Most Abominable Acts Personally Witnessed In Church

[Amelia]

My grandfather, the minister, used a bullwhip on my uncle as punishment. He is only 9 months older than me. This occured while we were around 10-14 years of age.

 

Fark!! Your grandfather is a bastard!

 

Is he still alive or did he kill himself from all the hate?

[garrisonjj]

My parents still belong to the church they raised me in and it angers me to no end. Not merely because they are living their lives based on one enormous lie but also because the church is one of the most

 

Not quite church, but going to a catholic school run by crazy, neurotic, fucked up nuns. They beat the fuckin hell concept into your minds. Confession to priests who turn out to be fucked up sex offenders. Many strong kids shrugged it off. But me , the sensitive one, let it fill my life with guilt and the worthless sinner concept all my adult life.

Now, those fucked up nuns are gone, the school, that previously had 45 kids in a room is closed, and I have dismissed religion from my life.

Fear, intimidation and hell are the only concepts sustaining religion. Not for this guy.

[garrisonjj]

My parents still belong to the church they raised me in and it angers me to no end. Not merely because they are living their lives based on one enormous lie but also because the church is one of the most

 

Not quite church, but going to a catholic school run by crazy, neurotic, fucked up nuns. They beat the fuckin hell concept into your minds. Confession to priests who turn out to be fucked up sex offenders. Many strong kids shrugged it off. But me , the sensitive one, let it fill my life with guilt and the worthless sinner concept all my adult life.

Now, those fucked up nuns are gone, the school, that previously had 45 kids in a room is closed, and I have dismissed religion from my life.

Fear, intimidation and hell are the only concepts sustaining religion. Not for this guy.

[XtianChris]

Although this isn't very shocking, my pastor told a bold-faced lie to the congregation. After a congregational meeting where a vote was held he announced that the decision was unanimous for the issue although several members of my family had voted against it.

[sparkyone]

I can think of several things, but I suppose the thing that hurt me the most was when I was 15 and we had moved to another state and another Baptist church so my parents could run the church school, and we went back to the town I grew up in to move some things. Anyway, it was a Saturday and my mom and I went by our old church and some kids and moms were there having snacks after a sledding trip. We said hi and stuff, but the pastor's wife went over to the phone and called her husband at home to tell him. I think she asked us to leave at that point, but I remember coming back later and she had locked the door. My dad apparently stuck his foot in the door when someone else was going in, but I don't remember what else was said. I harbored bad feelings about that for years. Not only that, but we were blackballed when we left the church and even though my sister and her husband were still members there, we never did get anyone to tell us what "bad" things we had done to deserve it. She wouldn't tell my parents even when they asked. That was about 18 years ago, and she and my bro-in-law are still friends with that pastor, who is still in that town. People who we thought were friends wouldn't answer letters or talk to us. One couple let us into their home, but they seemed a bit afraid to associate with us.

Now in the present, for years I haven't trusted the pastor at the church where we're presently attending, and my husband has finally gotten several glimpses of what he's really like. He's heard conflicting accounts of incidents for awhile from me or other people and the pastor, and always had trouble deciding who to believe. A few months ago we put a for-sale sign in our window to try to sell our mobile home so we can move out of state. My husband is away looking for a job where he grew up. He had already been called into the office a few times a month or more ago by the pastor because said pastor disagreed with our desire to relocate, and he also told the kids at the church school (including our two) to pray that our trailer doesn't sell so we can't move, etc. So...two weeks ago my parents were visiting and my husband decided to announce formally during a church service his intent to find a job elsewhere and move. His "best" friend came up later and lambasted him and said he was heading for a fall and is that how you tell the pastor, etc. (this man is the pastor's right-hand man). The pastor told my dad that night that it was quite a surprise because it was the first he'd heard of it (the move). Huh? So, we know that was a lie or he's getting very senile.

Another thing was that I witnessed the pastor's grown son (about my age) punching another member in the face in his own car in the parking lot after a service several months ago. I didn't realize at the time that pastor's son had punched him and knocked his glasses off, but a little later he almost ran him down while he was backing out of the parking lot as well. I thought they were kidding around, but the other guy told me about it. I guess he apologized later on. Whoopee! Just a week or two ago before hubby left for job search we went out on the river with the formerly assaulted friend, who hasn't been back to the church since that incident BTW, (wonder why) and when we came back and hour later and pulled the boat out of the river we discovered the two tires on one side of the boat trailer had been punctured deliberately and a few days later his boat was vandalized by someone removing the cotter pin from the propeller and bending some cables that go into the motor. He thinks the incidents are related and he could make a guess as to it being someone from church, but it's only speculation. He's somewhat paranoid about going out with us or being seen with us now. We only told one person that we were going out on the river that evening, but it's a small town and my husband was seen with our friend that morning while he was towing his boat. I have a hard time believing someone I know would do those things, but maybe I really am too trusting and naive or maybe I've rambled on enough.

So, that's about it for now. We are planning to move once everything comes together to work it out. School will be out in one week and I am so glad not to go back to that church nor take my children there anymore.

 

Sparkyone

[Jessica Sideways]

Slave labour through my old bible college.

[UnholyBlackDeath]

Well, I do not have anything dramatic to add. I just think that churches are responsible for so many complexes and repressions found today. I have had several girlfriends who were plagued by depression from all of the guilt heaped upon them. I no longer date anyone who is even half ass religious.

[Garnet]

This didn't happen at a church but I think it counts. At the graveside service for one of my uncles, a "Christian" woman who had known my uncle her whole life showed up and stated loudly, "I don't know why you all are bothering. You know he's burning in hell. You'd all better get right with God." Then she left.

 

My uncle was an agnostic. He was one of the finest men I'd ever known. To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

[Former Follier]

To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

Because religious faith supersedes all.

[Garnet]

To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

Because religious faith supersedes all.

 

True. Christians engage in all kinds of rude and abrasive behavior because apparently their religion gives them a free pass.

[LadyValkyrie]

I don't think this is abominable but it sure pisses me off to this day years after I've given up on all churches. I was attending a Church of God back when I used to live in Ohio some years back. My mother in law was a very prominent member of the church and was well respected. I attended church on a regular basis even though I never really "fit" in with that whole community. Back then I was pretty poor. My second husband was an alcoholic and at times I was forced to get public assistance. So when it came to "church clothes" my clothes were clean, decent, but were never brand new, and were always second hand from thrift stores. I sometimes wore a dress or a skirt if I could find one in a thrift store that fit me properly (I'm a F.A.T. woman... Fabulous And Thick). Most times I wore pants to church. The pastor's wife came to me one time and asked me point blank to please stop wearing pants to church services. When I asked why, she said that it wasn't setting a good example for the teenagers that had been coming to the church as of late. It were her teenaged sons who were bringing in up to 10 other teens to church services at one time. The teen girls that were attending would sometimes where dresses and skirts but mainly wore pants and capris. I was so very pissed! My mother in law wore pants and capris outside of church but never at church and the pastor's wife knew this. At the time all I wanted was to be able to get out of my house a few hours every week so I didn't rock the boat and just wore the few skirts and dresses I had to church. Those teens eventually stopped coming to church all together.

 

I definately find the following abominable. I eventually moved and stopped attending that Church of God. I ended up attending a newly formed Nondenominational Church that actually was formed from a Southern Baptist Church split. It was so new that they didn't even have a building and met every Sunday at their local elementary school auditorium in Ohio. I became so well liked in this church that I had everyone in the church, even the pastor, taking turns to come and pick me and my children up for services. Shortly after I started attending this church I got the courage to leave my alcoholic and abusive second husband. The entire church got together on behalf of my husband and took turns sending members of the church to me where I was staying trying to convince me to go back to my husband and stay with him "for the children's sake" even though he wasn't the biological father to begin with, was a drug addict, alcoholic, would leave us for weeks and months at a time on drunken binges. I finally lost it and told them point blank to kiss my arse. They ended up calling CPS on me saying that I was allowing my children to be in harms way and allowing them to witness witchcraft... the friend I was staying with was a Pagan and practiced Witchcraft. Only those people who came to see me would have known that... noone else knew my friend in this way.

 

I have a lot more "abominations" but to dwell on them is just getting me pissed off.

[LadyValkyrie]

This didn't happen at a church but I think it counts. At the graveside service for one of my uncles, a "Christian" woman who had known my uncle her whole life showed up and stated loudly, "I don't know why you all are bothering. You know he's burning in hell. You'd all better get right with God." Then she left.

 

My uncle was an agnostic. He was one of the finest men I'd ever known. To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

 

 

Hey now, I pride myself on being a bitch! But I am not cold and heartless bitch. So when you describe this person (I won't even refer to her as a lady) then call her for what she is a cold, heartless bitch, that way it clarifies that she is nothing like us regular bitches.

[Garnet]

This didn't happen at a church but I think it counts. At the graveside service for one of my uncles, a "Christian" woman who had known my uncle her whole life showed up and stated loudly, "I don't know why you all are bothering. You know he's burning in hell. You'd all better get right with God." Then she left.

 

My uncle was an agnostic. He was one of the finest men I'd ever known. To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

 

 

Hey now, I pride myself on being a bitch! But I am not cold and heartless bitch. So when you describe this person (I won't even refer to her as a lady) then call her for what she is a cold, heartless bitch, that way it clarifies that she is nothing like us regular bitches.

 

My husband says that bitch stands for Beautiful, Intelligent, Talented, Charming and Horny. Well, at least with me, he got the last one right.

[Grandpa Harley]

Being a 'bitch' is usually what is called being forthright in men. Me? I'm a Queen Bitch and proud... The woman mentioned above lacks the wit be a bitch and is simply crass...

[Japedo]

Being a 'bitch' is usually what is called being forthright in men. Me? I'm a Queen Bitch and proud... The woman mentioned above lacks the wit be a bitch and is simply crass...

 

GH, I'd peg you more as king fkn bastid, I think it's more fitting..

 

 

 

This didn't happen at a church but I think it counts. At the graveside service for one of my uncles, a "Christian" woman who had known my uncle her whole life showed up and stated loudly, "I don't know why you all are bothering. You know he's burning in hell. You'd all better get right with God." Then she left.

 

My uncle was an agnostic. He was one of the finest men I'd ever known. To this day, I do not understand why this bitch, a supposed friend of my uncle, did this.

 

 

 

As a child I was having severe anxiety about the "end times" I didn't want my dad to be left behind as he wasn't saved. I remember the ass Sunday school teacher taking me out to the hallway, kneeling down and telling me not to worry, god would put his hand in front of my face (she did the action) and said I would never even remember my father, so I shouldn't be so upset. This memory sticks with me as a traumatic one. These people are so obtuse to the hate they spread, it borders on criminal.

[Garnet]

I was fairly tramautized by a Chick tract I saw when I was a youngster. But what your teacher did, Japedo, takes the cake. My father said once that Christianity was just an excuse people used to be cruel. I think he was right.

[Deva]

The main thing I remember was hearing a truly abominable sermon by our Fundamentalist Baptist pastor. It was about the "wifely duties" of a Christian married woman. The gist of it was that anytime the husband asked for sex, the wife had to give it to him no matter how she felt, sick or whatever, no excuses could apply. I was only about a 16 year old teenager at the time and it was shocking and appalling. It has been over 30 years and I still remember hearing this justification for rape. It actually was even too much for my parents, as not too long thereafter, they left this church. Unfortunatly, it wasn't enough to make them leave Christian fundamentalism.

 

I remember another incident where I tried to cut sunday school by hiding out in the car in the parking lot. Too bad there were deacons policing the grounds! One of them came out to the car told me to get back in there or he would tell my parents.

 

Also I remember at the age of 9 or so getting tired of endless reading of Bible verses and telling the Sunday School teacher I was not "going to read any more of that junk". She took exception to my calling the Bible junk and started screaming at me. Mind control and child abuse is what I would call it today.

[4truth]

When my son was 16, he was on a mission trip where some other kids bound him to a chair with duck tape, then took lighters and singed the hair on his arms. He was terrified and begged for them to let him go. Then they untied him and made him stick his face in the bare butt of another kid. AND THIS WAS WITH A LEADER IN THE ROOM! The leader said he thought my son needed to be "toughened up." (My son has a mild disability that makes it difficult for him to interact socially in a normal way, so he was oftened bullied for being different and an easy target.)

 

When he got home and told us this, we were furious and immediately confronted the leader, the youth group pastor, and head pastor. The pastors said it was horrible, but the leader had repented and been forgiven. AAAaaauuuuuggghhhh! We would have pressed charges, but my son didn't want to and since the incident occured in another state across the country, it would have had to be dealt with in that state.

 

The leader was still allowed to lead the youth group, until he made a "doctrinal error." Then they made him leave. I guess child abuse is okay, but don't dare to mess with scripture.

 

The pastors asked us to keep this incident among ourselves so that the mission trip and youth group would not be looked down on. Yeah, right.

[BCRoyWatson]

Not quite "in church," but here are two that stand out in my mind ...

 

When I was a teenager, I went to a Southern Baptist "church retreat." Now it was bad enough that the core group of church teens blatantly lied to me to get me to go to this thing -- they said it would be fun, and that there would be a lot of different things to do (when in fact it was three days of bring preached at from sunrise to midnight, with only brief pauses for meals). One night, during the 7:30 PM to midnight preaching marathon, there were several speakers. All but one were boring as hell. Not just because of what they were talking about, but also their speaking style (the low and droning "be sincere and tell it from the heart" delivery affected by many preachers). I was only half-interested in the topics anyway, but even had I been Young Mister Devout, I still would have had problems staying awake.

 

Then the one interesting guy got up to speak; a Jewish man who had converted to Christianity. He was dynamic, energetic, sometimes irreverent (the only good laughs that day were from his remarks); the sort of public speaker who can engage an audience even with weak material. Furthermore, he wasn't preaching at us, but rather talking to us, which was a huge relief; basically, his talk could be summed up as "everyone has to make their own decisions and find their own way, but here's why I did what I did."

 

So, when he finished and opened the floor for questions, a hand shot up. The speaker signalled to the owner of the hand to ask his question, and the owner, a boy of about sixteen, stood up ... and to my horror, asked loudly, with the smug sanctimony which seems possible only to members of certain Christian sects, "how does it feel to know you're no longer going to Hell, now that you're not a Jew?"

 

That would have been bad enough, but not necessarily the church's fault -- put a few hundred people in a crowd, and there's bound to be at least one idiot. But later, when the meeting broke up for the night, and our pastor, his droogs, and all of us teens were walking back to the dorms, the pastor and his buddies were all making approving comments about the young Adolf Eichmann wannabe ... "he's got his facts straight," "he really told it like it is," et cetera. Well, there you have it, straight from church leaders, the naked, bare essence of Christianity -- the absolute certainty that anyone who doesn't agree with their narrow viewpoint is bound for eternal torture, coupled with glee at the prospect of that torture actually being carried out. I guess to such types, the real appeal of Christianity is the idea of having a seat in the bleachers with a great view of the action, a tall cold one in hand, while watching millions of people cook in boiling lava and screaming, "ha ha, told you so!"

 

Incident two (with the same preacher, just before his forced retirement) ... There were rumors going around the town, based on shaky and circumstantial evidence, that two local residents -- brother and sister, both adults, both single -- were, shall we say, engaging in activities which were unusually intimate for siblings. The preacher heard the rumors, and despite the fact that the so-called evidence was very shaky ... despite the fact that neither the brother nor sister were members of his congregation ... he knew his duty was clear. He hustled straight down to the guy's workplace and, in front of his coworkers and several customers who were present, launched into a blistering, fire and brimstone, wave-a-Bible-in-your-face sermon (complete with the requisite quotations from Leviticus and Deuteronomy) ... a sermon which, I might add, was very specific and left absolutely no doubt as to what he was accusing the man of.

 

Anyway, the man did what any sensible person would do; he immediately sought a lawyer and made plans to sue the preacher's ass off for slander. Well, some of the local Christian hypocrites -- err, I mean "community leaders" -- got together enough muscle to strongarm the guy out of making the suit. Nothing physical, just letting him know that if he went ahead with his legal action against "such a good man as the pastor," that he might find his employment in jeopardy, the bank that held his mortgage might get nasty, the police might be slow to respond if some of the more zealous Christian youth decided to teach him a lesson with a few rocks through his windows, etc. Now, some of that isn't the church's fault; there's a tendency in many small Southern towns for the "natural order of things" to protect itself (i.e., who's in the upper ranks vs. lower ranks of local society), and the same thing might very well have happened had the party been the local doctor instead of a preacher. Might have happened. Or might not have. But it wasn't the doctor, it was the "decent, Godfearing man of the cloth" who shot off his mouth with accusations he had no business making, then got some of his church buddies to help cover his ass. The only bright side was that the incident did force the preacher into retirement.

[Taphophilia]

I was kicked out of my church that I had attended for five years because a boyfriend's ex-wife who started attending my church, where she started spreading all kinds of lies about me.

 

The church wanted me to attend a "mediation" with her, which I refused, so they asked me to leave. Their reasoning was, I was saved she wasn't, therefore she needed church more than I did. Though, the fact I was a single working mom with three little kids and she had a new husband with a good job and could tithe more then me, may have had some influence.

 

I broke my leg shortly after being kicked out of church. I saw the pastor's wife in the grocery store. I was in a wheelchair with a leg cast and my small children pushing me. The pastors wife commented on my broken leg and asked me if I had any help. I told her that no I didn't have any help that I was working full time and trying to take care of my children and my house with a severely broken leg.

 

She then said, "Well, good luck!" and turned on her heels and walked away.

[BCRoyWatson]

The pastors wife commented on my broken leg and asked me if I had any help. I told her that no I didn't have any help that I was working full time and trying to take care of my children and my house with a severely broken leg.

 

She then said, "Well, good luck!" and turned on her heels and walked away.

 

Sounds very familiar .. and I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier. But I was thinking of things that happened to me while I was a Christian, not things that happened to other people.

 

A few years back, my mom, who was a serious Xtian but not a hard-core fundy, got cancer and eventually died from it. Now, to the extent it's possible for me to give an unbiased opinion of her, she was very well regarded in the community and her workplace, had a ton of friends, etc. I do know that at the funeral, it seemed like half the town turned out ...

 

Anyway, several of her coworkers were also hard-core fundies, and went to the local Church Of God-The-Hardass. These were people she had worked with for years, had great relationships with, knew them well socially as well as professionally, etc. And again ... she was a Christian too, she agreed with them on the major premises (Jesus, resurrection, etc.), just not on a lot of the details.

 

Well, guess what? During the last few months of her illness, when a lot of other friends and neighbors were pitching in to help (if you've ever had a terminally ill family member, you know what an ordeal it is; the sick person needs attention and care that's literally 24/7) ... did anyone from the God-The-Hardass church show up, phone to ask if there was anything they could do, send a "thinking of you" or "prayed for you today" card through the mail, or anything else? No, not one ... until two weeks before she died, when one person finally broke ranks and did (by which time my mom was so far gone with brain metastases she barely even knew who she was talking to anymore).

 

To be fair, I should mention that there was another, more theologically liberal church in town, which she also was not a member of, and a lot of its parishoners did reach out and make the effort. So she was very far from being abandoned. But she definitely noticed that the fundies -- some of whom she had thought of as good friends -- steered clear, and she was disappointed and angry.

 

Shortly after the funeral, one of the church leaders explained to my sister why they hadn't made an effort. The explanation, boiled down to its bare essence, was "we liked her a lot, and felt bad about it, but the bottom line was that she just wasn't one of us."

 

Bastards.

[Guest deal r]

That reminded me of a situation that I was in.

 

We left a particular church when I was 15 following the revelation by my Mother that she had been having an affair with the pastor. Furthermore it turned out that he had also been sleeping with several other members of the church, however most of the other women didn't leave and in fact the whole thing was hushed up including some of these women's husbands basically covering it all up and blaming my Mum for causing ructions in the church.

 

Shortly after this, the pastor was diagnosed with advanced bone cancer. Coincidentally I was doing voluntary work in the local hospice at the time. Bearing in mind that I was aware by this point that the man had raped my mother when she tried to end the affair I obviously wasn't exactly keen to see him again. However, he was extremely ill by this point and it really wasn't a problem to just change his flowers etc.

 

When visiting time came the entire church came at one time or another. They absolutely refused to have anything to do with me and did their utmost to shun me and be unfriendly. Most ignored me completely and turned their backs if I was anywhere near. It seems amazing to me that the women that were involved with him and their husband's would not only blame my Mum entirely but also apparantly hate her 16 year old daughter who was uninvolved and attempting to care for him whilst dying.

[Luke Wolf]

The worst I have seen is damning every non-Baptist denomination to hell, and every other religion along with them.. That, and spreading thier lies every fucking week.

 

I do know of a church, several of them actually, that tell you how much to tithe based on your income. One of these churches saved up enough forced tithes to build a massive church, complete with three chandeliers, two spiral staircases, luxorious and spacious lobby, and thats whats visible from the road.

I also know of a couple churches with pastors that are very unfaithful to thier wives.

[Guest Saylavie2u2]

When I was attending my in-laws' church about 10 yrs. ago, I was visiting one of my MIL's church friends who was babysitting for another woman who went to the church. My MIL's friend and I were talking about another church member when the other woman came in to pick up her son. She chatted with us for a few minutes and then left with her kid. The next day my MIL's friend gets a call from the church's pastor and gets a good reaming out about gossiping about other members in the church. This two-faced bitch who came to pick up her kid and who had gossiped herself about this church member, had called the pastor and told him that we had been gossiping. I couldn't believe it!

 

And while I'm on the subject of Xian hypocrites I can't leave out my in-laws. My FIL who is a well-respected deacon in his church has berated and verbally abused my MIL ever since I've known him and that's been almost 27 yrs. My MIL lies to and keeps things from my FIL - probably because of his verbal abuse, but she lies to people other than my FIL too.

 

At the church I used to go to there's a deacon who puts his arms around the young girls at church and when he thinks no one is watching him, he keeps looking them up and down like a starving dog looking at a piece of meat - it's disgusting!

 

An assistant pastor and his wife were allowed to live rent-free in the church's parsonage because it wasn't big enough to house the pastor and his family (they had 5 kids). When this assistant pastor decided to leave the church, he also left the parsonage completely trashed (literally trash all over the place, doors ripped off the hinges, and obviously the wife NEVER cleaned).

 

Unfortunately, I've found that most Xians are hypocrites in one way or another.

[XtianChris]

Unfortunately, I've found that most Xians are hypocrites in one way or another.

 

But of course, they're "sinners saved by grace". The next person to use this excuse in my presence is getting a right hook to the jaw, after which I'll reply that their actions reap consequences in this life regardless of whether or not a god has graciously saved them.