Thursday, February 19, 2009

Toledo's Bible Reading Kidnapper

I saw this bizarre story on the Alan Colmes' Liberaland site.

Here's the story from the Toledo Blade.
A 34-year-old man accused of holding a woman captive in his West Toledo apartment for three days and reading Bible passages to her will be arraigned Tuesday in Toledo Municipal Court.

Troy Brisport of 4127 Secor Rd., Apt. 105 was charged with kidnapping and felonious assault, police said. He was being held without bond Monday night in the Lucas County jail.


The victim's name is Shykea Boykin, 22 years old. The story goes that Brisport picked her up in Detroit, she had no place to go, fell asleep in his car and ended up in his Toledo apartment. There's got to be more to it, but even as it is, the story contains some of our favorite elements, bible reading and Toledo Ohio. The only things missing are the gun and a concealed carry permit.

What do you think about this guy? Is he just like the fundie folks we know and love but just a little bit further along the spectrum? Or is this simply an extension of that preachy approach some fundamentalists seem to have little control over.

Or is it Toledo?

Please feel free to leave a comment.


27 comments:

  1. What do you think about this guy? Is he just like the fundie folks we know and love but just a little bit further along the spectrum?

    basically, yeah. i can think of several good ways to "justify" what he did based on the premises of belief; there are easy and obvious ways he could have told himself he was doing it for her own good, and backed that thinking up with babb- that is to say, bible verses.

    Or is it Toledo?

    well, between Toledo and Detroit...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I missed the story in The Blade. Kidnapped for Bible-reading! is that 'normal' you ask? Well, Mike, our normal and their normal begin at different points along the spectrum.

    Or is it Toledo? Not at all. That band of Toledo fundy-loonies is only a small knot of the population. Toledo is a main-line church town, especially strong in the Catholic expression.

    No, those fundy-loonies are an aberration here.

    And do I think prostitution was the root of this- you betcha!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Personally I blame the availability of Bibles.

    Most hotels leave the unsecured in bedstand drawers, and sometimes people come to my house to give me copies, WITH NO BACKGROUND CHECK!!!111!!!

    SOMTHING MUST BE DONE!!1111!!

    BTW if he had parrental permission you could just call it "Sunday School"!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike,

    Your bias is showing again. Here is a person obviously suffering from some mental illness and not one question about it?

    Not one excuse for him....is it because he read the Bible to her? If he would have read the TV Guide, wouldn't you be trying to make excuses for him?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mike, I reviewed that blog and noticed a story about the Truth Commission on the actions of the Bush administration. Again, I was disappointed of no mention of the term imperial presidency and the 487 page report the House Judiciary Committee issued in January on that very subject.
    Il Grande Principe tells the whole story. Stick with the best!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. So the guy broke the law and will pay for it. Ok. End of story.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cheez-o-pizza...I think it is definitely the Black Swamp Rays that emanate from the UFO that crashed out near Swanton, years ago...
    Nothing in Toledo has been quite right since then.

    I took a few days off to go to Toulouse for a mini vacation...
    What a great city!

    Great food, but not very vegetarian oriented. (We took our nephew, who is.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad Weer'd's got his laughing cap on and that none of our Toledo friends were offended.

    It is a fascinating image though, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Come on Mike,

    Where are your cries of victimhood for this "fundie"?

    Where are your wonderings if he could have been abused as a child?

    Where are the queries about how mental illness went untreated could be a factor?

    Where are your questions about whether or not prison is the place for this guy to get help?


    This crime is minor compared to some of the murders you've treated differently. And what is the difference this time....could it be that he is "religious" ?

    ReplyDelete
  10. So he assaulted her? Was that with the Bible or something else? Obviously the fellow has a moral/spiritual/mental problem if he tries to "minister" to her and assault her also. But to provide lodging with Biblical counsel for a homeless person who falls asleep in your car? It perceived as foolhardy and risky for a woman to pick up such a man--but for a single man to pick up such a woman is a temptation to that man and he evidently yielded to temptation if he took her to his place and assaulted her --sexually I assume? A mature Christian would have taken her to a mission for women if she were willing to find shelter.

    Yes, some of us are perceived as over-zealous in our effort to save souls. But better to be hot or cold, than lukewarm, the Lord said. But of course, zeal does not include assault!!! or holding people against their will.

    As for Mudrake's description of toledoans --from where I sit, the evangelical community is alive and well--and a lot better off spiritually than the Catholic community that may be nominally larger (I'm not sure of that anymore) but spiritually mixed up in that they vote Union politics with Abortion. (Unions have so many egregious character flaws with their protection of slackers and those who deceitfully make work by breaking things in order to have a job --certain davis besse repairs an example--and their reputation for thuggery --which is why new manufacture avoids Toledo in favor of the south where unions aren't so plentiful.)

    I think at least half the people on my street are evangelicals. Many Catholics are evangelicals in their beliefs, Bible-believing and holiness-pursuing --but many are baptized Catholic and otherwise not devout in their beliefs and/or lifestyle --but still identify as Catholics. Take Mudrake, he doesn't embrace catholic or Biblical teaching, but still identifies as Catholic when it comes to church affiliation, funerals, baptizing and schooling his children, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So he assaulted her?

    he held her captive against her wishes for three days. that's basically impossible to do (to anyone who isn't a quadriplegic, anyway) without committing assault at the very least.

    try to think about it, for once. how do you prevent an adult who wants to leave your apartment from doing so, without at least threatening violence, if not outright doing violence? that's assault.

    ReplyDelete
  12. She really tried to walk out in the cold, eh, with nowhere to go --or so it seemed in the story.

    Whatever kind of assault it was, the fellow was not dealing with a full deck if he did indeed keep her captive as the story says --with assault.

    I'm not defending the guy just because he used the bible on her.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bob said, "Your bias is showing again. Here is a person obviously suffering from some mental illness and not one question about it?"

    "This crime is minor compared to some of the murders you've treated differently. And what is the difference this time....could it be that he is "religious" ?"


    I don't know what's gotten into you lately, your really getting carried away with your criticism of me. Why don't you take a couple steps backwards and we can get back to civil sharing and perhaps enjoy each other's differences again.

    This post was a simple joke, aimed mainly at Mud_Rake and the other Toledo blog-friends. You seemed to try to focus on some discovered hypocrisy or inconsistency in my posting, taking it way too seriously.

    Of course the guy has mental problems, and you know very well how I feel about that and stiff prison sentences.

    What the hell is your point Bob, that you've finally found me out to be the phoney that you always knew I was? Lighten up, will ya?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mike,

    You remind me of the kids that say very mean and insulting things but when called on the carpet by the adults say "I was only joking".

    Is he just like the fundie folks we know and love but just a little bit further along the spectrum?

    Yep, that is really joking, really light hearted to people with religious beliefs.

    You insult me and imply that all of the "fundamentalists" are on the crazy side and not expect me to call you on it?

    You want respect on your blog, shouldn't you give your guest, the majority of the American population the same respect?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Really, Bob, Mike is one of the most welcoming of the left-leaners in blog-land. He at least welcomes diversity of opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Barb,

    I agree, but just because he welcomes diversity does not mean he respects it.

    I'm just getting a little tired of being insulted as a gun owner, as a
    Christian. Just because he has a right to say things doesn't mean he shouldn't be called on his behavior.


    When his bias insults people, I think people should let him know they were insulted. That is all. I am not telling him to stop, just making it known.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Say, bob s --you aren't from st.Louis are you? I knew a great Bob S. there.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Barb,

    Nope, I'm in the Dallas area.

    I was born outside of East St. Louis 4 decades ago at the air base there but that is my only connection.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Is he just like the fundie folks we know and love but just a little bit further along the spectrum?

    Yep, that is really joking, really light hearted to people with religious beliefs.


    That wasn't the joking part, the reference to Toledo was. Are you trying to make this difficult? Are you trying to exaggerate your sensitivity in order to make it difficult? I get the impression Barb is a bigger "fundie" than you are, but she's not all hurt and offended.

    To ask about the spectrum need not be insulting to you who are in a "normal" range on that spectrum. The perpetrator in this case was practically off the scale. We can discuss what normal is if you like, but not if you keep calling foul.

    I went to Catholic Mass myself yesterday, I hope Nomen doesn't ridicule me for that, but if he does, I don't think I'll feel the need to "call him on it" unless it's really over the top.

    Weer'd compared me to Hitler for crying out loud and you said you agreed with him. But my talking about the "fundie" spectrum is insulting. Get a grip, Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mike,


    To ask about the spectrum need not be insulting to you who are in a "normal" range on that spectrum. The perpetrator in this case was practically off the scale. We can discuss what normal is if you like, but not if you keep calling foul.

    You keep calling foul when I compare you and everyone else to drunk drivers, to child molesters, to people who produce child porn. You say it is an invalid comparison. Isn't this the same?

    I'll lighten up Mike, but will still ask you to examine your bias when it appears. Isn't that fair?

    Plato said "An unexamined life isn't worth living". How much of your thinking comes from bias that you aren't even aware of.

    You call this guy a "fundie" but in worse criminal cases you ask about mental issue. Why the difference?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Let's remember --"fundie" has not become embarrassing to Christians until the last half century--it was a valid distinction between orthodox bible believers and liberal "modernists" at one time --at least in protestant christendom.
    They believed in certain"fundamentals" of the faith.

    Now it is associated with haters and killers.

    Anyone who opposes Mike's favorite liberal cause, homosexual rights and marriage?, is a "fundie" --and thus a bigot/hater by today's use of the word.

    Of course, Harvey Milk film had to win something --because it is gay propaganda and Hollywood's latest cause celebre.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I went to Catholic Mass myself yesterday, I hope Nomen doesn't ridicule me for that,

    as long as you keep it to yourself, i'm happy to let you waste your time on whatever pointless delusions you may wish.

    religion only becomes a big deal to me when believers start to push their delusions onto others, really. unfortunately, that's a depressingly large part of the time.

    for instance, i read over at Ed's blog that there's a court case going on (just decided?) in Italy right now, which if it happened in the USA would likely be a classic first amendment separation clause case. i bet you can guess which side of it i come down on --- courts should definitely be secular institutions --- but that's speaking from half a planet away. you're closer to it; care to comment?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Of course, Harvey Milk film had to win something --because it is gay propaganda

    i haven't got around to seeing Milk yet, but i see now that i must. barb whining about it is a fairly good guarantee that it is (1) probably a good movie, and (2) definitely not propaganda.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Barb said, "Anyone who opposes Mike's favorite liberal cause, homosexual rights and marriage?, is a "fundie" --and thus a bigot/hater by today's use of the word."

    Now Barb, everyone here knows homosexual rights is not my favorite cause, it's my second favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Nomen, I read that fascinating story in Ed's Blog. Of course I agree putting a judge in jail for that is unbelievable, especially here where they are notoriously soft on criminals. But, it brings up a great issue, the removal of crosses from the court rooms just like the removal of "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, are hard things to find fault with, at least for me. But when you atheists then demand that references to God be removed from buildings and from the money, I wonder if you're taking it too far. Isn't some of this stuff more traditional symbolism rather than religious in nature? I'm all for the separation of Church and State, but I'm also fine with "In God We Trust" on the money, and I think someone who opposes that is a little hyper-sensitive. The Jewish judge in Ed's story might be like that.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I agree with you Bob, that it's ok to call people on what we perceive to be their behavior --when all bloggers probably claim to be nice, polite people, non-judgmental and all --some of them, not so much Mike as others we've all seen, are just plain nasty folks when it comes to those who disagree with them. I've run into nasty people on the Right, too, but I surely deny being one of them!!!

    ReplyDelete