Groomers aka sexual predators

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  • Gern BlanstenGern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 20,645
    mrussel1 said:
    I remember being surprised by the kneeling piece when I attended a Catholic funeral. 

    I grew up in the United Methodist Church. We only did communion twice a year I believe...Easter and Xmas. 

    I used to go to church with my Grandma in Ft Wayne whenever I stayed with them during the summers. She attended a church affiliated with the Church of God. They did communion every week which was an impressive snack for me.
    Dude.. you ate the Body of Christ.  Sicko.  
    I enjoyed the blood. Tasted like grape juice.
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    edited June 2023
    a buddy of mine promised his mom he'd go to mass on a saturday afternoon. we were hanging out that day, so he begged me to go with him. having never been in a catholic church before (I was about 17), I started fiddling around with that kneeling thing with my foot, wondering what it was. well, I let it fall and it cranked an old man down the aisle on his shin, and he let out a massive "AAAHHH!", spending the rest of mass massaging his leg and giving me the stink eye. 

    that was my last catholic mass until I got married. 
    Every single one of us has done that, lol.

    Our pews were old and had a crack in some from bigger people sitting on the edge rather than kneeling.

    Well in the summer when you wear shorts and someone bigger than you sits on the edge those cracks open up.  When they shift or move those cracks close.  Sometimes on your exposed skin.

    I too have let out an ouch.  That hurts!
    Oh my god, you're triggering PTSD in me with this. 

    I've been there.     
  • Gern BlanstenGern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 20,645
    It was funny to me because at my church we would all have to wait our turn to go down front and take the cracker/juice at an alter. You would kneel down and the entire alter had a lid on it that they would open and expose all the little cup holders. It was like a buffet...the minister didn't give it to you. You just waited until everyone was ready then he told you to eat the body, drink the blood, etc., then you went back to your pew.

    At Gma's church they just passed around a cool little serving tray with a bunch of little cup holders in it so you never had to leave the pew. Crackers came on a separate tray.

    We went to an Easter play at our church where they did communion with actual wine. They passed around this big cup of it and everyone drank from it. I can't imagine they still do that anywhere.
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,491
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Of course it's grooming, and (not that you brought it up) but when it comes to indoctrination, our public schools have nothing on organized religion. 

    My point is this: I think the majority of people getting worked up about grooming at drag shows just want a reason to hate people who do drag shows. It's homophobia under the guise of protecting children. 


    I would love to see a word count of how much 'groomer' (or some other variation of the term) was used online in the last 3 years as opposed to just the 15 years prior.

    This is a new boogey man for conservative America in recent years. Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall 'grooming' per se being part of the lexicon or all that prevalent of a concern when the Catholic Church scandal came to light some 3 decades ago. 
  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,491
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Of course it's grooming, and (not that you brought it up) but when it comes to indoctrination, our public schools have nothing on organized religion. 

    My point is this: I think the majority of people getting worked up about grooming at drag shows just want a reason to hate people who do drag shows. It's homophobia under the guise of protecting children. 


    I would love to see a word count of how much 'groomer' (or some other variation of the term) was used online in the last 3 years as opposed to just the 15 years prior.

    This is a new boogey man for conservative America in recent years. Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall 'grooming' per se being part of the lexicon or all that prevalent of a concern when the Catholic Church scandal came to light some 3 decades ago. 
    Woody allen was the first "groomer" I knew of.  The artist Bjorns got nailed for this a few years ago too.  It's been around for a while but not until of late it's become the thing.

    I found this article and chuckled after what you said.  It is quite the buzz word now for sure.

    https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/why-you-keep-hearing-the-word-grooming-in-the-news/
  • HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 37,342
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    "Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk"
    -EV  8/14/93




  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    edited June 2023
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    Like the term 'snowflakes', it's all about projection.

    Every accusation from the right is really a confession. 


    Good article, Tempo. 
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,292
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.

    Agreed, for sure.  I don't have anything against people who are religious or church going.  My father was very involved in the Presbyterian Church.  He was a deacon for several year and at one time he became the Moderator of the General Assembly of the U.S. Presbyterian Church.  He did good work and was a faithful and decent man.  So I know there are good people doing good things in various churches.  What I don't understand is why more people of faith have not spoken out against those who would distort and pervert the foundations of their faith. 
    It's really sad.  Now let's be honest, there's been a sect of the Christian faith in this country that has a long history of using the Bible to oppress the marginalized and less fortunate in this country.  I won't name names, but we'll call the the Bouthern Saptists.  This is all part of their history.  

    I actually really like the Presbyterian and Methodist sects of Christianity.  I have found those congregations to be more open minded, accepting, etc. 

    Why more people haven't spoken out, I cannot say.  I continue to blame right wing media, including Fox, for radicalizing a significant portion of this country.  

    Well said, bud!
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
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    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • Gern BlanstenGern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 20,645
    edited June 2023
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    Like the term 'snowflakes', it's all about projection.

    Every accusation from the right is really a confession. 


    Good article, Tempo. 
    woke is the new snowflake


    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • lastexitlondonlastexitlondon Posts: 14,133
    Wokeflake
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    this song is meant to be called i got shit,itshould be called i got shit tickets-hartford 06 -
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    Like the term 'snowflakes', it's all about projection.

    Every accusation from the right is really a confession. 


    Good article, Tempo. 
    woke is the new snowflake


    If you (not you specifically, Germ) think 'woke' means something bad, congratulations... you've been indoctrinated (or you're just a hateful POS):
    chiefly US slang
    1
    a
    aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)
  • OnWis97OnWis97 St. Paul, MN Posts: 5,194
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Of course it's grooming, and (not that you brought it up) but when it comes to indoctrination, our public schools have nothing on organized religion. 

    My point is this: I think the majority of people getting worked up about grooming at drag shows just want a reason to hate people who do drag shows. It's homophobia under the guise of protecting children. 


    I would love to see a word count of how much 'groomer' (or some other variation of the term) was used online in the last 3 years as opposed to just the 15 years prior.

    This is a new boogey man for conservative America in recent years. Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall 'grooming' per se being part of the lexicon or all that prevalent of a concern when the Catholic Church scandal came to light some 3 decades ago. 
    Agreed. Yeah, grooming/pedophilia are everywhere. It happens in churches, schools, private companies, youth sports, and probably about any other type of organization you can think of. 

    Really, we (the "royal" we) have had a lot of opportunities to do a lot better at combating and punishing, whether you're talking liberals, conservatives, religious, atheist, etc. But what does today's conservative outrage factory do? They pick one certain type of people the they don't  and create a narrative to keep the outrage factory churning. Anyone who says it's about the children is either a bold-faced liar or a sucker.
    1995 Milwaukee     1998 Alpine, Alpine     2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston     2004 Boston, Boston     2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty)     2011 Alpine, Alpine     
    2013 Wrigley     2014 St. Paul     2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley     2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley     2021 Asbury Park     2022 St Louis     2023 Austin, Austin
  • Gern BlanstenGern Blansten Mar-A-Lago Posts: 20,645
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    Like the term 'snowflakes', it's all about projection.

    Every accusation from the right is really a confession. 


    Good article, Tempo. 
    woke is the new snowflake


    If you (not you specifically, Germ) think 'woke' means something bad, congratulations... you've been indoctrinated (or you're just a hateful POS):
    chiefly US slang
    1
    a
    : aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)
    I know what it means....but the GOP has misconstrued it and made it something totally different
    Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
    The Golden Age is 2 months away. And guess what….. you’re gonna love it! (teskeinc 11.19.24)

    1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
    2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
    2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
    2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
    2020: Oakland, Oakland:  2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
    2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
    2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana; 2025: Pitt1, Pitt2
  • OnWis97OnWis97 St. Paul, MN Posts: 5,194
    edited June 2023
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Child marriage is surprisingly common in the US and not just in red states. (300,000 minors married in the US since 2000). And, yeah, it's grooming; perhaps a very specific kind (i.e., so dirty old men can have a loophole to age of consent laws). I think it's also rooted in the idea that females are not really supposed to enjoy life. Marry them off at 14 so they don't run the risk of getting dreams of living their own lives or not being financially dependent on their husbands.

    And I really can't take any "protect the children" people seriously if they don't support ending child marriage right now.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage_in_the_United_States
    1995 Milwaukee     1998 Alpine, Alpine     2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston     2004 Boston, Boston     2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty)     2011 Alpine, Alpine     
    2013 Wrigley     2014 St. Paul     2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley     2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley     2021 Asbury Park     2022 St Louis     2023 Austin, Austin
  • mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 29,814
    OnWis97 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Of course it's grooming, and (not that you brought it up) but when it comes to indoctrination, our public schools have nothing on organized religion. 

    My point is this: I think the majority of people getting worked up about grooming at drag shows just want a reason to hate people who do drag shows. It's homophobia under the guise of protecting children. 


    I would love to see a word count of how much 'groomer' (or some other variation of the term) was used online in the last 3 years as opposed to just the 15 years prior.

    This is a new boogey man for conservative America in recent years. Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall 'grooming' per se being part of the lexicon or all that prevalent of a concern when the Catholic Church scandal came to light some 3 decades ago. 
    Agreed. Yeah, grooming/pedophilia are everywhere. It happens in churches, schools, private companies, youth sports, and probably about any other type of organization you can think of. 

    Really, we (the "royal" we) have had a lot of opportunities to do a lot better at combating and punishing, whether you're talking liberals, conservatives, religious, atheist, etc. But what does today's conservative outrage factory do? They pick one certain type of people the they don't  and create a narrative to keep the outrage factory churning. Anyone who says it's about the children is either a bold-faced liar or a sucker.
    What you're seeing now is the backlash against trans-activists is bleeding back into traditional homophobia.  It never left, but it went underground in the years after Dobbs.  But the bigots are taking this opportunity to go after gay and lesbians again. 
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    OnWis97 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    The notion (as stated by some of you above) that working as pastor, youth group leader, etc. creates access makes sense.  What doesn't make sense is that supposedly Christianity is a faith based at least in part on a sense of morality and yet here you have people committing heinous and highly immoral acts.  It reminds me of Christians who love and support Trump, another example of a confounding disconnect. All I can say is, Jesus would be mightily pissed off.  If you think he lost his cool with the money changers in the temple, imagine how he would feel about these creeps.
    American Christianity is a long way from Jesus's teachings.  
    Not all the churches suck.  I've been to some good ones.
    Jesus didn’t pass a collection plate.  All American religions are corrupt in one way or another and some to a lesser degree (there is no degree of sin?) than others.  
    I guess we are doing a religion class now?

    Jesus did not but Tithes are very much mentioned throughout the bible.  It goes with the whole Give unto the Lord thing.

    Can we add synagogues and Mosques to the corruption list too?
    Is this thread about religious corruption, or groomers? 

    Christians don't really have a leg to stand on when it comes to the latter. 
    That's debatable.
    What is? 
    Grooming.  It happens everywhere unfortunately.

    It sure does, and in the case of the Catholic church there's been coordinated cover up and enabling of grooming and abuse of children over the course of decades, if not centuries. 

    This piqued my curiosity as to whether or not grooming and abuse is more prevalent in some religions as opposed to others... . I don't have the answer to that question, nor do I have time to dive in today, but with that being said:

    There's no small amount of hypocrisy coming from the overwhelmingly Christian conservatives in America vilifying LGBTQ groups for grooming of children. Like you said, it happens everywhere. Has it been happening among the drag or trans community to the extent that they should be demonized for it? Not that I'm aware of, (but I'm open to new information). 

    Vilifying an already marginalized group for something that happens everywhere suggests this line of attack has nothing to do with children at all, and more about attacking that group and stoking the culture wars. 

    I trust that's not lost on you. 

    Not lost on me at all and the other religious groups it's hard to get numbers but it happens.  Certain Jewish secs marry off their kids young, that's what they do and nobody knows about it because it's all in house.

    Rearranged marriages still happen.  Is that grooming?  If they are being taught that this is what you do then it is.

    NY used to have a 14yo marriage age up until a few years ago.  Crazy right?
    Of course it's grooming, and (not that you brought it up) but when it comes to indoctrination, our public schools have nothing on organized religion. 

    My point is this: I think the majority of people getting worked up about grooming at drag shows just want a reason to hate people who do drag shows. It's homophobia under the guise of protecting children. 


    I would love to see a word count of how much 'groomer' (or some other variation of the term) was used online in the last 3 years as opposed to just the 15 years prior.

    This is a new boogey man for conservative America in recent years. Maybe my recollection is wrong, but I don't recall 'grooming' per se being part of the lexicon or all that prevalent of a concern when the Catholic Church scandal came to light some 3 decades ago. 
    Agreed. Yeah, grooming/pedophilia are everywhere. It happens in churches, schools, private companies, youth sports, and probably about any other type of organization you can think of. 

    Really, we (the "royal" we) have had a lot of opportunities to do a lot better at combating and punishing, whether you're talking liberals, conservatives, religious, atheist, etc. But what does today's conservative outrage factory do? They pick one certain type of people the they don't  and create a narrative to keep the outrage factory churning. Anyone who says it's about the children is either a bold-faced liar or a sucker.

    “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

    ― Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    100% Merkin. I know it's been said ad nauseum here, but it's all projection. apparently the left are the kings of "fake outrage", yet conservatives LITERALLY make up shit to get outraged about. 
    Like the term 'snowflakes', it's all about projection.

    Every accusation from the right is really a confession. 


    Good article, Tempo. 
    woke is the new snowflake


    If you (not you specifically, Germ) think 'woke' means something bad, congratulations... you've been indoctrinated (or you're just a hateful POS):
    chiefly US slang
    1
    a
    : aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)
    I know what it means....but the GOP has misconstrued it and made it something totally different
    I know you do.
  • mickeyratmickeyrat Posts: 39,258
    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,907
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,907
    mrussel1 said:
    Yeah without a doubt I can also see him in a small rubber raft trying to save whales 
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • OnWis97OnWis97 St. Paul, MN Posts: 5,194
    mrussel1 said:
    mickeyrat said:
    Definitely a tree hugging liberal.
    And a drag queen, I am sure.
    1995 Milwaukee     1998 Alpine, Alpine     2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston     2004 Boston, Boston     2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty)     2011 Alpine, Alpine     
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  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,491
    OnWis97 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    mickeyrat said:
    Definitely a tree hugging liberal.
    And a drag queen, I am sure.
    Dude totally tucks and rocks heels.
  • VitalogensiaVitalogensia Posts: 2,031
    I've gotten into a back-and-forth with someone over children who identify as cats.  The person claims there is such a child at his kid's school.  I have yet to receive proof, yet I've seen several other such claims.  Does anyone happen to have proof of this phenomenon?  There was the whole "litter box in school" fiasco that I've only seen one true instance of, and that was a school in Colorado that had litter in case kids were locked in a room for a long period of time due to an active shooter.  I'm not sure if this "kids identifying as cats" stemmed from that.  Sounds ridiculous, but I suppose it's possible. 
    Virginia Beach 2000; Pittsburgh 2000; Columbus 2003; D.C. 2003; Pittsburgh 2006; Virginia Beach 2008; Cleveland 2010; PJ20 2011; Pittsburgh 2013; Baltimore 2013; Charlottesville 2013; Charlotte 2013; Lincoln 2014; Moline 2014; St. Paul 2014; Greenville 2016; Hampton 2016; Lexington 2016; Wrigley 2016; Prague 2018; Krakow 2018; Berlin 2018; Fenway 2018; Camden 2022; St. Paul 2023; MSG 1 2024; Baltimore 2024
  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,491
    There was a member on here a few years back before this got really mainstream that said " I now will identify as a cat." and he ran with it for a bit.  His response to people would be "meow?!?"  

    I thought he was hysterical and it pissed people off which I also liked, lol.

    If you can't find that story and all it is is repeating of the same account or story and nothing new then it probably isn't rue.
  • Merkin BallerMerkin Baller Posts: 11,579
    I've gotten into a back-and-forth with someone over children who identify as cats.  The person claims there is such a child at his kid's school.  I have yet to receive proof, yet I've seen several other such claims.  Does anyone happen to have proof of this phenomenon?  There was the whole "litter box in school" fiasco that I've only seen one true instance of, and that was a school in Colorado that had litter in case kids were locked in a room for a long period of time due to an active shooter.  I'm not sure if this "kids identifying as cats" stemmed from that.  Sounds ridiculous, but I suppose it's possible. 
    There's no shortage of articles out there debunking this...  Most maintenance departments in schools & elsewhere have absorbent material like kitty litter to clean up messes (I keep a box of kitty litter in my basement for this exact reason) & yeah, the active shooter reasoning  makes perfect sense as the likelihood of people people being locked in a room for extended periods of time exists nowadays.... so that's fun, this bullshit narrative intended to mock trans people partly (mostly?) originated from measures put into place due to the increased number of school shootings we have. 

    Good times here in the US of A.  
  • mace1229mace1229 Posts: 9,482
    mickeyrat said:
    The vast majority of those 300k Chile marriages are 17 year olds. Many states allow 17 year olds to marry with parental permission, and I’ve never heard that was a religious vs non-religious view.. While I’d never give permission to my 17 year old, it’s hard for me to argue against it when they are allowed to be sent off to war. I have a 17 year old cousin in boot camp right now.

    Ive grown up in the church and still attend. I have many family and friends in that Christian circle. I can’t think of a single personal I personally know who’d be okay with a child marriage beyond what is legal, and most wouldn’t even give permission to their 17 year old either. I have a hard time believing this post is accurate by any stretch.

    I read many comments in that link. Seems to be full of misconceptions and false stereotypes. One was this image below. I had no idea what it was taking about. After trying to find out, all I could see was March 2022 a proposed bill to recognize common law marriage failed to provide an age requirement. It was shortly amended a few days later to include an age requirement of 18, but there were still many articles after that change accusing them republican leadership of trying to legalize child marriage of any age. This was shared well after the change. I could find no other mention of TN republicans trying to legalize child marriage other than the common law proposal.

    And,for the record, dressing your child up and posing for a political prop and spreading her image around on social media for complete strangers, especially one that intentionally spreads false information, is as much of a groomer as any other example I’ve seen here.



  • tempo_n_groovetempo_n_groove Posts: 40,491
    mace1229 said:
    mickeyrat said:
    The vast majority of those 300k Chile marriages are 17 year olds. Many states allow 17 year olds to marry with parental permission, and I’ve never heard that was a religious vs non-religious view.. While I’d never give permission to my 17 year old, it’s hard for me to argue against it when they are allowed to be sent off to war. I have a 17 year old cousin in boot camp right now.

    Ive grown up in the church and still attend. I have many family and friends in that Christian circle. I can’t think of a single personal I personally know who’d be okay with a child marriage beyond what is legal, and most wouldn’t even give permission to their 17 year old either. I have a hard time believing this post is accurate by any stretch.

    I read many comments in that link. Seems to be full of misconceptions and false stereotypes. One was this image below. I had no idea what it was taking about. After trying to find out, all I could see was March 2022 a proposed bill to recognize common law marriage failed to provide an age requirement. It was shortly amended a few days later to include an age requirement of 18, but there were still many articles after that change accusing them republican leadership of trying to legalize child marriage of any age. This was shared well after the change. I could find no other mention of TN republicans trying to legalize child marriage other than the common law proposal.

    And,for the record, dressing your child up and posing for a political prop and spreading her image around on social media for complete strangers, especially one that intentionally spreads false information, is as much of a groomer as any other example I’ve seen here.



    This is why tweets aren't news.  Just buzz words.

    I am curious about the 10yo that was married.  I wonder if they were actually 40 but were born on a leap year, wouldn't that be a lick in the dick?
  • mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 29,814
    edited June 2023
    mace1229 said:
    mickeyrat said:
    The vast majority of those 300k Chile marriages are 17 year olds. Many states allow 17 year olds to marry with parental permission, and I’ve never heard that was a religious vs non-religious view.. While I’d never give permission to my 17 year old, it’s hard for me to argue against it when they are allowed to be sent off to war. I have a 17 year old cousin in boot camp right now.

    Ive grown up in the church and still attend. I have many family and friends in that Christian circle. I can’t think of a single personal I personally know who’d be okay with a child marriage beyond what is legal, and most wouldn’t even give permission to their 17 year old either. I have a hard time believing this post is accurate by any stretch.

    I read many comments in that link. Seems to be full of misconceptions and false stereotypes. One was this image below. I had no idea what it was taking about. After trying to find out, all I could see was March 2022 a proposed bill to recognize common law marriage failed to provide an age requirement. It was shortly amended a few days later to include an age requirement of 18, but there were still many articles after that change accusing them republican leadership of trying to legalize child marriage of any age. This was shared well after the change. I could find no other mention of TN republicans trying to legalize child marriage other than the common law proposal.

    And,for the record, dressing your child up and posing for a political prop and spreading her image around on social media for complete strangers, especially one that intentionally spreads false information, is as much of a groomer as any other example I’ve seen here.



    How do you join the army at 17?  I thought you had to be a legal adult, with a high school education. 

    To your punchline, I agree using your children as political props is wrong.  I see it on both sides.  I would not go so far as saying it's as bad as the criminal examples that we've shared here.  That's overstated. 
    Post edited by mrussel1 on
This discussion has been closed.