Church Ministry Makes Fun of Effeminate Men, but Also Says They Knew of Abuse : Sept 1967 GN

clipping submitted by SHT

The Worldwide Church of God was actually no better than the Catholic church when it came to abuse of the youth in the church. While the physical abuse was more physical with beating children than it was sexual abuse, the physical abuse from spanking has had a lasting effect on those who grew up in the church as small children.

We had a minister in Cincinnati as I was growing up, who said from the pulpit, that children should be paddled with 20 swats.  20 swats laid on so hard on the child's bottom that it could be heard as the preacher was preaching.  He actually said that he wanted to hear the swats and the child cry. One little boy was so traumatized from previous beatings that as his daddy was carrying him out to be spanked kept saying, "No Daddy!  No!"  Church members thought this was so cute and totally acceptable!

The local Spokesman Club used to sell paddles for church members that were 1 inch thick with holes drilled in them to cut down wind resistance.  Scriptures were also engraved on them just so that parents could not forget the Bible approved of what they were doing.

Who can forget the spanking tents at the Feast sites? The church knew of the abuse that went on inside them so much so that in the Pocono's they actually told members to not be so abusive in case the public saw and heard what was happening in them.

When it came to pedophiles, the church covered up for them just as the Catholics have. Many COG's even employed them at the direction of the presiding leader.

Is it no wonder why the vast majority of youth who grew up in the church are no longer members?

Australian Government Comes to Bat For GCI After Greens Party Falsely Accused It

It was reported a while back here and in various Australian news services that Grace Communion was actively promoting gay conversion therapy in its chaplaincy program.  Apparently a member of the Greens party in Australia did not get her facts straight and falsely accused the GCI.

This is sure to set off our delicate and very bitter persecuted prophet of Arroyo Grande.  This is a claim that Bob Thiel has been vomiting out for many years now that he will be persecuted for promoting anti-gay stances. This will be a bitter disappointment to delicate Bob.  It will add more fuel to his fire of hate filled grievances with GCI, LCG and other COG's.

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Greens condemned on gay conversion claims

REBECCA URBANNATIONAL EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT
Follow@RurbsOz

The Greens have been criticised for linking school chaplains with the widely condemned practice of gay conversion, after Victorian education officials dismissed suggestions that one of the state’s providers had been the subject of complaints.

The Victorian Department of Education has confirmed that it has received no complaints about Christian ministry Grace Communion International, which is a National School Chaplaincy Program provider, since the scheme began in 2015. 

In its response to questions from Greens education spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young during a Senate estimates hearing in May, the department stressed there were stringent guidelines governing chaplains in Victorian schools, including adherence with anti-discrimination and human rights legislation. 

Senator Hanson-Young had singled out Grace Communion during the hearing, saying it was an “organisation that believes in gay conversion therapy”. “I’m quite concerned that some of the organisations providing these chaplain services are a dangerous risk to our kids,” she said. 

Ms Hanson-Young later issued a press release saying “questionable religious organisations using their fringe ideals to … push gay conversion therapy methods are being invited into schools under the government’s $247 million school chaplaincy program”. 

Federal Education Minster Dan Tehan, whose government recently extended the program to include an anti-bullying focus, said the senator “should get her facts right before she makes unsubstantiated allegations”. 

Grace Communion national co-ordinator John McLean said he was relieved he record had been set straight. 

“The reality is that we have one chaplain operating in Australia, in Victoria, and that actually grew organically out of an existing relationship between that individual’s congregation and the local school,” he said. 

“Certainly no one in our Australian organisation supports any attempts to convert LGBTI people. 

“And nothing like that has ever come up in our chaplaincy.”

See story here.