CNN 2012-08-08

 In this hour I’ll be looking allegations of child abuse in the name of religion. Once again here’s Gary Tuchman with a report on a school in Indiana facing accusations¹ that are hard to comprehend. 

 

 

 

Roger Voegtlin is a powerful man, extremely influential² in fundamentalist Baptist circles. 

 

 

 

I believe the Bible is the word of God. 

 

 

 

His Indiana church is called Fairhaven Baptist, and on the well-manicured grounds, there is also the Fairhaven Baptist Academy for children and Fairhaven College. Pastor³ Voegtlin has led thousands of children and their families for four decades. 

 

 

 

You've said children are born depraved. They're born liars⁴. They have to be trained to be good. Do you still believe that? 

 

 

 

Yes. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 

 

 

 

The Bible also says he who sparest the rod hated his son. 

 

 

 

My philosophy is three swats. It should sting but not hurt. 

 

 

 

It's not considered an unusual philosophy among some in the fundamentalist Baptist community. And corporal punishment does remain legal in many of the nation's schools.

 

 

 

But these former students are now speaking out, saying what they endured was beyond, way beyond, anything taught in the Bible. 

 

 

 

How many of you have had suicidal thoughts? That's every one of you. 

 

 

 

We constantly lived in fear of looking the wrong way, doing the wrong thing. 

 

 

 

We were brainwashed; our parents were brainwashed. And you followed what Roger Voegtlin said. 

 

 

 

These former students say Pastor Voegtlin did some of the hitting, but most of it was done by his staff. 

 

 

 

Alison Lavery was in grade school when she says the principal came into her class to paddle her. 

 

 

 

He would call you to the front. They'd have pulled a chair out. And bend over, grab the chair. He tells you, "Look at that lunch pail." And he would pull the paddle up. And he was so tall it practically touched the ceiling. And he would swing it really hard and hard enough for you to move forward. He'd move the whole chair forward. 

 

 

 

This is in front of the whole class? 

 

 

 

Yes. 

 

 

 

Jeremiah Souza was in seventh grade when he encountered a school administrator⁵. 

 

 

 

He spanked⁶ me, and the paddle split down the middle. So he started back over, holding the paddle together. So whenever he would hit me, it would pinch the skin on my bottom and bruised⁷ and bleeding. Samuel Bain also was in grade school when he says he got it from a church maintenance man. 

 

 

 

He basically told me to bend over, and he said, "Pull down your pants." I looked; I kind of hesitated, because to me, it doesn't sound right, even to a kid. You know, we were taught not to question people. 

 

 

 

Then he did what? 

 

 

 

He laid into me. 

 

 

 

They say that not only were they hit when they were here, but it was done with great effort to humiliate⁸ them in front of whole class, belt them over a chair. Is that still done today, and do you think that's humiliation⁹? 

 

 

 

Yes. It is still done today. And I suppose it is humiliation, but again, humiliation is not the big thing. 

 

 

 

But what I'm saying to you is God doesn't say anything about humiliation in the Bible. 

 

 

 

No. 

 

 

 

He does talk about sparing the rod. 

 

 

 

Yes. 

 

 

 

That is mentioned in the Bible. 

 

 

 

Yes. 

 

 

 

So why the humiliation? Why is that necessary? 

 

 

 

Habit. 

 

 

 

I'm a minister. I'm a preacher. I speak to youth. I speak to teenagers. 

 

 

 

Darcel McCoy is a proud Baptist who now lives in Alabama. He says during a student mission trip to Mexico 15 years ago, he was forced by a Fairhaven administrator to keep drinking liquids after he urinated in a shower. 

 

 

 

My stomach is literally¹⁰ out to about here, and I'm puking over and over, puking. And one of the, one of the men come up to me: "Don't you puke again. You better not puke." And I'm just puking everywhere, all over my clothes, all over people's stuff. 

 

 

 

They put, they put one of the older kids, one of the senior boys, and they put his stuff at my feet and said if you puke again this boy's going to beat the snot out of you. And so I'm trying hard not to puke. They made me do that until I peed on myself. 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never heard that story. Darcel was a lot of trouble when he was in school, but I'm not saying that he's totally lying about it. Because I don't know. I wasn't there. 

 

 

 

This was something you'll investigate? 

 

 

 

Yes, I will. 

 

 

 

It was a long time ago, but probably worth investigating?

1 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

2 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

3 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

4 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

5 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

6 spanked   

v.用手掌打( spank的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We spanked along in his new car. 我们坐在他的新车里兜风。 来自辞典例句
• The nurse spanked the naughty child. 保育员打了一下那个淘气的孩子的屁股。 来自辞典例句

7 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

8 humiliate   

v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace

参考例句：

• What right had they to bully and humiliate people like this?凭什么把人欺侮到这个地步呢？
• They pay me empty compliments which only humiliate me.他们虚情假意地恭维我，这只能使我感到羞辱。

9 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。