Being molested by evolution is the same as real sexual abuse

[Trynn]

I was with a friend in church, and they were doing a question and answer period. One of the questions was something like, "I have a friend who was sexually abused, and now she won't have anything to do with God. She doesn't understand why God would allow this to happen, what can I tell her?"

And then a pastor I used to respect opened his mouth. He said, "well, you know, our children are being molested sexually, and I'm not trying to belittle that, but, our children, every time they turn on the tv, go to school, are being molested by evolution, and I'm not trying to belittle sexual abuse it is a serious problem, but our children are being molested by evolution--"

Me: Angry sputtering

Friend sitting next to me: angry shushing noises

Me: but he's belittling a serious problem!

Friend: No he's not!

Me: shuts mouth and jabs sewing angrily with needle, wishing it was a sensitive spot on the pastor's body.

He did go on to explain his argument, but I was seeing red at that point and didn't quite catch it. Something about how being molested by evolution causes sexual abuse...

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

:pink-shock: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :pull-hair: :pull-hair:

NO WORDS.

[Jana814]

I would have walked out.

[PennySycamore]

:pink-shock: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :pull-hair: :pull-hair:

NO WORDS.

Quoted for the fucking truth!

[ILoveJellybeans]

I am speechless...HOW??? HOW ON EARTH CAN EVOLUTION MOLEST SOMEONE??? It isnt a sentient being.

[Dollypeeps]

Say what?

:angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

[doggie]

I am speechless...HOW??? HOW ON EARTH CAN EVOLUTION MOLEST SOMEONE??? It isnt a sentient being.

So until Darwin discovered evolution a woman was never raped? Religious education fails again.

[Trynn]

So until Darwin discovered evolution a woman was never raped? Religious education fails again.

He wasn't saying Evolution rapes us physically, but that it molests the mind... he was making a comparison, but he failed rather miserably.

Because we all know that if you have to start a sentence with, "I'm not belittling a serious problem, BUT--" you probably need to not finish that sentence.

As to walking out, yeah, I should have. Except then I'd probably have had to face my friend's wrath later.

[doggie]

[quote="Trynn"

He wasn't saying Evolution rapes us physically, but that it molests the mind... he was making a comparison, but he failed rather miserably.

[Guest Anonymous]

Did the pastor ever address the original question?

[Mela99]

Oh my freaking God... I would report him to the press and every person imaginable.

[FlorenceHamilton]

I think that his reference is more nuanced and nefarious than it appears. It sounds stupid. Remember that from a religious point of view, rape is about sex. Religious folk are obssessed with ideas about purity and innocence. We see in the press a lot of religious people have a view of rape that includes only a sexual attack on a female who has no ability to be provacative sexually.

Christian children who are taught creation-only believe it without question. They are innocent and naive to any other possibility. Teaching them evolution (presumably against their parents' will), robs them of their innocence.

I think that many religious leaders do understand that knowledge will often lead to the questioning of faith. They want to keep young people naive to the concept completely until their indoctrination with unquestioning belief is matured and more difficult to break.

Taking the innocence of a child early by teaching them evolution robs them of the purity of their mind to god.

[Trynn]

Did the pastor ever address the original question?

I'm not sure... he might have... but I was so angry I hardly heard another word he said.

Also, he was NOT the person giving that night's actual sermon. If he had been, I probably would've tolerated it a lot less.

[GeoBQn]

I would complain to that pastor's boss.

[Burris]

TRANSLATION: “Your friend can never hope to recover from having been sexually misused when she’s daily being revictimizeed - by science!â€

What a fantastic way to avoid having to answer to a difficult question.

[Lainey]

Wait...so someone asked him a question about sexual abuse, and he immediately went off on a tangent to rant about evolution? :? What the fuck? That makes no sense at all.

My brain refuses to process this. :wtf:

[mlady]

Someone need to evolute him and then ask the question again.

[doggie]

Wait...so someone asked him a question about sexual abuse, and he immediately went off on a tangent to rant about evolution? :? What the fuck? That makes no sense at all.

My brain refuses to process this. :wtf:

another useless priest.

[Trynn]

another useless priest.

Pastor. Seventh day Adventists do not have priests.

[Hane]

Pastor. Seventh day Adventists do not have priests.

And Catholics are totally down with evolution, considering Genesis symbolic and mythological.

[infooverload]

I would have walked out.

Okay this brings up an interesting point how many times have we seen videos of a preacher saying absolutely insulting and insane shit, but no one walks out. The even better one is well my pastor/ preacher wouldn't espouse such heinous views, but then if you say they did then oh you mis-understood what his point was. Also I remember reading the average adults attention span is only 15 minutes yet sermons last on average a 1/2hr to an hour. Therefore one can logically make the argument the congregation is only half actively listening to the sermon.

[OkToBeTakei]

I think everybody has covered the arsehole in the previous comments.

One question, you sew in church?

[Lainey]

I think everybody has covered the arsehole in the previous comments.

One question, you sew in church?

I caught that also. Isn't that frowned upon?

[rward]

Okay this brings up an interesting point how many times have we seen videos of a preacher saying absolutely insulting and insane shit, but no one walks out. The even better one is well my pastor/ preacher wouldn't espouse such heinous views, but then if you say they did then oh you mis-understood what his point was. Also I remember reading the average adults attention span is only 15 minutes yet sermons last on average a 1/2hr to an hour. Therefore one can logically make the argument the congregation is only half actively listening to the sermon.

I honestly think a lot of it is surprise. If someone said that in front of me, I'd be so surprised, I'd just stare at them. I wouldn't even consider responding, because I'd be so busy thinking "Oh, he's not saying . . . oh, he is! What?"

Then there's social conventions. If you were raised religious, you were raised to think that pastors/priests/etc are above the rest of us. They're godly, learned and to be respected above all else. Add that sort of social conditioning to the sheer surprise at "molested by evolution" and it would take me 15 minutes just to blink in response.

[AnywhereButHere]

Okay this brings up an interesting point how many times have we seen videos of a preacher saying absolutely insulting and insane shit, but no one walks out. The even better one is well my pastor/ preacher wouldn't espouse such heinous views, but then if you say they did then oh you mis-understood what his point was. Also I remember reading the average adults attention span is only 15 minutes yet sermons last on average a 1/2hr to an hour. Therefore one can logically make the argument the congregation is only half actively listening to the sermon.

Wow! I'd lose it if they were 1/2 hour or more. I can't ever remember a sermon in my church lasting more than 10 minutes, 15 at the outside if there was a special message from the higher ups. They're usually pretty general, love your neighbor, respect God, don't hurt anyone type of sermons. The most annoying one I ever heard was the whole "man is the head of the house" thing, but I spent those 10 minutes trying really hard not to laugh. Unless all of the priests I've listened to are really subtle, I've never heard anything more offensive than that, and if any of them had lasted longer than 15 minutes, I think my butt would be too numb to walk out anyway.