Tim Rogers Says Judge Norman K. Moon Should Have Recused Himself from Caner's Lawsuit - Gives No Evidence for Such a Claim

I knew it would not take long for one of Caner's defenders - that is to say Peter Lumpkins and Tim Rogers - to call into question Judge Norman K. Moon's impartiality in the Ergun Caner lawsuit. We can now add to the list of those who have it in for Ergun Caner: Calvinists, bloggers, Muslims - and now impartial federal judges.

Yesterday Tim Rogers - pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Indian Trail, NC -  posted a blog article in which he made some of the most ridiculous assertions concerning Ergun Caner's lawsuits, one of them being that the judge who threw out Caner's lawsuit was not impartial. In the comment section of the blog, Tim Rogers writes:

"Also, the judge should have recused himself because he has a history with LU and seemingly has some issues with them.... Just do the background research on the judge. No, no one issued Motion to Recuse. I never said that. I simply placed information out there that any paralegal can research and find." Tim Rogers here and here.

Really, Tim? Why didn't you mention the judge's name? His name is the Honorable Norman K. Moon. What "background research" should we do? Why didn't Ergun Caner or his lawyer do this background research and ask for the judge to recuse himself? Did Ergun Caner email you to give you some secret information that points to Judge Moon not being capable of impartiality in this case?

I took Tim up on his challenge and did a Google search of "Judge Norman K Moon Liberty University" and found that 3 1/2 years ago Judge Moon did dismiss a lawsuit brought by Liberty University challenging the constitutionality of the new health care law. Is that the "issue", Tim? Do you care to let us know, Tim? I'm sure Judge Moon would love to read from one of Caner's ardent supporters why he should have recused himself, as he prepares to make his decision on Jon Autry's request to collect legal fees and costs from Ergun Caner.

By the way, I know something about judge recusals. Judges are quick to recuse themselves when they find even the slightest fact in the case that might call into question their ability to fairly judge the case. In my lawsuit - the one that Rogers references in his blog post - the judge who was assigned the case offered to recuse himself when he discovered the close connection and involvement of his close friend and judges' chamber-mate Judge A.C. Soud had to the facts of my case. The judge was almost apologetic about not recusing himself earlier, but he had no idea about Judge Soud's involvement in the case until he read some of the case documents and testimony generated during discovery. When we were in the judge's chambers for a hearing on the case and he explained his close personal relationship with Judge Soud, my jaw hit the floor and I took the judge up on his offer to recuse himself. I found it very strange that A.C. Soud himself didn't brief his friend about his connection to the case much earlier - but that is another story.

So I find it absolutely hilarious that Caner sycophant Tim Rogers would call into question the Judge Moon's impartiality, especially considering that TWO judges threw out Caner's copyright lawsuits. But this is what Rogers and Lumpkins do - they are willing to smear honorable men to defend the indefensible. Perhaps Tim is looking into a coordinated conspiracy between Judge Moon and Judge Terry Means, the federal judge who tossed Caner's similar lawsuit against Jason Smathers.

But thank you, Judge Moon, for your detailed and fair and just decision, especially those words below:

"Plaintiff’s counsel made astounding claims during the hearing that discovery would affect the fair use analysis by showing that Defendant was not 'qualified' to direct 'appropriate criticism' at Plaintiff, unlike 'people that are qualified to render those opinions i[n] the market place and exchange of ideas in academia and elsewhere', and therefore Defendant could not assert the fair use defense.
.....
The First Amendment’s protections, advanced by the fair use defense, have never applied to some bizarre oligarchy of ‘qualified’ speakers. Excluding speakers who criticize public figures from protection due to the speaker’s social status, level of education or other nebulous ‘qualifying’ factors would nullify the broad protections the First Amendment is meant to provide and stifle the open discourse that stands against tyranny, intolerance and oppression. Plaintiff himself has extolled the virtues of these protections and warned against the dangers of censorship and 'misinformation'...Conveniently, when criticism is directed at him, Plaintiff comes before this Court and argues that it should restrict First Amendment fair use protection to some amorphous group of 'qualified' speakers."

Motion for Legal Fees in Caner Case Reveals Caner's Real Motives in Suing Autry and Smathers

Yesterday, Jonathan Autry's lawyer (his brother Joshua) filed a motion with the United States District Court in West Virginia, asking the court to require Ergun Caner to pay for Jonathan's legal expenses in defending himself from the frivolous copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Caner. Caner's lawsuit was tossed out of court on summary judgment by Judge Norman K. Moon just a few weeks ago.

Autry's motion for legal fees can be viewed at this link:  Motion for Fees and Costs - May 28, 2014

But really the best read is Joshua Autry's brief filed with the court to support the above motion: Brief in Support of Motion for Fees and Costs - May 28, 2014. This is a 26-page filing in which Joshua Autry makes his argument for legal fees to be paid by Caner. Here is the outline of Autry's brief:

I. This Court should award attorney fees to Jonathan

     A. Caner acted in bad faith and for improper motivation
             1. Caner filed this lawsuit to suppress dissent
             2. Caner made it clear that in settlement that he only cares about criticism.
             3. Caner's dilatory tactics increased the cost of defending this action
             4. Courts have found bad faith and improper motivation in similar cases.

    B.  This case is frivolous
             1. Caner has conceded nearly every single argument by Jonathan
             2. All Caner's arguments at oral argument were frivolous
             3. Courts have found similar complaints frivolous

   C. Fees will deter censorship-focuses plaintiffs and encourage free speech

   D. The amount and rate of fees is reasonable

II. Conclusion

Jonathan requests this Honorable Court award him $29,314.59 for fees and costs.

A few things from the brief that I thought relevant to Watchdog readers:

Joshua Autry references an email list of questions from Caner's lawyer as evidence that Caner's motive in filing this lawsuit was to suppress dissent, not to protect his copyright. You can read this email here, along with Jonathan Autry's responses to each question. In these questions, Caner himself wanted names of people who had criticized him. Caner wanted copies of correspondence between Autry and Caner's other critics. 

Here are the questions Caner wanted Autry to answer (my clarifications are in brackets):

1. Who at Liberty knew you were doing this? ["this" meaning Tweeting and blogging criticism directed at Caner]

2. How often did you upload from LU and the LU server? [LU is Liberty University]

3. Who is "Caner Repents" [this is an anonymous Twitter account that criticizes Caner]

4. How coordinated is this? Under FBCJaxWatchdog and James White? 

5.  On your blog you state an LU high official told you that Caner "privately repented at Thomas Road Baptist Church," but that he was afraid to do so publicly because of the bloggers. Caner would like the name of this “high official.” If a name is not provided, then please publicly state that the statement was not made truthfully. 

6. Who was and is your immediate supervisor at LU?

7. You mentioned on your blog that you had help, who else at LU worked with you on these matters?

8. Who is TurretinFan? [an anonymous blogger who has criticized Caner]

9. Are you willing to turn over all correspondence between yourself, Mr. James White, FBCJaxWatchdog, Jason Smathers, and all other cyber stalkers

This is chilling. Caner shows his hand. His lawsuit was not about protecting his copyright. It was about bullying information out of Jon Autry regarding his critics at Liberty University, and various bloggers who like Autry have sought to expose Caner's deceptions.

Notice Ergun refers to his critics - including yours truly - as "cyber stalkers", or as Caner's lawyer said in oral arguments "cyber terrorists". Joshua Autry takes Caner and his lawyer to task in his brief on page 4, saying:

"This hyperbolic rhetoric [use of the word "cyber terrorist" to describe Jon Autry] defies all notions of professionalism, and—although I lack the lengthy career and prestige of opposing counsel—I have never heard an attorney speak in such terms about a party in open court. I say this in spite of the fact that I have represented people accused of murder and sexual assault, but I suppose prosecutors live under ethical guidelines that are unfamiliar to copyright litigators. This conduct was another attempt to distort reality and to keep the eyes of this Court off of Caner’s own wrongful conduct through misdirection and trickery."

And one last part that I'm particularly proud of: Joshua Autry referenced on page 2 of his brief a recent FBC Jax Watchdog article as proof that Caner has a double standard when it comes to free speech:

"In hypocrisy, Caner extols the virtues of free speech, but seeks to restrict speech directed at him....in line with this double standard, it appears that Caner currently uses the logo of HBO's Game of Thrones series without permission. [footnote identifies this Watchdog blog post]. Apparently, copyright protections - like free speech protections - only matter when Caner is the one benefiting from them."

So, Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, you can take pride that your Youth Camp logo tweeted a few weeks ago by youth minister Asa Walker is used in federal court as an example of Ergun Caner's hypocrisy. I still have not heard back from Walker or from Phil Young as to why they chose Ergun Caner as their youth camp leader.

Lastly, any one who values free speech owes a big "Thank You" to Jonathan and Joshua Autry for putting up such a skilled defense to Caner's frivolous lawsuit. This was definitely a David vs. Goliath fight - and David won.

I'll end with this quote from Joshua Autry's brief, starting on page 17, with my emphases:

"Frivolous copyright actions in the fair use context threaten to chill criticism. That was precisely Caner’s goal. If successful, Caner would be able to remove works from the public eye (his and Jonathan’s). The Copyright Act seeks the opposite: to facilitates the creation of works and permits others through fair use to build off of and respond to those works. Caner needs deterrence as well. He is likely to file other lawsuits. He has already sued two people in this case alone. Further, he threatened Jonathan with filing a series of defamation lawsuits with the likely result of bankrupting the defendants.

This Court should reward Jonathan for not buckling under the pressure and for litigating a valid fair use defense. Like a civil rights victory, a fair use victory protects the speech rights of all.

In the world of the internet, courts rely on one another from across jurisdictions from coast-to-coast more than ever. In addition, religious media and bloggers have followed this case.

Fees send a signal to encourage free speech by the little guy in the face of litigation. If Jonathan rolled over and took a default judgment, not only would Caner have sought a fee award of his own that Jonathan could ill-afford to pay, but Caner may have used the litigation as support and motivation for lawsuits against other critics. Defense fees, however, will deter Caner and others like him from filing copyright actions to hide their words."

Jonathan and Joshua Autry, job well done. You have fought the good fight, and bloggers who seek to speak the truth about powerful religious men and their institutions, owe you a huge debt of gratitude.

And we now await the next round of lawsuits.

Ergun Caner Selected as "Camp Pastor" by Westside Baptist in Gainesville for Summer Youth Retreat - And They Use Graphic, Adult TV Show as Theme

Sadly, many church members of mega churches cannot trust their pastors and church leaders to make even the easy, no-brainer decisions when it comes to protecting the youth of the church. The latest example of this is Westside Baptist Church in Gainesville, Florida.

The church's youth minister, Asa Walker, announced Thursday night via Twitter that the youth camp next month for grades 6-12 will feature none other than Ergun Caner as the "Camp Pastor", fresh off his two failed lawsuits he used in an attempt to wipe the Internet clean of the Marine video tapes in which Caner lied to our Marines about his background as a trained Jihadist.

And to make matters worse - or maybe in keeping with the edgy Caner choice - Westside Baptist leaders have chosen to use the softcore pornographic, ultra-violent HBO TV series "Game of Thrones" as a theme of the camp. I guess if the leadership is not wise enough NOT to have Ergun Caner as their "Camp Pastor", they certainly wouldn't be wise enough to know not to use "Game of Thrones" in the promotion of their camp for middle schoolers. Notice that Asa used the hashtag "Thrones" in his Tweet - a hashtag used to follow Tweets related to this extremely graphic and sexual TV series. Tis so sweet to have your youth minister hashtagging "Game of Thrones" to those he is supposed to minister to in Jesus' name.

From Westside's website:

Ah yes, the "Ergun the Warrior" pose. Notice the use of the Gothic letter "O" in "Thrones". See the "Youth Camp is Coming" tagline, played off of the "Winter is Coming" tagline of the "Game of Thrones" TV series as shown below:

And if you visit the Westside camp sign-up website, look at how the church leaders decided to promote Ergun Caner as the camp pastor:

"Youth Camp is a week-long retreat for students grades 6-12. We'll travel to Mount Vernon, Georgia where we will stay on the beautiful campus of Brewton-Parker Baptist College. You'll hear from Dr. Ergun Caner, one of America's most sought-after youth speakers, as he joins us as our campus pastor"

Really? Caner is one of America's "most sought-after youth speakers"? I would challenge that assertion. Will Asa Walker, Pastor Gary Crawford, and Rev. Phil Young let the parents know of Caner's propensity to fib in the pulpit about his past as a trained Jihadist, using 9/11 as the launching point for his hoax? Will parents be told about Caner's repeated use of racial, ethnic, and gender stereotypes in the pulpit? What about Caner's pathetic performance in front of the Marines that was the subject of his two failed lawsuits (here and here) against the Christian pastor and layman who dared post the video of his worst lies? If the parents of Westside knew this about Caner, would they STILL want to send their kids off for a week to be preached to by Ergun Caner?

This is particularly sad to me, to see Westside Baptist do this. We have friends at that church. We have gone there to see their excellent Christmas drama in recent years. This is the church where my wife and I met while in college at the University of Florida, and we were married by the pastor, Gary Crawford. People at that church probably have no clue about Ergun Caner's past. They are very fine people and they trust their church leadership to make right decisions on something as important as who will speak to their youth at camp. The leadership at Westside Baptist Church is betraying the trust of their people.

I did attempt to contact youth minister Asa Walker and administrative pastor Phil Young via phone and email on Friday.  Phil Young did email me back and tell me he was on vacation and would call me in June, but did say this in his email:

"I am well aware of both sides of the Ergun Caner story and we are confident in the Lord's leadership in our decision to have him at our Youth Camp. Thanks for your concern."  Phil Young, Senior Associate Pastor, Westside Baptist Gainesville

I don't doubt that Phil is aware of the Ergun Caner controversy. But the important question I want to ask Phil is this: are the parents of the WBC youth aware of the Ergun Caner controversy? And what "both sides" of the Ergun Caner story is Phil referring to? Maybe the both sides are the two federal judges that ruled against Ergun Caner in his attempt to suppress the release of his Marine training video? I find it repugnant that Phil says they he is "confident in the Lord's leadership" in exposing their youth to Ergun Caner for a week at youth camp.

Phil, was it also "the Lord" who led Westside to use the "Game of Thrones" TV series as the theme of your youth camp?

Parents and members at Westside Baptist, I hope you contact your church leadership and express your disgust over their plans for the youth summer camp. Let Phil Young know - let Pastor Gary Crawford know - that you are not confident that it was "the Lord" that led the church in this direction. And maybe Phil will take time out of his summer vacation to let you know what was the reason for Caner and the "Game of Thrones" theme choice for camp.

I am confident, Westside members and lay leaders, "in the Lord's leadership" in your decision to avoid sending your kids to the Westside Baptist Church youth camp this summer. And I'm confident that you can provide the leadership for your church that is so lacking in the paid, professional ministers that should be the ones making the right choices.

Thoughts on 9/11, Ground Zero, Ergun Caner, and the NYPD 9/11 Scammers

Tuesday this week, the last day of a short trip to New York City, we stopped at the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial where the Twin Towers once stood. This is the second time I've visited the site in the last 2 1/2 years.

The magnitude of the loss and suffering which occurred at that one location in a matter of hours, is absolutely mind boggling. We also stopped by a small museum that had artifacts from 9/11, along with walls of the actual "Missing" posters that were put up by survivors just after the event in hopes their loved ones could be found alive. Visiting the site brings back the emotions that I felt on that day - the anger, the fear, the uncertainty of days ahead - and remembrance of the impact that day had on our own family.

After we left the site Tuesday, a sickening thought hit me, a thought that I couldn't help but think as a blogger who has written so much about the Ergun Caner hoax over the past 4 years. It was that event, the event that caused thousands of innocent, hard-working civilians to lose their life in a span of a few hours, and then thousands of U.S. servicemen and women in the ensuing wars - that Ergun Caner exploited for personal and professional gain.

It is mind boggling. Who would do such a thing as use an event as terrible as that, to lie to people for professional gain? Who does such a thing as exploit the events of 9/11, get caught, and then claim they did nothing wrong? Who does such a thing, and then sues two people who dared to expose his worst lies, and then labels them "cyber terrorists"?

Let's take it a step further: what kind of people, what group of professionals, would see one of their own do such a thing, yet refuse to denounce his hoax and not hold him accountable and deny that he ever lied - and at the same time be brazen enough to attack and ridicule those who are trying to expose the hoax?

Well, apparently Ergun Caner, and Southern Baptist Convention Georgia Baptist Convention pastors are men who WOULD do just that. Caner exploited 9/11 for his own gain - he got caught - the SBC leadership has either been silent OR a few have aggressively defended Caner and denied the obvious - and the Georgia Baptist Convention has actually hired Caner to lead one of their colleges. I can speak first-hand on the hoax - because I was in the audience just after 9/11 when Caner proclaimed he was a trained Jihadist, that he was "raised in Europe" (with rolling r's), and that Jesus died so he "wouldn't have to strap a bomb to my back". I know the feeling he left with all of us that day - that he was almost one of the 9/11 terrorists, but Jesus saved him just in the nick of time. And that was the beginning of the hoax.

I'd like to contrast this with how the New York City police department dealt with those of their own who exploited the events of 9/11 for personal gain.

Just this past January more than 100 New York City police and firemen were indicted in a social

security scam involving the events of 9/11. These scum buckets falsely claimed full disability as a result of the 9/11 attacks from post-traumatic stress disorder, but when investigators looked at the evidence of their own real lives, their hoax was easily uncovered. They were busted when images on the Internet showed they were not at all fully disabled as they claimed, but instead were leading full, active lives quite contrary to the claims they made to get disability.

Thankfully, the legal system is going to see that these men are held accountable. And just as importantly, their actions of using the events of 9/11 for their own personal gain by claiming some false connection of the events of 9/11 to some supposed "disability", has embarrassed themselves and those in their profession.

Said the NYC Police Commissioner, William Bratton:

“As a New Yorker, as a U.S. citizen, I can only express disgust at the actions of these individuals involved in this scheme, particularly the 72 former members of the New York City Police Department who have certainly disgraced themselves, embarrassed their families, with their abuse of this system. The idea that many of them chose the events of 9/11 to claim as the basis of the disability brings further dishonor to themselves.”

This is the kind of outrage one would expect from Southern Baptist pastors everywhere over the Ergun Caner hoax that he perpetrated for about 9 years until he was busted by bloggers. The reaction of Commissioner Bratton is what I would expect from Tim Lee, the Baptist evangelist and very decorated war hero and Marine. How can Lee show any respect for Caner, or claim "We never found one instance of Ergun lying," especially considering Caner pulled his hoax on Lee's own fellow Marines who were subjected to the false claims of Caner. Imagine - he was speaking to Marines to prepare them for battle in Turkey, based on his 9/11 hoax, claiming to have lived in Turkey and received training in madrassas in Beirut and Cairo. These were bogus claims for which there is zero evidence that Caner made UNTIL AFTER the planes flew into the twin towers and the Pentagon. Then all of a sudden, out of the rubble, emerges Ergun Mehmet Caner - previously known (by very few people) as Michael Caner. Maybe the stench of Caner's hoax wouldn't be so bad IF he were telling his tall tales before 9/11. But no such evidence exists. He used 9/11 as the starting point. Sick stuff.

While Caner didn't break any laws, still the comparison is that both the indicted NYC cops and Ergun Caner used the horrific 9/11 events as a launching pad for a better life. They concocted carefully crafted stories and they sold their stories to those who for a time believed them - until they were busted by the evidence that their stories were lies.

But these are the strange days of modern evangelicalism. While Southern Baptists are crying the end of civilization is upon us from the rotten culture in which we live - time after time we see examples of how our "culture" - as in our government, our schools, our secular professional organizations - hold themselves to much higher standards of decency and morality and transparency than these self-proclaimed "men of God" and their religious organizations.

And so many "Men of God" wonder why their churches are dying, why pastors are leaving their professions, why people don't want to darken the doors of their sanctuaries, and why their gospel message is laughed at by so many. You can't claim to preach the "truth" of your religion, when your own actions deny interest in the truth of real events happening today - as in the Caner hoax.

Here is my statement, taking NYC Police Commissioner Bratton's and fitting it to the the Ergun Caner scandal:

"As a Southern Baptist, as a United States Citizen, I can only express disgust at the actions of these individuals involved in this scheme, particularly Ergun Caner himself and those Southern Baptist leaders who have remained silent or denied Caner's hoax, as they all have certainly disgraced themselves and embarrassed their families. The idea that Caner chose the events of 9/11 to brand himself as a Jihadist to launch his religious career brings dishonor to himself and the religious and educational organizations he represents.”

Evangelist Jamey Ragle - Trying to Raise $10,000 So He Can Take the Summer Off and Lose Weight

"They're sitting out there, waiting to give you their money. Are you going to take it? Are you man enough to take it?" Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

------------------------------------

Portly evangelist Jamey Ragle has come up with a new way to get Christians to fork over money to him and his "ministry": he posted on Facebook that his doctor has ordered him to slow down and shed some pounds.

But to "slow down", it means Jamey needs....YOUR MONEY! Read it for yourself here, straight from Jamey's Facebook page: 

"I am writing to ask you to help me be a part of a wonderful ministry opportunity this summer at Freedom Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I have to raise my financial support for this to become a reality. Will you help? Our goal is 10,000. This will enable me to serve during the months of June, July, and August. This will also provide me the opportunity to enjoy some great preaching from pastor Rob White and to follow my doctors orders... Literally! My doctor told me Tuesday that my schedule was too hectic and that I must lose some LBS."

Yes, it is doctor's orders, and Jamey's schedule is too hectic. He has to raise financial support to the tune of $10,000 so he can hang out with pastor Rob White and quit eating so much this summer. And listen to Rob preach really good Bible sermons. Sounds like fun.

Jamey continues his plea:

"Seriously I want to continue to serve my Lord faithfully but I need to get on task with weight loss and exercise. This will allow me 3 months of continuity, accountability, and productivity! During my time here I will be aiding the pastor and staff in all aspects of ministry. I will also be able to be a part of a great church family."

Continuity, accountability, and productivity? Jamey, cut the crap and be honest: You want to quit your job as evangelist for 3 months, and you want your Facebook friends to pay for it. Jamey, do what most normal people who can't put the fork down have to do:  continue to work, and STOP EATING, AND BEGIN EXERCISING. Join Weight Watchers. Use the MyFitnessPal app to track your calories. Buy a Richard Simmons exercise tape.

I can think of no other profession in the world where a person could abdicate their work, stay home and focus on weight loss because they had hit people up for money in advance. Of course Jamey has to justify this with a hefty dose of "allow me to do the Lord's work" so people will buy it. But truth is Jamey is asking for money to stay home all summer long and basically NOT do what he says God called him to do. It's good to be a "Man of God".

Now Jamey makes the final appeal for money from his friends:

"Would you help make this opportunity become a reality? I need 100 friends to give 100.00 or 200 friends to give 50.00. Any gift would be greatly appreciated. Checks can be made directly to Freedom Church and sent to their address at 3755 Cornell Road Cincinnati, Ohio 45241. If you would prefer to give another way feel free to contact me directly at jameyragle@yahoo.com."

I'm glad Jamey included this closer in his plea for money. This is a great example of how many pastors' thought process works. They live in an alternate universe where money is raised by making people think God wants them; needs them; or requires them to give it to the Man of God or the 501(c)3 religious organization that has hired the Man of God. "Men of God" can use gimmicks, half-baked excuses like Ragle's - so long as there is some sort of loose connection to "the Lord" that the money MIGHT be used for, and if your targets like the MOG, and the MOG is charming and/or funny and/or handsome, there will be gullible people to fork over the money to the Man of God making the plea.

I guess Jamey Ragel IS man enough to take the money from the people who are sitting out there - just waiting for him to take it.

Perhaps Jamey went to this Man of God training session that was secretly recorded by the Watchdog back in 2011.

Where's the Outrage in Jacksonville? Judge Modifies Pedophile Preacher Darrell Gilyard's Probation - Allows Him to "Minister" to Children Again

Where are all the religious "men of God" in Jacksonville when we need them to speak out?

A judge here in my hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, has agreed to modify the terms of Darrell Gilyard's probation to once again allow him access to children, to "minister to children" - so long as the children are in the presence of another adult. Read Bob Allen's coverage of the story here.

Gilyard is the "pedophile preacher" who plead guilty in 2009 to lewd and lascivious acts, including molestation of a 12-15 year old, with two girls in his church at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church. He spent three years in jail, and when he got out of the slammer, he was hired by Christ Missionary Baptist Tabernacle as their preacher man. But the kiddos weren't allowed in his presence because he is a sexual predator. The man is a registered sex offender in our state. Click here to see his registration with the FDLE.

But now a judge has agreed to allow him access to kids once again. And apparently the State Attorney's office - that would be Angela Corey's office - didn't object to the modification. This is absolutely insane, because the adults who will be supervising Gilyard's access to potential child victims, are adults who themselves don't have enough sense to not subject THEMSELVES to Gilyard's manipulation - manipulation and abuse of adult women that that he has admitted to in other churches in Texas.

Where is the outrage? Where are the pastors protesting this or even just speaking out against Gilyard having access to children? Pastors love to use their pulpits to rail against all sorts of social issues - the social issues that are red meat to their conservative congregations  - but why the silence about one of their own who still wants access to young girls to "minister" to them? We know - it is the same reason that very few pastors dare to speak out against Ergun Caner. Let's see, who is the man who promoted both Caner and Gilyard by giving both men access to his pulpit? Yes, Jerry Vines. That might be why there is so much silence, especially amongst the Baptists. Jerry might lose his stained glass window at SWBTS if pastors talk too much about Gilyard.

Kudos to Tim Pullium and News4Jax.com in covering this story. I don't see anywhere else in our local media where this probation modification was covered.

Gilyard has a history of abusing church members - children AND adults - as Bob Allen reminds in his coverage - dating all the way back to the 1980s. Read my summary from December 2011. Gilyard was even accused of rape of a church member in Texas. To now give Gilyard access to kids, supervised by adults who themselves don't have the sense themselves not to subject their minds to the manipulation of Gilyard - is to make them sitting ducks for more abuse by this master manipulator named Darrell Gilyard. It is just a matter of time, it will happen again.

Here is perhaps the saddest part of the Tim Pulliam piece. A woman who  who was interviewed by Tim Pulliam, when asked about Gilyard being allowed access to children, a woman doesn't have a problem with Gilyard having access to her kids:

"I'm a mom, but first I'm a child of God. And I feel like he will change. And I feel like ultimately he has to deal with God for that."

Yeah. Being a faithful child of God comes before motherly duties. Let go and let God. Let go and let Gilyard. Gilyard's followers are willing to sacrifice the safety of their kids and let a sexual predator have access to their ears and minds. That is all a predator needs. Access. And now Gilyard has the open door he needs.

Oh, there was one pastor who did speak up on this issue. Pastor Fred Wallace said:

"Moses, he was a murderer. And yet when he got out, God called him, and told him 'I want you now go and tell the Pharaoh to let my people go.'"

Yes, Darrell Gilyard, he's so much like the prophet Moses.

God called Moses to lead the people out of Egypt.

And God apparently is "calling" Gilyard to minister to little boys and girls once again.

And the hundreds and thousands of "Men of God" in Jacksonville remain silent as Gilyard gets access to more and more potential victims.

----------------------------------------

More reading on Darrell Gilyard is available below. Watchdog has been covering the Gilyard saga since December 2007, so read these articles for more than what you just read about in the media reports:

Gilyard Stays on Paid Leave - Dec 2007

Gilyard's Past - You're Telling Me Nobody Knew??

Gilyard's Text Messages and Sexual Encounters

One Bright Spot in the Gilyard Story

Gilyard's Ugly Past

Preaching Pedophile is Back in the Pulpit

Jax Baptist Association Issues Gilyard Statement