Only God can judge him- I know his family and you are being very disrespectful.....Only God knows what was going on his life and his family's life....I hate people like you just trying to get a good story with not a lot of facts....

You should really be ashamed! This is a precious family who is going through a terrible tragedy. Vicous folks like you jump at the chance to destroy someone. If you'd done your research or cared, you'd know that Rev. Watts was going through some serious health problems which likely caused him to behave this way. Sad thing is, he was not in his right mind and St. Peter knows this ... you are in your right mind and still are printing smut! Now, tell me who should be afraid to meet their Maker!

Ashland, in Clay County Alabama, rural is putting it lightly more like the movie Deliverance!

Here we go again, The Southern Baptist convention on TCR, "How dare you", You should be ashamed", "he was a good christian Man","tell me who should be afraid to meet their maker" ...blah blah blah...

He was abusive towards his wife, arrested and released, attempted by officers to be served with a protection order , came at Officer Jason Freeman with an axe, cut his hand off. It is as simple as that, no more information needed, and Pete can be as sarcastic as he wants if you don't like it , then don't visit this site!

I am a reporter for alabama 810AM and 100.7 FM. I would appreciate any information about Mr. Watts that anyone can give me. I have heard a report that Mr. Watts sought help from the metal health dept. I can be reached at meroll8993@gmail.com

Pete Kotz said:

Personally, I don't mind the religious stuff, BKB. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs, you know? But yeah, when a pastor beats on his wife and severs a deputy's hand, the rest of us probably aren't the ones deserving of a lecture on Christ.

As yet I see that none of the "christians" have expressed ANY concern for the officer who lost his hand. Typical hypocrisy. That's why my family abandoned the "church". A bunch of nuts. . .

To the reporter, why don't you want to know information about the deputy who had his life change in a matter of seconds? That is the real story!

Im not one to usually side with the stupid cops but sounds like in this case they were right in responding with lethal force. For once the donut munchers are right.

RT
www.complete-privacy.net.tc

"Let's give that deputy a hand."

"That Reverend sure had an axe to grind with the Sherrif's Dept."

God doesn't exist, it's all good.

Kristi, if you hate the people who wrote this article, aren't you missing the entire point of what the "reverend" should have represented? You MUST realize that to someone who doesn't know him, he sounds like a psychopath. Get over yourself.

You said:Only God knows what was going on his life and his family's life....I hate people like you just trying to get a good story with not a lot of facts....

You must be talking about the police officer who was doing his job and is now an Amputee... Certainly, as a sound minded individual you couldnt be suggesting that the fact of a crazy arse preacher cutting off someones hand instead of being a (man of god) is somehow not dealing with Facts!!!

PEOPLE like you have one way of seeing the World... Hell I have never beat my wife or had the police called on me AND I AM A PROUD ATHEIST!!! Dont have to pray for forgiveness because I am in control of my emotions not distorted by years of righteous forgiveness for all indiscretions.... I truly think that is the problem, that Christians go through life forgiven for everything they eventually lose consciousness/accountbaility for there actions...

I for one am glad they killed that sorry mother f'r posing as a "man of god"

OK lets get a grip here.... He attached somebody with an axe, but he is a good man, a man of GOD!

No wait I get it 'The Village Idiots' are out in force again.

Yet another notch in the belt of those who hate organized religion. It bugs me that religion-haters totally ignore the millions of Christians that behave with good Christian values, but throw in our faces as their excuse to not believe those few that do not behave well!

I feel deeply for both families. Their losses cannot be imagined. I have a son with severe mental illnesses, and I can testify that those illnesses can cause people to act in ways they wouldn't normally act. I don't know that's the case here, but if so, let's show respect to everyone involved.

Who cares what issues he had within himself and with "god". He was freakin' crazy! He was beating his wife, and chopped off a guys hand for christ's sake! forget about the religious implications, if any, he's a nutjob!

Are you serious? You bible thumpers are going to stay behind this reverend claiming he had a mental problem that caused this sort of behavior? If this mental problem was anything less of dimentia or schizophrenia, his behavior cannot be thrown away simply because he had a mental problem. The majority of the human race deals with depression, ADD, and other similar issues that cause them to act out in terrible ways. And in those cases, the bible thumpers then claim that they are "going to hell". Now when it's one of the bible thumpers that is the problem, you're going to claim it was beyond his ability to reason with reality?

This man did some terrible acts and though this shouldn't represent the religious community as a whole, it still cannot be dismissed as terrible judgement and an inability to control himself when his reputation was on the line.

Gunka, he actually detached someone with an axe. He attacked a man of the law and cut off his damn hand. And this was after beating his wife. After that, and probably long before, he's no longer a "man of god," priest or not.

Calling him a good man? Are you insane? Imagine if you cut off someone's hand after beating your wife. Would you feel like a real good man then?

Hey, we need to remember that this is all just a part of God's plan. His eternally capricious, violent, uncaring, and malevolent plan. Clearly it's situations like this that prove that the "all powerful" christian god is "all loving".

Cops hand out taserings like candy. Then it's instinct whether to run or fight. Some people fight. Cops apparently no longer have patience to resolve situations peacefully, they just roll in, taser everyone, and let the judge sort it out. This leads to escalations when people defend themselves, which is why cops need to go back to school and learn some negotiation skills instead of using brute force for everything. Like, don't come within swinging range of a guy with an axe just so you can get a shot off with your taser before your coffee gets cold. Words backed with real guns have better range.

Also, more evidence for my other theory, strongly religious people also tend to be crazy... hmm interpolate that.

"It bugs me that religion-haters totally ignore the millions of Christians that behave with good Christian values, but throw in our faces as their excuse to not believe those few that do not behave well!"

it bugs be that when this happens to a non-religious person, we are forced to listen to religious people tell us we need god in our lives and that that stuff wouldnt have happened. Ignoring the millions of us that behave with good civility without god in our lives, ignoring that this stuff DOES HAPPEN even with god in your life.

It's very funny that people are jumping all over the author for insinuating that he might have beat his wife, when it is already abundantly clear that he is batshit insane (what with chopping off a cop's hand with an axe).

A "good" man doesn't lop of the hands of LEOs! A "man of God" doesn't beat his wife! WWJD have done Kristi and LJ??? would he have chopped off the hand of a Officer too? WWJD if he actually existed...would he forgive him? If you buy the fantasy of the Bible he would because that's what the cretins who wrote the "good book" proclaims will happen. But God/Jesus doesn't exist so no "forgiveness will come from them and we don't forgive actions as horrible as this either! I'm shocked (NOT really) that Christians are supporting his heinous, cruel and life changing actions! The dude is dead and his wife is safe, no more Cops will have to try to control his violence...I'm good with that!

"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."

Matthew 5:30

The preacher was in his right mind and following the scripture, he was saving the evil police officer from an eternity of hellfire. Sheesh. Doesn't anyone read the bible anymore?

This preacher was evil and deserved his death.

Anyone can say they are a good christian. They might even run a mega church. But that doesn't mean he isn't snorting meth and having sex with male prostitutes.

Attacking this terrible preacher is not attacking christianity. When will people get this through their heads?

Comments like those seen here from religious fanatics are part of the reason Christianity is being viewed more and more as one of the things wrong with the world. "yeah, he beats his wife and he cut off a guys hand with an ax, but he's a reverend, cut him some slack." Can anyone that makes a statement like this be playing with a full deck?

Ha ha... hell is hot reeeal hot

This man of god was a wife beater and an ax swinging freak. Sick or not sick is not the point. My mother was murdered by a schizo back in 95. We could not get justice because all these bleeding heart Christians believe that because your sick your not responsible for your actions, I say BS. Lucky for the tax payers and the now handless officer, this "poor sick pastor" is now meeting his maker. No one can judge but we can form opinions that is called "news". So you bible suck bags get off line and pray for forgiveness for this "MAN OF GOD". And Nathan, I gotta hand it to you, good stuff.

The reason why people use these types of events to get down on organized religion is because of the hatred for Religious FREE THINKERS who are put down by Organized Religion as Evil for expressing our freedom FROM Religion...

But all of us atheists are EVIL DOERS!!! Not today!

Kristi Mitchell said:
Only God can judge him...I hate people like you...

WOW! Thank you for making a perfect douche of yourself! :D Perfect example of religious hypocrisy.

I myself am a Christian - adamantly and uncompromisingly Bible-believing - and I am truly sorry on behalf of Christians for what the reverend did, and for the people defending him. As a man of God, the reverend is held to a stricter judgment, because he preaches righteousness. What he did was wrong, plain and simple - mental illness or not. You don't "accidentally" beat your wife, and then "accidentally" attempt to kill a man (cutting off his hand), much less a police officer. These weren't isolated incidents - they were the wicked actions of a sinful man, and being a Christian doesn't excuse them, it actually makes it worse.

My heart truly goes out to the police officer who lost his hand. He was doing a job that is just as God pleasing as preaching (Christians, if you don't believe me, see Romans 13). I fully support law enforcement on all levels, because it gives all preachers the freedom to practice religion peacefully. So I thank all of the officers for doing their job.

Also remember that when St. Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, Jesus rebuked Peter and then healed the ear of the servant.

If you are going to defend anyone, defend the victims: the reverend's wife, and the police officer. Don't excuse the actions of a wicked man, regardless of his occupation.

Jesus loves you.

First of all, not a SINGLE person here knows if this pastor has severe mental illnesses or not. It was implied earlier, but may or may not be the case. If so, I can understand how one might act in ways WAY off from normal because my severely mentally ill son does this sometimes.

Second, I personally did not condone his actions at all, pastor or no pastor. What he did was terrible, and many people's lives have been changed. He should have been severely punished, mental illness or not. Death might normally have been too severe a punishment, but it HAD to happen given the circumstances. The police did EXACTLY what they should have done and acted for the safety of everyone involved. I personally, and even being Christian, am not upset that he is dead. I feel very sorry for the officer that lost his hand, and the wife that endured life with her husband.

And Jared, NO ONE is forcing you to listen to Bible-thumpers telling you that you need God in your lives. You can control who you listen to and who you don't. Change the channel, walk away, hang up the phone... do whatever it takes to not hear it. I'm sick of people saying things like this. When the witnesses or mormans come to my door, I don't listen to it. I tell them I'm not interested and I close the door. You don't hear me whining to everyone, "Oh, those mormons FORCED me to listen to all their stuff!"

And Christians who say "with God in your lives nothing bad will happen" are whack-jobs! Of course bad things are going to happen. Just because there's a God doesn't mean the world is not dangerous and crazy. And just because the world is dangerous and crazy, doesn't mean there isn't a God! Come on people. Yet another example of listening to the loudest nutjobs about what religion is, and judging "Bible-thumpers" without bothering to find out the truth.

To those of you that don't believe in God, that's fine. As a Christian, I wish you did, but I'm certainly not going to lecture you about it, just as MOST Christians would not lecture you about it. Stop judging groups of people by listening ONLY to the loudest members. Take the time to find out what these groups are REALLY about before judging them and their members.

Don't offer excuses for the reverend. That's probably the best thing that has happened to the wife in a long time. How do you think the Deputy is going to feel for the rest of his life?

ahhhh panic!! i 4re here!!!! phear me noobs. Heres the truth of the matter...the reverend was insane, whether he was a nice guy or not or had some health issues, he was insane, this is clearly something thats not arguable...another fckin rifle wielding, wife beating, and apparently hand chopping redneck trash.
Kristi Mitchell...wow you are the shining example of the prevalent christian hypocrisy and the reason why christians get a bad name for, well being hypocrites. "Only God can judge him...but i hate all the rest of you cause i can judge you cause i'm christian"
The problem with religion is that once people get into it, they're never able to analyze things from different perspectives, they're always ONLY thinking about from their own specific religious perspective which is absolutely wrong, i mean if you had even a shred of common sense you would know this is wrong because any common sense would also tell you that every situation has multiple sides to it and thus requires analyzing it from all perspectives.
gasp but i called the reverend insane, like i said, whether he had health issues that would affect his mental health or not...doing what he did clearly indicates that he wasnt in the right state of mind and thats no fckin excuse. If someone with down syndrome decides to go kill some reindeer and urinate in their eye sockets(lawl), what are you gonna do? sure hes got mental health issues...is that any excuse? If some fckin axe wielding guy is swinging at you, then yeah you're going to do whatever it takes to protect your life. Religion = LULLZIEZ go get an education you ignorant fcks.

Yes, good people chop off cops hands! That really makes sense. He's a reverend, he is the one that teaches you non-violence and the fact that things should be resolved peacefully. If he was so unstable, he should not have been in a mentoring position to so many kids.

Just also wanted to say I'm not on the cops side at all. I dont like stupid mindless robots which just so happen to include cops, and whoa, christians too, along with every other religion in the world that deems it so necessary to preach their religion on to others. Just a little rant on cops so you guys dont think i'm siding with either side...unfortunately the truth is that most cops are just plain stupid. MOST, not all, most, arent that intelligent at all and go into it because they didnt have the intellectual capacity to pursue a much more lucrative career. Most of them see the law as black or white, they dont care nor are they even capable of attempting to interpret the law. Most of them also have or still continue to abuse their power, the latter being more common. They're just scum that have been given the power to get people to do things or tell them things through fear and threats, whoa i think theres a name for that...terrorism? lawlz

Anti Chriiiiist

"kill some reindeer and urinate in their eye sockets"
wow,really?

got your attention and got the point across didnt it?

heres another annoying thing, people are so easily shocked and offended which approached with something like that(my extreme example) but those are just freaking words, what are the chances you'll ever actually see osmething like that? safe to say 0...but there are millions of people out there that deal with real life horrors every fckin day of their life making mine look like childs play. And before you racists or republicans go on about how you dont care about the people in africa cause you'll probably just naturally assume thats what im referring to, relax cause i'm not talking about just that. I literally mean all over the world including our own country, think of the girl that was kidnapped for 18 years. Grow up people, theres worse shit in the REAL world, not your little suburbian fox news world.

I think we've proven that the reverend acted direct defiance to his religion. Doesn't it follow then, that religion wasn't the issue to blame? Yes the reverend is to blame. But you can only blame religion if the religion itself taught him to act like that.

Also, doesn't it take an open mind to consider a Christian perspective? I'm fine with receiving critique for what I believe. I'm also willing to engage in thoughtful and productive discussion. Shouldn't I be able to expect the same from someone who's non-religious and has an education?

If you have a problem with the religion, point out the areas of the religion itself, citing examples from the teaching where people are taught to do the things you object to. Otherwise, keep and open mind and be willing to practice what you preach - analyze from different perspectives. But don't (in ignorance) blame religion for something that isn't caused by religion.

You know, not all Christians nor Southern Baptist are nuts. I am both and I'm here to tell you I'm not nuts. This guy was abviously nuts or whatever. Whether or not he was ever a "Man of God", is for God to decide. He apparently was not in good relations with Jesus when all this stuff began. Just because someone is a Christian doesn't mean they are not going to screw up. Mind you, he did more than screw up, but juding his eternal wealth is only for God to decide. Its a good thing because I have days when if left up to me, I'd be alone on the planet. The problem is too many times Christians do come off as being really judgemental. Just like ex-smokers. Its easier to hate the ciggerette, than to just not smoke. Anyway, don't let a few wacky apples ruin the whole cart. The guy was crazy, because sane people just don't do that stuff. Probably won't make it to Heaven, but who knows. Its up to the Lord. Hopefully his wife is okay and the poor Cop will regain use of his hand. That's really the tragedy here. This man was doing his job and paid a really big price for it. Let's all pray he recovers and is okay emotionally. I just want to say that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Make up your mind for yourself. Denying Christ because of some hypocrite Christians (which we all arei otherwise we wouldn't need Jesus) is no better than those Christians acting stupid. Make up your own mind, and check everything you hear in Church against Gods written word. Men will lead you down the wrong path. Okay, off my sopebox. God bless the officer and anyone tragically affected by this mans aweful sins.

Kristi Mitchell

You're a moron, f this guy and his family. If he had a history of mental illness, he should get the health treatment he needs and not go around lopping off people's hands. Especially the hands of people who can legally kill you when you swing axes at them.

PS, If it were my hand, i wouldn't be waiting for a magic ghost to pass judgment. Neither god nor other myths have dominion over my justice. (nor should "he" for others)

Is it safe to say that the reverend PROBABLY believed that God would be on his side of all of this and was enough justification to do everything he did? cough george bush iraq cough. If that just so happened to be the case, then in that case would it be safe to say that religion was the cause? IF that were the case...

LOL @ Nathan... Dumbass swung an axe at a cop, I don't care what kind of "family issues" you have. You deserve to die and everything you ever taught or spewed forth should immediately be redacted from public.

It wouldnt be the first time people have done things in "God's" way, i.e. holy crusades, christians and muslims alike waged war and killed countless all in the name of their God. Would it not then be safe to say that religion was the cause of the war and thus religion was the problem?

The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.

Those are both good points about religion. In both cases, (supposing the reverend believed God was on his side) they each exemplify people acting under the banner of religion.

However both examples are a deviation from the teachings of Christianity. Sure they may be religious, but they've contradicted the very teachings they claim to uphold. In fact, Christianity has it's own judgment for Christians built right into it. It specifies that Christians will hold to the tenets of Christianity. If you deviate, you're not a Christian, and thus Christianity isn't responsible for your misbehavior - you are.

Anyone can say "I do this in the name of God". Few people actually do what God tells them to do. So no, religion wasn't the problem. Power hungry people manipulating people's religious conviction was the problem.

The point here isn't what a nice guy he is, can't believe he would beat his wife and chopped off the officers hand by accident. Its called taking responsible for your actions, and actions taken to counter him beating the shit out of his wife. I'm sorry I don't care about his good intentions when he has a weapon in his hand is willing to use it, which he did. I personally would have emptied my entire clip on the ax wielding guy.

I'd like to weigh in with Dan. Preachers can go nuts, be nuts to start with (although that's harder unless his church is independent and he is an accomplished psychopath and not overtly homicidal), get strokes or tumors or degenerative neurological diseases, or have unfortunate drug reactions way that combine with other problems way out at the eight sigma end of the probability curve. They can be possessed by evil sprits or overcome by the devil, too, evidently, although I never was convinced I saw it, being professional and all. LIke seeing a real ghost, it's just too easy.
What they remain is impaired human and in such cases a danger to others, and can be shot, lassoed, tackled, tased, clubbed, or whatever it takes in self defense without violating religious rules or scripture. I'd have done it myself had I'd been there under the circumstances described and had I not been able to figure something else out while facing a sadly crazed man with an ax. Not a lot of time to do the takedown, it appears, and it wasn't Hollywood.
As to the lives changed by his actions it is a crying shame someone had to get hurt, especially that badly. I'll pray for family and for him, and that they all find a way to live with his functional loss and find peace. Don't forget the pastor's family, either. Consider their pain and probable shame. None of this means there is not a God. It does mean most of us don't understand what He's up to all the time,but have faith He sees beyond. The Potentate of Time, one poet said. I respect rational atheists. I wish they could prove their belief at a nano level, but they don't know enough, and depend on their faith.... Just kidding, guys.

some of your religious poeple are so fucking funny. "you don't know what is going on with his life only god does, you dont know all the facts" that is the biggest pile of bs i have ever read.

1) god does not exist
2) this man got what he deserved. it does not matter wtf was going on with his life.

And to your argument that evil is the cause of this. NO. GOD IS BECAUSE HE CREATED EVIL AND ANYONE WHO CREATES EVIL IS EVIL THEMSELVES.

Hey Sean, I'm curious, where did you hear that He created evil? God created all things Good, Satan is the one that came in and tempted everyone, created the evil, and caused sin. In the begining the world was absolutely Perfect. When man fell, when we sinned and ate from the tree of Knowledge, that's when we fell, because of our pride. So, before you bash us, please read the Book and find out more abuot the God that you're bashing. You might find out that this God that we love isn't that bad of a Guy and you might even find out that He is very real.

I'm really shocked that the good religious people out there haven't already lined up their usual suspects of excuses and scape goats.

Example Christian reply(to help you get started):
It's obvious that he looked at porn, which caused his aggressive behavior towards his wife. His quick mental corruption and breakdown would clearly drive him to play violent video games. In such a debilitated state he thought he was protecting his wife from a zombie horde.

What we should do is pass legislation to further restrict these materials. After all if it could happen to a man of god how could the innocent lambs protect themselves.

christianity is an embarrassment to humanity.

it is misguided and so are the followers.

as time goes on, the world will see christians more and more for what they are; CRAZIES

thankfully the religion is fading away

OMFG. What's with all these comments ripping on the author? You guys really favor an axe-wielding psycho? Why because he was a pastor? The man was a monster. If your god is really the god you claim him to be, then that god wouldn't have sided with this guy--so why are you? There is no excuse for chopping anyone's hand off with an axe. I'll bet you guys wouldn't have anything to say to the author if this was just some black guy from the ghetto, but since he was "a man of God" you feel the need to defend him...

Do you have any proof for your claims, sensible?

It is God's will! The Will of our designer, our creater, our LORD,

bless it be upon whom shall never be judged,

Gods Will!

Look at you people. Who gives a shit this guy was a reverend? He's insane is what's important here, and that happens to figures of authority. I mean, every once in a while, some teacher kills one or two people, and nobody says anything about our school system. There's simply no connection.

If you want to discuss religion, why don't you go ahead and evaluate what this 'good reverend' did in his lifetime, not near the end. I'm usually not the type to say this kind of inhumane and horrible thing, but maybe it's a good thing this guy died and the deputy lived.
The reverend cheated and lied to so many people in his life, all the while getting paid for spreading his nonsensical, self-contradictory bullshit. And then there's the deputy, who is getting paid to serve the people. And that black robed bastard had the nerve to cut his hand off?

You people, like the dear Miss Kristi are a bunch of freaking nut cases. But then let me guess, you are a mix of Alabama blood and baptist up bringing. No wonder. Yea, ole God will judge this asshole as the scam he is. But then so are most preachers.

WHAT A BUNCH OF PATHETIC CRAZIES DEFENDING THIS GUY OR GOD BECAUSE YOU FEEL HE WAS THREATENED WITH STORY YOURE ALL FUCKING RETARDED

Well, I could only add a few comments to what has already been posted. The interesting thing to me is that with all the diverseness in this forum, that mostly all of you have very valid points. I am a proud to be a beliver in Jesus Christ. I am not a believer because someone told me I should be. I am because God made himself known to me. He changed my life very dramatically for the better. Even though I make no claims to be perfect, I know a perfect Jesus. Who loved us way before we could ever love him. To all the unbelievers, I take no offence to the harsh words toward Christianity. I understand because I was the same way once before. I can only hope God will prove Himself to you all that he is real. We can never claim to know why all the bad things happen in the world, but they do. I have learned through Gods help to really love and respect everyone for who they are and what they believe, whether or not I agree with them. My heart goes out to the officer and his family as well as the Watts family. I pray God blesses every single person who has posted a comment on here. Many have questioned Gods love, I can only say that He is a God of love if we will accept it. He will not force Himself on anyone. Like I said before, even though not one christian on the face of the earth is or ever will be perfect while here, Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be perfect. Try Him and see! The only thing i would ask is that you would say " God, if you are real please show me" then be patient. He will show you if you will watch. God bless!

HAHAHAHHAHA I freaking LOVE religious fanatics. The comments in this article made my fucking day.

If the facts of the story are right, the police acted completely appropriately.

Really, I don't give a damn what the reverend was going through in his life. Beating your wife is bad. Attacking police for serving a lawful order is very bad. Getting shot for swinging an axe at the police is justice in this case.

The religious fanatics defending the reverend are insane.

I say this christian got what he needed; a good gunshot to the chest for beating his wife and maiming another man.

Damn you people are terrifying. American Taliban in full effect.

brother curtis was a good christian man but because of our economy he lost his job.he couldnt afford his medicine because he was a bad diabetic.if you have never had high sugar u dont know then.this had been going on about two years. his wife was trying to get him help that is why he was going to be arrested to commit him to a mental clinic.brother curtis is in a better place than we are. for anybody that dont believe in god all i can say i will pray for you

i always love a good scandal involving the church!

Beware the false prophet. Pray for protection in the coming evil. This is the beginning of the end.

I am a Christian, and that does not change the facts of this. The guy attacked a police officer and cut his hand off with an axe. He deserve nothing less than the hail of bullets he got - End of story. Religion has nothing to do with this. I don't care who you are. If you attack a police officer with a deadly weapon, you are going to get shot. Why is that so hard to comprehend?

Ok yes we don't know much about his personal and family life, but that DOES NOT justify him beating his wife and chopping a a cops hand off who was just doing his job to provide for family. He shouldn't of been a reverend either if he is mentally troubled.

Madison said:

i always love a good scandal involving the church!

Dang--I had to read the entire blog before I got to the very best comment...lol

Well said Eric. Unfortunately I had to read all the way to your post to see that someone shared a similar perspective.

If you believe in god, this is his way of culling the weak and undesireable from the gene pool. Sometimes people do stupid things that gets them killed, thus removing them from the 'reproductive' gene pool. In this guys case, he unfortunatley probably squeezed off a few f#&! trophies before this happened. Hopefully they're not quite as whacked in the head as daddy.

He was a man of god right? Well maybe he was a gambler too! Roll the dice and take the free ride and see where it gets you.

He's on his way to heaven right now folks! If you hurry maybe you can meet him there...

Darwin Award!

You people make me sick! Good people, who cut off other peoples hands? Good people, who attack and beat their wives? I bet each of you have 4 kids and really don't like the law comming to visit you cause then you have to hide all the bad shit you hide from the rest of the "good people". Wow, hope you folks get the "final reward" you need. It is really gonna suck when you find out that when you die, your dead! PS- Santa isn't real either!

Who ever is talking bad about Curtis Watts needs to get there facts straight before they open there mouth and say something and he was not a bad man and i have known him all my life so shut up he was one of the best men you would have ever meet

The Baptists sure did weigh in heavy and early on this
thread. I have to assume that the fake pastor, reverend,
pontificator was not on meth and did not have a lab
hidden off in the woods, nor do I assume that he never
filed his taxes, I just assume that he will get what
he deserves from the law and also THE LAW.

I think its great that a taser happy cop got his taser hand cut off! ...best part of the story!

I'd say the first two comments are an example of most that is wrong with religion.

I know of this man, and I have always known of him as a good one. He had some problems that apparently led to this incident. Nobody, including you knows what happened to him. I strongly believe there is more to the story and he deserves a fair trial. Just because he is dead, does not mean that you should smear his name. Don't be such a coward, attacting someone that has no defense. Maybe people should mind their own business sometimes and this world could be a better place. Also, I heard the cops shot him 9 times. That sure sounds like trigger happy to me. Maybe they should have left well enough alone and try to help the man. He did try to get help, but the system failed as usual. Instead we are helping known convicted sorry ass child molesters live freely. Those are the ones the cops should be out there harrassing! If you don't know sh*t about someone, it is best to not make assumptions. Make him out to be some ax-murderer, yeah, because that sounds more interesting than the truth. Get a life!

I know of this man, and I have always known of him as a good one. He had some problems that apparently led to this incident. Nobody, including you knows what happened to him. I strongly believe there is more to the story and he deserves a fair trial. Just because he is dead, does not mean that you should smear his name. Don't be such a coward, attacting someone that has no defense. Maybe people should mind their own business sometimes and this world could be a better place. Also, I heard the cops shot him 9 times. That sure sounds like trigger happy to me. Maybe they should have left well enough alone and try to help the man. He did try to get help, but the system failed as usual. Instead we are helping known convicted sorry ass child molesters live freely. Those are the ones the cops should be out there harrassing! If you don't know sh*t about someone, it is best to not make assumptions. Make him out to be some ax-murderer, yeah, because that sounds more interesting than the truth. Get a life!

I think the world was a better place when religion was practiced and lived daily by most Americans. My goodness people, isn't it obvious? Look at what we are living in these days. Also, did anyone bother to find out what the missus might have done. She might not be so innocent either. The man wasn't a known wife-beater either. Matter of fact, I was told he didn't evern beat her, but whipped her over his knee like a child. Maybe he was an old-fashioned shovenist, but not a beater. This man was strong as a horse, and if he had wanted to hurt anyone, he could have done it way before now. None of us knows what goes on behind closed doors, so I cannot defend him on that, but she did not have to live with the man, because I know for a fact that she was not locked up and held hostage or anything. Leave the beaters you dumbasses and quit expecting sympathy. If you put up with it for years, you must like it. Then again, the police won't protect you if you do leave because they are too busy registering sex-offenders that should never breathe air again. Justice.....who even knows it any more!

"I think the world was a better place when religion was practiced and lived daily by most Americans."

As a response to this article...that makes no sense whatsoever. Unless the world would be greatly improved by masses of people with no hands.

Pete Kotz said:

I hate to say it, Truth, but that made me laugh out loud.

I am simply saying the world used to be better when religion was more common. This comment did not have any relation to the hand chopping. You must not have understood that. Sorry if that confused you. I don't even know why you people are bringing religion into this matter. Sure he was a preacher, but that is not what made him do what he did. It wasn't like he was preaching to people to cut off hands, so why are you relating the two, just because it is convenient in this case. Sounds to me like you just want to pound the whole religion thing.

I guess if I went and chopped someone's hand off it would be insignificant because I am not a known religious person. Also, I do not defend the man because of his preaching, I just think that he has alway been known as good and something happened. I would have said the same about any good man whether religious or not. Like I said before, it is just convenient to drag that into this. It is always something getting blown out of proportion these days, just like racism. Some people look for reasons to scream it out, but in truth it goes both ways all the time. Get on with it already. How would you like the public to lable all athiest psychos just because one individual that happened to be one chopped a hand off. That really isn't fair, but it is convenient and it makes a good story and debate. Either way it is ignorant to do that. Boils down to one thing....stop bashing religion and talk about the actual man or case. Leave all the good religious folks out of this one, because I don't think they influenced him to chop off a hand. I also think that he was affected by something else to make him do such an out of character act.

Look at all these stupid xtian fundies defending this deranged priest.
"only god can judge" WHY DO WE HAVE COURTS THEN IDIOTS? This priest is a sick criminal and belongs in jail. Stop acting like your make-believe faith deserves special treatment.

I am sure all those Catholic Priests aren't molesting little boys either. They are making love to them right?

For the idiot who quoted Matthew any idiot can quote scriptures for their own sake. You might want to go back and read the whole scripture and actually read what it does say. Then we can have an actual debate.

I love how religious fanatics are so quick to pick up the bible and say but he was a good man. He is lucky that I wasn't his wife because I wouldn't have needed an order of protection. No police officers would have been hurt because if he hit me I would have shot him myself.

Whatever so called "Mental Issues" he may have we can apply that to everyone. So using your logic Manson, Gacy, Domer, I could keep going are fine upstanding citizens. They just had mental issues.

LMAO. Too funny.

In response to "k" and his perverted view of this story:

First off, let us do what you suggested and "talk about the actual man or case", and now lets compare it to what you think happened. I know you claim to "have always known of him as a good one", even though you later claim a 3rd person relation and said that it didn't matter if you knew him or not, but that you would defend anybody blindly on the basis of this preconceived perception ("just think that he has alway been known as good and something happened. I would have said the same about any good man whether religious or not.")

Lets go back to the call on file 10 days before the incident where:
"according to Clay County Sheriff Jean Alexander. On September 15, 2009, another group of deputies responded to the Watts home on a domestic violence call in which Watts allegedly greeted them with a high-powered rifle. One of the deputies used his taser on Watts in that incident and, with the help of other deputies subdued Watts and took him to jail. He was released a short time later after making bail." (http://blogs.discovery.com/bizarre/2009/10/curtis-watts.html#more)

Sounds like there was more to the issue than him just having "some problems that apparently led to this incident", the man was openly hostile and immediately labeled as a threat to the officers before the second call. The officers of the Speical Response Team just witnessed their partner's hand get chopped off and had already been given permission to use lethal force if necessary. So does that answer the question you had about why the man was "shot 9 times"? (which is probably as reliable as you "knowing the man")

And in response to "Nobody, including you knows what happened to him" and "The man wasn't a known wife-beater either. Matter of fact, I was told he didn't evern beat her"

That sounds about as credible as everything I've read from you this evening, because guess who called the cops to inform them of his wife being abused, HIS WIFE! That's as close to the source as anybody needs to go. By the way, one group of people that know what happened are the cops, who gave detailed reports about the entire incident, but something tells me you haven't really read any reports have you? You just kind of say whatever comes to mind at the time. OH LOOK I BROUGHT EXAMPLES:

"How would you like the public to lable all athiest psychos" - They already do, even when we don't cut a cop's hand off or misspell label or atheists.

"stop bashing religion" and "Leave all the good religious folks out of this one" but while also having said "I guess if I went and chopped someone's hand off it would be insignificant because I am not a known religious person"
-Simultaneously admitting that you have deeply rooted knowledge of how to properly execute an undetectable hand chopping and admitting that you do not participate in the religion that you stand so firmly behind

"If you don't know sh*t about someone, it is best to not make assumptions"
-agreed, now let me get that log out of your eye

"Get a life!"
-posted on the end of both of your DOUBLE POSTS that you clearly sat around and watched for updates from 6p to 9p on a thursday night!

And next time, before you do go spouting off without really, really thinking about what you say, make sure the page doesn't give you the option to DIGG because some of us actually analyze the situation at hand and like to make people like you look stupid, like so.

~Pwned

The preacher DID have a mental problem, guys: he believed in God.

THE MOST HIGH SAYS YOU CAN JUDGE RIGHTEOUSLY AND WAT MR.WATTS DID WAS NOT RIGHTEOUS..HE IS NO DIFFERENT THAN A SINNER BECAUSE HES A PRIEST HE SHOULD NO BETTER FOR HE IS SUPPOSE TO BE A DISCIPLE OF THE LORD OUR GOD...THE MOST WE CAN DO IS PRAY FOR HIM FOR HE IS CONSUMED BY A VERY DANGEROUS DEMON AS WE CAN SEE..SHALOM

That crazy old man should have been shot before he got the chance to injure anyone with that axe

I am a resident of Clay County Alabama and know the family personally that was involved as well of the sheriff's deputys that were involved. For your information the law enforcement in this town is a JOKE. They arrived at the home late at night to serve a warrant that could have been served at a decent hour of the day. Instead being the idiots that they are, they decided that they would surprise someone that obviously had mental disorders in the late night hours. The law enforcement in this area have supposedly gone through numerous training routines for tasers and in one moment they all panic and end shooting this guy 9 times. There is no reason that he would have had to have been shot 9 times. This man wasn't in the best of physical condition. One shot to the leg would have been more than enough to subdue him. This is just to point out that the law enoforcement is responsible for this tragic accident because of the nonprofessional way the whole situation was handled. Mr. Curtis Watts was in the wrong when he was arrested the week before for domestic violence but the author also failed to mention that prior to that even Mr. Watts had informed family members that he needed mental help and didn't receive any assistance. I don't blame Mr. Watts for what happened, it is mostly the law enforcements fault for all that went wrong.

I agree completely with Dsgg! It is a joke. I am not a trained officer of law, but have enough common sense to keep my distance from someone who is supposed to be so dangerous. I hate that he lost his hand, but if he had been behind the police car with a gun at a safe distance (like any dumby would know to do) he would not have been in swinging range. Mr. Watts had a very badly injured leg and would not have been able to run at or from them. Might have made more sense to wait him out and make the arrest safely. No one had to get hurt or die. Trigger happy and inexperienced is not a good mix to have with your policemen.

first off sin is sin and something everybody on this planet does!!!!Dsgg and k you are the only people i saw on this entire post that hit the root of the problem i dont know if ether of you know me but i was in school with curtis carl watts from the first grade and on thru till the timei quit.. he n i were at one time when we were younger closer than most cause he n i had weight issues from childhood so we had lots in comman but he was super smart or smarter than most boys our age from clay county i seen him that way straght A student and me well i had a hyper disorder that wasent even known about back then late sixtysearly 70s i couldnt put my mind on school ..anyhow ANYONE AND I SAY ANYONE that knew curtis carl watts truly knew him LOVED HIM. he was the most jolly laffing grining so glad to see ya person and pray with you anytime if ya needed it or not person i ever had the pleasure to KNOW and theres no dought in my or other people that had the pleasure to TRUELY know him knows without a dought he'' was a man of god'' n i know hes in heaven i aint even worried about that part of his death...no one is perfect on this earth and we all have at some point n time problems big or small we all have them thats all a part of life and god only knows why he called him home like he did but what i cant stand is for all these people that never ever even heard of the watts family or his kinfolk of ashland n lineville and the local areas slandering him like i see so many doing it gets to me hes got some brothers n kinfolk n i will help them in a heartbeat find out who you realy are behind all your godless statements and will start fileing slander suits against all you that dont have a clue what you are even talking about.... i know this could have been avoided and i would think jmo before this is over the law that killed him alone at the ''cabin'' not his house and at night 930 pm and they had a AMBULANCE with them cause of it being ''high risk'' warrent will wish they would have went about this any other way than the way they did ''tumor no tumor crazy no crazy'' hand or any other body part they knowed he needed help from the 15 till he got out the first time could had gotten help while in the jail caged up cant do a lot cuffed n stuffed rite??? curtis carl watts did not deserve to be shot down like a movie star villan 9 shots will kill anyone except 50cent and with the rite training'' 2'' shots in both or heck lets just say ''1'' leg about knee cap high will drop a mad ELEPHANT and with''caution'' would have worked on one of the best freinds i ever had and someone that most of clay county and so many other people will dearly miss .... Dsgg and k THANK YOU FOR BEING TRUTHFUL GOD BLESS YOU ALL..T mac.......... let him RIP n clean up your own life.....

k you are so right when you say that the law enforcement are trigger happy and idiots. That is the best way that they could be described. I pay my tax dollars to help train these fools that are so called in the SWAT force and then they act like they have never had any experience at all. I am almost more angered at the fact that Mr. Watts didn't have the chance to get closer to more than one of them before they shot him.

I agree with you Tmac. That is exactly why i said if you know nothing about a person, you should keep you mouth shut. These idiots that probably aren't even from the same state as Curtis and have never met the man or family have no idea. I have heard so many things implicating how the police handled this was way wrong. If our sherriff Jean Alexander doesn't look into this and get to the real truth, I am pretty sure she won't ever serve another term as sherriff. Either way this turns out, nothing is going to bring Curtis back or put his family back together again. That is the hard part about killing someone....you can't heal it or undo it. I have already heard of so many locals that are crushed knowing he will never walk through the countryside of Clay County ever again. I really hope the ABI gets to the bottom of this and for once around here Justice really does get served, because cops can be killers just like anyone else! My respects to all of the honest ones that come forward and tell what really happened. For those who try to cover this up, I hope you get exactly what any other murderer would and if not may your conscience way heavy on your heart and may God have a clear judgement of you.

you said it my dad is the one that preached his funeral and i sit with my mom 2nd bench and i cryed its a sadness that has hurt me deeply knowing him seeing him slowly change and no one to help him i wouldnt wanna have those images of him in my head the rest of my life knowing i killed one of gods men just sit back n watch n god will take care of it i know i seen him do some things...........

I'm an atheist, so the preacher thing doesn't come into it for me. Scuttlebutt around town, though is that she only took out the warrant on him so that in custody he'd be able to get his medicine as he'd recently lost his insurance. This article is garbage.

Hello Everyone,

The chain of events that took place are unfortunate. The police did what they thought was best at the time and they cannot go back and change it. I image they would if they could. All of your statements good or bad are your on. However until you have walked in a person shoes you might want to consider that you might do worst than any of these people did.

Curtis did ask for mental help and was told to wait until Oct. or Nov the 12th. In my opinion when a man asked for help it needs to be given then and there. By the way he went to more than one place he went to several. Men most of the time do not ask for mental help something like this has to happen before anything will be done to change the way the system works.

Alot of lives have been changed by Curtis death. The person that shot him _ times in the back and _ times in the front will have to live with that for the rest of his life.

Most of you are talking about him being a Preacher well he was also human just like you and I. Yes they are held to a higher standard than the rest of us. However he did ask for help and was told to wait.

Just because you can post your opinions for the world to see does not mean you should. Would you stand in front of his love ones and say these things? What if this was your love one?

The family has asked after the police officer that had his hand removed by Curtis. However it comes down to his privacy being walked all over if they give the family to much information.

Unfortunately, most will not remember all the good Curtis did in his life. They will remember just what happen at the end. What a shame.

The man that shot him will be remember by most the man that shot Rev. Curtis Watts. This to is a shame.