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Church Sues Woman Who Posted Bad Google Review

Posted: May 15, 2012
Church Sues Woman Who Posted Bad Google Review

Beaverton Grace Bible Church

Pastor Chuck O’Neal of the Beaverton Grace Bible Church is suing Julie Anne Smith for $500,000 after she posted a negative review on Google and DEX in which she claimed the church shunned her for no reason. Pastor O’Neal is going after Smith for defamation.

The lawsuit was filed in March and Smith told KATU

“I thought, I’m just going to post a review. We do it with restaurants and hotels and whatnot, and I thought, why not do it with this church?”

Smith goes on to say the pastor instructed the church to shun her:

“If I went to Costco or any place in town, if I ran into somebody, they would turn their heads and walk the other way. All we did was asked questions. We just raised concerns. There’s no sin in that.”

In her review Smith wrote:

“What we had was indoctrination… That is how cult leaders work,” and “Don’t waste your precious lives and relationships being held emotionally/spiritually captive by this so-called church.”

Smith didn’t end her review of the church there, writing that the:

“Beloved pastor knew about a sex offender in the church who had access to the nursery and children on a weekly basis and did not have any safeguards in place.”

While she ended with:

“This is a very destructive and disturbing ‘church.’ … The exra-Biblical legalistic teaching is wrong. The gossip/slander, disclosure of what goes on in private counseling sessions, sex offenders have free reign in childrens’ [sic] areas with no disclosure to parents. … This is not a safe place.”

The lawsuit goes after three other commenters as well as Smith’s daughter and in its 54-page lawsuit Beaverton Grace Bible Church says Julie Anne Smith used words that included “creepy” and “cult” along with “control tactics” and “spiritual abuse.”

Beaverton Grace Bible Church currently has a one and a half star rating on Google.

Category: News
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Posted: May 15, 2012
James Johnson

By James Johnson









Comments


2 Archived Responses to “ Church Sues Woman Who Posted Bad Google Review ”

  1. Royjohan Elliot
    May 16, 2012

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  2. William Choate
    May 17, 2012

    Re: Church suit against parishioner for describing his group as a "cult" on Google. It has
    become a dirty word in the Media. Look up the definition! It could apply to football fans,
    Oprah's followers, or any PAC. But the defense to libel or slander are (1) Truth and.
    (2) intent to do economic damage. Even if she had advocated boycotting the pastor's.
    collection plate, the pastor still has the burden of proving the falsehood, and I would be.
    most interested in seeing by what authority, findings of fact, and conclusions of Law it was.
    established that "cult" is a forbidden or defamatory term. It ought to be more than nebulous.
    reference to the vernacular. The terms "Christian" and "Yankee" were originally coined by.
    their enemies but later accepted by their adherents as bonafide titles. I recall the scene in.
    the original movie "Spartacus" when the Roman captors demanded that their leader identify.
    himself, but before he could rise, his friend Tony Curtis jumped to his feet and yelled,
    "I am Spartacus!", followed by everyone else who also stood and yelled the same. And then
    in the movie the entire vanquished army was crucified, which by slaughter is how they.
    established victory anciently. That is what the battle for freedom is all about, resisting such.
    unlimited atrocities, like the current wanton massacres of the defenseless in Syria for.
    seeking the unalienable human rights we were granted by our Creator, as alluded to in the.
    Declaration of Independence. Today, such intimidation and chilling of rights has more.
    subtle tactics such as repeated arsons, Media attacks and reliance on the victim's financial.
    limitations for resistance. As for me, I am a pleased to be a member of several cults,
    including my HIgh School graduated Class that still meets together monthly after 55 years,
    our own extended family, the Lord's Church, and as an alumnus football fan of my University.
    If anyone wants to accuse me in Google of promoting any cult in which I will not deny.
    membership, I would respond with a whole blog on the subject and invite Q & A, etc.