# Friend caught up in crazy cult church run by cop & judge (long but interesting) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578 "2008-10-05T18:15:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/21 "2008-10-06T07:52:17Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > One example of this is that the pastor/police officer will sit in the judge’s courtroom and monitor her. So clearly this judge’s “judgment” is being directly influenced by this wacky church and this police officer/pastor. Is this police officer on duty at the time, or is he sitting in the courtroom on his own time? If he’s on duty, I would complain to your City Council member – very few cities can afford to have police officers sitting around in courtrooms except when they are testifying in a case. Don’t they have police work he should be doing? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/22 "2008-10-06T08:00:42Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > If whatshername’s Libertarian son is old enough to run for congress, how the hell could she “involuntarily commit” him to a mental institution? How can a church use a school building to hold its meetings in unless the school district rents its buildings out for public use? As far as your involvement with your mother’s friend goes, I’d recommend staying out of the entire affair. If any adult person is willing to voluntarily sit through twelve hours of insanity on a repetitive basis, there isn’t much to be done IMHO. The son was brought before a magistrate, apparently based on complaints/allegations by the mother, and the magistrate ordered him to be taken to a mental hospital for evaluation\*. The alarming part is how easy it was to do this, which leads me to believe that the cop/pastor and the judge had some sort of undue influence over the process somehow. This is what was most alarming to me. A lot of churches don’t have their own building and meet in school buildings. I see this all the time. Yes I believe they pay some sort of fee to rent the premises. The church apparently also puts tremendous pressure on the members to give as much money as they can (which is another way they take advantage of “Betty” - as she recently lost her job). If this only affected the retards who attend this church - yeah, I should stay out of it. But in the bigger picture, this is a police officer and judge - people with power and authority over us all. It’s very disturbing to me that these powerful officials are involved in something like this - it calls their judgment into serious question. That is what is so notable about this story, and why I posted. It was shocking to me that this pastor/cop was instrumental in getting this guy investigated by the FBI and taken involuntarily to a mental hospital. - I will try to find out more details about how exactly this happened. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/23 "2008-10-06T08:02:06Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Is this police officer on duty at the time, or is he sitting in the courtroom on his own time? I’m not sure - I will try to find out… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/24 "2008-10-06T08:33:39Z")
Who is telling you all this, because quite honestly some of this story strains the imagination. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/25 "2008-10-06T12:57:49Z")
These 12 hour marathon church sessions with people being rebuked for minor things brings to mind the People’s Temple of San Francisco, and later of Jonestown, Guyana. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/26 "2008-10-06T13:07:07Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Who is telling you all this, because quite honestly some of this story strains the imagination. That’s what I’m wondering. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/27 "2008-10-06T13:08:47Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Yes, I do have this - I just didn’t post it here to keep the privacy of Betty and Jason… I did Google the church but have found nothing. They are a very small and insular church. They don’t even have their own building - they meet in a school or something like that. A place that allows them to rent the facilities for 12-hr marathon services? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/28 "2008-10-06T14:42:04Z")
Do you have a direct source for all this information BESIDES Betty? I’m wondering if Betty if feeding your Mom stories to get her attention. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/29 "2008-10-06T17:46:16Z")
Originally Posted by nyctea scandiaca > [@](#): > > The son was brought before a magistrate, apparently based on complaints/allegations by the mother, and the magistrate ordered him to be taken to a mental hospital for evaluation\*. The alarming part is how easy it was to do this, which leads me to believe that the cop/pastor and the judge had some sort of undue influence over the process somehow. This is what was most alarming to me. Almost anyone can profess to a public official to having knowledge that so and so is armed and is contemplating suicide or almost anything else outside the norm of society. The person so accused can very easily find himself locked up for observation; in Florida, IIRC, the term of confinement is 21 (27?) days. It doesn’t require a cop and a judge to be in collusion even though they well might be. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/30 "2008-10-06T18:13:51Z")
> [@Mojo\_Pin](#): > > What eleneanor is confused about is why the pastor would care so much about that even though they meet ad hoc in a school, which I guess is infused with Holy for their 12 hour marathons and then goes back to being farted on (and worse) by students the rest of the time. Yes–that is what I meant. So much for its “holiness” (I understood about the menstrual blood being unclean–god, how I love religion and what it’s done to women over the centuries \<— sarcasm). Ok. I just don’t see a school being rented for 12+ hours on the weekend as is stated. There’s a lot about this story that just sounds like nonsense. Why not just call the media? What is to stop anyone from doing so? (not the members, who are obviously not in a position to do so, but the OP or his mother?). ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/31 "2008-10-06T18:39:51Z")
First about where the church meets: I was wrong, they don’t meet in a school, they actually do have their own building – I just called my mom to inquire, and she clarified that. Betty has been telling my mom her trials and tribulations with this church for at least a year now. I’ve also heard Betty talk about it. She seems credible. Other than belonging to a wacky church, she is an intelligent well-educated professional person. Also, my mother, who works for the county government where the cop/pastor and judge work, knows both of them professionally, so that lends some credibility. I can understand why some of this story seems unbelievable – but I find Betty to be credible, and don’t think she’s telling tales, I don’t see what her motive would be for making this up. I’ve done some Googling, and so far all the people and places check out. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/32 "2008-10-06T19:20:25Z")
So Betty had her adult son put in a mental hospital under orders from the church & then she told your Mom about it? All of this _could_ be true, but it’s possible that Betty could also be making this up using the names of real people. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/33 "2008-10-06T19:27:05Z")
Unless this is some teeny-tiny hidden town somewhere it seems hard to believe that 25 year-old Jason who is running a legitimate campaign as a Libertarian for congress would sit idley by as his mother at the behest of a cop/pastor had him commited to a mental institution for a week, forced to take psychiatric drugs, and let some cop and judge sic the FBI on him for false accusations. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/34 "2008-10-06T19:43:12Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Unless this is some teeny-tiny hidden town somewhere it seems hard to believe that 25 year-old Jason who is running a legitimate campaign as a Libertarian for congress would sit idley by as his mother at the behest of a cop/pastor had him commited to a mental institution for a week, forced to take psychiatric drugs, and let some cop and judge sic the FBI on him for false accusations. AND he has a website. Is any of this mentioned on it? Because if it happened to me, I’d be posting it here, there & everywhere! Jason’s supposed to be a candidate for local office, not necessarily Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/35 "2008-10-06T19:46:45Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Jason’s supposed to be a candidate for local office, not necessarily Congress. hmm. I picked that up from the OP: “Most recently, the pastor talked Betty into involuntarily committing Jason to a mental hospital!!! When Jason arrived, they interviewed him and he said he was a Libertarian candidate for Congress” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/36 "2008-10-06T20:25:59Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > hmm. I picked that up from the OP: > “Most recently, the pastor talked Betty into involuntarily committing Jason to a mental hospital!!! When Jason arrived, they interviewed him and he said he was a Libertarian candidate for Congress” OK, earlier in the OP, I read this “He subsequently became active in the local Libertarian party and is actually the party’s candidate for local office in the upcoming election.” ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/37 "2008-10-06T20:32:42Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > AND he has a website. Is any of this mentioned on it? Because if it happened to me, I’d be posting it here, there & everywhere! Given the real stigma that people with mental illness face, admitting any stay in a mental institution could be devastating for a political campaign. Even if you can prove, and not simply claim, that the stay was involuntary, and unjustified. I can see why Jason might not want to publicize this til after the election. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/38 "2008-10-06T20:40:46Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > OK, earlier in the OP, I read this “He subsequently became active in the local Libertarian party and is actually the party’s candidate for local office in the upcoming election.” Yeah, kind of contradicts itself all in the same post. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/39 "2008-10-06T20:45:00Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Yeah, kind of contradicts itself all in the same post. How do you figure it’s a contradiction? > [@from the OP](#): > > Back to Betty - she has a son - let’s call him “Jason,” who is about 25 years old, and who used to attend the church with her but later became skeptical of the church and religion as a whole and stopped attending. He subsequently became active in the local Libertarian party and is actually the party’s candidate for local office in the upcoming election. He has a campaign web site which extols his Libertarian ideals. Some of the stuff he writes is a little “out there,” but pretty innocuous standard Libertarian stuff. Then the OP describes the commitment. Seems a very clear timeline to me, and no contradiction. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578/40 "2008-10-06T21:00:18Z")
This contradiction: > [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > He subsequently became active in the local Libertarian party and is actually the party’s candidate for local office in the upcoming election. > > … > When Jason arrived, they interviewed him and he said he was a Libertarian candidate for Congress, [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friend-caught-up-in-crazy-cult-church-run-by-cop-judge-long-but-interesting/466578.md?page=3)