Kenneth Daniel, 64, is a pastor at the First Baptist Church of Chalkville, AL. On Wednesday, he was arrested, booked into the Blount County Jail, and charged with facilitating solicitation of unlawful sexual conduct with a child. Which is a legal euphemism for “he forced himself on a now second-grade girl, 57 years his junior, who was scared out of her mind and terrified that an aging creep was doing things to her she knew to be wrong.”
The child, now seven, told her grandfather that Daniel had been sexually abusing her — that he had touched her private parts — numerous times at his home, a pool party, and the church. This repeated violation of her innocence stretched out over 2½ years between January 2020 and earlier this month. The calendar tells us that the crimes started when the victim was only five.
Once again, we find a religious leader preaching morality and practicing sin — not adultery, visiting sex workers, or even taking pictures up skirts. Instead, an offense so damnable it is beyond the ability of us run-of-the-mill sinners to understand how someone could commit it.
How does someone have the chutzpah to lecture others on rectitude when they are so unmoored from morality? And sociopathic in their disregard for the sufferings of a small child? I do not know if church managers are more likely to sin than parishioners or the general public. But their crimes are exacerbated by hypocrisy.
At this point, let me get one thing straight. I have a jaundiced view of religion in as much as it holds itself up as a moral exemplar while too often failing at that task. However, I congratulate people who get comfort, guidance, purpose, and solace from religion and see it as giving meaning to their existence. More power to them.
At its core, religion is a transaction where suppliers offer a product and consumers buy it. In monotheistic religions, the suppliers are the Pastors, Rabbis, Imams, Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, and Cardinals of the various faiths. The purchasers inhabit the pews. The faithful are blameless for the behavior of the person leading services or the higher-ups, unless they know management has committed a crime and are complicit in covering it up.
Holding a faith’s adherents responsible for religious leaders would be like blaming film audiences for Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assaults. When I illuminate the hypocrisy of a church leader who preaches morality while sinning, it is to highlight the evil-doer, not to scorn the flock. And I do not suggest they should reject their faith because the Church is home to some god-awful people.
However, whenever a conservative insists that America was founded on, and is meant to be guided by, Judeo/Christian values, I would like them to tell me what those are and how they differ from non-Judeo/Christian values. In the case of the Christians, I would like them to cite the chapter and verse where Jesus expressed that value.
When it comes to children, Jesus demanded they be protected
“If anyone causes one of these little ones - those who believe in me - to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matthew 18:6
Mind you, If you remove “who believe in me” it is a sentiment everyone can share. No decent person, no matter their faith or none, thinks children should be abused. You could say the same for many other Christian values.
Take the Golden Rule — “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” — it is expressed universally in every religion. And atheists subscribe to the dictate.
Monotheists may choose to live by all Ten Commandments, but people of other faiths and non-believers are still good with at least six of them. Everyone, especially parents, thinks children should honor their progenitors. Nobody believes murder, theft, and lying are acceptable (although it is hard to find a conservative evangelical who does not lie). Adultery is generally frowned upon, although some cultures are more relaxed about it. And coveting is a weird one. If there were no coveting (aka keeping up with the Joneses) the American economy would be half its size.
On the flip side, there are Christian values that conservative evangelicals have discarded as inconvenient.
Take immigration. Jesus had this to say on the subject
“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25:35
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27
If you prefer your religion more Old Testament, Moses said of God,
“He loves the foreigner giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 10:18-19
It could not be more clear. God and his son were pro-immigrant without sweating the law. But many American Christians ignore them.
The prosperity gospel clowns are particularly pernicious. They are bunco artists who claim that their jets, Bentleys, and million-dollar mansions prove they have been good people in divine estimation.
These charlatans hornswoggle their marks by promising them a monetary gift to God (check made out to the Church) will be a ‘seed’ that will return the blessing multiplied many times. Please! If these poor people want to see their seed money multiply they should play the tables in Vegas. They will probably lose it all — but, unlike handing it over to a sacerdotal conman, there is the possibility they will see a profit.
Even those Christians who are unversed in the Bible know that Jesus said,
“Truely I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 25:23-24
He also thought temporal wealth made for bad Christians
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 9:19-21
And: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:32-34
And when a wealthy young man asked Jesus how he could attain eternal life, Jesus told him to follow the commandments and
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." Matthew 19:21
But Jesus’ plain views on wealth do not deter the grifters. They point to obscure verses hidden in the Bible’s long grass to justify their rapacity — while they convince people with little money to send in what they do have.
There is a lot more, but you get the point. Jesus had one disciple, Peter, who denied him — and then felt rotten about it. And another disciple, Judas, who betrayed him — and then killed himself.
But their descendants in conservative Christianity deny him and betray him daily — without so much as a prick to their conscience or a momentary sense of embarrassment. It seems to me that too often wicked people embrace religion, not for its moral directives — but for permission to sin, and then claim, without evidence, that God has forgiven them.
What a scam.