Johnson even became employed at LC? In a recent conversation with an employee of the college he stated that he had never heard of New Bethany? 4 decades of abuse in every form, DHS closing down the Louisiana boys home for abuse, another New Bethany home opened in South Carolina that was also closed for abuse (that Timothy Johnson defended), lawsuits that would make the normal persons skin crawl, and countless survivors of New Bethany speaking out. Yet, he never heard of New Bethany? I find that very hard to believe.

I hope the young men and ladies at LC are alright. I hope they know that there are thousands of us out here that are willing to help them, willing to stand beside them, willing to comfort them, and are willing to fight for them.

And Timothy and Robbie (Ford) Johnson, if you are reading this, SHAME ON YOU! You could have saved thousands of children from the claws of Mack Ford and New Bethany. I am sure that God looks down on you and weeps.”

Buried Secrets Revealed states

For decades the Survivors of New Bethany, have been called liars anytime they have tried to speak out bout the abuse they endured, while under the care of Mack and Thelma Ford and their NB Staff. Timothy Johnson was given information that supported these allegations,
(a cassette tape made by one of the victims)
instead of protecting the children, he chose to protect his father in law Mack Ford.
Now Mr. Johnson is being considered for appointment of Louisiana College President.
Please tell me if Mr. Johnson would cover up information showing his father in law to be a pedophile and child abuser, what else might he cover up?
This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.
Stand Up Against Institutional Abuse, Stop the Mayham!!!

Jowrongdunno writes

I was reading the LC president’s statement and this stood out… “even if we stand alone, we will stand for what is right.”

For decades, many of us felt we stood alone. For decades, I thought I was the only sex abuse victim of Mack Ford. That was a lonely place to live in the playground of my mind. I thought the sex abuse had to be my fault because I thought no one else experienced the same and preachers, including my own father, deemed me dishonest.

People who know me are aware that I can’t lie worth squat, so why bother? Mechille’s greatest fear was that Mack Ford would die before she could obtain justice for crimes perpetrated against her.

Now, to realize that if Timothy Johnson or his wife, Roberta Ford, had kept Timothy’s word, Mechille would not have been returned to the arms of her rapist!
Mechille would likely be sitting nearby doing the happy-dance had Timothy Johnson stayed true to his word. Johnson’s personal awareness of Mack’s proclivity for raping and molesting girls did not cause him to stir and Mechille’s blood is on Johnson’s and Ford’s hands!

Timothy, “You are a direct cause for two children growing up without their mommy! Did your silence have a pay-off and was your inaction worth all the pain generated over the following decade?”

So Mechille, this one’s for you baby girl! I will keep on sharing what you told me in confidence because I know we were going public but you passed away two days before our planned outing to media and the filing of a lawsuit against Mack W. Ford, and every minion who remained silent, knowing MF was molesting children’s bodies and minds at New Bethany.

I’m glad that I do not stand alone, and that I know I was not alone, and that I never have to feel so horribly alone again. ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Mack Ford is far more prolific alleged child sex abuser than Jerry Sandusky.
    • Bienville Parish Sheriff Department what’s the deal?
    • Bienville Parish District Attorney WHY didn’t you prosecute?
    • Federal Bureau of  Investigation why didn’t you follow-up when it was reported that Mack Ford raped girls across state lines?
    • It’s not too late.  Some New Bethany Survivors who allege being raped by Mack Ford, Statute of Limitations has NOT expired! 
    • nb-meme