Who is Deceiving and Being Deceived?

Star "Bob" Scott has said that he has no statement to make concerning the very serious allegations against himself, Calvary Temple and members of its leadership. And yet, he seems to have quite a bit to say to his congregation.  

1. Busybodies: According to Star Scott: "Part of what we are dealing with here is a whole boatload of busybodies. It's called social media but it's just a bunch of busybodies. God calls them in the same category with murderers, thieves and evil doers. These people that are always in other people's business and other men's matters.... "

  Busybody: a person who pries into or meddles in the affairs of others.

Mr Scott is referring to the protestors as busybodies. The husband whose wife left him because he wanted to take his family out of Calvary Temple. The mother who is heartbroken because 4 of her children have not spoken to her in nearly four years. The parents who have not heard from their daughter for more than 7 years. The grandparents who have never met their grandchildren. The young people whose parents no longer will speak to them. These are busybodies to Mr Scott. Those members of our community that have sent their children to the basketball or cheerleading camps and are now concerned for their safety. The many neighbors of Calvary Temple that have long been hearing of a cult in their backyard. Are these the people he is calling busybodies?

Mr Scott calls the reporters busybodies - those who have come to write a story about Calvary Temple. Are they busybodies because they have become aware of the accusations that have been ignored and even covered up for many years?

Loudoun County Sheriff's Office  - are they busybodies because they are investigating allegations of sexual and physical abuse at Calvary Temple?  

Star Scott has called grieving parents, anguished sons and daughters, physically and sexually abused children, a worried community, investigative reporters, and law enforcement members busybodies. His choice of this word is meant to trivialize and ridicule the very people that have been the most affected by the alleged actions taking place in Calvary Temple.  And it is meant to dismiss the legitimate concerns of the community and law enforcement.  

2. A Great Work:  Mr Scott goes on to say...  "we have a great work to do and we can't be bothered with all these folks.  We don't need to be distracted by this....[it's] business as usual."  

In order to take the focus off himself and the allegations, Scott once again stresses the importance of Calvary Temple and the "great work" they are doing. Business as usual means vacations to the Bahamas, new cars, sports camps, car shows, and endless church meetings. It also means dividing families, destroying marriages, and covering up abuse of all kinds. He chooses his words carefully - "we can't be bothered with these folks"  - an unconcerned flick of the hand as he dismisses "all these folks" as nothing more than a bothersome mosquito buzzing around his head.  

3. The hand of God:  "I was telling the deacons, reminding them to hold me up in prayer, a time not very enjoyable that we are involved in right now - the Lord spoke to me and said "this is My doing, the hand of God is on us at this moment. He uses his enemies to make us better". "God is cleaning us up - trial in different degrees...  ...  "what we are facing as a fellowship right now, we are getting the tar beaten out of us.  Count it all joy".

Actually, it is not the fellowship that is getting the tar beaten out of them, but he likes to include everyone as a victim. Scott wants to share the accusations among the people to take the focus off of himself. This is not the first time he has used this tactic. Any time an accusation comes against himself or others in leadership, he states that the Lord has spoken to him,  and rouses them to anger for what is coming against them.  (And then he asks for prayer for himself.) 

4. The evil newspaper:  It's always an easy potshot to take - blaming the untrustworthy news media for twisting the facts. He knows he will get a receptive audience when he speaks against the liberal "God hating" news media. Scott casts doubt on the veracity of the facts with one quick reference to "the news people, some of the ways they edit these things, that's who I have trouble with".
  
5.  You (the congregation)  don't know the whole story, but we (the leadership)  do:  How many times have we heard some version of this?  "...Others [are] not aware of what the real picture is. Leadership is more aware of the real issues behind it."

In other words, don't worry yourselves over this. There is much more to the story that you just are not aware of - but we know all about it. We have it covered. You don't even need to wonder what this might be about. 

6. We are being persecuted: Of course, being persecuted, and especially for righteousness sake, is one of the easiest cards to play. (Rob Hendrickson gave a message on the persecuted church, using "these events" as an example.) This is readily accepted by the congregation, because most of them are not guilty of the worst of the sins they are being accused of.  They are guilty of shunning people, feeling superior to the rest of Christendom, idolizing their pastor, divorcing their spouses, and putting out their kids, but they are not necessarily guilty of sexual or physical abuse. (at least most of them). So because the people feel mostly ok about themselves,  it's easy to believe Star Scott that this is persecution.

The revealing of sin is NOT persecution.  

7.  We are all liars and fools: Scott tells the congregation,  "Let God be true and every man a liar. People trying to destroy us. They know nothing about us. Those that hear one side of the story without hearing another. They are fools."  

Actually, we know a lot about Star Scott and Calvary Temple. Many of "those folks across the street" attended Calvary Temple for much of their lives. People have come forward from 25 years ago with their own stories of abuse. Many of us know everyone that attends Calvary Temple and have predicted every response of its leadership. In reality, this is his big problem - we DO know the members of Calvary Temple. Very well. The fools are those that have heard only one side - Star Scott's version of events. And this brings us to -----

8. We are being accused of creating our own false reality: Thanks to a recent post on Tactics of Calvary Temple we have learned that we are all victims of our unbalanced mental state. "You know you talk something up among yourselves enough that it becomes the truth...it's not always in touch with reality....you know you can't trust your own mind [or] memory....[remembering] the wrong people.....Promoting your truth...and finally creating your own reality."

Star Scott began by expressing his compassion for all of us "across the street" while calling us unbalanced and confused at the same time.  He said he is weeping for our pain and battles, but we have been so twisted that we actually believe our own deceptions. Indeed, our memories can't be trusted - we are feeding each other with our made up dream-like stories. Scott says we are "deceiving and being deceived." 

What can Mr. Scott do when sin is revealed?  There are several (wrong) choices that immediately come to mind: pretend it never happened, say "it's forgiven -  it didn't happen", or accuse the victims of mental instability - unable to accurately remember the abuses that came upon them. 

9. We are accused of hatred and bitterness: Anyone that disagrees with Star Scott or opposes the methods and actions of Calvary Temple is the recipient of the hatred and bitterness label. A little research and you will find that abusive churches practicing shunning and denigrating of its past members will commonly refer to them as bitter.  With a few words, Scott creates a repulsive picture in the congregation's mind of all these angry, hateful and bitter people running around trying to destroy Star Scott and the institution of the church.  


And finally in Star Scott's own words:  "The word of the week is allegations. Facts are stubborn things, they just won't go away... So for most of us here, let's just rest and see what the facts are and when they are dealt with, we will see that God will be glorified and we will go on from there."  

Yes, Mr Scott. Facts are stubborn things, they just won't go away.