Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   As someone who produced dozens of nativity plays as a teacher and a Sunday School leader, that title ‘A Gay…

2. 

   The defence of a Christian view never seems to be settled by debate: exchange of facts, reference to historical events.…

3. 

   But …… Rwanda is a safe place: Parliament says so.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/8/contentsSafety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 S 2 Safety…

4. 

   Religion can survive only on the most unquestionable assumptions. The statements made on Sundays on the BBC as if they…

5. 

   Yes, if I’ve got anything remotely like a phobia, as an ex-fundy, its bibles, churches, tracts etc. I like to…

FOLLOWING his arrest in October, 2021, for possessing child porn, Father James W. Jackson, a Rhode Island priest, was detained for the second time last year in Kansas for allegedly violating the conditions of his release. His trial is about to commence shortly.

And here’s the kicker: Just weeks before his first arrest, Jackson wrote at length in his parish bulletin about sex abuse scandals perpetrated by “psychosexually dysfunctional” priests, singling out former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a notorious sexual predator, as a “creep” who hid a sinful private life with outward good works with the help of corrupt friends in the Catholic hierarchy.

The image and video files found in Jackson’s possession depicted prepubescent females, “including infants and toddlers, engaged in sexual acts.”

Last July the National Catholic Register reported that Jackson, a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, was a priest at St. Mary’s Church in Providence at the time of his first arrest by the Rhode Island State Police.

Under the terms of his release from federal court in November, Jackson was allowed to return to his home state of Kansas to live with a relative while waiting for the charges to be adjudicated.

Jim Martin, a spokesman for the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island, said that Jackson’s second arrest was for the alleged violation of the terms of his “pre-trial” release.

Trial set to commence later this month

Despite his insistence that a search of his computer was “illegal” the authorities pressed on with the prosecution, and it’s now reported by the Catholic News Agency CNA) that a federal child pornography case against him is scheduled to begin on June 20.

He faces charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

CNA says the penalty for receipt of child pornography could result in a maximum of 20 years’ imprisonment, with a mandatory minimum of five years, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The penalty for possession of child pornography could result in imprisonment of up to 20 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

After an additional child pornography investigation into Jackson by a local Kansas police department, Jackson’s federal probation officer issued a petition to the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island alleging that the priest broke the conditions of his pretrial release that were mandatory while he was allowed to live in Leawood, Kansas, with his sister.

U.S. Marshals arrested him and brought him back to the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. 

Jackson was only installed as pastor of St. Mary’s Church about three months prior to his arrest. Before that assignment, he served at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Littleton, Colorado.

Before his arrest, Jackson wrote in his parish bulletin:

Any man who tries to live his celibacy without faith, sanctifying grace and a serious life of prayer and dedication to the interior life will eventually (and sometimes this takes only a few years) turn to empty amusements and pleasures in drink, food, fancy vacations at best and pornography and the pursuit of sexual relationships at worst.

An online fundraising campaign had been set up for Jackson after his arrest, and it raised “a significant amount” before GoFundMe axed it.

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If you spot any typos in this report please notify me at freethinkered@aol.com