thornecasandra
New member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
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...and the Christian Right is not happy about it.
On September 9th, 2009, Baylor University released the results of a study exploring sexual misconduct amongst clergy. "Sexual misconduct" appears to have been defined in this study as members of the clergy using their positions to gain sexual favors from parishioners of legal age; the focus of the study was on sexual activity between legal adults and not the abuse of children. The study found that sexual misconduct was more pervasive amongst clergy than expected, with 1 in every 33 women who participated in the study and represented themselves as regular church-goers claiming they had been the target of a sexual advance from a religious leader. It also appears that two-thirds of the offenders were married at the time of the misconduct.
The study focused on Christian denominations, 36 of which apparently have specific rules regarding sexual relations between adult members of the church and the clergy. Several states, including Texas, have laws addressing sexual misconduct amongst clergy. The Texas law defines clergy sexual behavior as nonconsensual sexual assault if the religious leader "causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual adviser."
Everyone knows that the Christians have real problems with sex. They know it is fun, and do what they can to keep everyone from doing it (because it is fun), but can't seem to control themselves, especially when the opportunity arises (because it is fun). Obviously, when interviewing hundreds of church-going women about their sexual histories, some fantasy will come into play. Still, the more you repress something, the more violently it tends to express itself. Look to the Catholics, who forbid that their clergy have so much as a masturbatory thought, at how well celibacy works. This study spreads the problems with repressed sexuality to all branches of the Christian tree. Father Tom is a "good" Baptist who married his wife young, had a handful of children, and now the little woman is following her Holy calling by keeping her hole closed. He finds himself counseling some sweet young thing in his church about her own issues with sexuality and, WHAM!, he's doing the Jim Baker when he is caught, crying and begging for forgiveness while trying to zip up his pants.
But, hey, we are Satanists, so how is this a problem for us, right? So what if the Christians are being tricked into taking communion though a whole different orifice, we are Satanists, and for us that is all old-hat!
Here's the problem. The Christian Right is looking at this study and wondering what they need to do to police their religious leaders to keep their god and "faith" from being further besmirched. In-house policies are not good enough, obviously, so the solution is to increase the number of states that have laws like Texas. Notice that the law was not specific in regards to the religions that are under the jurisdiction of the law. For the Christians, there's in the only religion anyway, so it doesn't matter to them if sex is a regular part of another religion's ceremonies.
So, they change the laws in your state, and you find yourself the High Priest or Priestess of a circle/grotto/coven/cell/house... and the agreed rituals include a little genital contact. When (and it will be "when", not "if") word gets out to the local old-biddies club in your area about your full-moon rites, they will be coming to get you. They will turn a law meant to oppress their own natures as a way to oppress the rest of us.
You might think you have the answer to this problem; after all, the law states that the conduct must be nonconsensual and be exploitive. You'll just have all participants sign a statement declaring that they are consenting of their own free-will, and that the activities are non-exploitive. The response from the Christian Right will be that the signed statement was also a result of this coercion, and a tool used to further coerce compliance in your vile, perverted, fun, sexual rites. As to being non-exploitive, what blue-haired bible-thumper do you know of that wouldn't consider a gothic-clad lovely as being exploited, let alone the nude woman on the altar behind you!
Oddly enough, to prevent the enemy from having this weapon against us, we must step in and take a position that appears to be in their defense. Despite the apparent blow that these laws would be to the credibility of the Christian Church, we must continue to champion the cause of Separation of Church and State. This is a matter of using the system against those who would use the system against us. We should insist, as regular citizens, that the state keep itself from the regulation of religious activities, that the actions between two adults is their business, and that if an individual feels that he or she was manipulated by an authority figure they have legal recourse that does not require state intervention.
Christianity has the bad habit of assuming that what they decide is good for them must be good for the rest of us. Yet again, the specter of their morals and values being forced upon us loams high on the horizon, this time in a strike against our institutions and practices. Fire up your blogs, get on their chatboards, write your editors, tell your friends, and stay vigilant. The Christians again are trying to take away all that is fun in the world.
Casandra Thorne
Priestess of Lilith
Diabolus Order
On September 9th, 2009, Baylor University released the results of a study exploring sexual misconduct amongst clergy. "Sexual misconduct" appears to have been defined in this study as members of the clergy using their positions to gain sexual favors from parishioners of legal age; the focus of the study was on sexual activity between legal adults and not the abuse of children. The study found that sexual misconduct was more pervasive amongst clergy than expected, with 1 in every 33 women who participated in the study and represented themselves as regular church-goers claiming they had been the target of a sexual advance from a religious leader. It also appears that two-thirds of the offenders were married at the time of the misconduct.
The study focused on Christian denominations, 36 of which apparently have specific rules regarding sexual relations between adult members of the church and the clergy. Several states, including Texas, have laws addressing sexual misconduct amongst clergy. The Texas law defines clergy sexual behavior as nonconsensual sexual assault if the religious leader "causes the other person to submit or participate by exploiting the other person's emotional dependency on the clergyman in the clergyman's professional character as spiritual adviser."
Everyone knows that the Christians have real problems with sex. They know it is fun, and do what they can to keep everyone from doing it (because it is fun), but can't seem to control themselves, especially when the opportunity arises (because it is fun). Obviously, when interviewing hundreds of church-going women about their sexual histories, some fantasy will come into play. Still, the more you repress something, the more violently it tends to express itself. Look to the Catholics, who forbid that their clergy have so much as a masturbatory thought, at how well celibacy works. This study spreads the problems with repressed sexuality to all branches of the Christian tree. Father Tom is a "good" Baptist who married his wife young, had a handful of children, and now the little woman is following her Holy calling by keeping her hole closed. He finds himself counseling some sweet young thing in his church about her own issues with sexuality and, WHAM!, he's doing the Jim Baker when he is caught, crying and begging for forgiveness while trying to zip up his pants.
But, hey, we are Satanists, so how is this a problem for us, right? So what if the Christians are being tricked into taking communion though a whole different orifice, we are Satanists, and for us that is all old-hat!
Here's the problem. The Christian Right is looking at this study and wondering what they need to do to police their religious leaders to keep their god and "faith" from being further besmirched. In-house policies are not good enough, obviously, so the solution is to increase the number of states that have laws like Texas. Notice that the law was not specific in regards to the religions that are under the jurisdiction of the law. For the Christians, there's in the only religion anyway, so it doesn't matter to them if sex is a regular part of another religion's ceremonies.
So, they change the laws in your state, and you find yourself the High Priest or Priestess of a circle/grotto/coven/cell/house... and the agreed rituals include a little genital contact. When (and it will be "when", not "if") word gets out to the local old-biddies club in your area about your full-moon rites, they will be coming to get you. They will turn a law meant to oppress their own natures as a way to oppress the rest of us.
You might think you have the answer to this problem; after all, the law states that the conduct must be nonconsensual and be exploitive. You'll just have all participants sign a statement declaring that they are consenting of their own free-will, and that the activities are non-exploitive. The response from the Christian Right will be that the signed statement was also a result of this coercion, and a tool used to further coerce compliance in your vile, perverted, fun, sexual rites. As to being non-exploitive, what blue-haired bible-thumper do you know of that wouldn't consider a gothic-clad lovely as being exploited, let alone the nude woman on the altar behind you!
Oddly enough, to prevent the enemy from having this weapon against us, we must step in and take a position that appears to be in their defense. Despite the apparent blow that these laws would be to the credibility of the Christian Church, we must continue to champion the cause of Separation of Church and State. This is a matter of using the system against those who would use the system against us. We should insist, as regular citizens, that the state keep itself from the regulation of religious activities, that the actions between two adults is their business, and that if an individual feels that he or she was manipulated by an authority figure they have legal recourse that does not require state intervention.
Christianity has the bad habit of assuming that what they decide is good for them must be good for the rest of us. Yet again, the specter of their morals and values being forced upon us loams high on the horizon, this time in a strike against our institutions and practices. Fire up your blogs, get on their chatboards, write your editors, tell your friends, and stay vigilant. The Christians again are trying to take away all that is fun in the world.
Casandra Thorne
Priestess of Lilith
Diabolus Order
