Backpaker's article on hiker "Saved"

[Vapour]

I find it ironic that this religious fanatic dangles the enticement of a hot shower/meal to hikers in a way that some may find to be less than straightforward. Then a hiker takes him up on it, eats, drinks, accepts the 50 bucks and cruises out, and now the religious guy feels hurt because the hiker was less than straightforward with him.

Quotes from the Washpost article:

"...hikers are welcome to use an outdoor, rustic, but with privacy, hot/cold SHOWER. It's bait, truth be told. Nicholls is an evangelical Christian, and he uses the promise of running water and a hot meal as an opening to proselytize about "the new, fantastic water, which is life in Christ."...Nicholls started talking about redemption. ...at the end of the night...Nicholls offered this suggestion: Why not spend the night praying?"

I'd be pretty fed up with the jesusbot myself by then. Spend the night praying? I'd be like "Dude, I gotta get some sleep".

Then:

"...the hiker said, his first thought was not of some divine religious calling but rather, "Oh, that's probably some sucker Christian guy." ...before the formerly famished hiker headed out on the trail again, Nicholls gave him a stock of food, a $50 bill and a new trail name."

"Some sucker Christian guy"...ya think? Hell, if some looneytunes lured me to his cabin on the promise of a shower and a snack, then kept me up all night with this jesusbabble, I'd take the $50 too. And head directly to the Motel 6 and spend it on a good night's sleep.

And finally:

"...Of all the people involved in Saved's story, nobody has had a harder time figuring him out than Dan Nicholls. ...ater Lescoe was captured, Nicholls sent a letter to him jail.... Nicholls asked "Did you really receive Christ as your Saviour at my place?" ... waited more than three months for a reply. He got none. Then, in June, he re-sent the letter to Lescoe. This time he attached a $25 money order. The money got Lescoe's attention. He wrote back, citing a verse in the King James Bible that Nicholls had given him, Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.""

Now that's funny.

[SteveJ]

I find it ironic that this religious fanatic dangles the enticement of a hot shower/meal to hikers in a way that some may find to be less than straightforward. Then a hiker takes him up on it, eats, drinks, accepts the 50 bucks and cruises out, and now the religious guy feels hurt because the hiker was less than straightforward with him.

you're pretty loose with the word 'fanatic' there, buddy.... so sharing a hot shower, and leaving tracts around is your idea of fanaticism? my idea of fanaticism is more like:

http://tinyurl.com/24q4pb

but I guess I'm also a fanatic in your eyes....jeez...

[norub]

you're pretty loose with the word 'fanatic' there, buddy.... so sharing a hot shower, and leaving tracts around is your idea of fanaticism? my idea of fanaticism is more like:

http://tinyurl.com/24q4pb

but I guess I'm also a fanatic in your eyes....jeez...

I don't click on tinyurls, so no idea what your link is all about.

Anyhoo, if you trick/lure/entice someone, for the sole purpose of shoving your religion down their throat, then yep, in my book you're a religious fanatic. {shrug} Deal with it.

[SteveJ]

I don't click on tinyurls, so no idea what your link is all about.

Anyhoo, if you trick/lure/entice someone, for the sole purpose of shoving your religion down their throat, then yep, in my book you're a religious fanatic. {shrug} Deal with it.

so, if you ever hike the AT, you will obviously avoid the several church hostels and religious groups that provide meals, right? If I'm not mistaken, all of them will be very willing to talk with a hiker that admits to them that they're depressed and considering suicide - but that's your definition of fanatic, right?

the link was to a story about a fanatic bomber who managed to kill 4 Israeli's in a homicide bombing:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...7GGLR%26sa%3DN

wasn't sure if the long url would post... surely you admit this was a 'fanatic?' if so, you are equating this terrorist with Dan Nichols?! IMHO, a very loose use of the term....

[rafe]

Whoa, guys... I don't quite understand the hostility toward Dan Nicholls. As others have pointed out, there are lots of church-sponsored hostels along the AT, and I don't think I've been hypocritical staying at a few of them. None of them tried in any way to proselytize me -- they were way too cool for that. Had they done so, I'd have shrugged it off, or maybe moved on. No big deal. I did find it slightly ironic that the WP article started off with a sub-story about Nicholls hosting and befriending Lescoe. That's all.

[SteveJ]

Whoa, guys... I don't quite understand the hostility toward Dan Nicholls. As others have pointed out, there are lots of church-sponsored hostels along the AT, and I don't think I've been hypocritical staying at a few of them. None of them tried in any way to proselytize me -- they were way too cool for that. Had they done so, I'd have shrugged it off, or maybe moved on. No big deal. I did find it slightly ironic that the WP article started off with a sub-story about Nicholls hosting and befriending Lescoe. That's all.

thanks, terrapin_too - was hoping someone would jump in that had actually been on the AT and met some of these folks. I was bothered a lot by the hostility you point out....from what I've read, Dan seems to be a decent guy that doesn't deserve most of what's been served up here today....

[moxie]

The AT does attract alot of strange people, some stranger and more different than others. I think it is a safe bet that 100% of the people that thru hike are strange or different, present company included. It's just this guy was strange and evel. There are many moochers, born agains and even thiefs but this guy had the worse qualities of all of them.

[norub]

Not hostility. Just...amusement.

[Smile]

IMHO anybody whether a moonie, hari krishna or whatever that offers a hot shower is providing a service - take it or leave it. If you don't want to be proseltized to, then leave - no different than walking away from any conversation you're not interested in. Hey, but ya got a shower.

I guess now that this is out in the public, those who don't want to deal with the guy shoving his beliefs at people will pass on the offer!


Reminds me of those calls about "free" vacations if you sit and listen to the schpeel about a timeshare, you can just listen and take advantage of the free stuff, or just don't listen and head out!

[norub]

IMHO anybody whether a moonie, hari krishna or whatever that offers a hot shower is providing a service - take it or leave it. If you don't want to be proseltized to, then leave - no different than walking away from any conversation you're not interested in. Hey, but ya got a shower.

I guess now that this is out in the public, those who don't want to deal with the guy shoving his beliefs at people will pass on the offer!


Reminds me of those calls about "free" vacations if you sit and listen to the schpeel about a timeshare, you can just listen and take advantage of the free stuff, or just don't listen and head out!

Agreed. And also w/vapor, this Dan character is not a victim in this story. More like comic relief.

[Brrrb Oregon]

Too bad ALL people who act like this (hikers/christians or otherwise) aren't treated with the same publicity so they can be weeded out!

Would he have gotten the same publicity if he were a Muslim? Or Jewish? Or Wiccan?

We are too lenient on criminals these days IMHO.

Glad he got caught.

I think anybody who used their religious affiliation to create a false sense of trust would get the same response. It's right up there with lying to your grandma and ripping off girl scouts; i.e., the immediate response is "what kind of person would...."

I would highly recommend the book, "The Sociopath Next Door." As many as 1 in 25 of Americans are sociopathic; that is, they are manipulative people who do not have a conscience....and interestingly enough, appear not to believe that consciences really exist. Most of them do NOT wind up with a criminal record. Some of them are charming, some are just plain weird, but all of them work out of a totally different playbook than the standards that people with a conscience take as a matter of course. They do not make emotional connections with other people, although the socially clever ones will learn to feign those connections very skillfully, when it suits their purpose. They think everyone else is either working out of that same playbook (and lying about it to themselves or to the rest of the world) or else is just plain stupid. They sometimes find cruelty very invigorating in its own right. They will sometimes hurt other people just because they can. Likewise they will befriend people as a way of setting up possible future use of them. I do not have to tell you that reading that book made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The book is very enlightening the subjects of a) how to identify sociopaths and b) how to stay off of their radar. These folks classify others into three groups: the competition, the pawns/prey, and the unimportant. Let me tell you, you want to stay in that last group.

[RockStar]

I think anybody who used their religious affiliation to create a false sense of trust would get the same response. It's right up there with lying to your grandma and ripping off girl scouts; i.e., the immediate response is "what kind of person would...."

I would highly recommend the book, "The Sociopath Next Door." As many as 1 in 25 of Americans are sociopathic; that is, they are manipulative people who do not have a conscience....and interestingly enough, appear not to believe that consciences really exist. Most of them do NOT wind up with a criminal record. Some of them are charming, some are just plain weird, but all of them work out of a totally different playbook than the standards that people with a conscience take as a matter of course. They do not make emotional connections with other people, although the socially clever ones will learn to feign those connections very skillfully, when it suits their purpose. They think everyone else is either working out of that same playbook (and lying about it to themselves or to the rest of the world) or else is just plain stupid. They sometimes find cruelty very invigorating in its own right. They will sometimes hurt other people just because they can. Likewise they will befriend people as a way of setting up possible future use of them. I do not have to tell you that reading that book made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The book is very enlightening the subjects of a) how to identify sociopaths and b) how to stay off of their radar. These folks classify others into three groups: the competition, the pawns/prey, and the unimportant. Let me tell you, you want to stay in that last group.

Do you have other books like this you would suggest?

...as a sociopath I had no idea anyone was onto us...gotta upgrade the radars you know.

[Spork]

sociopathic; that is, they are manipulative people who do not have a conscience...

Your post provides a very accurate and concise description of Antisocial Personality Disorder - people we typically call psychopaths or sociopaths. I have the dubious honor of working with these folks every day. I just finished reading the BP article and the most telling piece is near the end: "He (Lescoe)...has never been able to stop blaming others for his troubles. As much as he seeks forgiveness and understanding, he seem incapable of extending much empathy to others, even those to whom he brought pain... He says if Nicholls had answered his calls from the trail, if he had sent him a new pair of socks, maybe he never would have been forced to commit the crimes he did." These few lines pretty much close the book on Mr. "Saved" - still deceiptful, manipulative, and lacking remorse, responsibility, or regard for others. Clearly the only thing he's interested in "saving" is his own a@@...

[Treadwell]

hello.

i just received the april issue of backpacker and the article on lescoe was the first thing i read. although i have been reading quite a bit about the trail in recent months, largely to prepare for my upcoming hike, i had not heard of this story.

i found it disturbing on several different levels, but it seems there is a consensus in the threads i'm reading...that lescoe's crimes were not as irksome as is the prevalence of evangelical proselytizing on the trail.

i would disagree. seemed to me lescoe fit the profile of most career criminals, he was a skilled con-man and thief/burglar who, in fleeing to the trail, for a time, found a safe haven and a host of easy victims. his crimes strained the goodwill communities have towards hikers and endangered those he encountered along the trail...but he's in jail now, and from the way it sounds, he'll be there for some time.

nicholls' good intentions at providing a hot shower and a grilled hamburger in exchange for a lecture on salvation through JC were not the focus of the article, and i think such topics deserve a separate thread (though i'll not start it). i too find born-agains wildly tiresome and their penchant for sharing their thoughts on religion exceedingly rude and disrespectful. but nicholls, like many of the people lescoe met in his time on the trail, was a victim...whether you agree with his ideology or not, nicholls was duped by a career-criminal who used religion to chip through people's guard.

what i'd be more interested in seeing here is opinions about the trail being used as a hide out for criminals or perhaps less nefarious, but still shady characters. is the trail (chatter-chatter go the knees) safe? have people had other distressing encounters? let's move away from religion-bashing (it's too easy and too offensive) and on to more productive topics.

let's here about crime and the trail...what should i watch out for as a novice hiker?

[woodsy]

I think that you will find that word about shady characters on the trail travels up and down the trail pretty fast amongst other hikers. It's not really a good place for criminals to hide for very long.

[tha]

Your post provides a very accurate and concise description of Antisocial Personality Disorder - people we typically call psychopaths or sociopaths. I have the dubious honor of working with these folks every day. I just finished reading the BP article and the most telling piece is near the end: "He (Lescoe)...has never been able to stop blaming others for his troubles. As much as he seeks forgiveness and understanding, he seem incapable of extending much empathy to others, even those to whom he brought pain... He says if Nicholls had answered his calls from the trail, if he had sent him a new pair of socks, maybe he never would have been forced to commit the crimes he did." These few lines pretty much close the book on Mr. "Saved" - still deceiptful, manipulative, and lacking remorse, responsibility, or regard for others. Clearly the only thing he's interested in "saving" is his own a@@...

Spork, I, too, just finished the article and was struck by the exact same thing; Lescoe's failing to take any responsibility. When you think about it, I guess that fits well with having no conscience.

[Heater]

I think that you will find that word about shady characters on the trail travels up and down the trail pretty fast amongst other hikers. It's not really a good place for criminals to hide for very long.

The abortion clinic bomber, Eric Rudolph, seemed to be pretty adept at it.
I wonder if ol' Dan gave him a shower too?

[Treadwell]

ah...thank you, austexs, for bringing that guy up. i couldn't dredge his name out of the memory banks.

but lescoe and rudolph are obviously extreme examples.

[smokymtnsteve]

The abortion clinic bomber, Eric Rudolph, seemed to be pretty adept at it.
I wonder if ol' Dan gave him a shower too?

shoot folks all around Robinsonvile and western north carolina was helping rudolf

[Rain Man]

I would highly recommend the book, "The Sociopath Next Door." As many as 1 in 25 of Americans are sociopathic; that is, they are manipulative people who do not have a conscience....and interestingly enough, appear not to believe that consciences really exist. Most of them do NOT wind up with a criminal record. Some of them are charming, some are just plain weird, but all of them work out of a totally different playbook than the standards that people with a conscience take as a matter of course. They do not make emotional connections with other people, although the socially clever ones will learn to feign those connections very skillfully, when it suits their purpose. They think everyone else is either working out of that same playbook (and lying about it to themselves or to the rest of the world) or else is just plain stupid....

Shouldn't this be over in one of the "rationalizing stealth camping in the GSMNP" threads?!!! ~wink~

RainMan

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