A number of people have mentioned “Brother Stephen,” a campus fixture condemning homosexuality and various other “sins of the flesh.” Well…
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/40079e52474fc
… now we know how he got to be an expert on them!
IMHO, Justice Was Done here, for once.
This isn’t really a rant – but I’ve put it in the Pit because I think many of the comments people will want to make on it will assuredly be Pitworthy.
Not only did he solicit to get money for sex from a teenage boy, he wasnt even soliciting a prostitute. The degree of hypocracy is mindboggeling. Wonder when phelps will get caught.
Ah, I see it’s time to welcome another occupant of the Jimmy Swaggart Suite at the Jim Bakker Hotel.
Wow, what a fucking jackass.
I love when stupid fundies get busted for this kinda shit.
What I found about this story was the type of sex solicited. He didn’t want a BJ from the kid, he wanted to give the hummer.
My take on him is that he has severe self esteem issues and was trying to absolve his own feelings of guilt for his acts/desires by being so arrogant in his attacks.
Plus, he’s a hypocrite.
BTW, don’t lump all Fundies into the same box with this guy. Some can be pretty nice people, regardless of their views on certain hot topics. The kind of people you can disagree with but still respect.
Heh–check the feedback on that page. Looks like this is actually the left-wing media’s fault. :wally
Hey, if the left wing media gets deserving assholes put in jail, I’m all in favor of it.
I had a Human Sexuality class which postulated that some homophobes were homosexual themselves but unable to cope with it/in denial to the point that they condemned other homosexuals. I don’t know if that has been argued to death here or debunked or whatnot, but whenever something like this happens, I also think about maybe the reason these people were the way they were was because they were unable to cope with their own desires and/or problems.
Here’s a link to “Brother” Stephens’ feedback. And a link to a previous thread about “Brother” Stephens and another preacher who was also arrested for soliciting sex with an underage boy.
I guess the “Rev.” feels it’s more blessed to give than to receive. 
Calling this “ironic” implies that it wasn’t predictable.
I think you’re right. Those who protest loudest always arouse my suspicion. With furlibusea I wonder when the hateful Phelps will be found out.
This is not to say that everyone who beleieves homosexuality is a sin is necessarily wrong (although I think they are). But those who think so and are saddened by seeing others fall are very different from people like Phelps who spew hate.
Yeah, I know. That’s why I specified stupid fundies.
Well what was “Brother Stephan” guilty of deserving three years behind bars?
Asking for a blow job? …I’m sure millions of American males have asked for a blow job at one time or another .
Offering money in return?..I’ve never heard of a john getting 3 years in jail for solicitation.
Solicitation of GAY sex?..now that is certainly discriminatory isn’t it?
Unpopular political views?.. I always thought that there were constitutional protections in America for free speech.
This could be a very sad case of a severely conflicted lonely gay individual, a victim of the prevalent homophobic atmosphere surounding the christian fundamentalist movement. His inculcated beliefs no doubt coflicted with his sexual orientation causing him in some twisted way to atone by fighting homosexuality and other “enemies” of God.
I don’t have the answers in this case, but I certainly can’t see justice in this prosecution.
Grienspace, I’m just going to assume that you missed the part about the boy who Brother Stephen solicited being underage.
All I was able to read was that the “boy” was a teenager, and that there was no mention that the his ability to give consent was an issue.
Upon further investigation I read the boy was 14. That would be okay up here in Canada, but not in Pennsylvania.
Now I’m not so sure about my initial post. I don’t know. Forget I said anything.
Hey, when I was 14, the left-wing media offered to give me a blow job and as far as I know, they’ve never been prosecuted for it, so maybe there’s some validity here after all…
Yes. From the government. The constitution says nothing about other people saying he’s a jackass.
GMRyujin, grienspace was asking what exacerbating circumstances warranted a three-year jail term. If Mr. White were given a heavier sentence as punishment for his political views, as grienspace was speculating, that would certainly be a constitutional violation.
He can rest easy on that count, though. White was convicted of criminal solicitation to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, which is defined as sex with a victim:[ol][li]by forcible compulsion;[]by threat of forcible compulsion that would prevent resistance by a person of reasonable resolution;[]who is unconscious or where the person knows that the complainant is unaware that the sexual intercourse is occurring;[]where the person has substantially impaired the complainant’s power to appraise or control his or her conduct by administering or employing, without the knowledge of the complainant, drugs, intoxicants or other means for the purpose of preventing resistance;[]who suffers from a mental disability which renders him or her incapable of consent;[]who is less than 13 years of age; or[]who is less than 16 years of age and the person is four or more years older than the complainant and the complainant and person are not married to each other.[/ol]The offense carries a minimum three year sentence, so there has been no discriminatory punishment, and nothing has been considered apart from the ages of both parties. Pretty straightforward.[/li]
Personally, I think the law is a bit too strict, since I engaged in consensual sex with legal adults from 12 onwards and would have considered that my (philosophical, not legal) right to exercise self-determination was being unreasonably abridged if there were any criminal charges laid as a result of my behaviour in the two years before I became “legal.” I admit that the idea of an adult in a sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old girl, (or a homosexual relationship with the same age disparity) makes me feel a bit squeamish, but I can find no way to logically define the difference, and I’d be the last to say that women or gayfolk are somehow less qualified or deserving of self-determination, so my opinion on the subject stands genderless.
Of course, that’s a whole 'nuther kettle of fish.