This is not a new story. But it is a continuing saga that is worth remembering and discussing.

In July of 2002, Joshua and Caleb Thompson (sons of the late pastor Hank Thompson) were working at the Capitol City Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas when they decided that an 11-year-old boy who had had read the wrong Bible verses needed to be punished. So while Caleb held the boy down, Joshua beat him until his kidneys failed. Doctors later confirmed that during the hour-long punishment the boy had been hit at least 100 times. He was so injured that he spent a week in intensive care and needed a blood transfusion.

As a defense, the pair later claimed that the injuries had been previously created by an abusive step-father and that the boy’s mother had given them permission to paddle him. The jury evidently didn’t buy it because both Joshua and Caleb were convicted in a court of law. Joshua received a 24 year sentence. His brother received a mere 14.

Now each felon has written a book. And they’re marketed on a website called Remember My Bonds. Yes. You read that right. These two fundamentalist child abusers have the gall to compare their plight in prison to that of the imprisonment of the Apostle Paul. Nowhere on the site to they apologize or indicate that they are all sorry for what they had done in beating a child. In fact, their crimes aren’t mentioned at all. Evidently, they’re just suffering for Jesus.

But it gets better. Both Dr. Raymond Barber and Dr. Bob Jones III have apparently written endorsements for these books and these men.

It boggles the mind.

For more you can also view the video of the incarcerated men’s mother putting her own spin on the story as well as a local atheist activist recounting some of the details from the other side of the story. And then if you REALLY want to lose your lunch you can read the racist rantings featured on the website of Johnny The Baptist.