TOBY SUMPTER: AN EPIC MINISTRY FAIL

      Blogger Insanity Bytes had an article yesterday critiquing a post written by Rev. Toby Sumpter. Sumpter is a Protestant minister in Idaho who has some affiliation with the Rev. Doug Wilson; a fellow who's crossed our radar-screens a few times before. To say that this particular church is embedded in controversy would be an understatement. However, we're not especially well-versed in these internal political machinations among the various Protestant sects. What concerns us is when they preach doctrines adverse or harmful to Christendom as a whole. 

       Sumpter's post is a sick attempt at parodying Domestic Violence victims; a poorly-written satire purporting to be written by the Corinthian Church to St. Paul the Apostle. Domestic Violence and related crimes seem to be an especially recurring issue among the leaders and followers of this particular church. Whether some or all of the allegations made against them are true or not; we cannot at this point say. But given their writings on these and other issues incline us to believe at the very least that Wilson and Sumpter are a pair of shady characters and it wouldn't be amiss for Christians to keep a close eye upon them. 

       A section of Sumpter's parody reads as follows: "The first rule of abuse prevention is that you must always side with anyone who claims to be a victim over against anybody accused of abuse. Trained and professional abuse counselors don't need outmoded methods of investigation, witnesses, and due process." 

       Idaho State Law actually differs with this. Title 18-918 of Idaho Statutes defines Domestic Violence as: 

       1. Felonious Battery: "Any household member who in committing a Battery as defined in Section 18-903 of the Idaho Code, inflicting traumatic injury is guilty of a felony."

       2. Misdemeanor Assault: "A household member who commits an Assault as defined in Section 18-901 of the Idaho Code against another household member not resulting in traumatic injury is guilty of a misdemeanor. "

       3. Misdemeanor Battery: "A household member who commits a Battery as defined in Section-903 of the Idaho Code is guilty of a misdemeanor."

       The website FindLaw states that Idaho Law covers "physical injury, sexual abuse, forced imprisonment or threat thereof" as Domestic Violence. It seems that these are hardly matters of one person's word against the other.

       Sumpter then says: "The second rule of abuse prevention is that you must never say or write anything that would give the alleged victim that their situation is tolerable." He then goes on to compare St.Paul's instructions to slaves as somehow binding on abused family members! Essentially, he is arguing tangentially that slavery is not only morally correct; but that  wives and children are the chattel of husbands and fathers. 

       We have to understand two things here. One is that, contextually, human slavery was universally practiced in St.Paul's time. His instructions to Christian slaves was no more an endorsement of that institution than Christ calling His first disciples from among fishermen means that God prefers ex-sailors for ministerial duties. 

        The second thing is that there is no parallel between marriage and slavery whatsoever in the New Testament. Roman women actually enjoyed a (relatively) high standard of social and civil rights; much higher than, say, women in the neighboring Parthian Empire did. The Christian Fathers are all very clear that Christian women---married or not---are sisters in Christ. They stressed this point so much that early enemies of the Church falsely accused Christian teachers of promoting incest. 

       But this absurdity is not only held by Sumpter, but by many in the Red Pill Cult: Dalrock, Artisanal Toad, and Rollo Tomassi being among its most prominent promoters. They hold---or at least strongly imply---that the State has no moral authority in domestic abuse issues. This idea not only finds no support from Christian Doctrine but has never been a legal tenet of Western Civilization for millennia. Since we mentioned the Romans: although fathers and husbands had more legal authority over women than we do; even they were subject to Roman Law. Today's Islamic States are much the same way; a man's jurisdiction over his women is not unlimited but subject to Sharia Courts. And those Courts give more protections to women than our Media gives them credit for.

      Sumpter is very clearly out of his depth as a pastor; and the Moscow, Idaho area seems to be having some real spiritual problems. Maybe we can persuade Pope Francis to send some Christian missionaries there, because it they could really use them.