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Hearing about this problem brought back to my mind the pain I went through during the process of leaving the IFB and bringing out the abuse. I try not to go there very often, but when I do, it’s as if it all happened yesterday. For years I tried to follow everything the “good” men within this religious sect said. I thought they were righteous examples to follow. Then my husband and I watched as these “good” men blatantly and boldly lied to everyone around us on so many levels. I couldn’t believe it at first. I literally remember feeling the stabbing pain of it deep in my soul. My world was shattering. And then these “good” men continued their slander against us and when my husband tried to confront it and deal with it “the right way” through private correspondence he was disregarded. After all, we were the ones with the inflated view of ourselves, and they didn’t want to be “bothered” with our “petty” concerns. So here we were, left to deal with this heinous situation.

Thankfully the people who I had been told my whole life were “on the dark side” were the ones who held me up. They were the ones who told me not to quit or give up on God. All the while, I’m confident these men (the IFB truth-bearers), were trouncing around, heads held high as they took their “stand for truth” in all their eloquent sermons, while secretly siding with the devil himself. It wouldn’t be so hard to deal with if it was in some way a distortion of the truth, but that’s just not the case.

I hope that the students of Chuck Shifflett will be able to move forward. And I challenge others who are stepping up and dealing with situations similar to this to stick it out. The abusers have had their day and I am absolutely confidant that God is not on their side and if God is not on their side then there is absolutely no way they can continue their actions without severe human consequences. He isn’t hearing their prayers, He isn’t comforting them with His comfort and He isn’t reassuring them of their righteousness. And no, they are not “being persecuted for righteousness sake.” The opposite is true. Their “persecution” comes from their own hands. When innocent children have been and are continuing to be violated and they can turn their heads and walk away from it, they have turned away from the truth.

If I wasn’t able to think this clearly about the matter, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. There is no human atrocity worse than harming the vulnerable and then being used as an instrument to cover up for those who do. If you have been abused, you must do everything in your power to bring justice. It may take years or even decades, but you can ultimately rest your head knowing you’ve done everything you can humanly do. Then leave the rest with the Divine.

Thanks to Jeri Massi who sounded the alarm and experienced intense ridicule from within fundamentalism (of course). I had no idea what you were doing at the time, as I was consumed with my own darkness, but thank you. Many people who have never even heard of “the fundamentalist movement” are reading remarks against you and others and it only validates the need to move forward in exposing these crimes against children. Thanks also to the students in Culpeper who came forward and are responsible for protecting other innocent children.