“Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”–Galatians 4:16
I’m not sure where this image originated, but I found it on the BGBC Defamation Lawsuit Archive on Julie Anne Smith’s blog. I also found it on some Tea Party site, but I am so NOT linking there. 😛
This is for anybody who’s a whistleblower. On Smith’s blog, it was used to illustrate spiritual abuse, and how the congregation can turn on the one who realizes they’re being led astray.
Julie Anne Smith is going through this right now, since her former pastor sued her for defamation (and lost) because of her blog, and she still gets attacked through online comments from her former fellow congregants.
Heck, Chuck O’Neal himself (the former pastor) has even started his own counter-blog from outrage over losing both in court and in public opinion. He and his wife have escalated their campaign to vindicate themselves, taking it to ridiculous levels.
He even used the URL of Julie Anne’s original blog (before she switched from Blogger to WordPress), changing it from blogspot.com to .org, obviously to fool people into finding his blog instead.
I’ve seen the counter-blog, and it convinced me that Julie Anne is telling the truth! He’s so blinded by his own megalomania and abuse that he doesn’t even recognize how it shows through everything he posted! From the above linked archive:
As I have noted elsewhere in this Archive, one wonders if anything would actually have satisfied Mr. O’Neal in his craving and quest for “protecting and defending” his family and his church.
Wherever that urge and urgency comes from, it seems to have driven him to great lengths to refute the alleged lies of his nemeses – Julie Anne Smith and Meaghan Varela – with everything he can.
In addition to his church-related duties, he spent time with press releases and documents and other tasks related to preparing for the lawsuit.
He was already required to pay over $60,000 in the defendants’ court costs and attorneys’ fees, along with his own courts costs and fees for the services of at least three lawyers. But what could have been next – once the lawsuit had been dismissed?
It turns out that he is continuing the battle that he believes he has been called to engage in. His ongoing campaign deeply involves his family and his church in further activities. Some of these have been relatively predictable, while others have been quite unexpected….
According to the O’Neal’s website, Mrs. O’Neal created business cards that label Meaghan Varela and Julie Anne Smith as liars. These cards were designed to be handed out, used in public, perhaps even slipped under car windshield wipers.
The BGBC “Mothers Who Will Not Be Silenced!” campaign also now features magnetic van-vertisements for display on vehicles, with the all-caps slogans: “LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE!” and “I AM A TRUE SURVIVOR” plus the O’Neals’ website address.
From Julie Anne’s blog:
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. (source)
“I will not be silenced”–Hey, that’s what I said! 😉