Tag: religion

Mormon leaders accused of ‘silencing and THREATENING’ families who tried to expose sex offenders in their communities – as victims claim church ‘covered up’ an ‘epidemic’ of abuse

Mormon families who tried to expose cases of sexual abuse within their communities have alleged they were ‘silenced’ and threatened with disciplinary action by church leaders, DailyMail.com can reveal.

In one instance, two Idaho members claim they were warned they could be punished after the pair alerted others in their congregation to the fact that their former bishop faced child sex abuse charges dating back 10 years.

In another case in Minnesota, a church member and social worker claims he was stripped of his positions within the church after he spoke out about a registered sex offender who had been placed in a leadership position.

On both occasions, the dissidents felt compelled to raise the alarm after church leaders allegedly kept the abuse under wraps.

It comes after DailyMail.com revealed that victims have accused Mormon leaders of hiding an ‘epidemic’ of sexual abuse that rivals scandals within the Catholic church.

Around a dozen victims have taken the brave decision to tell their stories of abuse within the church, exposing decades of alleged cover-ups.

Meanwhile, the Utah-based religion faces a bombshell lawsuit in which it is alleged to ‘maintain a pattern and practice’ of ‘concealing’ sexual abuse from the police in a bid to avoid costly legal action and protect its reputation.

Today, DailyMail.com can reveal police records suggest church leaders failed to report a bishop who had confessed to sexually abusing a minor.

The church allegedly allowed him to remain an ‘active member of the church’ months after they had been made aware of the allegations against him, the records show.

Members of the congregation – known as a ward – in Nampa, Idaho, who tried to speak out about the case claim they were threatened with disciplinary action.

Kolby Reddish, 35, told DailyMail.com that the church’s silence was motivated by its desire to protect its reputation ‘at all costs’.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigned with disgraced reality TV Star Josh Duggar, one of several accused sex offenders connected to his ‘mentor’ Tony Perkins

Like many self-identified Christian conservatives, House Speaker Mike Johnson has long been preoccupied with sex — who’s having it, how they are having it, and why they are having it. In 2004, he proclaimed that “sex outside of the marriage of one man and one woman is ultimately destructive.” In 2022, he introduced the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, a bill premised on the notion that Democrats were on a “crusade to immerse young children in sexual imagery.”

But a Business Insider review of Johnson’s social media postings and political affiliations found that while he was busy seeking to regulate private sexual behavior and castigating his opponents as “groomers” of children, the Louisiana Republican was associated with a coterie of right-wing activists with a history of overlooking, tolerating, or ignoring the sexual abuse of children and teens in their own midst.

Most notably, according to a photo posted to his Facebook account and unearthed by Business Insider, Johnson proudly campaigned in 2014 with a man who would become one of the most notorious sex offenders in recent history — disgraced reality TV star Josh Duggar.

Duggar, who was convicted of possessing child pornography in 2021, worked as a lobbyist for the Christian evangelical activist group Family Research Council from 2013 to 2015, when allegations surfaced that the former “19 Kids and Counting” star molested several minors, including his own sisters.

The man who recruited Duggar, FRC president Tony Perkins, is a long-time friend and political ally of Johnson. The new Speaker recently described Perkins as his “original mentor” on a recent episode of his “Truth Be Told” radio show. According to the Washington Post, “Perkins goes way back with the Duggar family.”

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Moms for Liberty leader turns out to be a convicted sex offender

A Republican pastor who coordinates the faith-based outreach for the Philadelphia chapter of Moms for Liberty was convicted a decade ago of sexually abusing a teenage boy.

Phillip Fisher Jr., who leads the Center of Universal Divinity in Olney, helps connect the right-wing group with local faith leaders to boost membership, and other leaders say they’re shocked to learn he pleaded guilty in 2012 to a felony count of aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when he was 25, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fisher blames his conviction on a political action committee for perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche, which he had worked for but was trying to break free of what he now calls a “cult.”

“It was a political situation that happened between me and Lyndon LaRouche,” Fisher said. “It was a member of his camp, his party, that made the accusation. They pushed it through. It was really a railroad job.”

His criminal history stunned Vince Fenerty, chair of Philadelphia’s Republican City Committee, who demanded and received Fisher’s resignation as leader of the GOP’s 42nd Ward.

A national spokesperson for Moms for Liberty did not respond to a request for comment, but Sheila Armstrong, another GOP ward leader who chairs the local Moms for Liberty chapter, expressed surprise, saying that she had just received from the state Department of Human Services a “child abuse history certification” in Fisher’s name so he could volunteer for an upcoming Christmas party for an autism nonprofit that she leads.

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Catholic Elites Wage War on the Freemasons

In 1738, Pope Clement XII banned Catholics from becoming Freemasons, and in 1983 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger reminded Catholics that being a Freemason placed them “in a state of grave sin.” Now Rome is having another go at one of the world’s most famous brotherhoods. This comes as more Catholics are flocking to what is known as “the craft,” a term encompassing the ritual, principles, and teachings of the Freemasons.

While nobody is saying it, this story is about a modern act of “anti-Freemasonry,” a movement so old that it has its own Wikipedia page. Anti-Masonry is not a globally organised movement, and it consists of differing criticisms from political institutions and organized religions, that have elite members who despise Freemasonry.

In this recent display of persecution of Freemasons, the Vatican has published a new document, signed by Pope Francis and DDF Prefect Cardinal Victor Fernández, in response to concerns raised by a bishop in the Philippines. The paranoid holy man warned Rome about increasing numbers of Catholics in his diocese enrolling in Freemasonry, and he asked for advice from the top of the Catholic hierarchy.

An article on the Catholic News Agency website explains that the dicastery responded to the Philippines bishop on Nov. 13, suggesting “a coordinated strategy” to address the masonic menace. So dramatic was Rome’s response that they called for “all of the bishops” in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to “promote catechesis in all parishes regarding the reasons for the irreconcilability between the Catholic faith and Freemasonry.”

Read that last line again. It’s a modern witch hunt. Right? Rome is not asking its bishops for reports on the numbers of its members who are also Freemasons, but for reasons to support the predetermined notion that Catholicism is incompatible with it’s old rival, Freemasonry.

The traditional claim that Catholicism and Freemasonry are incompatible is a demonstrable farce. For if this was the case, why then are so many Catholics joining Freemasonry? The problem in this instance negates the problem!

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Former Scientologist Mitch Brisker lifts lid on church leader David Miscavige’s relationship with Tom Cruise, luxurious lifestyle and the woman who took wife Shelly’s place

David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, is a reclusive man with a penchant for designer clothes, a hunger for gifts, fast cars, and superbikes and a fondness for thumping music.

And, according to one of his closest lieutenants, he ‘exiled’ his wife Shelly seemingly without a second thought because he was ‘done with her.’

This is the picture of the enigmatic man painted by Mitch Brisker, 74, former Senior Director and Creative Executive of Scientology’s Golden Era Studios.

For 30 years Brisker was, by his own admission, Chief Architect of Scientology’s Propaganda and a trusted right-hand man to its leader, Miscavige, 63.

Once a member of the church’s upper echelons, he left the church just over a year ago after clashing with Miscavige and losing faith in what it stood for.

Now, he is speaking out for the first time in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com giving his unique insight into Miscavige, his personality, his ‘missing’ wife, his infamous friendship with Tom Cruise and the luxurious lifestyle of the man whom, he says, conducts himself like a ‘super celebrity.’

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GOP legislator blocks bill requiring clergy to report child sex abuse

An Arizona Republican is refusing to require clergy to report confessions of child abuse despite a horrific case involving the Mormon Church.

A Bisbee father of six admitted to his bishop during a counseling session that he was raping his then-5-year-old daughter, but court records show that Bishop John Herrod, and then his replacement Bishop Robert “Kim” Mauzy, were advised by attorney Merrill Nelson not to alert anyone outside the church — and the man then started raping his 6-week-old daughter, reported the Arizona Republic.

Arizona law requires teachers and doctors to report suspected abuse, there is no requirement for churches to do the same. In fact, many argue that confidentiality is essential.

“The seal of confession is a sacred, sacred part of the Catholic church,” said state Rep. Quang Nguyen, who is Catholic.

A Cochise County judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by three of the children of the man, stating that the church is not responsible for the ongoing abuse. The man was finally arrested in 2017 and later killed himself while awaiting trial in jail.

State Rep. Stacey Travers (D-Phoenix) introduced a bill earlier this year requiring clergy members to report abuse discovered during confessions or confidential communications “if there is a reasonable suspicion to believe that the abuse is ongoing, will continue or may be a threat to other minors.”

But Nguyen refuses to allow it to receive a hearing because he said it is “an attack on the church.”

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Nashville Covenant School Trans Shooter’s Manifesto Has Been Leaked

Nashville Police told FOX News in late April that they will finally release the manifesto of the trans shooter that they recovered from her car following the attack on March 27, 2023.

28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a transgender former student murdered three 9-year-olds and three adults last month in a mass shooting at the school. Hale fired off 152 rounds during the targeted attack at the Covenant School, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The attack appears to be a deadly hate crime by a deranged trans shooter against Christian Americans. The media has largely ignored the attack that resulted in six deaths including three children.

The local authorities and FBI refused to release the manifesto to the public following the mass shooting by Hale in March.

The release of the manifesto was delayed again in early May. Michael LaChance reported, “The excuse this time is that there is ‘pending litigation’ around the document. Does anyone believe any of this?”

The Daily Mail reported in May that the manifesto is now in the judge’s hands.

A judge in Nashville has been provided with an unredacted copy of the trans shooter manifesto. And it could be soon released to the public.

According to Fox News 17, the judge was given two versions of the manifesto to review: one with no redactions and another with proposed redactions made by city attorneys.

However, lawyers at The Covenant School filed a motion of intervention to prevent the release of trans shooter Audrey Hale’s manifesto, arguing that doing so would compromise the safety of the school, its staff, and its students.

The fight to pull the manifesto of school shooter Audrey Hale from the grip of authorities brought danger to one journalist-businessman who has filed a lawsuit to learn what the killer wrote before the massacre at a Nashville Christian school in March that left three children and three adults dead.

Radio talk show host Michael Patrick Leahy, who has filed a lawsuit to release the manifesto, received an ugly threat July 9, according to Just the News.

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City council candidate doubles down on saying Holocaust was Israel’s ‘advance punishment’

A Michigan candidate for city council is doubling down on comments he made about Jews and the Holocaust as well as child marriage and homosexuality, the Detroit Metro Times reported.

Nasr Hussain, who is running for a seat on the Hamtramck City Council, made posts on Facebook where he said the Holocaust was “advance punishment” for Israel’s “savagery” against Palestinians in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks by Hamas.

“A heinous act proving that they’re as savage and cruel as the Nazis themselves who tormented them, or maybe even worse,” Hussain posted in a Facebook group.

He also defended child marriage.

“She was betrothed at six, marriage consummated at nine after reaching puberty and giving her consent,” Hussain wrote in response to a news story about a child getting married to an adult man. “Women reach puberty between 8 and 12. If she was ok with it and her parents were ok with it why does it bother you.”

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Meet the evangelical activist who’s had a ‘profound influence’ on Speaker Mike Johnson

Two years before going from a relatively unknown congressman to speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana spoke at a national gathering of Christian lawmakers in North Texas and shared his deep admiration for the man behind the conference: the evangelical activist and self-styled historian David Barton.

“I was introduced to David and his ministry a quarter-century ago,” Johnson said at the ProFamily Legislators Conference, which was being hosted by Barton’s nonprofit WallBuilders, a Texas group dedicated to promoting the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation whose laws should be based on a conservative reading of the Bible.

Johnson told the audience at the December 2021 gathering that Barton’s teachings — which are disputed by many historians — have had “a profound influence on me, and my work, and my life and everything I do.”

Johnson’s effusive praise for Barton, an influential background figure in the conservative evangelical political movement, sends an unmistakable signal about how the devout Christian Republican lawmaker — now second in the line to the presidency — views the role of religion in government and public life, said John Fea, a professor of American history at Messiah University in Pennsylvania.

“David Barton is a political propagandist, he’s a Christian-right activist who cherry picks from the past to promote political agendas in the present, to paint a picture of America’s history as evangelicals would like it to be,” said Fea, who’s also an evangelical. “Mike Johnson comes straight out of that Christian-right world, where Barton’s ideas are highly influential. It’s the air they breathe.”

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