Barry Duke, the Angry Atheist

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1. 

   You get drivel about aliens, abduction etc from all sorts of people, not just Christians – there are atheists, agnostics…

2. 

   […] last time I had had occasion to write about Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, above, was three years ago…

3. 

   Whatever is presented on the BBC, and I must admit I do not watch the TV, the fact is that…

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   “The curriculum had already drawn tensions among the county’s religious parents, with some worrying about appropriateness and arguing the material…

5. 

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

SEXUAL abuse scandals within the Church of England recently led to the resignations of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, followed by former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. Now pressure is mounting on the Archbishop York, Stephen Cottrell, above, to quit over the manner he handled the case of David Tudor, inset, a dean who sexually abused young girls.

A BBC investigation previously revealed how Tudor remained in his post nine years after Stephen Cottrell, a temporary replacement got Welby, was first told of concerns about him.

New information shows Tudor’s contract as area dean in Essex was renewed in 2013 and 2018, at which times Cottrell knew he had paid compensation to a woman who says she was abused by him as a child.

One victim calling for Cottrell’s resignation is Rachel Ford, who said she was groomed by Tudor as a child, and that the renewal of his contract as area dean was “an insult to all of his victims”.

She added that if responsibility for that lay with Cottrell, it strengthened her feeling that he should resign.

However, Church Times reports that some bishops are insisting that Cottrell’s resignation would serve no purpose.

Last Monday morning, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, had called on Cottrell to step down over the Tudor case.

Tudor had faced multiple police investigations for indecent assault of girls below the age of 16.

David Tudor pictured with a certificate signed by Cottrell making him an honorary canon of Chelmsford Cathedral in 2015. Image via Facebook.

But the Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd Julie Conalty — deputy lead bishop for safeguarding in the C of E — said that, although she agreed with Hartley that questions needed to be asked about the case, she did not think that Cottrell should resign.

Conalty told told the BBC Radio 4’s The World at One:

We can keep having resignations, but that isn’t going to solve our problems.

She said that, while she had questions about some aspects of the case, and thought that church safeguarding processes needed to change, it seemed to her that Cottrell:

Did not have the power to remove this cleric from office right up until the point at which he was able to suspend him.

The BBC investigation found that, in 1988, Tudor twice stood trial, in both cases accused of indecent assault against girls under the age of 16. In the first trial, he was acquitted, but had admitted to having sex with one girl when she was 16.

In the other case, he was convicted of indecent assault against three girls, and served a six-month sentence, but the conviction was subsequently quashed on the basis that the judge had misdirected the jury.

One of the girls in the first trial, whom the BBC refers to as Debbie, told the programme that she was abused by Tudor between the ages of 13 and 15. She said:

He abused his position of trust, and it’s had a huge effect on my life. Having that huge secret pulled me away from my parents. I’ve lived with shame for 40 years.

The BBC investigation also found that, in 2012, Tudor paid £10,000 to a woman, known as Jessica, who says that she was sexually abused by him from the age of 11.

The payment was to settle a civil claim brought against Tudor after the police had decided not to pursue charges.

Said Jessica:

Nobody would make a payment if they haven’t got something to hide. It feels like he spat in my face; I think he should leave the Church as well.

Time and again it’s been proven that NO child is safe, physically or mentally. within a religious environment, yet parents simply do not get the message and insist on dragging their kids into various cults. Untimately, they must shoulder some of the responsibilty for the abuse of their youngsters.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn

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