Confessed Child Molester For Christ
Do Mortals Consider Prohibiting Child Molesting To Be The
More Important Than The 10 Commandments?
I believe the Lord holds all Ten Commandments to be equally important in the senses that if any one of them is violated then the violator has demonstrated that he does not truly acknowledge the Lord has his Savior. But do mortals, including Pastors, consider violating some commandments to be worse than violating others? Before answering this question for yourself, rank the following in terms of who you would least want to hire, be friends with, or leave alone with your children:
1. Someone who has confessed to dishonoring his parents in the past.
2. Someone who has confessed to murder in the past.
3. Someone who has confessed to having committed adultery in the past.
4. Someone who has confessed to having stolen in the past.
5. Someone who has confessed to having born false witness in the past.
6. Someone who has confessed to having desired his neighbor’s wife in the past.
7. Someone who has confessed to having homosexual relationships in the past.
8. Someone who has confessed to molesting children in the past.
I suspect most Pastors can find it in themselves to follow 1st Timothy in regard to items 1-6, and perhaps item 7, above. But I suspect they will have second thoughts about hiring, being friends with, or leaving a confessed child molester (CCM) alone with their children. If this is true then how can a CCM be expected to come forward and confess to a Pastor’s congregation, or just the elders, or even just to the Pastor? The CCM is left with the impression that mortals in the Church can accept all sinners (not the sin but the person truly trying to repent) except child molesters; regardless of whether the CCM has not physically molested a child in many years.
Even if a CCM finds a Church, or at least its elders and Pastor, who accepts his repentance, the CCM faces consequences other types of sinners do not. Once word gets out the CCM stands a good chance he will lose his job and his family will be humiliated. Public safety officials and Pastors must consider identifying the CCM to the police if he says he is currently contemplating, or even fantasizing about, molesting a child. Once so identified, he is then on the “persons of interest” list anytime a child has been molested in his town.
Please note that I am not saying that protecting children from molesters is not extremely important to both society and the Lord. I am writing this the day after the second little girl in Florida has been found molested and murdered. The first girl’s murderer is a CCM and it is suspected that a CCM will be found to have also murdered the second girl. I agree with 1st Timothy that laws must be enforced to help preclude such terrible crimes.
1st Timothy also points out that the Lord shows mercy to all repentant sinners. Although I can find no direct reference in the Bible to child molesters I believe ALL means ALL. So, this leads me to ask how Pastors can lead CCM to the Lord given the real world consequences of identifying CCM’s and the fear and hatred of CCMs by the general population?
Here’s a suggestion: Allow Pastors to facilitate one-on-one meetings between a CCM who has come to the Lord and a CCM who has not. Do not bring these meetings to the attention of the congregation.
I made this suggestion as a CCM who has come to the Lord. Prior to coming to Him I had gone through 10 years, 5 court-mandated and an additional 5 on my own, of child molestation therapy with a licensed Ph.D. psychologist. This therapy gave me awareness, empathy, and aversion skills; but it did not take away my fantasies and it did not keep me from using the Internet to feed those fantasies. Only coming to the Lord has kept me from the Internet. Fantasies, and recollections of my own real past actions, still occasionally come to mind. With the Lord’s help I have been able to avoid re-enforcing these thoughts through masturbation. But it’s an ongoing battle. Besides my own salvation, the only good I can see coming from this is perhaps by witnessing to others I will help preclude them from continuing to molest children.