09 January 2011

Think of the Children! Think of the Children! . . . and he did think of the children.

The Right Reverend Tom Daniels, pastor of the fundogelical hyper-right-wing gay-hating Rio Linda Baptist Church was, big surprise, a big-time supporter of Proposition 8 -- a cynical right-wing attempt to deny human rights to gay Californians -- and he is in deep, deep trouble.
 He even supports a fund-raising  grass-roots action group called (drum roll please) Protect Marriage.com.  From the website (so you don't have to bleach your brain after reading the hypocrisy):
ProtectMarriage.com is a broad-based coalition of California families, community leaders, religious leaders, pro-family organizations and individuals from all walks of life who have joined together to defend and restore the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Well over 100,000 Californians have become active in supporting traditional marriage through ProtectMarriage.com. Protectmarriage.com is defending traditional marriage in the courts, through activism and advocacy, and through public education and academic research.
And their site includes an Action Fund, an Education Fund and a Legal Defense Fund. 

I know I'm cynical.  Two things stood out for me as I perused this money-making public interest coalition's web site.  First, every single part of the web site is about raising money and/or joining the cause (with (of course) your email so they can beg for money constantly).  Second, the sense of victimhood -- that two consenting adults getting married would, somehow, be taking something away from ChristiansTM.

Then, to top off the begging and whining, they profess that their most important mission is protecting the children.  From their Volunteer page:
As a volunteer, you can choose to help in a variety of ways, all of which are important to protecting our children and maintaining marriage as between a man and a woman.
The site also includes a link to a document produced by the Witherspoon Institute, a classy organization (hey, they're located in Princeton, NJ (home of an Ivy League institution) so they must be classy) which exists to
. . . enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures.
That's not so bad.  Of course, further down, we see that they are, politically and socially, a mix of Dobson and Cheney. 

And the paper that ProtectMarriage.com links to, The Witherspoon Report on Marriage which includes the Ten Principles of Marriage (on page 5) and are presented without any evidence save for:
This understanding of marriage is not narrowly religious, but the cross-cultural fruit of broad human experience and reflection, and supported by considerable social science evidence. But a marriage culture cannot flourish in a society whose primary institutions—universities, courts, legislatures, religions—not only fail to defend marriage but actually undermine it both conceptually and in practice. (my emphasis)
Number four in the list?
4. Marriage protects and promotes the well-being of children.
Got that?  He, and his public interest coalition are all about protecting the children.  Think of the children! Won't someone think of the children?

And, apparently, he does.  Specifically, post-adolescent teenage boys.  But he's protecting them from, from.  Hmmm.  He's raping teenage boys to protect them against the possibility of consenting adults getting married (from Fox40 (how's that for ironic?)).
The pastor of the Rio Linda Baptist Church is being held in Sacramento County Main Jail on $6 million bail, charged with multiple counts of sexual child molestation.

Citrus Heights Police announced late Thursday that Tom Gene Daniels,48, was arrested Dec. 9. Lt. Ray Bechler said police had postponed publicizing the arrest while they continued their investigation into the case.

The District Attorney's Office's increased Daniels' bail from $1 million to $6 million earlier this month because Daniels was considered a flight risk, Bechler said.

Daniels has been employed as a foster parent and day care provider, and currently is the head pastor at the Rio Linda Baptist Church.
Yes, you read that right.  He has been arrested for child molestation.  He is a foster parent and day care provider, as well as being a pastor.  The Sacramento Examiner has more details:  specifically, the boy was under the age of 14.

Is this Daniel's idea of protecting children?  Or is he just another cynical fundogelical right-winger hiding behind his fear-mongering and hate so that he can do what he wants to whoever he wants?

3 comments:

  1. a classy organization (hey, they're located in Princeton, NJ (home of an Ivy League institution) so they must be classy)

    IIRC, Nassau St. at Witherspoon St. was where the anthrax letters were mailed from. Relevant? No.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oggie
    Would you pop by the [Lounge]?
    Some of us are worried.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We are worried again.

    ReplyDelete