[Freedom2specul8]

Here, maybe this will help you judge the intentions of those you think are persecuting (bashing?) religion

Main Entry: per·se·cu·tion

Pronunciation: "p&r-si-'kyü-sh&n

Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 : the act or practice of persecuting especially those who differ in origin, religion, or social outlook

2 : the condition of being persecuted , harassed, or annoyed

Pronunciation: 'bash
Function: verb
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: 1750
transitive senses

1 : to strike violently : HIT; also : to injure or damage by striking : SMASH -- often used with in

2 : to attack physically or verbally

[MizSterious]

Kim, I do know how to read. I am conversant with the definitions of commonly used words. And I know what you wrote. You can clog the threads with data dumps all you want, but what you wrote stands out like a big, ugly, oozing sore.

[Lauratealeaf]

I agree, RnMomof7--and frankly I'm tired of the religion bashers on this board. I'm not buying the feeble excuses being offered: when faith is considered a weakness by someone, that tells me all I need to know about that person.

Faith does not make one weak. Believers were advised by Jesus to be "wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove." I find nothing wise nor harmless about the van Dams' behavior on the night of their daughter's disappearance. This is just more deflection of the parent's bad behavior onto people whose children have been molested by priests.

I have a personal observation to offer in that regard. When my son was in second grade we enrolled him in a Christian school. It was sponsored by a small church. One Sunday the pastor was just not there anymore after having celebrated his twentieth anniversary at that congregation just the week before.

I asked around and no one would say very much. Finally a mother of one of my son's classmates told me what happened. It turns out that the pastor was a homosexual. (he was married and the father of four children) The only way he was caught was that one day he came onto a teenage boy in the high school when he was counseling him. The boy very smartly rejected his advances and went home and told his parents. The parents contacted the assistant pastor and the principal and they began to keep a close eye on the pastor. They noticed that he had men who were not members of the church coming in to see him quite often. They caught him in the act with one and the pastor was gone the next day. Parents of teenagers were contacted quietly and counseling was available. The church handled the situation well. In that case the Christians were not "weak" and many eyes were opened. We knew that there could be wolves among the sheep.

The van Dams apparentally were clueless and blind swingers, willing to put at risk their own children. Faithless people. Faithless to each other and faithless to their children. It is probable that the only time they have ever considered the word "Faith" was when they heard George Michael sing it. It was probably one of the songs that Brenda danced to.