exploitation

The Elephant in the Room

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You know the illustration of a group of blind men describing an elephant?

With one of them holding the leg and describing it as the trunk of a tree, another the tail and thinking it is a rope, etc.?

It is a good analogy for the larger conspiracy nobody can explain.

We all can agree that there’s something wrong with the world, and yet we can never agree on exactly what it is. Those of the Republican rank and file, despite being an easy sell on the biggest of wastes called the Pentagon, have generally seen government as the real problem—along with rules that apply to them and the people who don’t speak English.  And those Democrats—of course. Democrats, on the other hand, will blame those big corporations and billionaires for their woes, the “uneducated,” and unborn babies—which all stand in the way of a life of ease.  And they blame Republicans.  I would say that both are right to a degree. It is actually that natural collusion of the political and economic that they see a different side of—namely, that government has always sent us to die overseas on behalf of bankers and big business. Monetary wealth is transferable—so much more transferable than some amorphous national ideals—and politicians are a class that can be easily bought.

Maybe we all are? 

I am reminded of a local fight against a new data center where the leader of the protest went silent right around the time the buyout cash was being offered.

We will stand on principle—until we don’t.

Money or, rather, the love of it, with the power it represents, is the root of all kinds of evil.

The above would describe half of the conspiracy.

The other half of it is those who never had to be bought to betray us all. From growing up in a conservative Mennonite community—and having been a religious member for most of my life—there’s an attitude that comes with the notion of “not being ‘of the world’” which is probably not what Jesus ever intended. I am talking about a sneering at or contempt for the civil authority. We didn’t say it—even preached the opposite—and yet there is the very strong undercurrent of “what business does some heathen have in telling me how to live my life?” I’m fairly certain—given the admonition of Romans 13—that separation is more about being apart from vices of the world rather than in judgment of those who are given the power of the sword or the civil authorities. This defiance against power is a good and bad thing. It can be good when we are standing on a moral high ground and for truth—not when it is a special exemption from accountability to our neighbors.

So where am I going with all this?

Who doesn’t need to betray us because they never were us?

There’s another group of individuals that’s a lot like Mennonites or Amish, and not fully invested in the same civilizational project or greater good.  Where, in theory, Christian separatists are never supposed to screw you over in business and must value all human life, this is not a disposition that is shared universally and by every community of faith or culture.

There are some who believe that people outside of the “tribe” are little more than a resource to exploit. And their religious traditions allows or even encourages this perspective.  If you look at the Biblical Old Testament, and take note of the bloodbath it was before Christ, maybe you would also be shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Jesus was the watershed moment of Jewish tradition—he claimed to be the complete fulfillment of everything promised to them since the time of Abraham. Some embraced his message and became known as Christians and many others rejected his message, choosing their own “chosenness” over a life of repentance, humility, and self-sacrificial love—that “way of the cross” which was embodied by Jesus as an example for all.

There are those who are “Biblical” yet completely incompatible with a Christian worldview.  And a few of their number have worked tirelessly to, this time around, finally defeat Rome. Modern Judaism and, in particular, the Zionist ideology within this sect of those who rejected Christ, is not just aloof like contemporary Anabaptists. No, it has an ax to grind with Western civilization as a whole and the disgusting “blasphemy” of the divine claims of one of their own.

In Talmudic tradition Jesus basically got what he deserved, currently boils in a pot of excrement, and is definitely not an example to follow. The Noahide prescription for saying “Jesus is Lord” is decapitation. This is why adherent Talmudists have zero interest in protecting those Christian communities that have been in the Holy Lands for centuries. They also take personally being defeated by the European pagans two centuries ago.  Jesus was put to death on behalf of the Sanhedrin or Jewish High Council who claimed this was necessary to defend their nation.  Where the mainline of Islam still considers Christians and Jews to simply be “people of the book,” this sentiment of tolerance is not part of Talmudic Judaism.

Furthermore, Christianity, if applied, pushes back against this tribal, primitive, “if you kill one of ours we kill ten of yours” mentality—Old Testament religion does not.

Before I go any further it is important to say that this isn’t a diagnosis of a whole ethnic or identity group. I firmly believe that most Jews—just like most Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists—are good people and should be judged as individuals. What I’m addressing is ideology, not individuals. I see my Jewish elementary school teacher in a far different light from a Benjamin Netanyahu—in the same way I can distinguish between Amish and Lutherans. 

So as a starting point I won’t assume anything—in individuals is the behavioral expression that matters to me.

But that said, there is a kind of tribal dynamic or cultural influence that is at work and with this a few common points of failure. Being taught a moral and ethical system is similar to sharing genetics.  For example, Ashkenazi Jews (much like Amish and Mennonites)—because they are so isolated from the greater gene pool—present a very unique opportunity for studying genetic disorders.

The Supremacist Disease

Sickle cell anemia is an issue for only some Africans—and it isn’t racist or an accusation against all to acknowledge this.

Likewise, it isn’t “anti-Semitic” to call out Zionism and to understand that the “goyim” slur (as it was used in the Jeffrey Epstein emails) reflects the toxic stench of ethno-supremacism—which is incompatible with an “all men are created equal” ethic. If anti-goyism is the trait, then Zionism is the ultimate disease. And this is an ailment that stems from a toxic brew of a theological error mixed with the pre-existing human condition. The end product is a kind of psychopathy and lack of self-awareness unequaled on the planet. Unlike Christianity that it is better to serve than to be served—there are rabbis who say this:

In Israel, death has no dominion over them… With gentiles, it will be like any person—they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money.“This is his servant… That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew.”“Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat… That is why gentiles were created.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

Translation: If you’re not Jewish then you’re no different from cattle or a draft animal. That’s what he was teaching Israelis. Little wonder why Israeli tourists have gained a reputation for being entitled jerks.  It explains why IDF soldiers laugh about the Palestinian children they’ve killed.

Two ethno-supremacists enjoy a moment together.

They are basically the Jewish version of Nazis or the KKK and totally anti-Christ and evil. The best you can be to Jewish supremacists is basically their prized horse. Work is for us, leisure for them, and if you don’t perform to the standard?

Well, what does a farmer do if his cow doesn’t produce?

This idea that an honest day’s work is below the Jew seems reflected in the messages that Epstein and Jewish friends exchanged:

This is the way the Jew make money.. and made a fortune in the past ten years„ selling short the shipping futures‚ let the goyim deal in the real world.

This right here hits on something of my own values. Remember the one time Jesus was especially animated? Him driving out those money changers from the temple courtyard, overturning their tables in a righteous fury—because they were taking advantage of the poor hard-working people. There are those ways of getting rich without ever adding any value. It might not legally be theft, but it does prey on those who earn every dime they got, and is unethical from the perspective of the New Testament writers. Usury, filthy lucre, charging interest and shameful, dishonest, or dishonorable financial gain. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the blue-collar worker and probably as a part of my own cultural upbringing—a culture built off the religion of Christ—the cornerstone that was rejected by those who wanted only to be served.

And then there’s the elitism represented by the publicist Peggy Siegal who asked Jeffrey Epstein if an event at his New York mansion would be a “100% JEW NIGHT,” and to which the pedophile blackmailer answered: “No, goyim in abundance – jpmorgan execs brilliant WASPs.”

To deal with her comment about non-Jews he entices her with: They’re smart and rich.

Favoritism is another one of those things that was condemned by Jewish leaders of the early Christian church:

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James 2:3-5

Judgment based on appearance is natural, as is the preference for those who might be able to give us something; this is favoritism and corrupts our institutions. The direction of the West has been equality—not in some absolute way—as far as individual rights or similar access to economic opportunities. But those of the Epstein-class have no qualms about elitism; they don’t subscribe to Christian thought—those of the Jewish contingent of this Zionist club are primed for this: It is their chosenness, the divine destiny granted to them by their superior genetics, a narcissistic self-love, and all represents the core of a disease that has overtaken our top tier.

Corruption of Wealthy Widows

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

(Luke 8:1-3 NIV)

Jesus was financially supported by women.  He preached the good news on their dime.  And the anti-Christ, seeking a false Messiah, is supported in a similar way.

To understand why Trump has done Israel’s bidding look no further than the donation of $250,000,000 by Miriam Adelson. My uncle, from Canada, who leans left, warned me of how Trump was owned by billionaires. It is the part he left out, however, that mattered most. Of course big money buys influence—both parties have their wealthy patrons backing them. But the details matter. This woman who bankrolled Trump is the Israel-first widow of Sheldon Adelson—a man who made his billions by peddling vice.

Gambling is addictive and the Adelsons the type who cash in on human weakness. The idea of gaining enormous wealth entices—this is an exploitable bug in our system. The house always wins in this stacked game. When asked about her loyalties it was fairly clear that it wasn’t with the country that created her fortune—it was with an ethno-supremacist colony. So this woman, who became wealthy creating an addiction to a losing proposition, bought the service of Trump using the money of the exploited. This, simply put, is just corruption upon corruption upon corruption—money taken from working poor Americans to use to influence politicians to send their children to die for the Zionist regime. An ill-gotten fortune used to shape a foreign policy that demands that U.S. treasure be spent bombing school girls in the country of Iran—all because Iran’s principled government stands in the way of their ethnic cleansing of Gaza.

We’re not just being deceived; we’re being totally robbed blind by people who have no investment in the American project besides a tax farm and a population to exploit. If you see who sits atop the entertainment or vice system a clear pattern emerges. From pro sports to Hollywood, social media and the adult entertainment industry, there’s a totally disproportionate representation. If you look at Pornhub, for example, it just so happens to be owned by Ethical Capital Partners and Solomon Friedman—an ordained Orthodox Jewish rabbi. OnlyFans was owned (until his death) by Leonid Radvinsky, a Ukrainian-born American who donated millions to the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC. And this list goes on and on. It’s a matter of moral alignment, not religious or ethnic identities. There was a time when vices stayed in Las Vegas and the seedy side of town—now they have put it in our pockets where resistance is about as likely as ceasing to doomscroll.

All of this, like the Federal Reserve system, is a legal exploitation. But it goes against the public good. An ethical businessman or politician is like a good parent or teacher—in that they would never put something bad or financially ruinous and morally corrosive right in front of our most vulnerable people. Oh, I know, if they didn’t do it someone else would, right?

There’s no excuse for this.

But being an intermediary who does the things that good people of society would not do doesn’t make you a victim when the connection is pointed out. Bluntly, there are some not invested in our good because they’re truly not one of us and only see us in terms of opportunities for exploitation. Our politicians, and most especially Trump, are owned by a group of wealthy elites invested in us the same way Israel is in Palestinians—in that we are only useful alive to them so long as they are served by us.

For capitalism to work you need the people with capital to be loyal to the country and invest in the betterment of their neighbors. Take a dive into a rabbit hole and see how the Sassoon family got filthy rich by keeping the Chinese supplied with highly addictive opium. They basically ruined a nation for their own profit and used the power of the British military to humiliate the Chinese trying to stop the flow of the drug. Say what you will about China, but they’ve done very well since driving the money changers out. They have made sure the commerce in China serves the people of China and not only this very small group of foreigners and colonial elites.

The Elephant in the Room

“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club.” (George Carlin)

Since the 1970s the top 1% has gone from holding 22% of the nation’s wealth to 31.7% and that is a trend that has only accelerated since the Covid shutdowns of 2020.  Elites said “we’re all in this together” in the height of the pandemic.  But Amazon was having record profits while Mom-and-Pop were not allowed to be open.  As Gavin Newsom and a long list of other politicians had continued to party in private, events like weddings and school graduations were canceled for us.  It is abundantly clear and no matter who they say that they represent; They’re working for themselves, not working for us.

Money and power, concentrated into a few hands, particularly the hands of those with a foreign agenda that does not consider the welfare of the native population, acts like a conspiracy because it practically is one. No, it is not a Jewish conspiracy, it isn’t simply corporate greed or corrupt politicians, and certainly didn’t start with Trump; this is just how corrupt birds of a feather always flock together. Grifters, conmen, an ethnic group taught from little on up that they’re superior and entitled, those who will short an entire economy and are willing to destroy the life work of others for gain, they often do team up. It’s love of money, wealth without work, and people who are not truly invested in the good of the nation they’re in, that’s the big elephant in room.

Many can see parts of the creature—a trunk, the ears, the tail—they blame billionaires, or the migrants, the symptoms, but fail to ever comprehend the marriage of political power and banking, vice and exploitation industry—people all invested in themselves or some foreign interest rather than the whole. This describes the Zionist “AIPAC” lobby—as well as billionaires, like Sam Altman (OpenAI) or Peter Thiel (PayPal and Palantir), who have built their tremendous wealth on our backs and then would bug out and flee to another country rather than make a home stand.  It is a class of those who see themselves as a god to be served rather than as a servant of humanity.  

Gay tech billionaires, Zionist club members, aren’t actually interested in the future of the American middle-class?

Who could’ve known!

That thrice married man, paying high dollar prostitutes, wasn’t actually the champion of family values?  

Must be my TDS speaking, right?

Trump might be part of this elephant’s rear end, but the establishment alternative is not another creature.  It’s about orientation.  It’s about the actual values lived.  Not the ones they state on camera, the ones they live out when not in character.  Erosion of Christian values, despite the lip service paid to them, has led to a much more self-centered, tribal and exploitative present.  Vice industry and debt have bound us.  We need to get back to the universal perspective rather than the tribal.  We must address the delusion of the ‘chosen’ and their systematic violence as a threat to stability and peace.  We must side with those who accepted Christ rather than those who rejected and hate him.

Oh, and don’t forget, Judas didn’t spit on Christ when he betrayed him.  No, he kissed him.  The thirty pieces of silver mattered to him more than loyalty to those who entrusted him with carrying their common purse.  There are many who call themselves Christians today, who may faithfully attend church every Sunday, but are on the side of evil and may be told “depart from me, I never knew you” for their unholy alliances.

Who Are Our Kin?

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The book of Ruth is a nice little oasis in the midst of dry and tedious reading.  Up to this point the Bible isn’t all that relatable.  It has some highlights, interesting characters, but is stories of ethnic cleansing, description of weird sacrificial rites, polygamous patriarchs and stonings for picking up sticks, violence and laws, it is cumbersome.  

And then you get this:

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

Ruth 1:16‭-‬19 NIV

What a contrast to the storytelling prior, all of the resistance to racial mixing as well, here a Moabite woman would rather remain with her Israelite mother-in-law than stay with her own people.  It’s personal.  And the romance that follows, while very foreign and featuring many practices which are weird to our own ears, shows a more compassionate side of the legal system instituted by Moses.  Boaz acted both out of love and duty as guardian-redeemer.  Starting with his genuine concern for her safety:

So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

Ruth 2:8‭-‬9 NIV

This paternalistic care a sharp contrast to an episode in the book of Judges when a Levite and his host offered their innocent women to please the perverse desires of the men in the local community:

While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.” The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.” But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.

Judges 19:22‭-‬28 NIV

While the brutal rape and murder of this poor concubine was later avenged, it is quite clear that the two men were more concerned with saving their own skin than protecting those whom were entrusted to them.  Not saying it would be easy to know what to do in those circumstances.  It isn’t like there was 911 to call or semiautomatic weapons to hold back the lascivious mob.  Still, Boaz stood ready to protect Ruth, a foreign woman, from the other men who would very likely have taken advantage.  How easily we can take our own law and order for granted.

Where the men made the woman vulnerable for exploitation in the book of Judges and in other parts of the Bible, like Abraham claiming his wife was his sister or Jacob putting his family in the front, in Ruth it is the women putting themselves in a vulnerable place to capture the attention of the good man:

One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

Ruth 3:1‭-‬4 NIV

I’m not sure if the description of Ruth acting out on her mother-in-law’s bold plan to lay at the feet of Boaz is euphemistic language.  Seems risky to be that intimate with a man who was drinking and “in good spirits” as the text tells us.  But, that said, whatever transpired that night, we know that he took responsibility for Ruth and also the welfare of Naomi.  And, in this regard, the guardian-redeemer system worked as designed.  But mostly because of Boaz having genuine care in his heart.  Ruth, for her part, was his equal in that she was loyal to her mother-in-law to the point of leaving her own homeland.

This is a story exceptional in a good way and likely part of the Biblical canon so far as has to do with the lineage of King David.  It also brings us to Bethlehem, where Jesus (of the line of David via his mother) was born.  That both Ruth and Boaz stand out as characters for their abiding love is significant.  In a time when woman were treated as if property or merely objects for male pleasure, we have honorable and caring men.  Boaz took Ruth under his wing in the same way his grandson longed to love his people:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Matthew 23:37 NIV

In this account there is a clear precedent for a family relationship that goes beyond only our biological relatives.  The law of the kinsman or guardian-redeemer, through Naomi, was also applied to Ruth.  And, likewise, through adoption we become sons and daughters of Abraham by our faith (Galatians 3:6-14) and true children unlike those blood relatives of the Patriarch who rejected their Salvation.  Our real kin are those who fulfill the role they have and love in the manner of Boaz or Ruth.

Missionaries From Hell — Revisited

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The picture above is from a glowing LancasterOnline article, from 2016, about a couple who sold everything to start an orphanage in Kenya.

A few years ago, while at an annual conservative Mennonite revivalist effort, specifically the youth tent meetings at Terry Hill, I was involved in a conversation with a parent who spoke of their great admiration of the missionary zeal of the younger generation. To this person, the desire to travel to exotic places, purportedly to “share the Gospel,” was proof of sincere faith and fulfillment of the great commission. But, having decided that questioning this paradigm would likely be misunderstood, I did not express my reservations then.

Since then I have written two blogs, most recently one (“Missionaries From Hell?“) as part of a series on Matthew 23 and another before that (“Missionary or Imposter?“) exploring the true meaning of a quote of a famed fundamentalist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, about Christian missionary work. In both I point out the many different motives, besides a sincere desire to reach vulnerable people, why someone would leave the comforts (and boredom) of rural American life to be with a group of ambitious (and unmarried) young people. My basic point being that missionary zeal does not necessarily mean prayer cards and world travel.

My Blindspot

However, in those prior efforts, while listing the many possibilities of corrupt motivations and relating my own experiences, not once did it occur to me to add sexual predation to the list. At the time it would have seemed a bit over the top. My simply challenging the assumption that all things done in the name of Jesus are legit service “for the kingdom” may have been enough for some to tune me out. I mean, isn’t it great that some are trying to do something, even if that effort is misguided, largely ineffective and born of suspect motives?

Yes, maybe the execution was flawed, but isn’t the road to heaven paved with good intentions?

(Or maybe I’m remembering that expression wrong…?)

Anyhow, to suggest that some are there some there in these impoverished countries as a means to prey on the vulnerable would have been unconscionable until it became otherwise. When the bombshell report of Jeriah Mast’s confessions to sexually predatory behavior, both while a missionary in Haiti and also swept under the rug at home, rocked the conservative Mennonite world it immediately reminded me of the two blogs I wrote about the potential for ulterior motives.

It makes perfect sense now and should’ve years before in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. If Jerry Sandusky, the founder of an organization supposedly to help disadvantaged boys, the “Second Mile,” could use his access to the university and reputation as a former coach as a means to hide in plain sight, why not a Mennonite missionary?

Except, for some reason, it was unimaginable.

My concerns expressed missed and not because they were too critical either. No, if anything, I was too gentle and generous. All cultures have their sacred cows, it is risky business trying to confront them head-on, and maybe that is what caused me to unconsciously tread lightly as not to offend. But charities and church ministries are opportunity zones for wolves in sheep’s clothing. The reality is this: The same things that draw those with pure motives to the mission also attracts those looking to exploit vulnerable people.

The Bigger Issue

It certainly isn’t just the case in Mennonite missions either. In fact, the reason I’m writing is because of another case involving a Lancaster County man, a convicted sex offender, who started an orphanage in Kenya—the man in the LancasterOnline picture. Then there is that “incredible story of decades of adultery, rape, and pedophiliac sexual abuse by Donn Ketcham” mentioned by Hans Mast in his blog. And that’s only scratching the surface, only the most current and obvious examples, and who knows what is yet to come to light.

Do we have any excuse anymore not to be aware?

We can fairly easily detect a fraud when it is not one of our own. Like the Manhattan ‘pastor’ who wrote in USA Today about her late-term abortion, had a salary of $250,000 (“plus more than $150,000 in fringe benefits”) and recently lost her job over a harassment complaint involving sex toys. Most people know to be wary of men like televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who live like celebrities and fleece their flocks for Gulfstream jets. But the truth is that these aren’t the wolves relevant to conservative Mennonite (or Orthodox Christian) sheep and we do definitely have wolves amongst us.

We were warned…

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:28‭-‬29 NIV)

Perhaps the most uncomfortable truth is that we all have this potential to be the imposter or to be one who looks and acts the part of a Christian, yet is only really in it for themselves. Living the part of a religious or cultural ideal often gives you access to funding, better jobs, travel, and other opportunities. Sure, not everyone who goes abroad is a sexual predator. It is likely that this kind of abuse is the rare exception of those who travel. However, sexual predation is not the only form of exploitation.

It could be argued that populating an Instagram page with cute pictures of foreign children is more for the benefit of the one posting them. In well-funded funded Western-style missions there is also plenty of power and cultural imperialism that comes along for the ride in our missionary efforts. In other words, there are many ways that a person can be a missionary from hell.

Some Monday Musings About Missionaries and Exploitation

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Trudy Metzger has been a warrior shedding light on sexual abuse within the Anabaptist context and has once again reported on something that has been concealed from many of us. Her latest blog about a confessed pedophile, associated with Christian Aid Ministries, and the consequences of his actions being visited upon a hapless Haitian pastor, really did hit a raw nerve with me.

You can read her blog: “Haitian Commissioner Orders Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) to appear in court with offender”

The CAM organization has enjoyed a reputation of having relatively low overhead and for promoting conservative Mennonite values both here in the United States and abroad. I have some friends and family associated with the organization, good people, who I’m guessing are as outraged by this situation in Haiti as I am. It is sad, their work should not be discredited on the account of a few corrupt individuals and yet there must be a robust response on the part of current CAM leadership or these good people will have some tough decisions to make.

Full disclosure: I’ve long been a critic of short-term missions, which seem to be exploitative by nature even if well-intentioned. My own experience, on a trip to Haiti, was enough to convince me of that, when a few dozen youths can travel to an impoverished country for a week or two, at great expense to those who donated to our fundraising efforts and accomplish so little of real value. Meanwhile, we could have employed the Haitian man, like the one who begged me for work while we painted the church, for months and gotten much more accomplished.

That is my general complaint with what passes as missionary service. It too often involves a bunch of young people, out for a religious culturally sanctioned adventure, and bears very little resemblance to anything we find in Scripture. For one, Jesus sends his disciples (adults) without funding, they went on faith and only the shirts on their backs. By contrast, what passes for missionary service today is too often a bunch of privileged youths, living in compounds and being catered to, doing a couple dogooder projects while spouse shopping the other volunteers.

That said, CAM seemed to be making a far more substantial effort. Yes, well-funded by the many deep pockets in the conservative Anabaptist sphere, but with many very committed and completely blameless individuals. Still, if their organization is being used as shelter by sexual predators, then this needs to be fully exposed. Like I’ve said in a social media post, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Those who support the work of CAM really do need to hear everything—the good, bad and the ugly—because there are certainly many other ways to serve the cause of Christ with their resources they might otherwise donate to CAM.

It is my hope that CAM comes completely clean as far as all allegations regarding their staff or the families of their staff members. I’m not saying that the innocent who are falsely accused should have their names drug in the mud either, that is an abuse in and of itself, but certainly, those who have confessed to sexual abuse and other crimes while associated with CAM. Of course, this sort of thing is embarrassing, it is always easy to hide behind the idea that the greater good will somehow be served by silence, yet what is done is done and it must be handled openly rather than concealed:

“Stories surface stating there were more crimes in other countries, by other CAM staff members. Not all informants feel comfortable sharing names of alleged offenders, but some names and details by various informants begin to fill the gaps left by others. An orphanage. Three offenders.”

My questions:

1. How many cases like this have there been before?

2. What, if anything, was done to address this immoral and criminal behavior?

3. What steps will be taken to protect against this sort of sexual abuse from reoccurring in the future?

Purity Culture Is Always Bad

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Two people responded to my last blog. One said that I had not said enough about the exploitative nature of the porn industry and the abuses common in purity cultures. Another claimed that I had overstated and generalized about purity cultures and tried to point out the good.

First, there is not enough that can be said about the ugliness of pornography and how it is harmful on both ends. My previous blog had primarily focused on the consumer end because it was about how pornography and purity cultures hurt those under their influence. However, many blogs could be written about how pornography is produced and we should not forget those many who are used (or abused) in this industry—they also need to experience the pure love of Jesus.

Second, the other person responding to my prior blog seems to have assumed that my comments, specific to purity culture, applied to my Christian experience in general. That is incorrect. I have actually had great experiences with those who were able to transcend the cancerous influence of purity culture. I have met many who are more committed to Christian love (and faith) than they are to maintaining an appearance of purity (for sake of religious peers) that comes at the expense of those aforementioned things.

What purity culture is is a misuse of a set of teachings in the same way that pornography represents a misuse of sex. It sees a corrupted version of purity as an end to itself rather than a part of something more comprehensive and complete. It leads to the same kind of dissatisfaction as pornography and that is because it has, in a similar fashion, taken a good thing in the right context and twisted it into something that it was not intended to be. Purity culture, under the pleasant facade, is always about fear, control and shifting blame rather than true Christian love.

Purity culture is, by definition, a misapplication or overemphasis on some teachings at the expense of others. In other words, purity culture is a perversion and, like pornography, not enough can be said in condemnation of this wrongful and abusive use of Biblical teachings. There is a vast difference between purity culture appearances and actual righteousness. There is nothing good about purity cultures, the bad cannot be overstated and that is a generalization we should make.

Jesus Rebuked Purity Culture

The difference between being pure in heart (as is taught in Scripture) and purity culture is as different as Jesus was from his self-righteous critics:

On a Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. (Luke 13:10‭-‬17 NIV)

Had you run into this “synagogue leader” he would have appeared to be a very pious man. He was likely there every time the synagogue doors were open, probably spent hours of time devoted to reading Scripture and may have even tithed everything even down to his spices. But under this man’s righteous outward display was a corrupt and unloving heart that placed strict adherence to Sabbath laws above the actual reason for the laws.

Jesus, who had a pattern of healing on the Sabbath as if intentionally trying to antagonize these religious elites and expose their hard hearts, rebukes this leader’s misplaced priorities. Because, while this religious leader was technically correct that this woman could’ve been healed any other day of the week, his thinking was not centered correctly, he should have been rejoicing that this woman was healed and not obsessing on when or how it happened.

A “tell” refers to those unconscious actions that betray a person in a card game. A person can bluff or deceive others with a display of confidence and yet there are often small signs that give them away to an astute observer. Purity culture also has tells. One of the biggest tells of purity cultures is it does like this religious leader Jesus rebukes and puts emphasis on the letter of law or appearances over what is healing and helpful to other people.

Here are some other tells of purity culture…

Purity Cultures Blameshift

Purity cultures always release men from being completely responsible for their own sin. Instead, they use male failure as an excuse to manipulate and control others.

For example, in a purity culture, when a man was caught by his wife viewing pornography, and the matter went before church leaders, he was treated as the victim and his wife (along with every other woman) was made responsible. In this case, they urged his wife to dress plainer and they encouraged her to become pregnant, I kid you not, meanwhile this man goes around condemning those who do not ‘dress right’ or otherwise live to a standard that would keep him from sin.

Women are often blamed for male lusts in purity cultures and this goes completely contrary to anything Jesus taught on the subject. Hyperbole or not, we are told by Jesus to pluck our own eye out if it causes us to sin. But never are we told that it is a woman’s responsibility to keep a man’s thoughts pure. Men who shift blame for their own sinful thoughts and actions have no business calling themselves Christian leaders. A real Christian leader takes full responsibility for their own sin, falls on their knees and repents.

But in purity cultures, a man is more concerned with maintaining an image. And, for that reason, he cannot repent or take complete responsibility for fear of being exposed and losing social status. So, rather than admit it was his own weakness that led to failure, he must find some reason outside of himself for the failure.

In other words, a purity culture response is like that of King Saul who pointed a finger at the people when he willfully disobeyed God and not like King David who took full responsibility for his own sin when confronted. Had David been like Saul, and not “a man after [God’s] own heart,” he would have likely blamed Bathsheba rather than actually repent and made a royal decree banning roof bathing in the kingdom of Israel.

Purity Culture Is About Outward Appearances

True purity comes from the inside out and never the other way around. Purity cultures, on the other hand, are centered on maintaining an outward appearance of purity and never leads to an inner change. The Pharisees are a pristine example of purity culture and how those in one respond when corrected:

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” (Luke 11:37‭-‬45 NIV)

Catch that?

These guys were so oblivious to their own spiritual deadness that they couldn’t even believe that Jesus was talking about them. But Jesus didn’t slow down when one of the experts said he had insulted them, he stepped on the gas and continued on with his critique. In the verses that follow those above, Jesus decries the burdens these religious elites heap on others (without lifting a finger to help them carry) and compares them to those who killed the prophets. We are told that after this they peppered him with questions and tried, desperately, to catch him saying something wrong.

What should have happened is that they should’ve recognized themselves in his words, then made no more excuses for themselves and repented. Unfortunately, pride is the most difficult sin to confess for a person who is concerned with maintaining appearances, because admitting pride is admitting that their righteousness facade is just that, a show, and means lowering themselves to the level of the more visible sinners—whom the self-righteous hypocrites think that they compare favorably to.

Purity Culture Is Itself Impure

The dirty little secret of purity culture is that it, like the pornography and sexual immorality it decries, is not what it appears to be. Yes, they, like the Apostle Paul before his conversion, may be able to follow the letter of the law and even win the praise of their religious peers. They may present themselves as completely humble and meek if that is the religious cultural expectation. However, beneath this well-manicured appearance of holiness, they are totally faithless and spiritually dead.

Purity culture depends on human effort, conformity of visible behavior, and never a true transformation of heart. It is a culture concerned with outward appearance or physical cleanliness, like the Pharisees with their ritual washing, that neglects what is actually important and totally misses the point. Many in purity cultures have bamboozled themselves with their own act, they become defensive when confronted and refuse to humble themselves when exposed as fakers.

The outward appearance of a purity culture and true holiness is so similar and that is why it is so difficult to address. Those in a purity culture, in most cases, think of themselves as the good people, and while blaming everything but themselves for their own failures, are actually making a sincere effort. But true holiness does not start with human effort, it starts with recognizing that our own effort is nothing compared to the Holiness God and is depending fully on Him.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (1 Peter 5:6 NIV)