Considering getting involved with Grace Episcopal Alexandria? If so, at some point you will bump into Cynthia Puskar, church member, fake Christian and world-class asshole. She also is the mother of Charles Esten, comedian and country music singer.
During 2022 Easter services at Grace Episcopal Alexandria, I protested outside. I carried a sign calling out the church for trying to drag my late mother, Sigrid Yahner, into court, even though she was dying of COPD. The church did so based on perjuring priest Bob Malm’s lie that Mom’s blog was threatening to him and an act of “domestic terrorism.”
Sigrid Yahner
Sure enough, Cynthia wandered by. Unable to even pretend to be a Christian, given that it had been about 20 minutes since she took communion, she commented:
Such a bunch of trash
That’s an interesting comment for several reasons:
- Cynthia has no first-hand knowledge sufficient to form an opinion. Thus, her comments are based solely on her desire to avoid having anyone shake her escapist faith construct.
- If she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, she would do all involved a favor to keep her mouth shut.
- Being 80 herself, you’d think she would be a little more sensitive to issues involving death and dying.
- How anyone could claim to be a Christian and think that trying to drag a dying woman into court over perjuring priest Bob Malm’s lies is okay is beyond the capacity of any rational actor.
- Cynthia’s conduct is a perfect example of the narcissistic dysfunction of Grace Church. Cynthia’s only concern is protecting her own beliefs and needs, including her escapist little slice of fake paradise aka Grace Church.
- Having an abusive priest as rector or bullying the dying is of no consequence to her.
There are two things you can do to help Cynthia and the other hypocrites of Grace Church understand that abuse is wrong:
- Withhold all support from the church and the school. No donations, no showing up for Easter and Christmas. No enrollments at the school.
- Boycott her son, Charles Esten. There is nothing comedic about bullying a dying woman. Nor is it a “bunch of trash.” Nor should we support any family that thinks abuse is okay. The Puskars are entitled to think that abuse is okay. And we are entitled to withhold all funding.
Speaking of a bunch of trash, the phrase fits Grace Church perfectly. It is nothing but a religious social club, with a friendly veneer concealing toxic riptides.
As to Cynthia herself, let’s just hope that karma doesn’t result in a payback. Otherwise her final days will be every bit as grim as were Mom’s and her suffering profound.
But then, being an asshole is never pretty.
Meanwhile, check out the SNAP press release calling for church and criminal investigations into Bob Malm.