Slander in Church?

[macgirl]

What is the name of your state? Mississippi
I am wondering if I have grounds for a slander suit.
I will try to be brief, but it is a little involved.
A few years ago we joined a Baptist church that we believed was kind and caring. After a couple of years we began seeing behavior that we disagreed with for instance a man who wanted to join the church was denied baptism because he was a member of the Masons. There are a couple of people who "run" the church, and they believe the Masons are an "evil" secret society.
He was not the first person persecuted by these "christians" either.
After a while we began to see that the "powers that be" discriminated against women. We also wanted a better learning environment for our children because the church did not believe in Sunday School. Hurt and disillusioned we stopped attending, even though my in-laws still attended. The pastor and the Deacon came to our house some time later asking why we stopped coming and we told them the truth and how we felt about how they treated people who only wanted a loving church and acceptance.
Well, to get to the point, a few Sundays ago the Deacon wanted to petition to remove my family from the church roll. Of course, after hearing about this, I felt like if that is what they needed to do it was fine with me because we did not want to be part of this group anymore anyway.
But, I suppose this man felt like he needed a good reason for the church to "throw us out" especially since there are dozens of other people who have not attended in over 20 years who are still on the roll, so he got up in front of the church and said that he had come to visit us and that I had told him that I did not need the Lord and that God wasn't enough for me. He also said that we were commiting spiritual adultery! I did not have a problem with it until this person personally atttacked my faith, my character, and my family in front of the church. Since then several people including my in-laws have left because of the lies this man told about me. Do I have a slander case being that he spoke these things in a public forum in order to defame my character?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Slander no.

But you and all of the other people who have stopped attending have every right to take out a full page ad in the local paper to tell your side of the story.

Just have an attorney approve the language before publication.

And each and every time you meet this jackass you might ask him how he's doing on that slow ride to hell for lying?

 

[saw192837]

His actions seem protected by the 1st amendment and are therefore not slanderous

 

[dallas702]

No slander case, but I question why you would continue to attend a church where you didn't accept or want to obey their rules and beliefs. Why didn't you just find another church and move on sooner?

The differences in doctrine (and what the late Dr. Walter Martin used to call "majoring in the minors" of theological beliefs) is why there are over 1200 different Christian churches today. It's just like cars or busses: if you don't like something about the one your riding in, get on to another one.

Let 'em kick themselves in the butt until they realize they are only hurting the ones they love.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Spiritual adultery makes baby Jesus cry.

 

[macgirl]

This was my husbands family church. We did not know that much about the root beliefs of the church when we started attending. We just felt like they were nice people. I had had a lot of bad experiences in churches in my past, but we wanted our family to go to a church where the people were caring and we could worship our Lord as we knew we should. I have come to believe in Christianity but NOT CHURCHIANITY because PEOPLE are basically evil and will stab you in the back the first chance they get. I have a strong faith, but due to the evils of people I don't want to expose myself to them anymore. As far as why we stayed as long as we did, we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and we wanted to try to see the point of others. But once we KNEW beyond a doubt that they were wrong, that what they did FELT wrong- We stopped attending. I suppose they were insulted by our disaproval. Also, for " You are Guilty" whoever you are.....any church that can accuse you of so called "spiritual adultery" because you decide not to come back to their church or decide to attend another church are not very christian people anyway. True christians delight in the fact that other christians go to church and love the Lord no matter What or Where they are.....

 

[BelizeBreeze]

This was my husbands family church. We did not know that much about the root beliefs of the church when we started attending. We just felt like they were nice people. I had had a lot of bad experiences in churches in my past, but we wanted our family to go to a church where the people were caring and we could worship our Lord as we knew we should. I have come to believe in Christianity but NOT CHURCHIANITY because PEOPLE are basically evil and will stab you in the back the first chance they get. I have a strong faith, but due to the evils of people I don't want to expose myself to them anymore. As far as why we stayed as long as we did, we wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt and we wanted to try to see the point of others. But once we KNEW beyond a doubt that they were wrong, that what they did FELT wrong- We stopped attending. I suppose they were insulted by our disaproval. Also, for " You are Guilty" whoever you are.....any church that can accuse you of so called "spiritual adultery" because you decide not to come back to their church or decide to attend another church are not very christian people anyway. True christians delight in the fact that other christians go to church and love the Lord no matter What or Where they are.....

Being a christian has nothing to do with attending church. And where the hell are those T-shirts? I'd like to order one