Lancaster, CA must be the wet dream of every fundamentalist pastor.

Check out these articles!


Lancaster mayor is anything but politically correct.

Excerpts:

Parris is the guy who tried to ban dogs known to be favored by gangs, proposed restrictions on landlords who want to rent to tenants with Section 8 federal housing vouchers, helped fund a program to bus homeless people out of town and shut down a local motel to prevent the notorious Mongols motorcycle club from meeting in Lancaster.

Supporters cheer him for ratcheting up public safety, coming to the aid of local merchants and kicking aside roadblocks for developers wanting to do business in town.

"He doesn't pussyfoot around," said Bishop Henry Hearns, who served 18 years on the City Council, including two terms as Lancaster's first African American mayor.

But critics say Parris, who was elected last year, is an arrogant bully and an unstoppable control freak. "King Rex" they call him, or "T. Rex." Scott Pelka, 52, a self-described archenemy of Parris and long-time Lancaster resident, said the mayor has created a "dictatorship" in which challenges to his authority are simply not tolerated.

If this sounds like Bob Jones University on steroids, check this out:

"He's arrogant. He's self-serving. He doesn't really care what people think," said Arnie Rodeo, 55, a local businessman who ran for mayor against Parris last year and lost by 351 votes. "He surrounds himself with 'yes' people."

Johnathon Ervin, 30, believes his refusal to be a Parris "yes man" got him fired in August from his position on Lancaster's seven-person Planning Commission -- a post to which Parris had appointed him a year earlier.

Ervin, an Air Force reservist, was alone in voting against allowing a Wal-Mart super center on the Lancaster-Quartz Hill border -- a project supported by Parris but fiercely challenged by many area residents.

Here's an article published by Pray Lancaster which is actually in favor of Mayor Parris.

Article: Faithful flock to mayors' breakfasts

New Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris amplified those sentiments. He recalled a trip to the Great Wall of China with his clergyman, Pastor Paul Chappell of Lancaster Baptist Church. Parris said he wondered aloud how Chappell had built a Christian university within a decade, and staffed missions in China with graduates of that school. The answer, Chappell supplied with a grin, was, "It's what happens when you pray."

Yeah, it's probably what happens when you bully your congregation and don't pay your teachers a lot. Teachers, in this country, don't really get paid what they're worth. Fundamentalist high schools, though, are notorious not only for low wages, but for practically demanding that their teachers like it!

The sentiment in a lot of fundamentalist schools seems to be:

"If you're teaching it's because you're CALLED! Not because you want to make money."

What have we learned? The mayor is a member of LBC. We've already established Sherry Marquez works at LBC. Ultimately, the real power in Lancaster IS Lancaster Baptist Church's Pastor Paul Chappell.

Think Darth Vader bowing to the emporer.

Actually, I shouldn't say that. I think Parris and Chappell might enjoy that imagery.

Welcome to 'Christian' Lancaster.

It's official! Lancaster is a 'Christian' community, although our definition of Christian, according to this Channel 7 news report, simply means 'being a good neighbor':



If being a Christian means simply being a 'good neighbor', why did the mayor, according to the AV Press article want the community's electorate to 'validate a Christian stance in the April municipal election, in which a ballot measure endorses prayers at city meetings, specifically with permission to invoke a specific deity, including Jesus'?

If you want to read the full article from the AV Press, you have to pay $. Ergo , this might not be prominent news on the web. Thank you 'free' press!

Visit the 'underground believer blog' Welcome to Christian Lancaster for the complete story.

I do have this on record: Councilwoman Sherry Marquez is employed by Lancaster Baptist Church. She apparently works in administration.

For more info: Remove Councilwoman Sherry Marquez From Office facebook page.

Here's a really quirky story from that stalwart of sites the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums.

I'm not allowed to post there, but I have to give them credit for allowing this thread to stand. It concerns allegations that a student from the Christian school operated by Lancaster Baptist Church was spanked by a teacher, then other students were made to join in and spank him. When it was over, they were allegedly told not to tell anybody about the incident.

from: Lancaster Baptist School Alleged Abuse and Cover Up.

excerpt:

4 independent sources... a junior high student was behaving poorly and being disobedient. Instead of following the typical methods of discipline, the teacher allegedly had the other boys in the class line up and hit this child - one by one. Then the teacher himself allegedly struck the child.

I was told this child was bruised from the assault and that the parents were counseled not to report it to the authorities or take him in for treatment/evaluation with a doctor. During a school chapel, the students were allegedly ordered not to discuss the situation. The teacher was reassigned to a maintenance position for the balance of the school year.

The City of Lancaster is also home to the Challenger Memorial Youth Center. The ACLU is suing the Challenger Memorial Youth Center for abuse charges and graduating a student who did not know how to read and write.

Article: Juvenile school sued.

To my knowledge, that school is not related to Lancaster Baptist Church.

The ACLU is rather busy in Lancaster since, according to the Underground Believer article I just linked to, they are suing the City of Lancaster for sectarian prayers that are held before each city council meeting.

I must admit, Lancaster is becoming my new favorite city! Don't know why, but whenever I think of Lancaster, I have this song going through my head:

Lancaster Baptist Church outdoes itself.

When I made the movie, Bible Madness, I transferred what I experienced in Jacksonville, Florida (Trinity Baptist Church) to Southern California. One of the criticisms I experienced from the movie is that there's not really a Trinity Baptist Church styled fundamentalism out here. People out here don't go door to door soulwinning. Nor do they pray in public or have strict rules concerning separation. Not like we were used to in Jacksonville.

Well, the folks at Lancaster Baptist Church in Lancaster, CA, just a hoot and holler from Hollywood, USA, have not only dominated their town but are currently 'out-Trinity'ing' Trinity. Whereas Trinity might be a Great White in a bigger gulf, Lancaster Baptist is a giant fish in a very small pond. But they have been very successful in dominating that town.

Here's their most recent bit of notoriety.

Mayor Parris, a good buddy of Pastor Paul Chappell, recently made the statement:

“We’re growing a Christian community, and don’t let anybody shy away from that,” he told an audience of 160 people, mainly pastors and their spouses, during his State of the City address Tuesday at the John P. Eliopulos Hellenic Center.

from: intheav.com.

Sherry Marquez, also an employee of Lancaster Baptist Church, and not to be out done, took a few moments to trash Muslims:



Did ya' catch what she said about crimes against young girls? Yeah, I'm glad she opposes horrific crimes against young girls when it's the Muslims doing it. Now, if only she'd take a few moments and address the crimes against young girls in her own world of independent fundamentalism.

I know, molesting young girls isn't the same as killing young girls.

Wow! I bet that makes victims of abuse feel better, doesn't it?

All this ridiculousness aside, I'm glad to see someone in Lancaster is about to stand up to the nonsense perpetrated on that community by Mr. Chappell and company.

The local Atheist group was afraid to show my movie Don't Go In The Church. That's the movie I screened when I did this:



To refresh your memory, here's what the 'loyal opposition' wrote me when I attempted to screen both Bible Madness and Don't Go In The Church in Lancaster, CA:

from: The Movie They're Afraid To Show In Lancaster.

Hello, Mr. Walker,

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I've actually been giving your offer a lot of thought, but I don't think we're ready for a screening, at least at the moment. Mr. Chapell is very politically powerful in our town, having played a large part in getting our currect mayor and at least one council member elected. Confronting him publicly with your film could have very serious consequences for our relatively small group.

I hope you understand our situation, and I wish you all the best.


The Atheists might be shivering in their boots, afraid to confront Mr. Chappell. In fact, when I showcased my movie, Wrestling Then and Now, at the Antelope Valley College, the gallery owner kept trying to get me to STOP mentioning my Atheist connections. That's how scared they are, rightly or wrongly, of Chappell in this town.

No one wanted to screen Don't Go In The Church or Bible Madness, but they did want to screen wrestling. Since I'm fed up with taking stands for people who won't take a stand for their own interests, I thought, "If they want wrestling, I'll give 'em wrestling!"



I got wind of Mayor Perris's comments, and the warm, loving thoughts of councilwoman Marquez, through the recent Atheists United newsletter.

All my e-mails and articles about abuse in that fundamental community went unheeded. The 'loyal opposition' was fearful and silent, and Lancaster Baptist Church was lulled into a false sense of security. Because the loyal opposition was silent, the good city council member from LBC now attacked the Islamic community.

They are not going to take it!

I'd like to take this moment and thank Paul Chappell and Sherry Marquez for waking me out of my apathy. You make me feel like a prophet!

Ah, Lancaster! Right up there with South Park. You make life interesting, that's for sure! A wonderful desert town next to a military base with a shadow government of fundamentalists. You're like Roswell, New Mexico without the charm of space aliens. lol!

Facebook page: Remove Councilwoman Sherry Marquez from Office.

NOTE: One thing I neglected to write in all my articles about Lancaster is that Paul Chappell received an honorary degree from Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida. That's the college founded by Bob Gray, who was arrested on multiple charges of child molestation. Gray died just a few days before his trial was set to begin. Chappell, the man who wants to protect the children of Lancaster, to my knowledge, has not commented in public about the situation concerning his late friend.

Here are links to all the posts I've written about Lancaster Baptist Church:

The movie they're afraid to show in Lancaster.
More citizen of the year.
Antelope Valley Press article.
Lancaster is like Transylvania in the desert.

More on Pete Townshend.

Check out this article written by Pete Townshend one year before he was arrested.

Article: A different bomb.

It concerns a friend of his who committed suicide. She revealed to him that she was molested by her father. Repeatedly.

Excerpt:

One day, in an open counselling session at which adult men and women of all ages were present, she suddenly revealed her central issue. From as early as she could remember, as an infant girl she had been sexually abused on a regular basis by her father, and in his presence by several of his friends. At first, she referred to her father as a 'priest'. Later she revealed that these were members of some kind of religious cult. A charity with which I am involved paid for her to go for treatment for depression at The Priory last year. She was greatly improved when she came out. Partly I think because her story was believed.

Everything seemed fine, but then she started to slip:

For all of us who helped her, including several women who themselves experienced similar sexual abuse as children, her suicide was both a tragedy and an act of brutal insanity. What pushed this woman to the brink was not self-obsession - though God knows she enjoyed her share, like any individual ensnared in alcohol or drug addiction - it was the fact that she discovered her father was in a new relationship and had access to some young children.

He addresses the abuses portrayed inTommy:

In my writing in the past - especially Tommy - I have created unusually unmerciful worlds for any infant characters. I am often disturbed by what I see on the page when I write - never more so than when I draw on my own childhood. Some people who were abused in their childhood have written to me to say how much they identify with the character of Tommy. But what is powerful in my own writing, and sometimes most difficult to control and model, is the subconscious material I draw on. It is what is subconscious in me that makes me scream for vengeance against my friend's abusers, rather than an adult understanding of what went wrong.

He admits to being abused as a child:

I remember no specific sexual abuse, though when I was young I was treated in an extremely controlling and aggressive way by my maternal grandmother. This is not unusual. It might be described by some as insignificant. Almost everyone I know experienced similar stuff at some time or other - many friends experienced more extreme 'abuses' and have no obvious adult vices as a result.

The article takes an interesting turn. He explains how porn sites use software triggers so that if you visit a porn site, even more pop-ups will appear that showcase something worse. In this case, he experienced a pop up that actually showed an infant being raped. The caption read: sex with children is 'not illegal in Russia'.

This image drives him to infuriation. He is smart about this and consults with his lawyer:

The awful reality hit me of the self-propelling, self-spawning mechanism of the internet. I reached for the phone, I intended to call the police and take them through the process I had stumbled upon - and bring the pornographers involved to book.

Then I thought twice about it. I knew I must NOT download anything I saw. That would be illegal. I spoke off-the-record to a lawyer. He advised me that I most certainly should not download the image as 'evidence'. So I did nothing. I mentioned this shocking internet experience to a few people close to me. It became clear very quickly that some people I spoke to thought that if I had searched using the right words, my exposure to that terrible image would not have occurred.

It might be strange to hear that I was glad I found it. Until then, like my ostrich-like friends, I imagined that only those who communicated on the internet using secret codes, private chat-rooms and encrypted files would ever be exposed to this kind of image. But I learned through this accident that such images are 'freely' available through the machinery of common search engines and User-Groups, and are openly available for sale through subscription via credit card. I was then concerned that there would be those 'providers' of paedophilic porn who felt the need to regularly 'refresh' their supply of images, as is the pornographic 'norm'. It is a chilling thought isn't it?

Indeed it is! Why did he write this article?

Why am I suddenly writing this today? My friend who committed suicide was the victim of an active but secret ring of paedophiles. They are still at large today. Only those who knew my friend, and believed her story, feel any urge to speak up against her abusers. But we have no proof. It is frustrating, but for her, at least, the pain is over. It has all gone public now. On the internet, vigilante groups and individuals work obsessively both to trace and block certain porn sites and to offer - through 12 Step programmes for sex-addiction - probably the only way out for some ensnared by addiction to what the internet has to offer.

His research leads him to a conclusion that I have not read---EVER! It almost flies in the face of what articles have presented in America:

It is not statistically true that all abusers of children were once themselves abused. That can happen, but often
- as in the case of my suicide friend - abuse is part of a reward system of power conferred from one adult person to another. But among paedophilic pornographers I believe validation matters more than cash.

In the end, he does not recommend any activist take matters into their own hands:

The subconscious mind is deeply damaged and indelibly scarred by the sight of such images. I can assure everyone reading this that if they go off in pursuit of images of paedophilic rape they will find them. I urge them not to try. I pray too that they don't happen upon such images as did I, by accident. If they do they may like me become so enraged and disturbed that their dreams are forever haunted.

He went to group meetings for abuse victims and obviously knows whereof he speaks.

Okay, enough of this! Visit the article yourself to read the full story. I am speechless but grateful he had the courage to write this. British police, btw, believe Townshend's motives and 'cautioned' him. He agreed to this and admitted that was a mistake. There's no doubt he considered himself an 'internet vigilante'. He also revealed that John Entwhistle wrote 'Fiddling About' in Tommy because the subject matter was just too painful for Townshend.

I also feel validated, in a way. I've always felt that Tommy was the first major cinematic/rock effort to address child abuse. Whatever went through director Ken Russell's mind is something else! However, the man who originated Tommy freely admits:

Sometimes this all feels so bloody futile. But I am determined to do my bit. I made a lot of money out of that poor little sap in Tommy. Now I understand how easily he could be recreated as a real child in our present society. I feel driven to try to change things.

From: Pete's diary.

This excerpt of 'Fiddle About' from the play is more chilling than the movie:



You know what I think I'm going to do? Go into the next room and put on my DVD of Tommy!

Girl buried alive and the world shrugs.

Interesting point of view concerning girls who are buried alive, stoned, or killed, because they were raped and abused.

At least, in America, we don't kill victims of sexual abuse. We just ignore them.

Does that make us slightly better? Hmmmm. . .

Article: Male Monsters -- Girl Buried Alive for Being a Girl and the World Shrugs

Excerpt:

Sometimes I feel like we were all born into an alternate universe, a psychotic, twisted, perverted version of what life should be. Our existence is marked by unimaginable violence, hideous acts of evil against the most innocent among us. It's like living in a perpetual horror movie.

Pete Townshend addresses Sex Offender criticism.

Article: Pete Townshend Defends Himself Against Sex Offender Criticism.

I remember when Pete Townshend was arrested for child pornography. He was later cleared of those charges, but that has not stopped child advocacy groups from condemning his performance at the upcoming Super Bowl.

One thing I have always told people since beginning this blog is I never trusted men who advocated for children. This puts me in a weird position. The reason I started this blog is because NO ONE, get that? NO ONE was saying or writing anything about Bob Gray and the other people who might have known about his victimization of children. He was given a free pass.

That would not just be Tom Messer, the current pastor of Trinity. That would also be, in my constitutionally protected opinion, Jerry Falwell who just went nuts with a piece of sleaze called The Clinton Chronicles. Falwell promoted this video while Bob Gray was serving in Germany.

Why was Gray in Germany? Because a victim, and her family, confronted Gray about molesting her as a child.

That was around 1992. I found out through a phone call.

As the years went by, I saw the most ridiculous theater of errors played out in the media.

First: Jerry Falwell recommends First Baptist Church over Trinity Baptist Church as a place for Tanya Flynt Vega. She is the daughter of Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler, who accused Flynt of molesting her as a child.

I called her up! I was surprised by how easy it was to get in touch with her. She lives in Jacksonville. I told her what I knew about Bob Gray and how surprised I was that Falwell would recommend a Southern Baptist church over an independent Baptist church. At the time, Falwell was independent Baptist.

Could it be that he knew better than to send someone claiming to be a victim of child molestation to a church that was pastored by a man who was also accused (then privately) of the same thing?

It wasn't long after that Falwell joined the Southern Baptists. Please don't try to argue semantics with me on this.

I've heard it all: "He didn't really join the Southern Baptist Convention, he just donated money to them."

Say what? I do have an article I could scan and post from a Christian paper documenting Falwell's entry into the SBC.

My opinion is he knew how corrupt the independents were and, for professional and personal reasons, tried to wash his hands of them. That opinion would be challenged after I learned the SBC, when it comes to protecting abusive pastors, is just as corrupt as the independents. View Stop Baptist Predators for more information.

Second: After Gray was arrested, I thought for sure The Florida Times Union would publish articles about how widespread the cover-up went, but that never happened. Not even after Falwell visited Trinity, in what I believe was pure PR, to tell them all this would be a 'bump in the road'.

I was still quite nervous about this subject, though. I already knew of one male child advocate who was later found dead. His body in the desert. The police saying he had child pornography on his computer.

In 2003, I heard about Pete Townshend's arrest. He also claimed to be a child advocate but police accused him of having child pornography on his computer.

You don't hear a lot about female child advocates being arrested for this, but you do hear about males being arrested. Whether this is a police frame up or not, I knew I wanted to write about this (the Bob Gray scandal) from the vantage point of being a former student of Trinity Christian Academy, the school founded by Gray. Not as a child advocate.

If there's something internally corrupt about the world of child advocacy that causes male predators to infiltrate their ranks, or people to look suspiciously at male child advocates (as I did), I wanted nothing to do with it.

The thing about Pete Townshend is he has consistently written about child abuse. Both in his art and in his interviews.

Tommy was about child abuse! Tommy Walker is made deaf, dumb, and blind after seeing his stepfather kill his father. His stepfather then finds a prostitute for Tommy which further keeps him deaf, dumb, and blind.

That movie, and the rock opera, made such an impression on me when I saw it.

It was 1975. I was 13 years old. I watched the scenes where Tommy is abused by his cousin Kevin, then molested by his Uncle Ernie, and thought, "Man! This must go on everywhere!"

Remember, in those days there was not a lot of talk concerning child abuse. So, Townshend was a pioneer in addressing the issue in his art.

Townshend claims he was doing research on a project about abuse when he stumbled upon the wrong webpage. This is why you must be VERY CAREFUL when you take up advocacy. If you're going to troll the web to find predators on your own, unless you're connected with the police don't be surprised if people think YOU are the predator.

Geoffrey Hill, the advocate who was found dead in the desert, told me he believed police intentionally made child pornography in order to plant it on people's computers. Reason? Land grabs in the San Bernardino area. The thing is, that story persists to this day! Others have also made the same accusations against the police departments in that area. It doesn't help their case that key police leaders are active in evangelical churches that have also been accused of hushing up child abuse amongst their faculty.

Hill, by coincidence, used to be a pastor at Calvary Chapel.

Let's get back to Townshend:

I think Townshend was careless and should not have attempted his own investigation.

We must also consider this: no one has stepped up and accused him of abusing them as a child. He's certainly rich enough, an easy target, and has enough enemies in the child advocacy movement to back them up, but not one person has done so.

The child advocacy movement has to reform itself.

It needs to be more careful about picking its battles.

It needs to take into account how loose our sex offender laws are.

It is true that urinating in public is bad manners. It can also get you classified as a 'sex offender'.

If child advocacy is to be taken seriously, we need a set of standards and practices. And we should not be too quick about alienating people who might have something valuable to contribute to the discussion.



For more info about Tommy, click here.

I know Haiti is a country in need, but. . .

Okay, we all have debt and the economy has taken a downturn. I don't think you can attack people and make them seem responsible because of the misguided decisions by corporate and government leaders that led to our horrible economy. People do make bad decisions and even responsible people have found themselves between a rock and hard place.

That said, no matter how much I might want to help the people of Haiti, if I had this much debt and collection agents after me, I think I'd just stay home:

Missionary Stumbles on Road to Haiti.