Jon Paul Sheptock, 49, served as the worship minister at the First Montgomery Baptist Church in Texas before these shocking allegations came to light.
The Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Unit eventually caught up with the suspect while he was working at a local women’s prison where he served as a minister.
At a Donald Trump rally in January 2022, Sheptock was recruited to sing the national anthem before later posing with the president and his son for pictures.
As someone who was forced to grow up in this Baptist bullshit: It’s the absolutely insane level of sexual repression. Sex is a bad word. Don’t talk about it. Can’t even go dancing, if you’re Baptist, because it “might lead to sinful contact between dancers” or “impure thoughts”.
Can’t drink either. You might “cause your brother to stumble”. It’s a running joke that Baptists go to bars in the next town over, because nobody knows them there, so they won’t be judged.
Can’t go to anything worse than a PG movie. Can’t learn in school about evolution. Can’t go to sex Ed class in school and have to be opted out. Can’t be friends with non-Christians because “they’re able to be influenced against you by the devil at any time” like they’re a Devil Manchurian Candidate.
Christianity in America fucking sucks, but Baptists are near the top of being the fucking worst.
Maybe it’s just me, but I once heard that “baptist” is almost code for “black,” in the sense that most baptists churches tend to be occupied primarily by people of color.
This is just what someone else has told me, so it seems a bit odd that stereotypically black churches would be producing white pedophiles.
I grew up southern baptist and it was an all-white church. I think I remember a time when there was 1 black family in attendance because they had just moved here. They didn’t come back for a second time. The southern baptist church split from the northern baptist church over slavery. Guess which side of that issue the southern baptist church was on?
I don’t think of black people when I think Baptist, but I certainly think of the south, and with the black population being higher there it’s more likely that there are black congregations.
But honestly it’s not close enough to being a “black-only thing” that you could use Baptist as slang for black.
There are many forms of Baptist. The white ones are the worst
I have studied religions my whole life trying to understand what is really going on. I have always been open minded, but my conclusion is simply it is about control.
My father was a black sheep Mormon so I am very familiar with the pitfalls of their beliefs. On my grandfather’s death bed his sons gathered round him to pray. He pointed at my father and said he was not worthy to pray over him. Othering is always an integral part of Christianity.
The worst thing about religion is it steals the work of man to use for its goals. How many people thank God for surviving cancer when it was their fellow man that cured them. Religion is also insidious because it takes credit for morality when it clearly exists without it.
It reminds me of any loser ideology that tries to claim it does things when it has no real power and claims credit when it is not due. Everyone arguing over what Skydaddy is the best imaginary companion is beyond ridiculous.
Well said.