A Series of Unfortunate Heidi Decisions

Ok. This one might chap some asses, so buckle up buttercups. 

One of the big frustrations we’ve had with dealing with the Burns’ cult is their insane behavior can never be called out for what it is. It’s dumb, it’s evil, and it hurts our city. But in their circle, in their particular brand of Christianity, you can be the worst possible person, just a horrible wreck of a human being, but you’re forgiven. No matter what.

This is a common theme that we just can’t defeat. I’ll be frank, it’s impossible to convince people that Mark Harris, Mark Robinson, Robert Burns, Michelle Ball, David Dotson, and now Heidi Petterson should NOT be allowed to just forgive themselves. They should be held accountable for their past behavior. And if we try to hold them accountable, if we don’t accept that they have been forgiven, that we should just move on, we’re somehow “anti-Christian”. Which is bullshit.

In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer specifically addresses this loophole and defines it as “Cheap Grace”: 

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring 

repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without

confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is 

grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without 

Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

The opposite of cheap grace would be costly grace which demands a real, life-changing commitment. This small sect of people in Monroe are practicing cheap grace and avoiding acceptance and accountability for their past actions. 

One could also argue that these folks are accepting an idea of antinomianism. This is the belief that faith alone, and not obedience to moral law, is necessary for salvation. We saw this demonstrated clearly with Michelle Ball and her speech to the city council when she claimed that Mayor Burns didn’t answer to the council, only God.

False. 

Not only does he answer to the council, he also answers to law enforcement, the Constitution, and me…one of his many disappointed constituents. 

I bring all of this up to prepare you for what’s coming next from this merry bunch of deceivers. 

It started with an address. Heidi Petterson’s husband filed for divorce and the papers were signed for at an address in Charlotte. An address outside of Monroe…where Heidi is supposed to live in order to run for office. The divorce papers were delivered on 16 Jan, about a month and a half before the primary and even before early voting started. This is what turned us on to the story, the possibility of her living outside the city. We've since learned that's not how residency works and she's free to live in Charlotte and serve on the Monroe City Council as long as she still officially claims the marital house as her residence. But our investigation took us down the rabbit hole and the story started months earlier…

On 28 December, Heidi took her underage son, fled her home, and didn’t tell her husband where she was going. I have a term for this, whether the law calls it this or not…kidnapping. So that’s the first thing she’s going to forgive herself for. According to an affidavit written by Lauren Burns, because of course they’re all in the same circle, Lauren alleges that Heidi fled to protect their youngest son. Heidi told Lauren that their oldest son (19) was sleeping with his girlfriend (OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!!). Additionally the eldest son was SUPPOSEDLY doing drugs and operating a vehicle under the influence. All of this can be read in Lauren Burns' affidavit, because we bring receipts! 

So Heidi flees the house of the ill-repute and her demonic husband because he didn’t overreact to the eldest son’s behavior like she did. Luckily her husband has not been as influenced by the ridiculousness that is the Burns Cult and immediately filed for divorce. In the custody filings, Mr. Petterson alleges abuse from Heidi. Both physical and verbal. This is important so I want to repeat it. Kyle Petterson alleges that Heidi has a horrible temper and claims verbal abuse towards their eldest son and both verbal and physical abuse towards himself. 

In the near future Heidi, surrounded by her fellow cult members, will claim that she’s been forgiven and her husband is not a real Christian. This is the playbook. No remorse. No change in behavior. Just a simple “I’ve been forgiven by a higher power so I no longer owe anyone on earth any apologies” is enough to allow them to carry on without making things right to the people that they’ve wronged.

Cheap grace.

The first part of this blog was written the night before the emergency custody hearing and I’m picking it up here. There was a witness in the courtroom to the shenanigans and we now have Heidi’s affidavit. It will be included in the references at the end of this blog. Before I go any further, my personal opinion on this matter, as demonstrated by people in their circle like Mark Robinson, lying is perfectly ok if it serves a higher purpose. Will Heidi lie if she believes she’s acting with righteousness on her side?

The allegations made by her husband are enough to make a sane person drop out of the race. If not for personal reasons (going through a family separation) then definitely for being unfit to hold office. People with tempers don’t make good representatives, right William Dotson? More on that later. 

Court did not go well for Heidi. Heidi's husband made two damning claims; his wife had absconded with their son for 63 days without notifying him of where they were and that his homeschooled son, when returned, was functioning at a 4th grade level when he was supposed to be in 8th grade. Heidi's husband had to hire a PI to track her down! She even admits that she took their son and left to pressure her husband into counseling and was blind-sided by his desire for a divorce. Anyway, you can read all about it in the document titled "Eyewitness Account" in the drive with all the other documents.

While there were something like 20 affidavits written in Heidi's favor, part of a well organized church machine no doubt, oddly missing are statements from Robert Burns and fellow council candidates Michelle Ball and David Dotson. They're probably waiting for this to all play out before speaking up. It's what they do. Hide.

Under no circumstances will we let Heidi play the victim. If she is dealing with private family stuff, and wants the spotlight off of her, all she has to do is drop out of the race. If she maintains her candidacy she, and her ability to serve, will be carefully observed.. If your behavior towards your family, which is literally what is on trial, can’t stand up to scrutiny from your political opponents, then remove yourself from the election. This is not an ask. This isn’t a demand. But in the coming months, Heidi will claim that she’s been forgiven and ask everyone to give her privacy. 

You want privacy, don’t run for office.

All documents referenced in this blog can be found here.

*As always, special thanks to our friends Jonny Quest and Robert Baty for helping to put all this together. Find Robert on Facebook and follow him as he keeps you updated on the whole syndicate. It takes a village to get these folks out of office, and boy is our village growing!