Posted on 07/18/2009 10:21:48 AM PDT by thecodont
It's another beautiful day in paradise and I'm out on the ocean, riding waves with a former national surfing champion and onetime prostitute who's about to join a seminary.
Go ahead, try to name one other state where I could have written that sentence.
"Terrific!" yells Mary Setterholm, my instructor, who forgives my every wipeout and cheers when I finally ride a wave all the way to shore.
Setterholm, who now runs a Santa Monica surfing school, won the U.S. Women's title in 1972, at age 17. And you're not going to believe where her trophy is:
On Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's desk.
Where do I even begin?
Perhaps with the e-mail from Ann Hayman, a minister at Brentwood Presbyterian, who remembered that I once wrote about a skid row prostitute who lived in a Porta-Potty but later turned her life around. Hayman, who worked with prostitutes for 28 years, had someone she wanted me to meet.
So I drove to Brentwood to meet Hayman and Setterholm. Over coffee -- and the next day at the beach -- Setterholm spun a tale both tragic and triumphant:
As a young child, Setterholm told me, she was physically and sexually abused repeatedly by a baby-sitter, and then beginning in seventh grade, she was molested for years by a now-deceased priest from her Catholic church in Westwood. When her family moved to the Huntington Beach area, Setterholm found herself drawn to the sea. There was honesty and security in the rhythm of the waves, but the ride to the shore was fraught with danger.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Great story. She ‘gets’ it. It’s not about money, it’s about Forgiveness and Forgiving. No amount of money can purchase that or create it. It comes from the heart.
God Speed on her Ministry.
“As a young child, Setterholm told me, she was physically and sexually abused repeatedly by a baby-sitter, and then beginning in seventh grade, she was molested for years by a now-deceased priest from her Catholic church in Westwood.”
Typical of prostitutes, which I mention whenever I write a post explaining for die-hard Libertarians the reasons prostitution isn’t a simple exchange of labor for money.
Exactly. When people say that prostitution is a "victimless crime" they conveniently overlook the fact that most (or all) people practicing prostitution were already victims of sexual abuse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.