The Clergy Doesn’t Show Up for You
The courtroom smells of wood polish and old carpet. The judge sits high. The jury sits attentive. You sit alone. And behind the defense table, there’s a collar.
The priest who showed up for the man who beat his wife. The pastor writing a letter for the youth leader who molested a kid. The minister with his hand on the shoulder of the father who broke his children. They always come. They never sit behind you.
“Your Honor, he’s a faithful member. He serves the community. He leads Bible study. He’s a good father.” The letter never mentions what he did. It never mentions your name. It’s about his character, not his crime. It’s about the church’s character, not your suffering. A 2019 study found that character witnesses, especially clergy, significantly influence sentencing outcomes. The pastor speaks for God. You speak for yourself. God wins.
You watch the judge read the letter. You watch the judge’s face soften. You watch the man who hurt you get called a good man by the man who’s supposed to represent God. And you sit there, alone, with the memory of what he did and the silence of everyone who should have shown up for you.
Why they come isn’t a mystery. It’s a machine.
https://davisvanguard.org/2026/05/church...s-silence/
The courtroom smells of wood polish and old carpet. The judge sits high. The jury sits attentive. You sit alone. And behind the defense table, there’s a collar.
The priest who showed up for the man who beat his wife. The pastor writing a letter for the youth leader who molested a kid. The minister with his hand on the shoulder of the father who broke his children. They always come. They never sit behind you.
“Your Honor, he’s a faithful member. He serves the community. He leads Bible study. He’s a good father.” The letter never mentions what he did. It never mentions your name. It’s about his character, not his crime. It’s about the church’s character, not your suffering. A 2019 study found that character witnesses, especially clergy, significantly influence sentencing outcomes. The pastor speaks for God. You speak for yourself. God wins.
You watch the judge read the letter. You watch the judge’s face soften. You watch the man who hurt you get called a good man by the man who’s supposed to represent God. And you sit there, alone, with the memory of what he did and the silence of everyone who should have shown up for you.
Why they come isn’t a mystery. It’s a machine.
https://davisvanguard.org/2026/05/church...s-silence/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
