Family Drama

[WarriorPoet]

So, my step-brother was recently arrested.  I won't give specifics, but the charges are related to his position as a youth leader in his church.  Yeah, your first guess is the correct one.

 

I can't say that I am terribly surprised.  He has always been an a-hole.  He made my life a living hell growing up.  You wouldn't think that a younger sibling could have that kind of power, but he had the full backing of my step-dad.  I'm not saying that my step-dad condoned what he did, it is that he wouldn't ever believe that his son was ever in the wrong, in any circumstance.

 

There is one situation during my mid-teens that is etched into my memory.  Long story short, step-bro and I got into a fight.  I am not claiming to be blameless in this situation, I behaved in ways that were not acceptable as well, but it is worth noting that he was the instigator.  Step-sister was the first to tell the parents about what happened, she is actually a good person and didn't really take sides about it.  But of course, in step-dad's mind, everything was clearly my fault.  He at one point had me look into step-bro's bedroom and "look at how badly he is shaking".  I didn't dare point it out at the time, but he wasn't shaking.  He was laughing because I was getting in trouble and doing his best to hide his laughter.  Guess who was the only one that was punished for this incident.  Granted, I did deserve to be punished, but I was absolutely not the only one who deserved punishment.

 

Anyway, back to my lack of surprise.  Bro was raised with the expectation that he could get away with anything.  Then when he grew up, he basically screwed step-dad over, I was never given specifics of the situation, but the Cliff notes are that they had a "handshake agreement" that he ended up backing out of, which ended up causing a severe financial issue for my parents.  Apparently, he walked away from that situation completely unscathed.  The church took his side as well, and my parents had to change churches because they weren't welcomed there anymore.  The little jerk has lived his entire life thinking that he would never be held accountable for anything, which leads us to the current point in the timeline.  Basically a man who has never had to take responsibility for anything is put in a position of authority over a bunch of kids, and that leads to this kind of an outcome. 

 

Anyway, just wanted to vent about this situation.  This is the only place where I feel that I have the adequate anonymity to get this type of thing off my chest and get the catharsis that I need right now.

[pantheory]

After being arrested, he will probably have to go to another church, and if he's associated or registered as a sex offender, much worse than that can happen to him. As you suggest, he learned some of these wrong behaviors as a kid.

[★ Citsonga ★]

Sorry to hear about that. Some people are just sucky people. 

[Joshpantera]

Yeah, this is a good outlet. 

 

I know what you mean about entitled little shits thinking they can always get away with anything. Reality check! Sounds well deserved. 

[◊ Weezer ◊]

I hope the charges stick and the church doesn't try to protect him.  I have seen cases where these guys "cry" crocodile tears, the church forgives the guy, and sometimes blames the "seductive" kid for enticing the minister. And these narcissistic guys who were protected by parents when growing up, seem to never change.  They can be master manipulators. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[nontheistpilgrim]

11 hours ago, Weezer said:

I hope the charges stick and the church doesn't try to protect him.  I have seen cases where these guys "cry" crocodile tears, the church forgives the guy, and sometimes blames the "seductive" kid for enticing the minister. And these narcissistic guys who were protected by parents when growing up, seem to never change.  They can be master manipulators. Keep us posted on how it goes.

And sometimes they blame the devil. Grrrr.