Roundup of News: Anabaptist Pastor
Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Blog of Former Parishioner
A British paper is covering a
Pastor in Oregon, Chuck O’Neal, who is suing former followers who blogged about
him and his church’s practices. We
covered the British article and Dee's post at The Wartburg Watch. See: http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2012/05/1st-amendment-blogging-and-pastor.html.
H/t to Dee for her initiation of the issue to us.
We provide here a new round-up that has just begun. We expect more media articles to come.
We would like to see the pleadings and complaint filed in
the Oregon court. This raises First
Amendment issues. We believe this will
explode on Pastor Chuck O’Neal and his Anabaptist Church; further, we think
this an important case. This will probably be tossed quickly. Further, it appears that "Pastor Chuck" can dish up public criticisms but can't take it himself. Rather churlish, we might say. This is precisely
why we have the First Amendment.
Having said that, we assert this importance of the 9th
commandment vis a vis the Westminster
Larger Catechism. See: http://reformationanglicanism.blogspot.com/2012/05/westminster-larger-catechism-141-150.html. There are numerous biblical issues at bar.
We provide a roundup of four news reports. They will be separated by lines.
The first report is http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2144038/Pastor-Charles-ONeal-sues-church-members.html.
The second through fourth are: ABC News here, Fox News here and a more local level (here) with KATU news.
Church pastor sues former followers for $500,000 after he
was called 'narcissist' in online blog
PUBLISHED:
01:01 EST, 14 May 2012 | UPDATED: 01:01 EST, 14 May 2012
A stay-at-home mother has
been sued by the church she once attended because she criticised the pastor and
his religious methods in an online blog.
Julie Anne Smith and her
family decided to distance themselves from Beaverton Grace Bible Church because
they did not agree with the church's ways.
Mrs Smith then says that
she was shunned by friends in Oregon because Pastor Charles O'Neal encouraged
members not have friends outside of the church community.
Blasphemy? Church pastor
Charles O'Neal (right) is suing Julie Anne Smith in Oregon because she wrote
negative things in a blog about Beaverton Grace Bible Church.
Mrs Smith aired her
grievances online and started a blog last year called Beaverton Grace Bible
Church Survivors - where she accused Pastor O'Neal of 'narcissism' and
'misleading the congregation'.
However the mother, her
daughter and three others who raised questions about the church's practices
were served with a $500,000 suit for defamation of character by her former
church leader several days later.
She told ABC: 'All we did was asked questions. We just raised
concerns. There’s no sin in that.'
Among her complaints were
that the church discouraged parishioners to have friendships outside the church
and told them what to wear.
Pastor O'Neal could not be
reached for a comment at this time. The case will be heard before a judge later
this month.
Gathering: The Smith family
left Beaverton Grace Bible Church because they did not agree with some of its
practices.
Read more:
May 13, 2012 4:40pm
Oregon Church Sues Ex-Members
Over Online Criticism
(Image Credit: Beaverton Grace Bible
Church)
When Julie Anne Smith and her family
severed ties with the Beaverton Grace Bible Church a few years ago, she said,
former friends acted like the Oregon mother and her family were complete
strangers.
“If I went to Costco or any place in town,
if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way,”
Smith told ABC affiliate KATU-TV in Portland. “All we did was asked questions. We just
raised concerns. There’s no sin in that.”
Smith may have lost her former friends, but
she said she never imagined she and her daughter be hit with a $500,000 lawsuit
for defamation for speaking her mind on the Internet. Three other commenters
who criticized the church were also named in the suit.
“You will be fine at this church if you
never question the elders or pastor,” Smith wrote on Sept. 29, 2011, one of
many online reviews she wrote critical of the church, according to court
documents.
She said Pastor Charles O’Neal was guilty
of “narcissism in the pulpit” and had “chosen to mislead the congregation.”
Smith described a church that told members
what to wear, had communal foot washings and discouraged members from having
friends outside the church.
She said church members began adding
positive reviews, pushing her words down the page and her posts were removed.
In February, Smith started a blog called “Beaverton Grace Bible Church
Survivors.”
Three days after starting the blog, she was
served with the lawsuit, she said.
“The story of spiritual abuse needs to be
told. People are being hurt emotionally and spiritually by pastors who use
bully tactics and we need a place to learn, to talk freely, and to heal. I will
not be silenced,” she wrote on her blog.
ABC News’ calls to Beaverton Grace Bible
Church were not returned.
The suit is scheduled to be heard by a
judge later this month.
From Fox, this at: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/14/oregon-mother-daughter-reportedly-sued-for-writing-bad-reviews-church-online/%20
Oregon mother, daughter reportedly sued for writing bad reviews of church online
Published May 14, 2012
FoxNews.com
An Oregon pastor is reportedly suing a mother and her
daughter for $500,000 after the two blogged about the church and described it
as "cult-like."
Pastor Charles O'Neal of the Beaverton Grace Bible Church
claims reviews on a blog started by former church member Julie Anne Smith
amount to defamation.
Smith, who says "the story of spiritual abuse needs
to be told," described O'Neal and his church outside Portland as
"creepy" and "cult-like." She described him calling for
church elders to search closets of female congregants for clothes that are too
revealing, among other lessons from the pulpit.
Smith told the KATU.com that she and her family were
shunned by community members after leaving the church in Beaverton a few years
ago. Smith said she then began writing Google and DEX reviews of the church as
well as a blog.
"I thought, I'm just going to post a review,"
Smith said. "We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I
thought, why not do it with this church?" Smith told the website.
O'Neal claims in his lawsuit that Smith's use of words
like "creepy," "cult," "control tactics," and
"spiritual abuse," are defamation. O'Neal is suing Smith as well as
her daughter and three other commentators, according to the website.
The pastor could not be reached, but audio clips of
several of his sermons are available on the church's website. On one, he blasts
the late televangelist the Rev. Robert Schuller, saying his book, "Self
Esteem: The New Reformation" is "a book that will one day be burned
in the fires of Hell."
Smith says the online reviews and blog are protected
under the right to free speech.
"What somebody does in the church is one thing, but
when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not
be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right," she told
the website. "He can say what he wants in the church and say, don't talk
about this or don't talk about that, or don't talk to this person, but when
you're out in the civil world, you don't do that anymore ... And he's not my
pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking."
From Katu.com, this:
http://www.katu.com/news/local/Beaveton-Grace-Bible-Church-lawsuit-charles-oneal-julie-anne-smith-151227055.html
Beaverton church sues family after they
criticize it online
BEAVERTON, Ore. - A church pastor is suing a mother and
daughter for $500,000 because they gave the church bad reviews online.
The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn't understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.
"I thought, I'm just going to post a review," Smith said. "We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?"
Never did she think Beaverton Grace Bible Church and Pastor Charles O'Neal would slap her with the lawsuit.
"I'm a stay-at-home mom. I teach my kids at home, and this is just not the amount of money that normal moms have."
When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.
"If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way," she said. "All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There's no sin in that."
Dissatisfied, she went online to write reviews. Other church members counteracted them with church praise. So Smith started a blog called "Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors."
But the pastor claims in the lawsuit he filed that her words, "creepy," "cult," "control tactics," and "spiritual abuse," are defamation.
"What somebody does in the church is one thing, but when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right," Smith said.
The lawsuit didn’t just target Smith. Her daughter and three other commenters are also being sued.
"He can say what he wants in the church and say, don't talk about this or don't talk about that, or don't talk to this person, but when you're out in the civil world, you don't do that anymore," Smith said. "And he's not my pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking."
The Smiths filed a special free speech motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It goes before a judge later this month.
KATU News called the church, went there, went to the pastor's home and spoke to his wife. KATU News also called the pastor's attorney. All of them declined to give their side of the story.
The family being sued left the church a few years ago and Julie Anne Smith says she and her family were shunned and couldn't understand why. So she went online and wrote Google and DEX reviews of the church and then started a blog.
"I thought, I'm just going to post a review," Smith said. "We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?"
Never did she think Beaverton Grace Bible Church and Pastor Charles O'Neal would slap her with the lawsuit.
"I'm a stay-at-home mom. I teach my kids at home, and this is just not the amount of money that normal moms have."
When the family left the church, Smith says friends were told to end all contact with her.
"If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way," she said. "All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There's no sin in that."
Dissatisfied, she went online to write reviews. Other church members counteracted them with church praise. So Smith started a blog called "Beaverton Grace Bible Church Survivors."
But the pastor claims in the lawsuit he filed that her words, "creepy," "cult," "control tactics," and "spiritual abuse," are defamation.
"What somebody does in the church is one thing, but when you get out into society we have the right to free speech, and it may not be what people want to hear, but we absolutely have that right," Smith said.
The lawsuit didn’t just target Smith. Her daughter and three other commenters are also being sued.
"He can say what he wants in the church and say, don't talk about this or don't talk about that, or don't talk to this person, but when you're out in the civil world, you don't do that anymore," Smith said. "And he's not my pastor anymore. He does not have that right to keep people from talking."
The Smiths filed a special free speech motion to dismiss the lawsuit. It goes before a judge later this month.
KATU News called the church, went there, went to the pastor's home and spoke to his wife. KATU News also called the pastor's attorney. All of them declined to give their side of the story.
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