Saturday, September 13, 2014
Expanding the Focus
Before people get bored reading my story, and move on to something more interesting, I am expanding the focus of the Shattered Pulpit to include the perspective of others who have had similar experiences. I can write about it from the victim’s standpoint, but I can’t explain it from any other viewpoint. I think it is important for people to understand what happens as a result of these sins from all angles not just a victim’s.
The New Focus:
A look behind the closed door of Lutheran clergy sexual exploitation, harassment, and abuse with first-hand accounts from victims, family members, congregants, coworkers, leaders, pastors & perpetrators to aid in the understanding & prevention of further exploitation. By reading viewpoints from all angles, people will not only better understand the early warning signs to prevent it, but also the devastating affect that it has on everyoneinvolved.
Author: I survived extensive clergy sexual abuse at the hands of a long-time WELS Lutheran pastor which ultimately destroyed my faith and soul. I share my story with how it started, progressed, the red flags that everyone missed, and how it destroyed me emotionally & spiritually.
To anonymously share your story, from any angle, email: lilliansuearmstrong@gmail.com
The New Focus:A look behind the closed door of Lutheran clergy sexual exploitation, harassment, and abuse with first-hand accounts from victims, family members, congregants, coworkers, leaders, pastors & perpetrators to aid in the understanding & prevention of further exploitation. By reading viewpoints from all angles, people will not only better understand the early warning signs to prevent it, but also the devastating affect that it has on everyoneinvolved.
Author: I survived extensive clergy sexual abuse at the hands of a long-time WELS Lutheran pastor which ultimately destroyed my faith and soul. I share my story with how it started, progressed, the red flags that everyone missed, and how it destroyed me emotionally & spiritually.
To anonymously share your story, from any angle, email: lilliansuearmstrong@gmail.com
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GJ - In a parallel story. the NFL uses a similar protection scheme to keep scandals out of the news or to tamp them down as soon as they erupt.
The Synod Presidents are really in charge of damage control, which means denying the obvious, absolving the guilty and unrepentant, and slandering anyone who talks. When I was still following ELCA, the denomination reported scandals in their national magazine and in their news releases. They certainly did not report everything.
So-called news departments are public relations efforts. Someone can track the agenda by what is reported and what is spiked. Herman Otten was always eager to spike stories for the ELS, LCMS, and WELS. His readers did not want to see anything against Holy Mother Synod unless it was part of the Otten-Cascione agenda.
Two major factors in clergy abuse are alcoholism and Thrivent.
Alcoholism and drug abuse are both the cause and the excuse. "I didn't know what I was doing because I was drunk."
One sure sign of clergy alcoholism is the need to have meetings, "ministries", and "Bible studies" in bars. I would also look for the alcoholic liver, the belly that extends beyond the normal body shape.
Thrivent fosters abuse by its genocidal support of abortion on demand through the funding of Planned Parenthood. By grouping all the Lutherans together in funding and projects, Thrivent reduces everyone to the lowest common denominator and erases any sense of compassion for the victims. Smooth operations and gobs of money are the goals.
