Can  you really be arrested for giving a teen a backrub? I think the answer is yes under certain conditions. There must be more to this story.

Police say a 15 year old girl claimed 76 year old Delbert Thigpen, touched her inappropriately. Thigpen is the pastor of St. George Pentecostal Holiness Church.

Pastor Thigpen admitted to the crime.

"After she massaged my back I figured I would massage her back.  He told me that," she said. (She being an unnamed witness)

Pastor Thigpen is 76. I’m guessing his preaching days are over. He is the pastor for St. George Pentecostal Holiness Church. I wonder how long that will last?

My Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, Praying to Pesci

The goal for this site Praying to Pesci is to have a humorous look at the world of religion and disbelief from an atheist's perspective. Please take a gander - I think it is good for a laugh or two.

I was raised Catholic although we seemed to fall into the Christmas-Easter variety (we went to Church twice a year) I attended Sunday School through my first communion. While I was attending these brainwashing sessions I was told that my parents were at mass. On one fine Sunday class was cut short so I waited in the lobby for ma and pa. A couple of minutes later I see them getting out of their car in the parking lot. They had been at breakfast!. Well that was enough for me - I wasn't getting up early to sit through this crap if they weren't. The funny thing is that they were no different than all of the other church-goers that I knew - everyone just went through the motions without thinking about what they were really doing.

I muddled into my adult years without paying much attention to religion. I sometimes regarded myself as a Catholic even though I never, ever went to Church. I just regurgitated something that I had heard someone else say - I just assumed that while it wasn't for me that it kept a lot of people on the straight and narrow. Even though I wasn't religious I wasn't above spewing crap like that without thinking about what the words meant.

At some point in my late 20's I started a self-examination to find out who I was and what principles I believed in. I began to realize that there was a lot of BS in the world and rational thought was more or less an afterthought. That's the great thing about seeking truths without having any kind of bias or agenda - you let the facts point you in the right direction.

So why atheism? It has been said that nobody is ever converted to atheism - it is just something that you find on your own. I completely agree with that statement and I think it says a lot about a-theism. After all, nobody ever finds _______ (insert messiah) on their own. Someone has to introduce them. I wasn't out to be different nor did I even know any other professed atheists (although I did later find out that the unbelievers are all around us). Atheism was just another stop on the road of rational thought.

My goal in writing this blog is not just to stop the silly belief in superstition. I write it it to combat the evils that superstition brings on the world - slavery, misogyny, bigotry are the main offenders. You see the effects of religion all around us. For crying out loud, my kid can't even be a boy scout. My goal here is to promote humanity and liberty (and no, not that jingoistic patriotism that seems to be permeating our society). If I toss a deity or two under the bus while I'm at it, so be it. Who knows - if you believe this stuff, maybe the deity made me so that I could throw him under the bus. As Carlin said, it is all very confusing.

Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.

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Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, the The Spiritual Life of An Atheist

I started my blog, "The Spiritual Life of An Atheist," just a couple of months ago to explore deeply felt spirituality and commitment to transcendent values absent a belief in god. There is a culture war on, and we cannot concede the domain of values and meaning to religious fundamentalists. Awe, inspiration and aspiration are all possible within a secular, rationalist framework. Atheism is not a denial of the human spirit but a paradigm that can open one's eyes to its full measure.

Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.

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It blows my mind how much the Vatican covered up for Fr. Marciel.  It’s simply disgusting.

Hat tip Atheist Media Blog.

I drove by this sign yesterday. My son looked at me with a strange expression on his face as I laughed out loud. Do we need a pastor to tell right from wrong? As adults, don’t most of us know the answer to this simple question already? We learn it as children. It’s reinforced as we grow and mature, and besides, most of us know the answer intuitively.

I sign like this pushes me away. Why don’t they see that?

I love this video clip of a kinetic sculpture at the BMW Museum in Munich. I could watch it for hours.

The Kinetic Sculpture is a metaphorical translation of the process of form-finding in art and design. 714 metal spheres, hanging from thin steel wires attached to individually-controlled stepper motors and covering the area of six square meters, animate a seven minute long mechatronic narrative.

I wonder how much a trip to Germany would cost?

Art, Sculpture

Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the Atheist Blogroll, the Social I.Q. Lady

Hi! I'm Andrea Griffith, also known as the Social I.Q. Lady. My blog is an Atheist's Guide to Successful Social Interaction. As atheists, we face an uphill battle when it comes to working with and interacting with religionists. Life is difficult enough and with so many differing views it can sometimes be tough to rise above it all. I welcome your questions regarding relationships, philosophy, and political issues surrounding moral values. Please stop by and visit. I would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading.

Are you interested in becoming a member? Visit the Atheist Blogroll resource blog for more information.

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An Indiana youth pastor named William Lee Porter was arrested for the sexual assault a teen girl from his youth group. Porter was the youth pastor at Elmwood Church of Christ when the assaults allegedly took place.

The victims tells a horrible story:

…the victim said that on an occasion in July 2009, Porter shoved her onto a couch and performed oral sex on her against her will.

Porter’s former church has a statement on it’s website. I’ve reprinted it here to recognize the Elmwood Church of Christ’s good behavior. It is rare for a church to acknowledge an incident let alone make a public statement about it.

We are saddened by the charges facing Lee Porter, who served the Elmwood church of Christ as youth minister for almost 12 years.

Lee submitted his resignation the day after his initial arrest in November of last year. We accepted this resignation with regret, recognizing Lee’s need to work through his personal challenges and his desire to prevent the consequences of his problems from affecting the youth at Elmwood.

In the week following the initial arrest, we met with the parents of youth group members to discuss the situation.  In addition, professional counseling was made available to the parties involved, and church members were informed of Lee’s resignation by announcement and by letter.

Two of our members are serving as interim youth leaders while a search committee is being formed for a new youth minister.  Youth activities such as Bible classes, Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Leadership Training for Christ, involvement with Cincinnati Urban Ministry, and summer church camp will continue.  One positive outcome of this situation is that new people have been able to use their gifts in serving our young people.

We are confident that God can bring good even out of awful circumstances.

We continue to pray for the Porter family and everyone involved in this case.

The Shepherds of the Elmwood church of Christ
July 1, 2010

July 5, 2010 – corrected. Porter is alleged to have molested one girl, not two. Also, added a picture of Porter.

I missed this one. I’m sure I missed a few others too.

Pastor Travis Gandy, 27, from Sheboygan, Wis, was arrested for exposing a child to harmful materials. He allegedly sent a picture of his wee naught bits to 15-year-old boy.

The investigation began after the boy’s mother contacted the Sheriff’s Department after discovering one of the photos. 

How embarrassing. More importantly, when is the last time you checked your child’s phone?

One day after he was released, he was rearrested for the sexual assault of a different child.

Gandy was arrested Monday night after the mother of a 15 year old boy told police Gandy sent her son inappropriate text messages.  The boy told police Gandy also "made out" with him in the attic of the church.

Travis Gandy worked as a music pastor at Praise Fellowship Church in Sheboygan. The church website has no information about Gandy. I did not expect it to.