Mrs. Sexton
“Anti-Catholic group’s exhibit stirs controversy at county fair”
When we were told by the Stark County Fair Board that we were permitted to have a booth, we only had one week to come up with $250 dollars to pay for the booth.
This also gave us less than one month to prepare and no money. When friends heard of our need, the money started coming in and we were able to have 10,000 tracts printed up. By the grace of God, other organizations came to the rescue with tracts on how to get saved.
We started making posters with no real idea on what the finished product would look like. Since we felt that so many Catholics follow the pope blindly, we decided to expose some of the great blunders of their Roman popes. We started with the scripture:
Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
In the very center of the poster, we displayed Rome’s involvement with the Nazis and Hitler. This brought in several Jews to read the display. One Jewish man came down several times and brought his Jewish friends down as well. We wondered if the Jews were tired of the cover-up of the Vatican Ratlines, etc.
Quite a few Catholics asked us what significance it served to bring up these things, after all, the Catholic hierarchy had to do what it had to do to survive. I pointed out that if Rome could not discern the evils of the Nazi party, what assurance do we have they can discern the evils of the antichrist system.
I also pointed out that Rome issued pastoral letters telling their people to join the Nazi party. What guarantee do we have that they will not issue pastoral letters telling their people to take the mark of the beast so they will survive.
Surrounding the Nazi display was images of the Pope kissing the Koran, taking the mark of Shiva on his forehead, moving “Jesus” over to make room for the statue of Buddha to appease the “god-king”, Dalai Lama and their latest confession that all the anti-Semitism can be blamed on the author of the New Testament (God).
We also had a poster of Abraham Lincoln (as pictured above with Rebecca and Everett Sexton) with this quote:
“As long as God gives me a heart to feel, a brain to think, or a hand to execute my will, I devote it against that power which has attempted to use the machinery of the courts to destroy the rights and character of an American citizen.
But there is a thing which is very certain; it is, that if the American people could learn what I know of the fierce hatred of the generality of the priests of Rome against our institutions, our schools, our most sacred rights, and our so dearly bought liberties, they would drive them away, tomorrow, from among us, or would shoot them as traitors…
The history of the last thousand years tells us that wherever the Church of Rome is not a dagger to pierce the bosom of a free nation, she is a stone to her neck, and a ball to her feet, to paralyze her and prevent her advance in the ways of civilization, science, intelligence, happiness, and liberty…I do not pretend to be a prophet. But though not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our horizon.
And that dark cloud is coming from Rome. It is filled with tears of blood. It will rise and increase, till its flanks will be torn by a flash o lightning, followed by a fearful peal of thunder. Then a cyclone such as the world has never seen, will pass over this country, spreading ruin and desolation from north to south.
After it is over, there will be long days of peace and prosperity; for popery, with its Jesuits and merciless Inquisition, will have been forever swept away from our country. Neither I nor you, but our children, will see those things.”
In the above picture, Jenny Tar bell (with her husband, Dean and their son, Kyle) pose before a poster she made called, “America or Rome….Christ or the Pope…WHICH?”
She included quotes showing Rome’s hate for our American liberties and their desire to silence anyone that would dare speak out against them. While some Catholics assured us that their church defends freedom of speech, other Catholics were working on silencing us.
We also had a poster of “Black Collar Crimes”. Here we listed a few of the world-wide crimes that the Roman Catholic hierarchy had been involved in. The pedophile poster became its own poster because we ran out of room on the criminal poster.
The sad part is that we barely touched the subject and already the Catholics were upset…but believe it or not, they were not upset that their priests, bishops and cardinals were criminals of the worse kind. They were upset that we dared to expose it.
We had articles from the Irish Times where they editorialized that the Catholic church “faces the greatest institutional crises in its modern history”, having to pay out $110 million to an estimated 3,000 victims of child molestation and abuse, the problem being so bad that they actually set up a “child-protection office”. In England, twenty-one priests were convicted of child molestation.
Canada has faced devastating sex abuse scandals, where over 2,500 victims of physical and sexual abuse at Catholic boarding schools filed complaints, some even given electroshocks and confined to straitjackets though there was nothing wrong with them.
The order, “Oblates of Mary Immaculate” filed for bankruptcy protection yet never once offered an apology to the victims.
In Australia, 50 priests and brothers were sentenced for the “worst involved sex rings” at four orphanages. In Sydney, Australia, hundreds of orphaned children, many from Britain, suffered public floggings, sadistic torture and sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic nuns.
The brutality took place over 90 years at the Sisters of Mercy orphanage in northern Queensland. The Queensland state government, has apologized for the cruelty, described as some of the worst atrocities that Australia has ever known. The report by Professor Grundy describes a “catalogue of terror”:
“One woman told her that the nuns once thrust a red-hot poker down her back to ‘exorcise the Devil’. Another child almost lost her legs, which became infected after a nun pulled out troublesome ingrown toenails with pliers while other children were forced to hold her down.
Yet another was severely scalded and permanently injured after a leg was thrust into a bucket of boiling water by a nun who thought the water she had been washing in was not hot enough. Boys and girls were routinely violated and sexually abused by priests or men working at the orphanage.
Some girls had miscarriages and fetuses were flushed down lavatories. To hide injuries from visitors, children were locked away in the “black hole” — an underground cell –without bedding, ventilation or light…Madness, ruthless and sadistic madness, on the part of at least some of the nuns, and a depth less depravity on the part of some of the men who inhabited the place, are the defining characteristics of some of those who ran the orphanage…
There’s no limit to the sexual deviance that could be engaged in with those unlucky enough to find themselves singled out as ‘the chosen ones’.”
In the very front of the booth, we had a table with our tracts on it and two posters. One asking what seven presidents had in common, and another one having the Jews on one side and the Muslims on the other side with the pope in the middle saying, “Don’t fight over it boys, it’s already been decided…It’s mine!” Underneath, we had a quote of the intentions of Rome towards Jerusalem.
Here’s a picture of Diane Schoeppner standing in the booth. Notice the “Pope Busters” pin on the left side of Diane’s shirt. On the right side, it says, “JESUS, TRUE LIBERTY”. On the back of the shirt it reads, “Former Catholics For Christ”. We were stopped often as we walked through the fair and asked where we bought our shirts and pins, so they could own one.
Against the wall there was our banner in Old English saying “Former Catholics For Christ”. Underneath it was a huge poster showing Jesus is the Only Way! I’m sure that this sign alone made the Catholics so infuriated that they would have done anything to stop us.
On Monday, Sept.2, a woman walked up to the booth and took some of our tracts. She proceeded to walk into out booth, throw the tracts on the ground and stood on them, blocking the posters.
We asked her to stand outside the booth, as we had spent $250 for the booth. I even advised her to purchase a booth next year and call it “Former Catholics For Christ is a hate group” and to use all the information she had gathered in our booth.
She refused to leave, stating that she had permission from the Stark County Fair Board to picket us. My sister went to the fair board office to find out if this was true. She had lied. They called security, but to our surprise, the security refused to ask her to leave the booth.
They said she was exercising her free speech. Diane explained that the booth was not “free” and that we had purchased the space. We again asked that she be removed to the outside of our booth. The security guards refused.
My husband asked, “Is it okay if I take our Jesus is the Only Way poster and stand in the Catholic booth down the isle.” The security guard threatened my husband with jail if he spoke again.
Finally an officer in full uniform showed up. He argued with the lady for about 10 minutes until the Stark County board showed up and made her leave.
She returned to the sheriff’s booth where she worked (“volunteered”). Many of the booths that witnessed the events came up and offered their support.
Of course, this is all the Stark County Board needed to consider us “trouble”.
The Canton Repository called Diane and interviewed her on the phone. David Lewellen wrote and article misquoting and misrepresenting her. You can imagine the shock on Diane’s face as she read David Lewellen’s article claiming she was the “leader” of our group, although we did laugh a little, knowing Jesus is our leader.
However, we were saddened that we were labeled a “hate-group”. This simply is not true. When David Lewellen asked Diane if she believed the Catholics could be saved, she said, “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” Our booth was about information, not hate.
Sadly, Mr. Lewellen never bothered to interview the many area preachers who stopped in our booth to get all the free tracts, CDs and newsletters, yet he interviewed Joe Torma, professor of theology at Catholic Walsh [Jesuit] University and Monsignor Robert Siffrin, vicar general of the Diocese of Youngstown.
Siffrin said those who are against the doctrines of Catholicism show a “lack of knowledge and simple ignorance. …
It reflects a certain paranoia.” Concerning Former Catholics For Christ, Siffrin said, “I’d be interested to understand more of their journey of faith, what their concerns are. It’s hard to dialogue with people who are anti-something. …
It’s almost a hate-mongering when you attack people unreasonably.” Mr. Torma simply said, “the church today is not the church (the ex-Catholics) are reacting against.” Interesting that Mr. Torma would admit that, especially to a church that claims she “never changes”.
There are two men that we would like to thank for their time and financial support. Bob Wise and Everett Sexton. May the Lord bless them abundantly for all their help. The following pictures are them hard at work!
TWO MEN COMMENT ON THE ARTICLE:
Comment: From the title of your article to the very first words of your first sentence, Mr. Lewellen, and from paragraph to paragraph, your motive in writing about the recently held fair was painfully obvious.
Immediately upon putting “pen to paper”, you describe your subject, Former Catholics for Christ, as being “anti-Catholic”.
This is the “standard operating procedure” they use who have no cogent argument against the charges levied at them or their allies…label the “offenders” as being “anti” something. This is your only and “best defense”.
Exposing, as they do, the history of the Roman church, from her burning of “heretics” to her burning desire to have all the world in subjection to herself, the only “church” in the world to have placed God’s word on her infamous “Index” of forbidden books, Former Catholics for Christ inspire the fear and hate of all who fear and hate the truth.
What is “the truth”, Mr. Lewellen? It is the Bible, the word of God. You might read it sometime, but be warned…you will definitely need to keep your brush and labels handy, as it is the most “anti-Catholic” Book ever written!
Within it’s covers you will nowhere find a “pope” or an “archbishop”. There are no “nuns”, there is no “purgatory” nor is anyone other that God Himself called “Holy Father”.
To think one “anti-Catholic” for sharing the truth of God’s word, is to turn that brush on oneself and apply the label of ANTICHRIST.
Name: Rick Hook
Story: Anti-Catholic group’s exhibit stirs controversy at county fair
Comment: If they didn’t tell lies, then how is it a hate group… since when has speaking the truth become hate, we all know the history of the Catholic Church… or are we to rewrite history because some are ashamed of their past elders actions? Was Hitler and the RCC linked? Well sure they were everyone knows that. Do the Catholics wish most Americans would Americans join their church, and give them their money, name a church that doesn’t? If the truth or a doctrine of organization has in the past done evil things, is it hate to point it out. I guess if I talk of the Taliban and their actions I am a hate monger too? Seeeeshhh If someone doesn’t agree with their churches past…. switch churches or better yet make sure it doesn’t happen again in that one! But don’t go around calling people hateful just because they speak the truth!
Name: King Jehu
Email: [email protected]
Hometown: Texas