Snakes, spiders and pit bulls
[July 24, 2022: There have been some changes made to this post. For more information, read the Editors’ notes at the bottom of the post. Editors.]
Imagine if pit bull terriers and poisonous snakes and spiders were commonly used as companion animals. Imagine if they were common in homes, schools, nursing homes, churches and missionary organizations.
And now imagine that a skilled animal handler found a way to train pit bulls, snakes and spiders so that a few of them did not bite….but the training worked on only a few of them. No matter how hard the super-skilled trainer did his or her amazing stuff, the vast majority of those animals could not be trained.
Would it be sensible to say “Let’s teach all the animal trainers to use these amazing techniques so that a few less people are hurt by snakes, spiders and pit bulls?”
Or would it be more sensible to just ban poisonous snakes, spiders and pit bulls?
Of course, the analogy is imperfect….and I mean no offence to real snakes and spiders as they have a place in the ecosystem! But I think you get my point.
(Psalm 15:1-4 NASB1995)
O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the LORD;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
[July 24, 2022: Editors’ notes:
—For some comments made prior to July 24, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be an exact match.
—For some comments made prior to July 24, 2022 that quoted from the post, the text in the comment that was quoted from the post might no longer be found in the post.
If you would like to compare the text in the comments made prior to July 24, 2022 that quoted from the post to the post as it is now (July 24, 2022), click here [Internet Archive link] for the most recent Internet Archive copy of the post.]
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- Posted in: Counseling
- Tagged: Allegories/analogies/ fairy tales, Barbara Roberts, church response to abuse
A Cry For Justice 
Good point for me with a older man. [His age was redacted by the ACFJ team.]
Hi, may I encourage you to look at our New Users’ Info page as it gives tips for how to guard your safety while commenting on the blog.
And after reading the New Users’ Info page, you might like to look at our FAQ page.
I changed your screen name to AnonMarriedWoman as a precaution for your safety. If you want us to change it to something else, just email TWBTC (The Woman Behind The Curtain). Her address is twbtc.acfj@gmail.com
Oh, the dangerous creature comparison! I always thought of my dad as a Great White shark….
Brilliant.
Weasels. Not as the God-created creature, but the human slang reference.
From vocabulary.com : weasel [Internet Archive link]
This is actually pretty close to what pit bull apologists do. Yes. I went there.
Kudos to you for going there. I can’t stand Pitbull apologists. I can’t stand any kind of apologist. I was taught to apologize and assume the best of people and species all my life. No way.
Also weasels are closely related to ferrets. The more you know.
The thought of ferrets crossed my mind. 🙂 And some people keep them as pets….
Hi Liz, when you have time can you please email TWBTC to discuss your screen name. Thanks.
Her address is twbtc.acfj@gmail.com
Great analogy Barb! It makes so much sense.
The church ecosystem is so disrupted and perverted that it has become a “chaosystem” (vs sound ecosystem).
Not only training techniques are the wrong ones being taught to animal handlers, but the chaosystem is breeding more poisonous snakes, spiders and pit bulls, which the church folks are encouraged to welcome kindly and unconditionally. Love is to embrace venomous species and crush their victims. Genesis 3:15 turned on its head (pun intended)!
Now Revelation 18:2 makes total sense to me…
Thank you for honoring the ecosystem (in reference to spiders, snakes, pit-bulls); the analogy is actually useful and this is a very timely and important blog post.
I struggle with my Christianity, sometimes I am very confused by theology and tenets of faith, yet outside of what I believe can be very legalistic description, my faith in the Lord is secure (and given to me throughout my life).
My abuser was my minister who I was dating [mainstream denomination, name of denomination redacted by Eds]. Because I shared my confusion he used the Bible against me, and my lack of a language to defend myself – against me. He used the Bible as a sword to leave me still-in-motion, accusing me and saying that I am unfit to be in a Christian community, and that his attraction to me was a form of demonic possession. He said I was demonized, and the demons around me were preventing him from rejecting me. It was very scary. I will [not?] go on or detail further, there is much to this story.
Now that my skies are clearer and I am away from him for one year, I can see that he is actually a predator (in the way he groomed me and then normalized outrageous behaviors and words), abusive (not only to me but to his collar and the office which he represents). With so much #ChurchToo and (no offense to the snake) snakes in the church, I now see that sexual misconduct is a symptom of an abuse of power in all areas.
I am grateful now that God has moved me through this experience. It was a shock to see reality for the first time, in a real, personal and terrifying way. Now I am gentler to myself as I move into understanding better the Bible and myself. And that joy given to me and placed in my heart can sound different to what this minister says and implies. My gifts are from God and no one can come between that (I like nature and spend lots of time there, so this particular minister tried to make it sound pagan or demonically inspired).
A charlatan’s job is to trick, the rest of us have a job to trust.
Church should not allow snakes.
Thanks so much for your comment. I airbrushed it a little to protect you from being identified.
That guy is definitely a snake, a skilled predator and a very evil man! You have done well to see through his lies. 🙂
You had given a screen name that might have helped your abuser or his allies identify you, so I changed it to the one I gave you when you commented on this blog before. So your screen name here is Anon#N. It would help us (the blog Admins) if you would put that name in the comments form when submitting comments to this blog. It would save us time.
If you haven’t yet done so, please read our New Users’ Info page as it gives tips for how to guard your safety while commenting on the blog.
And after reading the New Users’ Info page, you might like to look at our FAQ page.
Barbara thank you for the name Anon#N which I have noted and will be sure to utilize when posting again. Thank you for your great support and work. Have a good week!