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Mike Malloy
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antifascist
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 Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:18 am Post subject: Assem.of God Hosanna Church/School cult of ritual sex. |
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Assem.of God Hosanna Church/School cult of ritual sex.
This Christian church and children's school was a fundamentalist First Assembly of God Church but a core group continued to run the church after the death of the original pastor. No church organization ever censored Hosanna in anyway before the scandal.
Again, we see the same pattern of fundatmentalists churches behaving as cult organizations and acting as cover for pedophiles on nearly the same scale as the Catholic church. I say "nearly" because the Catholic church is more organized and centralized whereas the fundatmentalists churches are decentralized and independant, therefore, the pattern of abuse is more difficult to recognized.
But Rick Santorum blames the "liberals" for the Catholic pedophile scandals as if the fundatmentalists churches have no such problem of pedophiles. The victims in the Catholic churches tend to be boys, and in the fundatmentalists churches the victims tend to be girls.
| Quote: | Church sex case allegedly involving children, animals stuns Louisiana town
By Alan Sayre / Associated Press
June 11, 2005
http://www.detnews.com/2005/religion/0506/27/relig-212119.htm
PONCHATOULA, La. -- From his tire store next door, Donald Moore got an up-close look at the strange changes that went on at the once-bustling Hosanna Church.
For one thing, the congregation had dwindled to a handful of reclusive members who chased away visitors. For another, the windows were painted white so no one could see in. And just before it closed its doors for good a couple of years ago, eight dump trucks came in and spread dirt over the church's back lot.
Last month, the suspicions played out in a way that almost no one in this southeastern Louisiana town of 5,000 could have imagined: Nine people, including the pastor, his wife and a sheriff's deputy were accused of engaging in cult-like sexual activity with children and animals inside the hall of worship. Eight now face child rape charges that could bring the death penalty.
"You can't believe something like that was going on right under our own feet," Moore said.
Authorities said witnesses have described the use of robes, pentagrams on the church floor, sex with a dog and the sacrifice of cats. The alleged victims, suspected to number up to two dozen, include children ranging from infants to young teens -- some of them the offspring of those accused.
"I've been a prosecutor in some rape cases and child molestation cases, but I've never had a group accused of doing anything like this," said Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards, a former state prosecutor.
Investigators believe the abuse began in 1999 and continued until the church closed in 2003. But it was not until a woman called from Ohio in April, saying she had fled to protect her child, that police claim they had even an inkling of what was happening.
About the same time, the church's pastor, 45-year-old Louis Lamonica, walked into the neighboring Livingston Parish sheriff's office, sat down and, according to investigators, named names and detailed activities inside the church.
Lamonica was arrested, followed by eight others authorities described as central members of the ring. All but one are being held without bond. Even the tipster from Ohio, Nicole Bernard, was arrested on rape charges along with her ex-husband.
Edwards said the group apparently had an effective formula for escaping detection: the use of a church, a close-knit relationship between the members and victims unlikely to report abuse to authorities.
"They were very secretive and very good about keeping a secret," Edwards said.
Lamonica's attorney, Michael Thiel, did not return calls from The Associated Press but had said previously that the charges had been sensationalized and would not hold up in court.
"Generally, I believe there's been a rush to judge based on conjecture, rumors and leaks to the media," Thiel told The Advocate of Baton Rouge.
Edwards stopped short of saying the cult consisted of devil-worshippers but said some of the defendants told investigators that "devil worship was the reason for their participation." Edwards added that defendants and witnesses also gave statements saying a dog was sexually abused and at least two cats were sacrificed.
Authorities seized two dozen computers, which the FBI is checking. Sheets and carpeting were taken from the church for DNA tests. Officers spent several days digging in the back of the church, but haven't said if anything significant was found.
After Bernard was arrested, police in Ohio said they searched a storage unit and found mattresses, videos and nine garbage bags full of costumes.
Lamonica and his wife, Robbin, also face allegations of having sex with children in their home.
A state grand jury is scheduled to start hearing evidence June 24.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten of New Orleans would say only that federal authorities are aiding the state investigation. He refused to say what federal charges, if any, might be filed.
At one time, Hosanna Church was one of the many thriving churches, of all denominations, in and around Ponchatoula, a town of antique shops that is the host of Louisiana's annual strawberry festival.
Founded by Lamonica's now-deceased father, Hosanna once boasted of 1,000 members and had a private school through the sixth grade. Moore sent his son to the church's preschool during the 1990s.
Now, a message on the church's highway sign says: "I went here K-4. You let us down."
Glynn Fendlason served as pastor of the church, then known as First Assembly of God, from 1982 to 1989, following the elder Lamonica's death. The active membership dispensed thousands of meals to the poor and elderly.
Fendlason said the younger Lamonica, while his father was pastor, was a "good fellow" who played bass guitar, taught Sunday school and worked with youth groups. Some of the other defendants also were active in the church.
After Fendlason resigned as pastor, he said he stayed out of the church's business for fear of disrupting the congregation, but heard that Lamonica, who became pastor in 1994, excommunicated many members, including members of his own family, and increasingly made the church more isolated.
"We all knew something wasn't right," Fendlason said. "Not something like this, though."
One of those taken into custody was Christopher Labat, a deputy who is now jailed on aggravated rape and malfeasance charges.
Bruce Dapprich, a former sheriff's deputy who patrolled with Labat, said the arrested ex-deputy had been a volunteer firefighter, an emergency medical technician and a reserve deputy before being hired full time by the sheriff's office.
"He seemed real Christian," Dapprich said. "He never cursed. When we went out to eat, he'd bow his head and say his prayers."
No matter what turns out in court, Fendlason said he believes "there will be another day" for the now-empty church building.
"I believe in the redemptive power of the Lord to make a positive of that situation," he said. "I don't believe the devil will obtain a victory." |
But Rick Santorum blames the "liberals" for the Catholic pedophile scandals as if the fundatmentalists churches have no such problem.
| Quote: | Santorum resolute on Boston rebuke
Insists liberalism set stage for abuse
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | July 13, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/07/13/santorum_resolute_on_boston_rebuke/?page=1
WASHINGTON -- Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, refused yesterday to back off on his earlier statements connecting Boston's ''liberalism" with the Roman Catholic Church pedophile scandal, saying that the city's ''sexual license" and ''sexual freedom" nurtured an environment where sexual abuse would occur.
''The basic liberal attitude in that area . . . has an impact on people's behavior," Santorum said in an interview yesterday at the Capitol.
''If you have a world view that I'm describing [about Boston] . . . that affirms alternative views of sexuality, that can lead to a lot of people taking it the wrong way," Santorum said.
Santorum, a leader among Christian conservatives, was responding to questions about remarks he made three years ago on a website called Catholic Online. In those comments, Santorum said, ''It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:24 am Post subject: Brother Dennis Rader (BTK) masturbated over dead body. |
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Brother Dennis Rader (BTK) masturbated over dead body.
Our Brother in Christ, Dennis Rader, confesses his "sexual problems." Those Christians really get up tight about punishment issues, womens' freedom, and sex.
| Quote: | BTK - Killer - Man of God, of the Church, Father of 2
Today on Studio B with Shepard Smith he referred to the BTK (bind, torture, kill) killer as a 'man of God', 'active in the Church', a 'Cub Scout Leader' and 'a 'father of 2'.
Comment: Though the man's not a preacher or reverand, Smith called him a 'man of God' which I guess he meant he was a religious man. For a minute there, I thought he was describing Bill O'Reilly. But seriously, I'll give Fox credit for this - they didn't hide from the fact that the man was very religious.
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/02/28/btk_killer_man_of_god_of_the_church_father_of_2.php
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| Quote: | BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleads guilty to murdering 10 in Kansas
http://www.courttv.com/trials/news/0605/27_btk-guiltyplea_ap.html.html#continue
Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — BTK suspect Dennis Rader pleaded guilty Monday to 10 counts of first-degree murder, admitting in a chillingly matter-of-fact voice to a series of slayings that terrorized the city beginning in the 1970s.
Rader, 60, of Park City, entered the guilty pleas as his trial was to begin.
Referring to his victims as "projects," Rader laid out for the court how he would "troll" for victims on his off-time, then stalk them and kill them.
"I had never strangled anyone before, so I really didn't know how much pressure you had to put on a person or how long it would take," he told the court in describing his first killings in 1974, a couple and two of their children.
Most of the victims' relatives who were in the courtroom sat silent and stared at Rader; one woman wiped away tears.
Prosecutors had said before the hearing that no plea deal had been made. Rader was arrested Feb. 25.
Saying he was motivated by sexual fantasies, the onetime president of the church council at Christ Lutheran Church and Boy Scout leader, Rader admitted killing 10 people in the Wichita area between 1974 and 1991. The serial killer known as BTK -- the self-coined nickname that stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill" -- taunted media and police with cryptic messages.
"Today in court, for the first time, our community and the nation has now heard Dennis Rader reveal that he has committed those homicides," District Attorney Nola Foulston said. "Today we have some resolution."
Sentencing was set for Aug. 17. Rader will not face the death penalty because the state had no death penalty at the time. But it's likely he'll never leave prison because each count carries a possible life sentence.
Rader, wearing a beige coat and dark tie, told District Judge Gregory Waller he understood the charges and that he was waiving his right to a jury trial.
"The defense worked with me real well," Rader said. "We went over it. I feel like I'm pretty happy with them."
Asked by Waller if he was pleading because he was guilty, Rader answered, "Yes, sir."
The earliest crimes linked to the BTK strangler date to Jan. 15, 1974, when Joseph Otero, 38, and his 34-year-old wife, Julie, and their children Josephine, 11, and Joseph II, 9, were found dead in their home.
"The whole family just panicked on me. I worked pretty quick," he said. "I strangled Mrs. Otero. She passed out. I thought she was dead. I strangled Josephine. She passed out. I thought she was dead. Then I went over and put a bag on Junior's head."
He later said about Mrs. Otero: "I went back and strangled her again."
When questioned by the judge about the motivation for the Otero slayings, Rader said: "That was part of what you call my fantasy."
Pressed further, Rader said, "Sexual fantasy, sir."
Rader has not been accused of sexually assaulting his victims, but he admitted masturbating over some of them.
BTK's next three known victims were young women found strangled in their homes: Kathryn Bright, 21, in April 1974; Shirley Vian, 24, in March 1977; and Nancy Fox, 25, in December 1977.
After years of silence, the killer resurfaced last year with a letter to The Wichita Eagle that included photos of the 1986 strangulation of Vicki Wegerle and a photocopy of her missing driver's license. Her case had not been linked to BTK until then.
That letter was followed by several other cryptic messages and packages. The break in the case came after a computer diskette the killer had sent was traced to Rader's church.
Rader also was charged with the killings of Marine Hedge, 53, who was abducted from her Park City home on April 27, 1985, and found dead along a dirt road eight days later, and Dolores Davis, 62, who was abducted from her Park City home Jan. 19, 1991. Those deaths were not linked to BTK until Rader's arrest.
He described to the court how he chose his victims.
"If you've read much about serial killers, they go through what they call different phases. In the trolling stage, basically, you're looking for a victim at that time. You can be trolling for months or years, but once you lock in on a certain person, you become a stalker. That might be several of them but you really hone in on one person. They basically become the ... that's the victim. Or at least that's what you want it to be."
He said he told Nancy Fox he had "sexual problems," forced her to strip, then handcuffed her and strangled her with a belt. After she was dead, he said, he removed the handcuffs from her body and masturbated over her.
Rader has lived in the Wichita area almost his entire life, earning a criminal justice degree at a local university. He worked in suburban Park City as a compliance officer, handling code violations and stray dogs. He has been married for 34 years and has two grown children.
Victim families left the courtroom, escorted by officials into another building, and did not speak to reporters.
Steve Osburn, one of Rader's defense attorney's, said prosecutors' evidence against Rader included a confession, DNA and "personal trophies" Rader collected from his victims.
"It was a very solid case," Osburn said.
He said defense attorneys explored an insanity plea, but decided not to proceed.
"From a legal standpoint, we had nothing to work with," Osburn said.
Rader did not apologize during the hearing, though Osburn suggested later that Rader may apologize at his sentencing.
"Mr. Rader basically wanted to take responsibility for his actions," Osburn said.
After the guilty pleas, the Rev. Michael Clark, pastor of Rader's church, said: "That's what I hoped he would do." |
Last edited by antifascist on Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:58 am Post subject: Texas Pastor Marcus and wife frame Satan for arson |
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Texas Pastor Marcus and wife frame Satan for arson
"Blessed Again Ministries and Thrift Shop" (or is it "Thrift Shop and Blessed Again Ministries?") was burned down by the minister and his wife for insurance money. Well, it's a break from rape, sodomy, molestation, and murder in the local Christian fundametalist churches.They had a Jesus sale at the Thrift Shop before the arson. Why is it always Texas?
What is really funny is the ministers placed a voodoo doll at the church to make it look like a Satanist did it--framing Satan!!!
| Quote: | Pastor arrested for allegedly setting fire to own church
A pastor has been accused of setting a fire last month that burned down his east Harris County church.
ABC13 Eyewitness News
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/050305_local_pastorarrest.html
(5/03/05 - HOUSTON) � Authorities have charged a Baytown pastor with setting fire to his own church for insurance money.
Roger Marcus, 54, is accused of setting the fire at his Blessed Again Ministries and thrift shop on April 19. Arson investigators immediately believed the fire was intentionally set.
Police say Marcus had recently purchased an insurance policy worth more than a million dollars, and the surveillance video system on the building was shut down. There was also a voodoo doll left at the scene. A nearby resident says a recent sale at the thrift shop was also a clue.
"Probably like three days before the fire, they had all the clothes for a dollar," said resident Cynthia Luna. "Everything must go for a dollar."
Marcus has been charged with arson and insurance fraud. |
Last edited by antifascist on Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:19 am; edited 1 time in total |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 6:59 am Post subject: Louisville Rev.Jackson kidnaps/photographs feet/100 panties |
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Louisville Rev.Jackson kidnaps/photographs feet/100 panties
We see the same pattern of fundatmentalists churches behaving as cult organizations and acting as cover for pedophiles on nearly the same scale as the Catholic church. I say "nearly" because the Catholic church is more organized and centralized whereas the fundatmentalists churches are decentralized and independant, therefore, the pattern of abuse is more difficult to recognized.
But Rick Santorum blames the "liberals" for the Catholic pedophile scandals as if the fundatmentalists churches have no such problem of pedophiles. The victims in the Catholic churches tend to be boys, and in the fundatmentalists churches the victims tend to be girls
| Quote: | Police say a Louisville pastor is accused of forcing a woman into his apartment to take pictures of her feet and legs.
June 8, 2005
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3439679
Police say Martin Jackson was driving an illegal cab, and picked up two women outside a Louisville club. He took one home. But the other, police say he took to his apartment, tied her to a bed, and blindfolded her. He's then accused of massaging and kissing her feet and legs... then taking pictures of them.
The woman got away when Jackson fell asleep.
Jackson is charged with kidnapping, terroristic threatening, and other crimes.
Police say they've found pictures of other women's legs and feet, and about 100 pairs of new pantyhose in his apartment. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 7:01 am Post subject: Christian radio speaker Ruleman arrest for child porn. |
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Christian radio speaker Ruleman arrest for child pornography
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!! CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN REPUBLICANS.
| Quote: | Local radio host arrested for child porn
Mar 18, 2005, 6:46 PM
Chris Ruleman
http://www.wsmv.com/global/story.asp?s=3096477&ClientType=Printable
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Agents with the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force arrested a Christian radio station personality as part of a child pornography investigation.
Bureau agents began investigating Chris Ruleman, 40, a midday host for WFFI, 94FM The Fish, earlier this week after receiving information that he possessed child pornography.
He remained in the Nashville jail pending an appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge on Friday.
The Fish general manager Mike Miller said Ruleman will not be on air while the investigation is ongoing.
"As a matter of policy, we will cooperate fully with law enforcement officials as appropriate," he said. "We have no additional comment at this time, but we will continue to monitor the situation as we learn more facts."
Nashville police, Franklin police, LaVergne police and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents are assisting with the investigation.
"The message should be loud and clear that persons possessing or dealing in child pornography are getting the full attention of law enforcement on the local, state and federal levels," Nashville Police Chief Ronald Serpas said in a statement. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:12 am Post subject: Christian School trustee kills wife to avoid sin of divorce. |
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Christian School trustee kills wife to avoid sin of divorce.
| Quote: | Evidence at issue as murder trial nears
By Eric Weslander (Contact)
Saturday, June 4, 2005
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jun/04/miller/?city_local
As trial approaches for a Lawrence man charged with killing his wife, attorneys are still debating what evidence should be kept from jurors.
Photographs are one of the main categories of evidence at issue in the trial of Martin K. Miller, a carpenter and former Christian-school trustee charged with suffocating his wife, Mary, last July at their home at 2105 Carolina St.
Prosecutors seek to introduce photos from Mary Miller’s medical exam, as well as pornographic photos reportedly found on Martin Miller’s computer and photos depicting his affair with another woman.
Prosecution and defense attorneys are trying to reach agreement about which photos should be excluded as irrelevant or inflammatory. But at a pretrial conference on Friday, they told Judge Paula Martin they hadn’t yet reached an agreement. Miller is scheduled to stand trial starting June 13 and has a final pretrial conference scheduled for next week.
Prosecutors allege Miller killed his wife because he wanted to pursue relationships with other women but believed the Lord frowned on divorce. Police initially said the death wasn’t suspicious, but that changed after a coroner found bruising inside Mary Miller’s neck.
The couple’s junior-high-aged children, who were in the home at the time and testified hearing their mother cry out, are expected to be key witnesses against their father. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:13 am Post subject: Webster arrested at Huntsville Christian Academy |
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Headmaster Webster arrested at Huntsville Christian Academy
Webster is the "former Headmaster" because he was arrested.
| Quote: | Former Headmaster Pleads Not Guilty to Child Porn
WorldNow and WAFF
May 31, 2005, 10:37 AM
Waff.com
A former principal who's pleaded not guilty to federal charges of child porn is also being investigated in 2 cases of sex abuse in the Valley. Alan Webster's attorney says he and his client haven't heard from the Madison County District Attorney's office on those allegations yet but they do know the claims have been made.
Webster, former headmaster at Huntsville Christian Academy, made his initial court appearance in Birmingham Wednesday. He is free on bond.
Webster is accused of storing child pornography on his internet account in his office at the school. His attorney, Robert Tuten, says Webster is cooperating with the FBI.
Until his trial, Webster will remain under house arrest. He can only have supervised contact with anyone under 18. His own kids are the exception. Also, Webster must enter a mental treatment program.
Tuten says the restrictions were expected and not at all unusual.
"That he's not going to get in trouble and confine activities so we won't get in trouble or violate any laws," said Tuten.
Most of Webster's court appearances will take place in federal court in Birmingham but some of the pre-trial motions will happen here. |
Last edited by antifascist on Wed Oct 18, 2006 4:29 am; edited 2 times in total |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:16 am Post subject: Overzealous about the Lord Jordi arrested for bomb. |
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Overzealous about the Lord Jordi arrested for bomb.
| Quote: |
Jordi is "overzealous about the Lord."
Suspected abortion clinic bomb plotter arrested
Thursday, November 13, 2003
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/11/12/abortion.clinics.arrest.ap/
Stephen John Jordi was described by his neighbor as "not mentally stable."
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A man arrested on suspicion of plotting to bomb abortion clinics came "perilously close to carrying out his plans" after casing clinics, studying bomb-making and buying material that could be used in an attack, according to the FBI and court documents.
Stephen John Jordi, 35, was arrested Tuesday after agents arranged a meeting aboard a boat, FBI spokeswoman Beverly Esselbach said. He jumped overboard and was pulled from the ocean by the Coast Guard a half-hour later.
Jordi was in the final stages of planning imminent attacks, U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said. A criminal complaint said Jordi cased several South Florida clinics and discussed bombing one in Macon, Ga.
On Tuesday, Jordi and an FBI source bought gasoline cans, flares, starter fluid and propane tanks -- including a large one filled with propane gas, the affidavit said. The source also provided Jordi a .45-caliber pistol, silencer and empty magazines in exchange for $200, the affidavit says. Jordi was arrested later that day.
The affidavit said Jordi had discussed with an FBI source possibly using C-4 plastic explosives, propane tank bombs or pipe bombs and had studied bombing methods throughout the fall.
"He was perilously close to carrying out his plans," Esselbach said.
Jordi was charged with solicitation to commit a crime of violence; distribution of information relating to making and using explosives for arson; and possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device.
Jordi admired Paul Hill, who was executed September 3 for killing an abortion doctor and his bodyguard outside a Pensacola clinic in 1994, Jimenez said. According to the affidavit, Jordi showed the FBI source a letter in which Hill thanked Jordi for his moral and financial support.
The affidavit also says Jordi, a former Army Ranger, hoped to be "on the run" like Eric Rudolph, who is charged with the Olympic park bombing and abortion clinic bombings. The affidavit said Jordi told an FBI source he expected to eventually be hunted by authorities: "As long as I keep hitting places ... they'll keep after me ... but like trying to catch a cockroach in a house ... they won't get me."
Jimenez said the arrest affidavit "makes clear that this is a dangerous person that has now been taken off the streets."
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force had been investigating Jordi since August.
Esselbach said Jordi's Coconut Creek house was searched late Tuesday, but she would not comment Wednesday on what was found.
Jordi's brother, Michael Jordi, said by telephone Wednesday that he told the FBI of the plot after learning about it in July. He said he and his brother have a poor relationship, and called him mentally unstable. He said the allegations didn't surprise him.
"That's why we called the FBI. Where he's at (in custody) he needs to be," said Michael Jordi, a Bridgeport, Alabama, resident. He refused to comment further.
Stephen Jordi was arrested in 2000 on an allegation of child abuse, but the case was dropped two months later.
Dwight Ward, Stephen Jordi's brother-in-law, said Wednesday he thought Jordi once mentioned to a relative that he might "do something to an abortion clinic." Ward said Jordi never specifically talked about blowing up clinics.
Jordi is "overzealous about the Lord," but not a violent person, Ward said.
Ward said that if the allegations were true, Jordi would only "try to destroy the clinic itself, if anything. He would have done it after hours and hope no one was in there.
"He was trying to discourage the act and not the people behind it."
A woman who answered the phone at Jordi's address Wednesday confirmed that it was his home, but said she did not want to speak to reporters. A message left with Jordi's public defender was not returned.
Hill was the first person put to death in the United States for anti-abortion violence, and abortion rights activists warned that his execution could lead to reprisals from extremists.
Mona Reis, director of Presidential Women's Center in West Palm Beach, said clinics have been on heightened alert since Hill's execution.
This fall also represents the five-year anniversary of the shooting death of Dr. Barnett Slepian by an anti-abortion activist in suburban Buffalo, New York. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:19 am Post subject: "God Asked Me To Bring [sic] My Family To Heaven." |
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"God Asked Me To Bring [sic] My Family To Heaven."
| Quote: | Suicide Note: God Asked Me To Bring My Family To Heaven
Officials: Man Shot Wife, 2 Children Before Killing Self
http://www.channel3000.com/news/4160058/detail.html
UPDATED: 11:18 am CST February 4, 2005
HILLSBORO, Wis. -- People in two southern Wisconsin communities are searching for answers after a man shot and killed his family while they slept, before turning the gun on himself.
Sheriff's officials say Joseph Ganshert, 42, apparently killed his wife, Mary Ganshert, 36, and her two children Mandi Ganshert, 5, and Troy Klein Jr., 14, Wednesday in their Hillsboro home in Vernon County. Officers found the three at the residence at about 7:40 p.m. with gunshots to the head.
After killing his family, officials say Joseph Ganshert went to his sister's farm in Gratiot, about 15 miles southeast of Darlington in Lafayette County and shot himself.
Vernon County Sheriff Gene Cary said notes found at the scene showed the man believed his family was going to "a better place," and one read, "God asked me to bring my family to heaven."
All were shot in the head while they were sleeping. Officials said there is no motive for the crimes, and there where no red flags about the family, prior to the killings.
"This family, for all practical purposes, was unknown to law enforcement," Cary said.
The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department found the body of Joseph Ganshert first. While investigating his apparent suicide, they found documents at the scene that led them to believe that Mary Ganshert could be in danger.
They then called the Vernon County Sheriff's Department for them to check on her, but family members had already contacted authorities because they hadn't heard anything from her.
The Hillsboro school district administrator Scott Peterson said the girl was a kindergartner at the elementary school and the boy a ninth-grader at the high school.
LaFayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley said neighbors are shocked and confused.
"The whole thing was so terribly tragic -- the loss of these lives," Pedley said. "It runs through my mind, what could possibly be so wrong that could cause a person to do this? It's just horribly tragic."
"To try to comprehend and understand a 5-year-old being shot by a biological parent just defies all logic and ...we're trying to work through that," said Vernon County Undersheriff Jim Hanson.
Joseph Ganshert was a Richland Center factory worker.
Mary Ganshert grew up in Hillsboro and worked as an auto shop accountant in New Lisbon. She was known to be very involved with her kids and school.
Troy Klein Jr. also has family in Verona and Stoughton. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:21 am Post subject: Jackie shoots Harley over argument about Jesus. |
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Jackie shoots Harley over argument about Jesus.
| Quote: | THE LAST WORD
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/columns/story.asp?id=3755
In September, Bluewell, W.Va., residents Jackie Lee Shrader, 49, and his son, Harley Lee, 24, had a brief shootout with .22-caliber handguns, provoked when the pair confronted each other over how to cook skinless chicken for dinner. Also in September, Niccolo Rossodivita, 62, shot Billy Cordova, 40, twice in the chest after Cordova followed him around their Wasilla, Alaska, house, prolonging their argument over Jesus Christ's correct name.
And in Eugene, Ore., Angela Morris, 19, was charged with assaulting her boyfriend by pouring boiling oil on him during an argument over a Bible verse the two had been reading together in May. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject: Jeff Miller backing marriage amendment divorced |
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| Quote: | Senator backing marriage amendment getting divorce
April 14, 2005, 10:25
http://www.wsmv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3211261&nav=1TcRYfpp&Call=Email&Format=Text
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A state senator sponsoring a constitutional amendment aimed at "solemnizing the relationship of one man and one woman" is accused in a divorce case of cheating on his wife.
State Sen. Jeff Miller, a Republican from Cleveland, is accused of "inappropriate marital conduct" in a divorce complaint filed Feb. 25 in Bradley County.
The senator's March 2 answer to the complaint "vehemently denies" any inappropriate marital conduct.
"He is very hypocritical, fighting for the sanctity of marriage and not keeping his own," the senator's wife of 15 years, Bridgitte Suzanne Miller, said in a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Jeff Miller, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, acknowledged the divorce in a statement Thursday.
"Divorce is a very difficult time for everyone," he said. "It is a very private matter which is played out in public proceedings. My chief concern right now is the best interest of our children."
The senator's wife said Wednesday her husband was involved with a woman in Nashville. She said family members saw him with the woman at a Martina McBride concert.
"He told them that she was just a friend," Ms. Miller said. "That really bothered me."
The state Senate approved Miller's marriage protection amendment Feb. 22. In addition to defining marriage as "the historical institutional and legal contract solemnizing the relationship of one man and one woman," it would also forbid state recognition of same-sex marriages.
Miller stopped an attempt to include a constitutional ban on adultery in the amendment.
Court records show his wife has custody of the couple's three minor children, and the senator has agreed to pay $3,000 a month in child support, with Saturday visitation privileges.
"We are very amicable and are talking every day. We remain close throughout this period," Miller said in his statement. "We have tried to work things out, however it has become apparent over the last week or so that we have irreconcilable differences."
Miller, 42, is acting as his own lawyer in the case.
There is legislation pending in the Tennessee House and Senate that would give judges in divorce cases discretion in deciding how to split assets whenever there is clear and convincing evidence that one of the parties has committed adultery, abandonment or physical abuse.
That bill is being sponsored by another southeast Tennessee Republican, Chris Clem of Lookout Mountain.
"People need to know there is a line ... physical abuse, abandonment or adultery ... the first person who crosses that line is going to have to pay." |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:56 pm Post subject: Man allegedly used Bible to justify rape |
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| Quote: | Man allegedly used Bible to justify rape
By Holly Hollman
DAILY Staff Writer
MARCH 23, 2005
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/050323/bible.shtml
MADISON — An investigator said a Limestone County man allegedly used the Bible to justify raping a young woman since her childhood.
Sheriff's Department investigator Mike Boyles said a 19-year-old woman reported the alleged sexual abuse Monday.
"Her boyfriend felt something was bothering her and something wasn't right about her relationship with this man," Boyles said. "Her boyfriend finally got her to tell him about the abuse and brought her to the Sheriff's Department."
On Tuesday, investigators arrested Joseph Thomas Kriz, 45, of 4164 Pryor Road in Madison-annexed Limestone County near the Swancott community, Boyles said. He is in the County Jail on charges that include first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy.
Boyles said the teen told investigators that Kriz, a 1996 U.S. Navy retiree, allegedly began sexually abusing her when she was 11 years old.
"He had been brainwashing her over the years," Boyles said. "He read her Bible Scriptures to make it sound like what he was doing was OK."
The woman told investigators he kept sex toys at his home, Boyles said.
"We searched his house and found disgusting things," Boyles said. "He had sex toys and other items that gave him sexual gratification."
The woman said the last sexual encounter with the man occurred in the summer of 2004.
Boyles said Kriz has lived in Limestone County for five years. Before that, he lived in Huntsville.
Boyles said investigators will talk to Huntsville police about possible charges.
"The scary thing is that with him having been in the Navy, what else might he have done?" Boyles asked.
Kriz was to have a bond hearing at the Limestone County Courthouse today. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject: Brother Henk kills Son believing child was the AntiChrist. |
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Brother Henk kills Son believing child was the AntiChrist.
I wonder what Henk would have thought if he knew about this board. So are Christian families safer than non-Christian families?
| Quote: |
Henk Admits To Killing Son
Says Brendan Gonzalez wore the mark of the beast
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/312171.html
Ivan Henk has confessed to killing his four-year-old son, Brendan Gonzalez, saying he thought his son was the Antichrist.
The confession came during a court appearance Tuesday afternoon during which Henk was sentenced on two counts related to a police pursuit that he was involved in on the day Brendan turned up missing. That was on January 6th.
Henk has remained in custody since then and he was a suspect in Brendan's disappearance but was never charged. Police didn't have the evidence and Henk continuously denied knowledge of what happened to the boy.
Just after being sentenced on the traffic charges, as he was being led out of the courtroom, Henk turned to Brendan's mother, Rebecca Gonzalez, and said, "The reason I killed Brendan is that he was the Antichrist. He had 666 across his forehead."
Henk was taken from the courtroom by sheriff's deputies as Rebecca Gonzalez responded, "Oh, my God. Did you hear him? He just said he killed my baby."
Authorities have searched extensively for the child's body, renewing search efforts this past weekend.
Specially trained dogs were brought in and they indicated they were picking up the scent of human remains in a sandpit near Plattsmouth. They search came up empty.
DNA tests performed on blood recovered from Henk's car proved the blood was from Brendan but there was no indication of how it got there or what became of the child. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:41 pm Post subject: Cult leader Robidoux starves baby to death |
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Fundatmentalist cult leader Robidoux starves baby to death.
| Quote: | Mass. v. Karin Robidoux: Cult couple accused of starving baby to death
http://www.courttv.com/trials/taped/robidoux2/background.html
June 30, 2004
(Court TV) — Karin and Jacques Robidoux claimed they were following the word of God when they took their 10-month-old son off of solid food and placed him on rigid diet consisting of only the pregnant defendant's breast milk.
For 51 days, the Massachusetts couple allowed their son, Samuel, to slowly and painfully starve to death right in front of their eyes. The Robidoux's were part of a small religious sect called "The Body" that believed group members would receive direct messages or "leadings" from God.
It was a leading of one member — Karin Robidoux's sister-in-law — that led to the victim's death by starvation. Karin was also placed on an almost equally debilitating diet, required to drink a gallon of "almond milk" a day.
In 2002, a jury heard these claims and convicted Jacques Robidoux of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Karin Robidoux was initially deemed incompetent to stand trial, but ultimately faced a Bristol County jury in January 2004.
While the prosecution maintained Karin Robidoux starved the infant to death, the defense insisted that the 28-year-old was a victim of a cult that mentally abused her. If convicted of the top count of second-degree murder, she faced life in prison.
The Story
Prosecutors allege Karin and Jacques Robidoux began depriving their son, Samuel, of solid foods in March 1999 after Jacques' sister reported having a vision.
Michelle Mingo said she had a "leading" that Karen was vain because she was slim, and needed to eliminate such a vice. To do so, Mingo instructed Karin to drink a gallon of almond milk a day and only feed Samuel water and breast milk 20 minutes every hour.
On April 26, 1999, Samuel was dead.
Three months after Samuel's death, Rebecca Corneau, another sister of Jacques Robidoux, sister, and her husband David, both cult members, say she gave birth to a baby that was stillborn.
The group reported neither death to authorities. Prosecutors say that in October the cult took a trip to Baxter State Park in Maine for a religious celebration called the "Feast of Tabernacles," and that while there they buried the tiny bodies of Samuel Robidoux and Jeremiah Corneau.
Meanwhile, Robidoux's former brother-in-law, Dennis Mingo, who left the cult long before Samuel's death, turned over a 10-page handwritten account he found in his home detailing Samuel's deteriorating condition.
After meeting with Dennis Mingo, police began to investigate. The adults in The Body refused to talk. But police interviewed children of the cult members, who confirmed Samuel died. The children also told police of the camping trip to Maine, which was when Samuel and his cousin Jeremiah were buried.
With their evidence stacking up, police leaned on baby Jeremiah's father, David Corneau, who was an active cult member and Robidoux's brother-in-law. Police arrested Corneau and other members for contempt of court for refusing to cooperate with investigators. Corneau reluctantly agreed to help state police by leading them to the babies' remains after prosecutors granted him immunity.
The medical evidence could not confirm what exactly killed little Samuel Robidoux, but it was definitely linked his malnourishment. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:44 pm Post subject: Fundie Ratzmann objected to sermon shot 13 |
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Church of God fundie Ratzmann objected to sermon shot 13.
| Quote: | Police Focus on Religion in Milwaukee Shootings
By JODI WILGOREN
March 15, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/national/15milwaukee.html?ex=1268542800&en=abc3cb6acadb54a5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
CHICAGO, March 14 - The police said Monday that they were increasingly focused on religion as the motive for a man's murderous rampage through a church service on Saturday at a suburban Milwaukee hotel, promising a full investigation even though the killings ended in suicide.
The local pastor of the Living Church of God, Randy L. Gregory, who was killed along with his 16-year-old son, appears to have been executed, the authorities said, while others among the seven dead and four injured were shot at random.
An earlier theory that the gunman, Terry Ratzmann, may have been upset about losing his job has been discarded after the police found that he had long known his contract as a computer technician for GE Healthcare would end on March 25. The authorities also said they found no evidence to support church members' reports that Mr. Ratzmann, 44, suffered from depression, and said that he was not on medication.
So while they remain unable to explain why Mr. Ratzmann stormed out of services two weeks before - or even whether the sermon that upset him was given via videotape by the church's international leader, Roderick C. Meredith, or by Mr. Gregory - the police see the little-known church as the key.
"We believe that the motive has something to do with the church and the church services more so than any other possible motive," Capt. Phil Horter of the Brookfield, Wis., Police Department said at a news conference on Monday. "We're looking at the church totality, whether it's members of the church, members of the hierarchy of the church, the sermons of the church," he added.
Investigators are combing through some 1,000 e-mail messages and other files, about 70 of them encrypted, on three computers seized from the home where Mr. Ratzmann lived with his mother and sister, and one from his office. A message left on the Ratzmanns' answering machine on Monday was not returned.
"You're looking for logic in an illogical act," the Waukesha County district attorney, Paul Bucher, told reporters on Monday.
The Living Church of God, an offshoot of a sect seen by some as a cult, the Worldwide Church of God, is a fringe group that advocates literal adherence to the Bible, observes a Saturday Sabbath, rejects the Holy Trinity concept and frequently focuses on a coming apocalypse. The national director of church administration, Charles Bryce, disputed reports about Mr. Ratzmann's angry departure from the Feb. 26 service but declined to discuss that week's videotaped sermon.
"We are a peaceful church," said Mr. Bryce, who flew to Wisconsin from the church's headquarters in North Carolina on Sunday to counsel local church members.
The police said Monday that Mr. Ratzmann purchased the 9-millimeter handgun used in Saturday's shootings last June. They said he was seen at the hotel on Saturday morning holding a briefcase, and apparently returned home, where the briefcase - containing a Bible - was found, before bursting into the hotel ballroom brandishing the handgun 20 minutes after the 12:30 p.m. service began.
Mr. Gregory and his family are believed to have been targets, the authorities said, while others were hit randomly. Four victims, including the Gregorys, died of single gunshots to the chest, while the others were shot two to four times each.
Tapes of several 911 calls from church members reveal chaos, with people wailing and screaming in the background.
"Many, many, many, many fired, shot," a breathless man told the operator, struggling to get out the name of the hotel where the shooting occurred, and mistakenly identifying it as a Marriott, rather than a Sheraton. "I don't know how many were shot, a lot of them."
One woman identified Mr. Ratzmann and even said he had been depressed.
"Oh my, oh no, oh no, oh no, Gloria is dead, oh no, oh no, oh no, there's at least - how many are on the floor? - 5 to 10," the woman says. "Five to 10 at least, oh my, one of my friends is laying on the floor, I think she's dead. This is a massacre."
Gloria Critari, 50, was indeed among the victims identified Sunday.
"All of a sudden we heard bang like a firecracker, but it was so loud and then again and again," the woman continued. "My husband pushed me down to the floor, my son. We all went to the floor, everybody.
"Right after this we're having a potluck and then an entertainment show this evening," she added. "I think it's all on hold." |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:18 pm Post subject: Miller's mistress takes the stand |
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| Quote: | Miller's mistress takes the stand
Eric Weslander reporting
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Rev. Miller
Defense attorneys this afternoon began making their case for accused wife killer Martin K. Miller.
The prosecution attorneys finished presenting their evidence and testimony at 3:40 p.m. The last prosecution witness was Lawrence Police Det. Scott Slifer. He gave testimony about evidence discovered on Miller’s computer.
Earlier today, the mistress of the well-known Lawrence man charged with strangling his wife took the stand to describe the secrecy of their affair.
Carrie Parbs, a woman that Martin K. Miller met online, testified about the regular sexual encounters she had with Miller in the years leading up to the death of Miller’s ex-wife, Mary E. Miller.
Parbs said that in December 2001, she moved from Roeland Park to Eudora so that it would be easier to get together with Miller. The two went as far as getting a false Eudora phone listing for her under the name “Fred and Randi Peters.”
Parbs testified the couple got together on Saturdays under the pretext that Miller was having a Bible study with Fred Peters. They occasionally would study the Bible before engaging in sexual activity that included role-playing, bondage, spanking, and taking photographs.
“Mary and I were so different. He felt like he had found in me what he had been looking for,” Parbs said. “Things like outward affection, affirmation of the things he did... being more adventurous.”
Parbs is testifying as a witness for prosecutors, who are trying to show that Miller, a carpenter and former leader at Veritas Christian School, wanted to kill his wife so he could pursue alternative lifestyles. It is the third day of testimony in his trial on a charge of first-degree murder.
Parbs testified that she and Miller often went on out-of-town trips under the pretext that Miller was going to woodworking conferences or other events. In 2002, they had a “commitment ceremony” and exchanged rings during a camping trip.
Parbs testified Miller often told her he planned to divorce his wife. At one point, he said it would be happening in a matter of weeks, but he changed his mind and told her it wouldn’t happen until their junior-high-aged children were grown up.
A few weeks before Mary Miller’s death in July 2004, Parbs and Martin Miller got a jacuzzi suite in St. Joseph, Mo. to celebrate the two-year anniversary of their commitment.
“He told (his family) that Fred and Randi Peters were moving and that they’d asked for his help,” Parbs testified. |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: Minister who was addicted to porn says case not rare |
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| Quote: | Minister who was addicted to porn says case not rare
By Dave Ranney (Contact)
Thursday, July 21, 2005
ljworld.com
When the Rev. Darrell Brazell, an evangelical minister, first heard that police had found thousands of pornographic images on former Christian-school leader Martin K. Miller"s home computer, he wasn"t surprised.
"They said they found something like 6,000 images," Brazell said. "That sounds like a lot, but it"s not. You can download that much in a very short amount of time."
Brazell knows. He admitted to being addicted to pornography for 15 years.
"I suspect if there was a forensic examination of all the personal computers in Lawrence, some similar-size collections would show up in some very shocking places," said Brazell, pastor at New Hope Fellowship, 1449 Kasold Drive.
Brazell, who said he"s been "clean" for five years, counsels and coordinates faith-based support groups for men addicted to pornography.
He said he"s met several times with Miller, who was convicted last month of strangling his wife, Mary E. Miller, 46, a librarian at Kansas University. Brazell did not meet Marty Miller until after the man was charged with first-degree murder and was free on bond.
Darren Brazell, pastor at New Hope Fellowship, was addicted to pornography for 15 years. Convicted killer Martin K. Miller says Brazell helped him overcome his own addiction.
During his trial, Miller credited Brazell with helping him overcome his addiction, noting that he had given up porn Sept. 15, which was almost two months after his wife was killed.
Miller also testified he first had a "problem" with pornography when he was 10 or 11 years old.
His ever-escalating addiction, Miller said, caused him to participate in an online adult dating service, which led to his having an extramarital affair with a Eudora woman that included role-playing, bondage, spanking and explicit photographs.
Prosecutors argued that Miller, a carpenter, wanted his wife out of the way so he"d be free to pursue sexual relationships with other women and so he could collect more than $300,000 in life-insurance money.
Clearly, Brazell said, Miller"s addiction to pornography caused him to act irrationally.
"That"s the bottom-line evidence of addiction: You do something you don"t want to do," he said.
Christian men, Brazell said, are especially susceptible to becoming addicted to pornography and, consequently, masturbation.
"As a Christian, you believe that pornography and masturbation are morally wrong," he said. "And yet, because of so many issues that we grow up with, you"re attracted to it, which causes all kinds of shame and guilt " you"re in pain."
As this pain intensifies, Brazell said, so too does the attraction to pornography.
"You wind up in this downward spiral that after a while, you can"t get out of," he said. "The addict within you does things the rational self would never do."
Non-Christians, Brazell said, may be less vulnerable to pornography addiction because they experience less shame.
Miller testified that his addiction was so out of control that after he was charged in his wife's murder and released on bond, he used money from his children"s bank account to buy a new computer to replace the machine seized by police.
He said he intended to use the computer for business, but soon began logging onto pornographic Web sites and accessing adult dating sites.
Miller attributed his actions to habit and curiosity.
"Some of it (was) fantasy," he said.
Brazell called pornographic Web sites the "crack cocaine of sex addiction."
The sites are especially addictive, he said, because they"re easy to find, relatively cheap and, as long as they don"t involve children, perfectly legal. Soliciting child pornography is a crime.
Viagra at 20
Cynthia Akagi, an assistant health education professor at Kansas University, agreed that as a group, Christian men are most vulnerable to becoming addicted to pornography. But that"s not to say non- or lesser-Christians are trouble-free.
"My concern is the effect that consistently viewing pornography has on personal relationships," she said. "If you"re a male, you tend to see women as sex objects who want to have sex 24 hours a day. And you set some unrealistic expectations for yourself, which is why we"re seeing 20-somethings using Viagra off the Internet."
Martin Miller, who testified that he had a pornography addiction, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday afternoon for the murder of his wife, Mary E. Miller. Martin turned to his mother, Ocoee, and asked her to call him.
Akagi said male students tell her it"s common for them to log on to a "favorite porn site when their partner"s not around."
"Keep in mind, this is a generation that"s grown up on the Internet," she said.
Akagi said she"s surprised that for much of society, pornography addiction remains under the radar.
"As a health educator, I"d like to see more reaching out " saying, "Men " Christian or non-Christian " if you"re viewing porn every night after your wife goes to bed, you have a problem. Call us for help.""
She added, "Many things break up marriages these days, and this is certainly one of them."
At Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Marciana Crothers, an addiction specialist, said few people have sought counseling for pornography addiction.
"Typically, we see people who are more disturbed by someone else"s use of pornography," Crothers said. "I"ve only had one couple come in (seeking help) for themselves."
Crothers attributed the low numbers to the inherent differences between pornography and alcohol, drugs and gambling. Porn addiction is easier to maintain and hide.
"First of all, as long as it"s not child pornography, it"s legal and readily accessible " unlike drugs," she said. "Second, when you"re drinking, your friends and family get tired of you and start to leave you alone. It"s an abandonment that may cause you to seek treatment.
"But with the Internet, you can take part in these adult chat rooms and have unlimited access to people," she said. "It"s a lot easier to hide than, say, a drinking problem."
Those addicted to gambling, she said, often seek treatment because they"ve bankrupted their families. But the Internet, she said, is loaded with free or low-cost pornography.
It"s also true, Brazell said, that being addicted to pornography carries a stigma that gambling, alcohol and drugs do not.
"It"s much more shameful and difficult to admit to having a sexual addiction," Brazell said. "You can talk about being addicted to alcohol or drugs and it"s, "OK, sure, yeah, here"s who can help." But as soon as you say the word "sex," you"re a pervert or some kind of child molester."
Brazell said most of the men who take part in his support groups drive in from out of town.
"There aren"t a lot resources out there," he said. "Most churches are too terrified to deal with this." |
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antifascist
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| Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:04 am Post subject: Jay Timmons,GOP Nat. Rep. Comitt. Anti-Gay Leader Outed |
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The next five or so posts are about religious figures or Republicans working with fundamentalist organizations (the two groups are more an more difficult to separate) that lead anti-gay campaigns but are then found to be engaging in gay behavior themselves. I am posting these incidents not because they are gay, but because they condemned others for the same behavior they exhibit--in other words hypocrisy.
| Quote: | Jay Timmons,GOP Nat. Rep. Comitt. Anti-Gay Leader Outed
Leader of GOP Senate effort is outed
Allen"s former chief of staff refuses comment
By ADRIAN BRUNE
Friday, July 23, 2004
www.washblade.com
The man heading up the effort by Republicans to keep control of the United States Senate is the latest gay politico to be outed by local activists.
Jay Timmons, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, declined comment this week on efforts to publicize his sexual orientation. But a spokesperson for the NRSC, Dan Allen, said that the committee has a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
"We hire the people who we think have the best abilities for this job and these campaigns," he said. "We represent a wide variety of views in candidates, and we don"t expect staffers to be ideologically aligned with them all."
Timmons got his NRSC post because his boss, Virginia Sen. George Allen, was named to head the GOP group in 2002. Timmons had been Allen"s chief of staff in his Senate office and also worked for the conservative Republican when he was Virginia"s governor.
Allen announced his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment in the weeks leading up to a Senate vote on the measure, which would change the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage. Republican leaders used their majority control of the Senate to bring the FMA to a vote and have vowed to do so again.
The NRSC, headed by Timmons, has the single responsibility to ensure the election of Republican candidates to the Senate and has declared its intention to seize upon the issue of same-sex marriage to motivate conservative voters to unseat congressional Democrats.
Minutes after the results were tallied on the amendment"s roll call vote last week, Republican Senate candidates in the South and West sent out angry statements through the NRSC proclaiming the end of marriage should Democrats take control of Congress.
Local gay activist Michael Rogers, who has led the effort to out gays working for conservative politicians, has compared Timmons to the late Roy Cohn, the high-profile gay attorney who started his career as an aide to former anti-communist Senator Joseph McCarthy.
"What this community is saying is that we will no longer tolerate the Roy Cohns of the world," Rogers said. "We"re talking about gay men working for homophobes in the day, raising money for them and advocating their policies, and then going to the bars at night. Jay Timmons is a Roy Cohn."
Anti-gay mentor
Allen, Timmons" political mentor, scored a 14 on the Human Rights Campaign scorecard for the 107th Congress, credited only with establishing a written non-discrimination policy for his own staff.
Timmons, who also sits at the helm of the Republican Presidential Task Force, last spring attended a Heritage Foundation reception for a group of students from Regent University, a Christian graduate school founded by Pat Robertson.
Alongside anti-gay Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), the author of the FMA, Timmons gave a detailed presentation on the most contentious Senate races in the country and the NRSC"s strategy for winning them.
An instrumental figure in Allen"s career since his 2000 bid for Senate, Timmons has served as Allen"s campaign manager, spokesperson, chief of staff and now his representative at the NRSC.
Some say, in an extended olive branch to Virginia gay residents, Timmons arranged the then-Senatorial candidate"s 2000 controversial meeting with the Log Cabin Republican Club of Northern Virginia, in which he promised to "keep an open door toward their concerns."
But that move didn"t give Timmons amnesty from the activists" current campaign, said John Aravosis, who along with Rogers is heading up the effort to out gays they believe are working against the interests of gay people.
"Even if [Timmons] didn"t truly believe in all of the committee"s stances, he can"t just get by with a nudge, nudge and a wink, wink, anymore," said Aravosis, who is himself a former staff attorney himself for anti-gay Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
No end to outings
What started as a personal battle against the Federal Marriage Amendment on Capitol Hill has now developed into an indefinite crusade to "expose more homophobes inside the gay community," Rogers said this week.
Rogers and Aravosis have been using their Web sites to out closeted members of Congress who support the FMA and their gay staff members.
On his Web site this week, Rogers called on supporters to follow his lead on these outings.
"If you are like me, you"re probably wondering: How, in America, in 2004, can an openly gay man live with himself while he works to elect those that would ensure second-class citizenship upon his own community?" Rogers wrote.
He then urged others to call Timmons" office.
"Now some of you might find this impossible to believe, but pick up the phone and call him, just like I did."
With that entreaty, Rogers launched a slightly altered, and considerably more aggressive approach in his campaign to "highlight" the sexual orientations of gay staffers who work for anti-gay legislators.
Rogers, who discussed the outing phenomemon Tuesday night in an appearance on "The O"Reilly Factor" with conservative Fox News host Bill O"Reilly, asserted that the campaign he spearheaded "has accomplished 100 times more than we set out to do."
His next step, he said, will be to monitor and reveal the actions of straight pro-family politicians, backing "pro-family" platforms, but not personally abiding by them.
"I believe that every bit of activism counts," Rogers said.
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antifascist
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| Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:06 am Post subject: Adviser to GOP had gay wedding |
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He worked with Jesse Helms for years!!!! Hmmmm.
| Quote: | Adviser to GOP had gay wedding
Political strategist in far-right races is called 'hypocrite'
By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff | April 10, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/10/adviser_to_gop_had_gay_wedding/
A Republican consultant known for his sharp attacks on liberal causes -- and for boosting conservative careers like that of former US senator Jesse Helms -- married his longtime male partner late last year at their home in Ipswich.
Arthur J. Finkelstein, 59, has advised Governor Mitt Romney, who opposes gay marriage, and Governor George S. Pataki of New York, who said gay marriages performed in Massachusetts would not be recognized in his state. Finkelstein played a key role in Helms's come-from-behind victory in 1990, a campaign denounced for using homophobia to win votes.
Helms, who represented North Carolina in the Senate for 30 years, has rejected gay rights and has called homosexual behavior ''disgusting."
But Finkelstein, who was identified as gay in a Boston magazine story nine years ago, was quoted as saying in The New York Times that he married in December to secure the same rights granted other married couples, such as hospital visitation and healthcare benefits. He and his partner have been together for 40 years, the newspaper reported yesterday.
The marriage was a surprising move by a figure closely associated with conservative politics. Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said the marriage was glaringly inconsistent with Finkelstein's work.
''He's a hypocrite," Johnston said. ''For years he's worked for right-wing candidates who demonize gays and lesbians, and who have tried to prevent gays and lesbians from being married."
A New York native who moved to Ipswich after helping his friend Avi Nelson, the TV and radio personality, campaign for Congress in Massachusetts, Finkelstein has been praised as a political genius and has been condemned as an architect of negative strategies.
He helped former state treasurer Joseph D. Malone cast Paul Cellucci, then acting governor, as a liberal spender ''just like Mike Dukakis," the former governor and presidential candidate, in Malone's unsuccessful bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1998.
And he helped another North Carolina Republican senator, Lauch Faircloth, depict his Democratic rival, John Edwards, who ran with Senator John F. Kerry last year, as a ''Bill Clinton liberal."
Finkelstein also worked for Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, in his unsuccessful campaign against Ehud Barak in 1999, which tried to convince voters that Barak would give up too much land to the Palestinians.
Known for protecting his privacy and rarely granting interviews, Finkelstein could not be reached yesterday. |
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antifascist
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:07 pm Post subject: Republican Paul Koering comes out |
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| Quote: |
Minnesota state senator comes out, endorses 'outing' anti- gay
politicians
By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrn...a_comes_out_413
A Minnesota state senator who bucked his party in voting against a
measure to that would bring an amendment to the state’s constitution
to prohibit gay marriage to the full Senate has revealed that he is
gay, RAW STORY has learned.
The senator, Republican Paul Koering, has also endorsed efforts to
expose gay politicians who wield their power to oppose gay rights.
Koering, 40, hails from farm country, some 150 miles north of
Minneapolis.
He says his decision to come out was a complex one, but that the
marriage amendment vote--aligned with the two year anniversary of his
mother’s death--finally led him to believe the time was right. |
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