A pastor alleges an atheist is beating his girlfriend and gets brutally beaten by said atheist for his white knighting. Well, that’s not the headline that Breitbart is pushing (emphasis mine):
Police Chief Jarrod Campbell said in his eleven years with the department, he's rarely seen "an incident this brutal." Campbell is referring to Sunday's brutal assault on a pastor by a self-described militant atheist with a criminal past. The incident occurred following a sermon by Rev. Norman Hayes, 57, at the Bridge Community Church in North Hampton.
The suspect, 28-year-old James Maxie, of Springfield, Ohio, was attending the service with his girlfriend. According to Rev. Hayes, Maxie was vocally confrontational during the service as if "looking for an argument." After the service the couple approached Hayes. She told police that when Hayes asked if Maxie was abusing her, Maxie attacked him, striking him several times in the face in the church hallway.
Why do I think that the pastor deserves the beating he endured? For one thing, the pastor crossed a line. I don’t care if you’re the pope, you do not ask a man’s significant other if he is beating her, no matter how angry the individual is. Clearly this pastor was stupid enough practice white knighting in an already volatile situation.
What do I mean by white knighting? Put simply, it is when a man goes out of his way to help a woman who is in perceived attack by a monster, usually another man. In other words, the pastor was trying to play himself off as a savior of some kind.
And just in case you have any doubts as to my assertion, Maxie claims Hayes also told Maxie’s girlfriend that she was going to Hell for dating Maxie. So we have a pastor who thinks he is saving some lost soul by insulting her boyfriend.
What really enrages me and makes me more sympathetic to Maxie is what Hayes says in the closing paragraphs of the original article:
"We believe there is hope for everyone," Hayes said, "but we also believe that regardless of that, people need to pay for what they have done, and I hope he has to pay for what he has done. Get put away for a while and not hurt anyone else. In my opinion, the next person won't be as lucky as I was.
Hayes requested a protection order against Maxie, which was granted by Judge Denise Moody. Maxie is being detained in jail in lieu of a $51,000 bond.
"I think he probably was sorry for the situation he was in. I think it is very easy to be sorry in that environment in front of a judge. Hopefully, he will be able to find forgiveness and new hope and some answers for his life."
Paying for he has done would involve paying your medical bills Hayes. And also, last I checked, Jesus commanded us to forgive those who sin against us 77 times. But no, you are differing to God for forgiveness that you are withholding from him.
This coward should not be a pastor. In a just world, he would be defrocked.