This story is absolutely chilling. Look at pastor Tiffanie Irwin. Look at her face! Imagine if that face, filled with Biblical rage, were the last face you ever saw.

As the Guardian reports:

Tiffanie Irwin asked the Leonard family and some others to stay behind for a meeting after an eight-hour Sunday service. Over what he estimated was six or more hours, he said he was pummelled with fists and whipped with a 4-foot (1.2-metre), folded electrical cord on the back and elsewhere, suffering injuries to his torso and genitals.

Authorities said the meeting was called because Lucas Leonard had indicated he wanted to leave the church.

An eight-hour service? Jesus Christ. Irwin is not the only person to be charged—six other people were charged too, including Tiffanie’s mom, Traci. The fatal “spiritual counselling” session occurred at Word of Life Church in Chadwicks, New York. The religious fanatics charged with these crimes have pleaded not guilty.

Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer...