Misty Griffin has an important story to tell, based on her dreadful personal experience. Her story is important especially at this moment when so many politicians are repeating the mantra of “parent rights.” Misty reminds us that children too have rights, and not all parents are trustworthy. Misty wrote her story in a book titled Tears of the Silenced: An Amish True Crime Memoir of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Brutal Betrayal, and Ultimate Survival.
I asked her to write her story for you.
She wrote:
In the United States, freedom of religion has the ability to cancel out every single child safety law/regulation on the books. Children across the nation are cloistered into strict religious communities that either have their own private religious schools or homeschool their children. Most of these groups do not believe in reporting child abuse and stress the importance of severe corporal punishment and view sexual abuse as a moral failing rather than a serious crime. Children in such religions/churches/cults are left with no one in their orbit who will help them out of abusive situations. Many of these children suffer greatly on a daily basis and seem forgotten by regular society.
A bit of my story.
My stepdad was a wanted pedophile who fled the Seattle area in the late 70s after a warrant was put out for his arrest for molesting the neighbor’s 2 small daughters. My mom met him in 1986 when I was 4. My sister and I became isolated and cut off from society. We were sexually abused and severely beaten multiple times a day.
When I was 7 years old, we started dressing in long dresses and scarves. When I was 10 years old we were dressing like the Amish. My mom told everyone we were being homeschooled (in reality we just did sporadic math and reading lessons here and there in case anyone from the state wanted to see schoolwork.) When I was 11 we moved to a remote mountain ranch in northern WA. At 18 yrs old, I tried to escape and was taken to a real Amish community. Three and half years later I fled the Amish community after 6 months of sexual abuse by the bishop.
My entire church knew that the bishop was a sexual predator. They had shunned him for six weeks for molesting his daughter a few years before I landed in the community. I reported the bishop to the police because I was suspicious he was molesting the children. The police drug their feet and told me point blank that they had to be careful not to trample on the religious rights of the Amish community. The bishop ended up escaping to Canada with his whole family and went on to molest almost all of the 11 children. Eleven years later he was finally sent to prison after one of his daughters asked a neighbor for help. They had come back to the United States by that time.
Child Rights Act
I had approximately a third-grade education when I came out into the “world.” It’s so sad that stories like mine are allowed to happen, but my story is not the only one, In recent years I have received thousands of emails from people who grew up in strict religions/cults. We must call out this religious aspect of child abuse because no matter how many laws and regulations we put on the books if this issue is not addressed and children are not given rights, children in strict religions and cults will never be reached.
I am not anti-religion; I am a non-denominational Christian, but religion should not allow anyone to bypass child safety measures. If you agree please sign my Child Rights Act Petition and share it on social media. Religious Rights should not outweigh children’s Human Rights.
Misty Griffin
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I would point out that animals had rights in this country before children did. The first child abuse case was brought by the ASPCA in Chicago on the grounds that because the child is an animal, s/he has rights to be protected against abuse. This country claims to love children. This country is full of _____.
Wow, Ms. Griffin. You are so brave and strong to tell your story like this. Thank you. What you are doing matters.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Just trying to make a difference. This can’t just keep happening.
So impressed by you. And you are absolutely right.
You should turn your story into a book, Ms. Griffin.
It is 🙂 A best seller. It’s called Tears of the Silenced.
OMG! Buying this!!!!
For other readers, here it is:
And silly me, that was in the lead to the story, which I skimmed over!!!
Children are defenseless and have no agency. Their safety must be ensured, and it must be a priority. Unregulated privatized education may unwittingly put children in jeopardy whether they are home schooled, or they attend a religious, voucher or any other private option. Religious groups are not immune to pedophiles and perverts. In an accountable public school, the state requires that any suspected child abuse must be reported. There is no such requirement for unaccountable private options where vulnerable children can fall prey to predators. The human rights of children must take priority over any concerns about religious freedom.
Religious organizations are sanctuaries for these sick people
Thank you for asking Ms. Griffin to write her story.
Her willingness to expose the danger from the right wing public policy and law, whose source is right wing religion, makes an important difference.
Church, mosque, temple, etc. patriarchy is inextricably linked to the loss of women and children’s rights (and, those of LGBTQ). Too few journalists and public influencers are willing to talk about it.
Women who take money from right wing think tanks to promote homeschooling and religious schools are traitors to the cause of human rights. And, the men who do so, in an attempt to protect male dominance, are deplorables.
Tangentially related, the Guardian posted recently about how the investigation into Kavanaugh was steered to exonerate him. The article identifies two lawyers in the story, both Federalist Society members. The power of the Federalist Society is attributed to conservative Catholic, Leonard Leo, father of 9 children. One of the lawyers in the Guardian story co-authored the book, “Under God…. “. His co-author writes about the electoral college, one of which was much-read at the conservative Praeger U. site.
One of the two authors of, “Under God…,” may be an ACTA (American Council of Trustees and Alumni) member. Wikipedia lists ACTA’s funders- the usual wealthy libertarian social Darwinists. The head of ACTA gave testimony in Ohio for the recent Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, an anti-woke bill that Diane posted about.
The Guardian article seems to be telling a story of Yale connections to protect Kavanaugh. The journalists should consider collecting research for the links among conservative religious-driven operatives.
Linda,
I watched “Women Talking” last night. It was nominated for an Academy Award. Wow! The religious oppression of women, the rapes and beatings, and their resistance.
The Guardian article describes Mike Davis, former judiciary committee lead counsel, as instrumental to Kavanaugh’s exoneration. At Catholic Vote, Davis was quoted in 2021 as describing a court decision in Vermont that aided Catholic school students,” a big victory.” Davis also said, “President. Trump transformed the 5-4 Roberts Court to the 5-4 Clarence Thomas Court and he flipped the NY-based 2nd circuit…”
If Americans want to know what is happening to their democracy, they should read the info. at Catholic Vote.
Davis is profiled at the Federalist Society. He is dedicated to opposing cancel culture and fighting back against the “woke mob.”
He leads the Article III project and Unsilenced Majority.
“. . . whose source is right wing religion. . . .”
It’s not just the “right wing religion”. It’s all religious faith belief organizations. Faith beliefs are the reason so many believe so many other absurdities, including political faith beliefs. And when one questions such beliefs, well historically speaking the outcomes for the “heretic” are less than desirable, i.e., many times death by the faith believers.
Good thing I have the FSM living in Russell’s Teapot to protect me from those faith believers.
Exactly. I challenge the readers of this blog to disprove the existence of Russell’s teapot! Blessed are the pasta and the puttanesca!
–Bob Shepherd, Executive Director/Enlightened Master, Omnitheist NaBobs of the American Nation (ONAN). We believe in all the gods. You name it; we’ll believe in it.
As long as women take themselves and their children to be among right wing religious sects the outcomes will be bad.
They will be used politically by organizations like the USCCB and state Catholic Conferences. And, the cause of the GOP will be advanced.
This is an extreme story, and we should all thank Md Griffin for telling it. Must be a tough thing to say. But there is more. So many people who love their children are doing them a disservice, often using dubious religious ethics as a prop.
“often using dubious religious ethics as a prop.”
What does one consider to be “dubious religious ethics”? And how does one distinguish between dubious and legitimate?
I use dubious religious ethics to describe any religionists who attribute whatever they desire to supernatural forces. God seems to tell people to make hideous sums of money, beat their children, and all manner of things.
So a dubious religious ethic is one wherein someone claims their god’s support for their desires?
How would one know such a thing? Or is that the problem, that being there is no way of knowing such a thing what makes the claim valid versus other claims other than a faith belief?
Duane,
To re-enforce your contempt for religion, watch “Women Talking.”
I tried renting it and google couldn’t verify my account. As with too many of these services they have to have a phone # with texting capabilities. I do not have that as where I live I can’t get cell service so I have a land line and the internet.
Sounds like an interesting movie.
The film “Women Talking” is about the women in a religious cult, who are regularly beaten and raped. The boys are educated but not the girls. They are slaves. Maltreated and kept illiterate. The men go away for couple of days for some reason and the women meet to decide whether to stay or leave. I won’t tell you the ending.
I read about it a little. Sounds like a compelling storyline that was well articulated in the movie.
I tried renting it and google couldn’t verify my account. As with too many of these services they have to have a phone # with texting capabilities. I do not have that as where I live I can’t get cell service so I have a land line and the internet.
Sounds like an interesting movie. At the same time I need no reinforcement. Being subjected to 12 years of Catholic education had me convinced by the time I was out of high school that it-the god stuff was all bs.
Anyone can be a parent, even someone like Traitor Trump.
To get a driver’s license, we have to take a written test, a driving test and pass both. If an immigrant to the United States wants to become a citizen, they have to take a test and pass it.
There is no test and no mandatory classes to learn how to become a parent, none.
It’s easier to become a parent everywhere on the planet than buying a firearm in a RED U.S. states. Buying a firearm means you have to have money or risk getting shot stealing one.
You don’t have to have money, an education, or a job to become a parent.
“You don’t have to have money, an education, or a job to become a parent.”
In high school in ’72 or so I was walking down the hall with our guidance counselor and hockey coach. All of a sudden he asked “What is the one job that no one has training for?”
Yep, the answer: being a parent.
Thank you for sharing, Misty. So few speak out, making public statements like this is quite valuable.
YES!!! Agreed!!!!
Yes, we are conditioned to keep quiet about it even as adults for some reason. The only way to change things is to put a flood lamp on the issue.
The right wing power brokers and their religion- just as Jefferson warned-
National Review’s Mark Paoletta, Georgetown Law grad and former Trump appointed general counsel for the OMB, wrote a defense of Thomas’ receipt of gifts from Crow. Paoletta is in the news for allegedly being on the same Crow-Thomas vacations while omitting that info from his posted, contrived justification.
What a sweet little circle of graft
There should be consequences.
Bar none, one of your most important postings ever.
Agreed!!!
I have read your piece over several times, Ms. Giffin. It is so incredibly moving! Thank you, on behalf of other survivors, for having the courage to tell you cautionary tale. So, so important.
your cautionary tale
This cultural phenomenon will hopefully, one day, be divorced from the religious context to reveal how widespread it is in our society. It is easy to single out those in religious positions who perpetrate incest. [I use the term in its wider definition as those with social/ community power who use their position to sexually prey upon the young.] Their hypocrisy is all too clear, and easily shamed by society.
Incest is the right term for those who use a position of social power to sexually prey upon minors. By far the most common incestors are parents, step-parents, older brothers/ uncles et al relatives [including some women predators—not to mention all the mothers who don’t register/ deny]. Right behind them: anyone in a position to be alone with and exert power over the young: not just priests/ ministers, but coaches, camp counselors, teachers, dentists, doctors et al health professionals.
I delved into this nether territory for a number of years via internet support groups, when my mother, as well as another relative, let the family know they had been victims of this lifelong crushing of childhood innocence, right in the bosom of our close-knit clan. That hit hard. Those most practical/ in tune with personalities of perpetrators got that 4 =’d 2 +2; others clung to childhood nostalgia & refused to believe, which meant we lost touch with some. Many families fare much worse.
One of the first things I learned from the online community: “the only thing taboo about incest is talking about it.”
Not meaning to undermine this post’s narrative, which illustrates ground zero for breeding incest. Poster makes a strong case against “religious freedom” waivers allowing public funds to support religious schools—which sweeps such horror scenes as she suffered right in with all the anodyne little low-performing voucher schools we usually talk about here.
Ginny,
Sorry to say that current SCOTUS will not hear Misty’s story.