Another Creepy Christian

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

Another Creepy Christian

Postby chiggerbit » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:38 pm

You'll never guess what the outcome of this story is. <br><br>(I tried to "clip" this article, but people need to see the whole thing.)<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland1.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land1.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Christian School Questioned Over Discipline for Wayward <br>New York Times/July 5, 2001 <br>By Rick Bragg <br><br><br>Newark, Mo. -- Charles Sharpe made millions in the insurance business, then decided to use his wealth to make the world a better place, one child at a time. Called by God, he said, he established a nondenominational Christian school for troubled children and teenagers who had passed through juvenile courts, foster care and broken homes.<br><br>"I always thought that doing good, you wouldn't offend people," said the 73-year-old Mr. Sharpe, whose Heartland Christian Academy in rural northeastern Missouri uses old-time religion and old-fashioned discipline to try to save the lives and souls of its students. The teachers do not spare the rod - here, it is a paddle - and they expect children to pray. But now, five staff members at the school have been charged with multiple counts of felony child abuse. They are accused of taking discipline too far, forcing students to stand in pits of cow manure at a dairy near the school as punishment for misbehavior.<br><br>Eleven students, ages 13 to 17, were taken to concrete basins at a dairy farm and ordered into the cow manure as punishment for such infractions as fighting, being disrespectful to their instructors, not paying attention in class and having a bad attitude, said Sheriff David Parrish of Lewis County. Workers at the dairy, which is owned by Mr. Sharpe, said they saw children standing in manure in depths ranging from their ankles to their chests, and saw another student smeared with the manure from head to toe, Sheriff Parrish said. Last week, the five staff members were arrested, charged and released on bond, and the 11 children were removed from the school and taken into state custody.<br><br>"All we want, now, is what's right for the kids," said Sheriff Parrish, who said he feared that the students might become sick from infections from bacteria in the manure. Mr. Sharpe, who said he had stopped the manure punishment more than six weeks before the arrests, said that the charges of child abuse were false and that the witnesses' descriptions were exaggerated or dead wrong. He said the punishment in the manure was abandoned because it was bad public relations, not because he considered it illegal or abusive, or a health risk.<br><br>"When I die, I'll either go to heaven or hell, and I won't go to heaven if I am abusing kids," said Mr. Sharpe, a politically influential backer of organized school prayer and conservative lawmakers, and a longtime friend of John Ashcroft, the United States attorney general and former senator from Missouri. Mr. Sharpe said the students were sent to work in the manure, not stand in it. They used shovels to move manure from one place to another, as punishment, he said. They never were forced to stand in deep manure, or to stand, period, he said. They worked, he said, mucking out sections of the basins. There is no apparent outcry from parents.<br><br>Of the 11 students who were removed from the school by the State Division of Family Services, eight have been returned to the school by their parents or legal guardians, and another is expected to come back to the school any day, Mr. Sharpe said. That would not have happened, he said, if the charges were valid. "I've shoveled manure my whole life, and I'm still having some shoveled on me," said Mr. Sharpe, who was born in rural Missouri and reared on a farm before going on to riches as the founder of the Ozark National Life Insurance Company in Kansas City, Mo.<br><br>The students did work in manure that was at times thigh-deep, some staff members said. The boy who was seen smeared with the manure from head to toe had fallen down, and was soon hosed off, a spokesman for Mr. Sharpe said. Sheriff Parrish said some of the students told him they had been forced to stay in the manure for as long as an hour and a half. Mr. Sharpe said the longest time of the punishment was 30 minutes.<br><br>It is, Mr. Sharpe conceded, a dirty job and that is why it was used as punishment. The main manure basin is a powerful-smelling dump of drying and thick, congealing excrement. But its smell is not so powerful as the separating pool where the manure runs into a lagoon. The students worked both places.<br><br>Workers said they used machines to handle the manure from the dairy farm's 7,000 cows, which produce 28,000 pounds of manure a day. They said that sometimes afterbirth from calving was put in the manure pits. It was workers at the dairy who notified county authorities of the punishment by calling a child abuse hotline. "I've had beating my whole life, and I don't think that's right," said a worker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "But put them in the pit? That's horrible."<br><br>Mr. Sharpe said the real abuse was the way the children lived in the world outside this complex of brick houses and concrete and metal buildings here in thousands of acres of corn, pasture and rolling hills. Inside the school, which has 227 students, about half of them considered troubled children or teenagers from around the country, they find a haven from abuse, neglect, drugs, school shootings, pregnancy and hopelessness, he said.<br><br>No student here, Mr. Sharpe said, goes to school afraid of guns. "They live better than any time in their lives here," he said. But county officials said the punishment could not be viewed as anything except abuse. "It is my professional opinion that these actions were abusive in nature, for any youth," said Michael Waddle, chief juvenile officer of the Second Circuit Court, which includes Lewis County. "And it's our job to make sure all the kids in this state are safe." Mr. Sharpe is fighting back with a lawsuit.<br><br>The Heartland Academy Community Church and CNS International Ministries, both headed by Mr. Sharpe, filed a lawsuit on Monday in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against Lewis County, as well as Sheriff Parrish, Deputy Sheriff Patricia McAfee and Mr. Waddle. The lawsuit contends that the county and its investigators have conducted a "systematic, persistent and continuous campaign of harassment" against the faculty, staff and community at Heartland, by unlawfully removing the students from the school and interrogating them.<br><br>The suit says Mr. Waddle and Mr. Parrish spoke with the parents and guardians of some of the 11 students and told them that Heartland was engaging in abuse and neglect and encouraged them to remove their children from the school. The suit claims that the arrests and charges caused the students, their families and the faculty and staff at Heartland to suffer from "humiliation, mental anguish, inconvenience."<br><br>County officials have called Heartland a "cult" and "little Waco," the lawsuit says. "The most frustrating part of this entire episode is that these baseless charges threaten to overwhelm the enormous good we've done at Heartland, the dozens of lives we've turned around, the many families we've helped heal," Mr. Sharpe said. "We do work within the limits of the pertinent laws, but we do not intend to run things the way the state does. That system already has failed these kids."<br><br>Elijah Reese drove more than 400 miles from Memphis to pick up his son Coradell Baggett after he received a call from Mr. Waddle, in which he heard about the treatment his 14-year-old son had received. "He's back here with me because they weren't treating him right," Mr. Reese said. "That's inhumane treatment. That's stuff you do to prisoners of war, not kids." But Douglas Gardner, whose son Douglas Gardner Jr. was one of the students punished in the manure pits, immediately returned his son to the school. Mr. Gardner said he thought the school had made his son a better person. "Heartland's made a 100 percent turnaround in his school work, attitude, morale," Mr. Gardner said. "They're doing a fantastic job, and the county is doing something they shouldn't be doing."<br><br>The Heartland complex is in two counties, with the main buildings in Shelby County and the dairy farm in Lewis County. The Heartland complex is Shelby County's biggest employer, and people's attitudes about the place seem to range from gratitude and admiration for the way the school tries to help people to disinterest or suspicion. Most people here said they minded their own business. Mr. Sharpe said the arrests of his five staff workers left him "outraged." "For the first time in my life," he said, "I'm a little disillusioned about what America has become."<br><br>A hearing on the charges is set for later this month. A spokesman for Mr. Sharpe said he did not expect the charges to stand. "A group of little men thinks they can stop God?" Mr. Sharpe said. "No."<br><br> <p></p><i></i>
chiggerbit
 
Posts: 8594
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Another Creepy Christian

Postby chiggerbit » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:47 pm

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland12.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...and12.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>clip<br>Juvenile officer ordered to pay more than $800,000 <br>KTVOTV3/August 16, 2004 <br>By John Garlock <br>Hannibal, Mo. -- <br><br>A federal judge has ordered a local juvenile officer to pay Northeast Missouri's Heartland Christian Academy hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees and expenses. <br><br>The ruling was handed down Monday by Judge E. Richard Webber of U.S. District Court in Hannibal. <br><br>In late May, Heartland asked the court to make Mike Waddle of Kirksville, the Chief Juvenile Officer for Missouri's Second Judicial Circuit, pay in excess of one million dollars worth of attorney fees and related expenses stemming from a case brought against Heartland by local authorities. <br><br>On Monday, Judge Webber ordered Waddle to pay more than $808,000 to Heartland Christian Academy, located just south of Newark, Missouri. <br><br>Back in October 2001, Waddle headed up a mass removal of 115 students from Heartland, reportedly to protect them from alleged abuse at the home for troubled youngsters..... <br><br> <p></p><i></i>
chiggerbit
 
Posts: 8594
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Another Creepy Christian

Postby chiggerbit » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:52 pm

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/groups/heartland.html">www.rickross.com/groups/heartland.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> Juvenile officer ordered to pay more than $800,000<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland12.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...and12.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Judge bars future raids of Christian reform school<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland11.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...and11.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Heartland Academy is winning its battle in the courts<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland10.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...and10.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Abuse Allegations Mar Teen Safehouse<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland8.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land8.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Heartland case ruling halts mass student removal<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland9.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land9.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Judge Eases Mo. Private School Order<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland7.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land7.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Judge Hears Child Abuse Testimony<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland6.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land6.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Juvenile officer explains actions taken against Heartland<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland5.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land5.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Children of Christian academy allowed to return after child abuse allegations<br> <br>Heartland director, set to accept award, learns of facility's raid instead <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland2.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land2.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Students removed from Heartland<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland4.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land4.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br> Christian School Questioned Over Discipline for Wayward<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/heartland/heartland1.html">www.rickross.com/referenc...land1.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=chiggerbit@rigorousintuition>chiggerbit</A> at: 12/25/05 11:15 am<br></i>
chiggerbit
 
Posts: 8594
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Re: Another Creepy Christian

Postby chiggerbit » Sun Dec 25, 2005 2:48 pm

Meanwhile, over in Kentucky.....<br><br><br>clips<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.nospank.net/n-j65.htm">www.nospank.net/n-j65.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>2 school officials acquitted of abuse<br>Jury's quick verdict pleases supporters, angers boy's parent <br>By Alan MaimonThe Courier-Journal, October 19, 2002 <br><br><br>WHITLEY CITY, Ky. -- A jury took just 45 minutes yesterday to acquit two officials of a religious boarding school of criminal abuse charges in a trial that focused on how corporal punishment was used. <br><br>The verdict set off a celebration by supporters of the men, and anger from the parent of a child who testified that he was kicked and injured. It did not affect a court order that shut down the school in February amid a state review of abuse allegations. <br><br>Blaine Shaw, 61, executive director of the Beulah Mountain Christian Academy for troubled children, and his son Jeff, 33, a dormitory supervisor, each had been charged with one felony count of criminal abuse. <br><br>In a trial that began Tuesday, two students testified they had their heads banged together, were kicked or were excessively paddled. But the jury acquitted the Shaws. <br><br>''Hallelujah!'' Blaine Shaw said as he left the McCreary County courthouse surrounded by about 70 supporters. He and his son had faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted....... <br><br>....Blaine Shaw said he was confident the academy would be allowed to reopen. ''They have nothing on us. We are going to continue helping children,'' he said. <br><br>A few students 18 or older remain at the academy. <br><br>Tim Carr, a Rock Island, Ill., pastor who was one of the Shaws' supporters at their trial, said he was thrilled by the outcome. ''I never had any doubt about their innocence,'' Carr said. ''I've seen them around children and know how good they are with them.'' <br><br>But Rhonda Campbell of Prestonsburg, the mother of 9-year-old Jordan Ward, one of the boys who testified he had been abused, said she was angered by the verdict. <br><br>''I know what happened there, and I can't believe they can get away with it,'' Campbell said. ''They're saying it's OK for people to hurt children.'' <br><br>The case included four alleged victims, but only two testified against the Shaws. Jordan Ward said he had been kicked while running around a track last year and was left with a deep bruise. <br><br>Shane Waggener, 16, of Jasper, Ark., said that 15 other students paddled him three times each on one occasion, and that Jeff Shaw struck him 10 times with a paddle until he bled. <br><br>Commonwealth's Attorney Allen Trimble said the issue was whether the jury believed the punishment inflicted on the children was cruel. ''The unfortunate message is that a jury didn't believe that 10 or 45 whacks with a paddle was cruel punishment,'' Trimble said. <br><br>In his closing arguments, defense attorney William Gary Crabtree argued that the punishments levied by the Shaws weren't cruel and in some cases were exaggerated by the children. <br><br>''The mere fact that the (corporal punishment) policy was exceeded doesn't make it a criminal act,'' Crabtree said. ''Cruelty is supposed to inflict pain and suffering while being devoid of human feelings.'' <br><br>Beulah Mountain accepted at-risk students whose recommendations came from among the 230 pastors of the Bible Missionary Church. Parents and guardians were required to sign a waiver that allowed staff members to use corporal punishment. The waiver stipulated that school officials could not paddle a child more than twice at any given time..... <br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
chiggerbit
 
Posts: 8594
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:23 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

But torture is good for children, Iraqis, and evil-doers.

Postby Hugh Manatee Wins » Sun Dec 25, 2005 5:53 pm

The US government uses religion to try to make all Americans a 'Manchurian Candidate.'<br><br>When Abu Ghraib broke as a story I realized that the E=mc2 of human behavior is something called <br>Biderman's Chart of Coercion.<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.actabuse.com/chartofcoercion.html">www.actabuse.com/chartofcoercion.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>In the 1950s the archetypal techniques used to break a prisoner's will were codified when Korean War prisoners came back from China in an altered state of mind. Years later it was realized by domestic violence social workers that this list matched the things abusive men did to women and children all the time.<br><br>Social scientists trying to figure out what the roots of fascism were after WWII discovered what they called 'the Authoritarian Personality' which feared loss of control and felt threatened by people different from themselves and so were easily led to follow orders and commit violence.<br><br><br>Fifty years ago, the Authoritarian Personality studies attempted to "construct an instrument that would yield an estimate of fascist receptivity at the personality level."<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.anesi.com/fscale.htm">www.anesi.com/fscale.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Yup. Microcosm=macrocosm. Beat the child and they will follow orders to take out their frustrations on a targeted population as an adult, a perfect social weapon for war-mongering fascists. <br><br>This is what is behind <br>fascism <br>militarism<br>sexism<br>racism<br>Reaganism/Bushism<br>CIA's MKUltra mind control experiments<br>Serial/Satanic Ritual Abuse<br><br>This lecture by Dr. Colin Ross gives the whole 'Manchurian Candidate' project history in one fell swoop:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.whale.to/b/ross.html">www.whale.to/b/ross.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <br><br>For a lengthy explanation of how family-induced neurosis leads to religious neurosis read 'The Psychology of Christian Fundamentalism'<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/davis01082005.html">www.counterpunch.org/davis01082005.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
User avatar
Hugh Manatee Wins
 
Posts: 9869
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:51 pm
Location: in context
Blog: View Blog (0)


Return to Religion and the Occult

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests