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Monday, February 8, 2010

Youth Pastor Watch, Headline of the Day, O They Will Know We Are Christians...

Posted by on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 9:26 AM

YOWHartman.jpg
Indiana youth pastor Jonathan James Hartman made his first appearance in Youth Pastor Watch in April of last year. He was arrested and charged with repeatedly molesting three girls, all under the age of 15, and getting one of the girls pregnant. He pressured the pregnant girl to get an abortion. Hartman hasn't been convicted of anything yet but Hartman is still making headlines:

Ex-youth pastor tried to hire hit man to kill girls he was accused of molesting

A former Greenwood Salvation Army youth pastor has been charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill three teenage girls with whom he was accused of having sex. Johnson County prosecutors who charged 30-old Jonathan James Hartman with conspiracy to commit murder Thursday say he also tried to have killed a child of one of the victims, whom he believed to be his. Court documents allege that Hartman offered a fellow inmate $50,000 for the killings while he was being held in Johnson County Jail awaiting trial on charges of child molesting and sexual misconduct with a minor.

 

Comments (17) RSS

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1
Jesus has surely entered his heart.
Posted by Killer Jesus on February 8, 2010 at 9:37 AM
The Amazing Jim 2
Was he in the Special Forces division of the Salvation Army?
Posted by The Amazing Jim http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=100000076496291&ref=profile on February 8, 2010 at 9:50 AM
3
Does he have $50,000?
Posted by MikeB on February 8, 2010 at 9:51 AM
givesgoodemail 4
This just keeps getting better and bette....
Er, I mean, worse and worse.
Posted by givesgoodemail http://www.givesgoodemail.com on February 8, 2010 at 9:56 AM
Fifty-Two-Eighty 5
What a fucking re - oops - "special person."
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on February 8, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Fnarf 6
Praise Jesus! Praise Him! Now raise up your hands! Hallelujah! Now take off your pants! Oh, thank you Jesus! Gnuh!
Posted by Fnarf http://www.facebook.com/fnarf on February 8, 2010 at 10:11 AM
7
Hey, I think some of you may be implying that this gentleman does not actually adhere to the moral code that he purportedly subscribes to. But I challenge you to find a passage in the Bible that states "Thou shall not hire a hit man to murder the teenagers you have statutory raped nor shall you also have the hit man kill the illegitimate child that was the outcome of said rape."
Posted by carrma on February 8, 2010 at 10:35 AM
Rob in Baltimore 8
7, Actually, according the Bible, he is to be forced to marry his victims, never to divorce.
Posted by Rob in Baltimore http://www.wishbookweb.com/ on February 8, 2010 at 11:51 AM
venomlash 9
@8: Unless her father doesn't want to give her up to him, and then the rapist would STILL have to pay the bride-price. In silver.
Posted by venomlash on February 8, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Rob in Baltimore 10
9, Actually it says he "must" marry her:

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay the girl's father fifty shekels of silver. He must marry the girl, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.
Posted by Rob in Baltimore http://www.wishbookweb.com/ on February 8, 2010 at 12:59 PM
venomlash 11
@10:
Exodus 22:16-17
"If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins."

Okay, different if it's rape. I think in this case the statutory rape aspect might lean more to the "seduce" classification of the old law.
Posted by venomlash on February 8, 2010 at 1:19 PM
JunieGirl 12
His parents must be so proud.
Posted by JunieGirl on February 8, 2010 at 3:35 PM
Karl42 13
@10:

FIFTY SHEKELS!

Don'tcha wanna haggle?
Posted by Karl42 on February 8, 2010 at 3:50 PM
14
Ah, but no one has pointed out a relevant passage condemning the hiring of a hit man to kill rape victims and their children. I think the silence of the Bible on this matter is very telling. This could be construed as a tacit endorsement of the practice.

Now that we've established this as fact, the question becomes if the hit was successfully executed, is he bound to still pay the bride price and marry the victim? Or is it a way out of the contract due to one party being no longer living? A holy loophole if you will.

My guess is that he would still be required to pay the bride-price. At the current exchange rate that would be about $13.38. I am not a Biblical scholar, but I suspect he would not be required to actually marry the deceased. That said, I am unaware of a passage in the Bible that explicitly states all parties must be living at the time of the marriage ceremony. I am assuming such a passage exists, but if the Bible does not require everyone to have a pulse in order to get married, kudos to Christianity to being so progressive when it comes to the rights of the living-impared.
Posted by carrma on February 8, 2010 at 6:03 PM
15
"Ah, but no one has pointed out a relevant passage condemning the hiring of a hit man to kill rape victims and their children."

Hate to burst everyone's anti-biblical-law bubble, but I distinctly remember "Thou shalt not commit murder" being pretty high on the list of the 10 Rules God Wants You To Follow (TM). Let's hope some appropriate divine punishment awaits this sick bastard.
Posted by Thexalon on February 8, 2010 at 6:34 PM
venomlash 16
@15: Thanks for the obvious, Thexalon. It's really best to strike a balance on how much we listen to that book (or other holy books), so as to follow the big ideas (variants of "treat other people decently", etc.) without getting bogged down in the little things (like what kinds of cloth are permissible to wear).

You do realize that Rob in Baltimore and I are just toying with the whole thing and neither of us expects the biblical law to be followed here, right? (Correct me if you don't agree, Rob.)
Posted by venomlash on February 8, 2010 at 8:12 PM
17
I knew this guy when I was young. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary back then, except for the fact that I (who was like 7 at the time) was able to sit on his lap and he told me he'd give me $10 if I kissed this little boy I had a crush on. I kissed said boy (for the money of course), got grounded for a week, and never got the money.

I'm sure his parents are heart broken. They raised him right, they can't help that he turned out to be the kind of guy who could do this.
Posted by beth_face on April 20, 2010 at 12:50 PM

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