Letters to the Editor
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"God" conveniently hates the same people we do.
Working at a youth detention center and shelter for 6 years gave me an odd view of sex-offenders. Some were bright, some were manipulative, and others were just plain creepy. That said, you couldn't help but feel a little bit of sadness for some of their situations. Sex offenders, yes. But they were still kids, and sick kids at that, some as young as 12.
One of the most disturbing meetings of religion and sex crimes came in with a 15-year-old boy who had an IQ of 70 (according to his psyche eval). Abused himself and living with a foster family, we booked him in on sexual assault on a younger child.
This kid couldn't read, and could barely function in a group of his peers. During this time, delegates from his church (whose denomination I won't get into here) kept asking to come visit him. While our policies allowed for such visits, the facility would not allow the ministers to bring in a document, which they insisted the boy had to see.
Our admininstrator finally let us make the exception, and the three people came in to visit the lad, paper in hand. I didn't monitor the session, and so wasn't wise to what had happened until later that day.
When I opened his cell to bring him dinner, I noticed his mood seemed a bit flatter than usual. I asked him what was up, and he handed me the document given by his pastor and company.
Printed on nice, heavy paper, was a letter to the kid informing him of his excommunication from the church, using his crimes as the reason for expulsion. The kid had no idea what to really make of it all.
My immediate reaction was, "those fuckers." They made such a big deal to see this boy and give him this letter, and it was all just so they give him a spiritual punch in the nuts.
Nice to know that churches can be so choosey as to exclude the simple and the young and the obviously very sick.