So, this one pisses me off. It pisses me off because it shows, clearly, the oppressiveness of the concept of Christian grace.

People think that “grace” is the most wonderful concept in Christendom. But it’s the most offensive, in my opinion, because it is a tool the church can use to give you no recourse against people who have profoundly hurt you. It is a way the church can say you HAVE to be OK with something someone did that was profoundly offensive. Most common — among far right movements like Quiverfull and within the Catholic Church — it seems, is the forced forgiveness of child sexual abuse.

You think child sexual abuse is bad? Get over it. God forgave that person (especially if it is a man). Move along; nothing to see here. Oh, you’re not a Christian? You’re LGBT? Sorry, but the church is going to bear down on you, hard, and say that you’re an ugly-hearted degenerate who is unable to control his or her sexual desires around children, whether there is proof that you actually or more at risk for molesting children or not. Sorry, our magic wand of God’s grace isn’t bestowed to you, sinner. But repent and say that our imaginary friend who loves you so much he wants to control every aspect of your life is the ruler of the universe, and we can use him to force people to be OK with whatever child you decide to sexually abuse.

And people deny this is true when it is right in front of our faces and has happened for years. Louis CK has a skit in which the Catholic Church is portrayed as an excuse for priests to “fuck little boys in the ass,” which has a strong ring of truth to it.

But you need to forgive. They apologized, God’s grace and all that, so you need to forgive…as they turn around and judge those outside of their church as abominations.

Now, some people might thing this attitude is infuriating and break with the whole church altogether. But that’s not allowed here. No, no, no, no. If the man is important to the church, you gotta forgive him. Don’t be upset.

Well, fuck that shit. I’m pissed off after reading this story, and I think all those concerned have every fucking right to be pissed off, and if you’re more fucking pissed off that I’m fucking pissed off than at the situation, fuck you for being part of the goddamn problem.

There’s this guy named Matt Chandler who lives right smack-dab in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where I live. He is the Pastor of this huge, contemporary megachurch called The Village Church. And it’s nice, clean, and contemporary in feel, which is why it has over 10,000 members.

He’s also the author or co-author of several bestselling books that have high 4.5 to 5 star ratings on Amazon. He’s kind of a big deal — and is a picture of a clean cut, fresh-looking pastor.

So, anyways, there’s this couple at the church Matt Chandler pastors whose names are Jordan Root and Karen Hinckley (formerly Root). They aren’t just a side couple. They’ve attended the church for three years. For they even were sent on a missionary trip to Southeast Asia last August, which is a pretty heavy investment in the church and indicates a very strong connection to the people who attend the congregation.

According to Jordan Root’s former wife Karen Hinckley, Jordan Root was pretty well connected. In her words on May 21, 2015:

Jordan sought and gained access to a large number of children, many of whom represent some of the most vulnerable populations of children in our society. His ability to successfully manipulate others is evidenced by the complete trust that was placed in him by many parents, companies, churches, and organizations over the course of these years.

So he’s pretty well connected to children and the community (although The Village Church claims he never served the children there in any capacity). And he had been viewing child pornography for years.

So the church and his wife found out about the child pornography in December, due to a confession by Jordan Root.

Which was smart. Because Jordan Root knew how church worked, it seems. He knew he’d be forgiven, it seems. He may have also known that because the church said he was covered by God’s grace, it would force his wife to forgive him.

You don’t want to lose all your friends, do you Karen? You don’t want to be isolated? You don’t want people to stop inviting you over, to shun you in the Supermarket, to blacklist you from employment, do you? Then ignore that your husband, who has sought out hanging out with children for the years you’ve been married to him, has just brazenly — well, with an “apology” and “repentence” — went to the church and you and confessed to watching child sexual abuse for entertainment for years.

Get over it, Karen. God did. Because we said so. But if you don’t, then God won’t forgive you, because we said so.

The upsetting thing is that God doesn’t even exist. He doesn’t even bloody exist. He’s just a tool to force Karen to stay married to her husband. Can you imagine the marital counseling based on a nonexistent God?

…and be sure to be a good wife to him, Karen, as he “repents.” As he seeks out more children to hang around. Say you love him, Karen. Have sex with him, Karen. Because we — I mean, our fucking imaginary friend we call “God” — has extended grace to him, Karen. So what right do you have to say that’s not good enough, Karen? What’s your spiritual problem, Karen? Haven’t you done things just as bad, Karen? Who are you to throw the first stone, Karen? Do you need more marriage counseling, Karen? You should be thankful, Karen, that he “repented” in front of the whole bloody church, Karen. Don’t ask too many questions about the children of the past, Karen. Trust God in this relationship.

Because God’s grace is sufficient to shut you up, Karen. For the rest of your goddamn life, Karen. Till death do you part, Karen, because that’s what marriage is.

And if you don’t, Karen, I’m afraid we’ll have to make an example of what happens to those who don’t recognize the grace of God to every woman watching. It’s for their own good, Karen.

Yes, that’s what happened. Or, as The Village Church put it in Christianeze in a “private” email to members on May 25, 2015 (this is the source of several other quotes):

There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and, therefore, no condemnation for Jordan. He has confessed his sin, and through the finished, redemptive work of Christ, Jordan is washed clean of all unrighteousness ( 1 John 1:9), met with forgiveness and granted fellowship with the body ( 2 Cor 2:5-8). With that said, grace and love sometimes take the form of discipline and consequence (Hebrews 12:5-11) reminds us that God’s intent for discipline, as a good and loving Father, is the restoration and holiness of His children. The road of discipline is difficult, but when walked faithfully, there is a good end to it.

What is this road? The church later says that their hope was that “after an appropriate [apparently as determined by the church, not Karen] time of healing and repentence, the married couple would eventually be able to come back together for the sake of pursuing possible reconciliation.” It then states:

While there MIGHT be situations that end in the dissolution of a marriage, we ALWAYS hope for the power of the gospel to bring about a story of forgiveness and reconciliation. [Emphasis added]

Might be? How about “ARE”? ALWAYS hope for forgiveness and reconciliation? That doesn’t seem fair to Karen wanting to leave.

In addition, although they were upset with Karen for seeking permanent separation from her husband, they themselves sought permanent separation from him in several ways. In their words:

Restriction from Designated Facilities of The Village Church While grace is present for Jordan, he cannot and will not have access to designated facilities at The Village for his safety and the safety of our church. Some of the specific security protocols related to The Village include: o He is restricted to attending only the Dallas campus. o He is not permitted to enter any children’s facilities at the Dallas campus. o He must be accompanied by an approved Covenant Member while at the Dallas campus. o He must check in with staff or security before services.

The email goes on to say that they have removed financial support from Jordan, and transferred it to Karen until August 2015.