Bag of Randomness for Friday, May 29, 2015

SkUFVSM

  • Buzzfeed posted an article yesterday about the history of children accidentally locking themselves in refrigerators and NEVER mentioned the ‘Punky Brewster’ episode that’s now a part of pop-culture history.  Who the hell is editing their stories?!?! If there are two sitcom episodes every child of the Eighties remembers, it’s that one and the ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ episode with the child molesting bicycle shop owner.  A good friend wanted to include the ‘Facts of Life’ episode of Natalie getting raped, but I don’t even remember that one.
  • Since I just referenced child molestation, let’s talk a bit more about The Village Church and their missionary that has a child porn addiction and his wife who they tried to formally discipline because she sought an annulment:
    • Thankfully the church has formally apologized to the woman, and also stated this publically in a lengthy message.  In an email to their members, they sound very sincere, humble, and reflective.  This is a big deal because you don’t typically see churches, especially large conservative ones, back down on any of their actions. They tend to stand firm, so kudos to them.  I’m not a big fan of them saying they should have communicated better to her that an annulment is considered a divorce by biblical standards, but overall they did right.  They are also going to grant her request to be released from membership (crazy that wasn’t easily done in the first place) and financially support her, as they previously committed, through August.
    • This incident reminds me of when Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were confused if the act violated religious law.  Jesus is like, “Hey, we know what the law says, but come on, this man needs help – use some common sense people.”  Likewise, I understand how the church may view an annulment as a divorce and as sin defined in the Bible, but come on, this man is/was addicted to child porn, give this woman a mulligan.  I know many will disagree with my interpretation and see it as a slippery slope to skirt around biblical rules, but that’s how I see it.
    • The church mentions media attention, I think it’s only because of this they started to cave and feel conviction.  The perception being cast was they were more focused on protecting their pastor and his marriage than the safety and protection of  children that had direct contact with the pastor.  But oddly, I haven’t seen any local news outlets cover this story, it’s only been making waves on Facebook, blogs, and Twitter.
    • They state their head pastor will “speak generally” about this on Sunday and stay on topic of the sermon series.  Personally, I think it deserves more than a general mention.  I recognize that an email was sent out so it’s now all in the past and it’s time to move on, but not having your head pastor address such a misfortunate event, especially when the safety and protection of their children is questioned, is skirting leadership.
    • I haven’t seen any mention of the missionary being talked to by police.  I’m no expert on the law, but if he has willfully admitted to owning child pornography and this information has gone public, I’d think that would be probable cause to do a search.
    • Thankfully, this is a huge step in the right direction.
  • The TICKET morning show had the parents of the late Taylor Torch on as guests to promote the charity they started in her honor to promote organ donation.  As great of a gesture that is to honor their daughter, it has always bothered me that the father is the lone employee and takes in six figures – Taylor’s Gift took in $163,000 in 2011, its first full year of operations. Todd Storch, the charity’s CEO, was paid a salary of $100,000, plus $8,500 in expenses.
  • A Christian rap song that supports Senator Ted Cruz.
  • This man’s wife lost her engagement ring down a vent, and he used a tape measure, flashlight, webcam, and tape to find and retrieve it.  Sidenote: Until today, I always thought it was “tape measurer” instead of “tape measure”.
  • The Big Business of Selling Your Old Clothes
  • The Dragon Autopsy – What it’s like to watch a komodo dragon get dissected – I think they meant to use the term “necropsy” instead of “autopsy“.  The first time I heard the term “necropsy” was in an ESPN special about the race horse Secretariat.
  • Buzzfeed – Can You Actually Get Through Disneyland In 24 Hours?
  • Buzzfeed – This Is What Happened When I Didn’t Look In A Mirror For A Week
  • Today’s dose of TEXAS! – Texas loves breakfast tacos 4,000 percent more than rest of nation
  • Why Do Former High-School Athletes Make More Money?Research hasn’t yet borne out whether sports breed go-getters or whether they attract kids with a knack for navigating the professional world.
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7 Responses to Bag of Randomness for Friday, May 29, 2015

  1. Ben W. says:

    From what I could tell from the various accounts I've read, the couple was in Asia doing missions work, and he admitted to his child-porn problem there. I'm guessing that means he didn't have anything in his possession anymore once he returned to the U.S. One of the letters from The Village indicated that he had met with the FBI and that charges had not been brought at that time. I don't practice criminal law, though, so I'm not sure about the specifics of how that would work, since he confessed to (I'm guessing) several people that he had viewed such materials.

    I feel bad for the 24-hour Disney guy. Disneyland really screwed things up, from what I could tell, with their crowd management. Strangely enough, the guys who rode all 46 attractions at WDW last year are attempting it again today. The challenge is harder, as they have one hour less time than they did last year. If you're interested, you can follow along on Twitter: twitter.com/Parkeology

  2. David Bryant says:

    To clarify, that 'pastor' isn't on staff. He was a missionary through a 3rd party that they sponsored who was also a member of their church. When the issue came out he was let go from the 3rd party organization, but is not and was not on their staff.

    • Geeding says:

      Thanks for clarifying this, David. I mistakenly labeled him a pastor when he isn't. I had to go back and see why I must have done so, and I think it was when I read "he was removed from ministry". I took that to believe he was "in the ministry" (church-talk, ya' know) which made me think he was an actual pastor of TVC. I made a mistake and I apologize for misleading anyone. I’ve updated the post to correct my error.

  3. RPM says:

    If you take over 1/2 of the money a charity raises as your personal salary (and bill them for expenses to boot), you're not running a charity. You're running a scam using your dead child as the bait.

    • towski says:

      To be fair on the Taylor's Gift thing, I would assume the dad left his other job to run this non-profit. According to the most recent form 990 (2013), that year they brought in over 300k and his salary stayed the same, bringing it down to 1/3rd. Those first couple years for a non-profit are tough, and they did still need to live while they got it up and running. I'll be interested to look at the 2014 990 when it goes up on Guidestar. As a fairly high level non-profit exec myself, compensation is a touchy subject for me.

  4. Mr. Mike Honcho says:

    I remember that episode of Different Strokes. I still remember how incredibly uncomfortable I was about that one.

    PS – I also remember how cool the Doobie Brothers were on the episode where Rog and gang were asked to make a bootleg of their concert.

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