When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.
“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.
“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”
So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.
Christians making America great for pedophiles. They like the flag and the bible better than Gay, black or Muslims. They are getting what they want now that Trump is in charge. This is what they always wanted.
This makes a mockery of HOW god wants to restore Christian values to not just our great country but the world! Xenophobic racist political megalomania is not the way!
Silly Season over 6 years ago
(Repost)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/opinion/sunday/it-was-forced-on-me-child-marriage-in-the-us.html
When she was a scrawny 11-year-old, Sherry Johnson found out one day that she was about to be married to a 20-year-old member of her church who had raped her.
“It was forced on me,” she recalls. She had become pregnant, she says, and child welfare authorities were investigating — so her family and church officials decided the simplest way to avoid a messy criminal case was to organize a wedding.
“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers today, many years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”
So she was. A government clerk in Tampa, Fla., refused to marry an 11-year-old, even though this was legal in the state, so the wedding party went to nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk issued a marriage license. The license (which I’ve examined) lists her birth date, so officials were aware of her age.
Mr. Blawt over 6 years ago
Christians making America great for pedophiles. They like the flag and the bible better than Gay, black or Muslims. They are getting what they want now that Trump is in charge. This is what they always wanted.
Alberta Oil Premium Member over 6 years ago
Alabama tourist pamphlet material..
NeoconMan over 6 years ago
Roy Moore and I like little girls because of that “purity” thing. (And then we destroy it.)
ataylorwolfe333 over 2 years ago
This makes a mockery of HOW god wants to restore Christian values to not just our great country but the world! Xenophobic racist political megalomania is not the way!