Elder Hargis - A Bad Dude in Church School

Yes, Elder Hargis was a real person.  His name has been changed, as have most of the names in CHURCH SCHOOL BLUES, to protect the guiltier ones. I don't know what became of Elder Hargis after the scandal that removed him from his position at our school.  He wasn't much talked about afterward, probably because no one wanted to buy into a reality where the leaders of church schools couldn't be trusted with children.  The thing that makes scandal and bullying in church school a different topic than when it occurs anywhere else is that church schools make claims of being better, safer, kinder, more righteous places, and Elder Hargis is an indicator that the claims are just that: claims.

The fact is that there are human beings in church schools.  The fact is that you will find sick individuals in church schools just as they are found elsewhere.  CHURCH SCHOOL BLUES isn't anti-church school, although I realize that some may view it so because of the forthright tone of the narrator.  CHURCH SCHOOL BLUES is not written as an exposé.  In fact, I have watered down some of the facts in consideration of persons involved.  It is not written in anger, and if you read the book, I think you will agree that the narrative voice is not angry.

CHURCH SCHOOL BLUES tells the story the best I could tell it without causing more damage today.  I have retained the basic facts that were needed to keep the story's integrity; and that wasn't an easy task.  The story needed to be told, it needed told for years before I was able to tell it.  The reason it needs to be told is that kids in church school who have problems which are denied by the church community are trapped without a way to get help.  Bad things do happen in religious homes and religious schools, and I hope that in the years since I lived BLUES that the religious communities are no longer perpetrating the myth that they are immune to the tragedy of abuse in all its varied forms.