Harking back to the latest study, where it states:

The new study also attempts to find out why atheists are so reviled by what its authors call “dominant group members” — aka religious Americans. The findings pinpoint three things: Religious Americans associate atheists with “criminality,” materialism and “a lack of accountability.”

And where I wrote of being staggered at the association of atheists with criminality because of that actual association religious people have, and here’s a fine example of  it. I hope with all my heart the young woman receives the support and help she deserves, and those of you sensitive to abuse details might want to avoid the link to the local news article.

Local news station KDVR reports that Pastor Robert Wyatt repeatedly had sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl who was parishioner at the Agape Bible Church in Thornton. What’s even more disturbing about this case, however, is the fact that court documents show church officials knew about Wyatt’s sexual abuse and did nothing.

According to an arrest affidavit for Wyatt, both head pastor Darrell Ferguson and the 12-year-old girl’s adoptive parents agreed that it would be best to not go to the police because they were concerned about what would happen to Wyatt.

Instead, the affidavit claims, the church and the parents agreed that “biblical counseling they would receive through the church was sufficient” to fixing the problem.

The officer who interviewed the girl’s adoptive father said that the man “made it clear his interest was in protecting the church and its reputation more than protecting his daughter.”

Police only learned about the pastor’s abuse because another parishioner told them about it after being disgusted by the church’s inaction.

I don’t think I need to say anymore about the religious link to criminal and immoral acts. What makes it all the more disgusting are the excuses on the part of those who are supposed to love that child and protect her.

Via Raw Story.