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Sex Abuse scandal rocks Southern Baptist church, hundreds abused
Posted on 2/10/19 at 1:09 pm
Posted on 2/10/19 at 1:09 pm
Abuse of Faith: Investigation reveals 700 victims of Southern Baptist sexual abuse over 20 years
quote:
Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have declined for more than a decade to create a list of sexual predators from affiliated churches. But the San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle assembled one of our own.
The newspapers spent nearly a year building a database of church leaders and volunteers who pleaded guilty or were convicted of sex crimes in the past 20 years.
quote:
Victims of sexual abuse had pleaded for the SBC to act, saying it was allowing predators to move from church to church. But the SBC in 2008 rejected all proposals to produce such a registry, saying the organization could not tell its 47,000 member churches whom to hire or ordain.
quote:
About 220 church leaders were convicted. They were pastors. Ministers. Youth pastors. Sunday school and Christian schoolteachers. Deacons. Church program volunteers.
quote:
One victim of sexual abuse said he can't forgive leaders who offered prayers but took no action. "That is the greatest tragedy of all," he said. "So many people's faith is murdered. I mean, their faith is slaughtered by these predators."
This post was edited on 2/10/19 at 1:13 pm
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Posted on 2/10/19 at 2:16 pm to KSGamecock
As I've said, its not like the Catholic church is the only one that power has corrupted members' and clergy of.
The Baptist churches I went to growing up, they were not Southern Baptist churches. IIRC they were their own independent churches in the area, but were sister churches of each other. In that time and after I witnessed some who truly did not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I am by no means perfect, I don't go to church anymore I just study on my own, but some had no business being in the positions they were. This is gonna be a book, so I apologize in advance
My first church's Pastor was the worst of them all. But at the point in time where he was pastor of this church I was very, very young and me nor my family were not aware of it at least as far as I know, in fact we were family friends with them. He and his family moved away so we changed churches. I'll come back to this in a bit.
Second church I went to had a legit good pastor. He was the kinda guy who would get so into preaching the suit jacket would come off and roll up his sleeves, he'd go passed the usual hour of service if he got real into it, and he'd pace. One day though, he brought all the kids up to the front of the church and told the rest of the church basically that though Jesus says to forgive, if someone laid a hand on one of these kids he could not forgive them. Didn't understand it at the time why he said it, still don't, someone there may have been rumored to have done something. Anyway, this man's wife had cancer. She died a little later and in classic fashion, the church voted to remove him as pastor and replaced him with a man who later ran off with another church member's wife. I feel bad for the guy, as he was a decent person but his wife was, to quote Errerrerrwhere a floosy.
After this we left and went to a new church. It was an ok place. Unfortunately later on, the pastor's wife bad mouthed my mom to some of the other church members. One of my family members told the pastor he needed to get his wife under control and that was when I pretty much quit going.
Now a while later, first pastor turns back up in Indiana. It was at this point and time that I learned from my mom who was friend's with his wife that he was a drunk and that he beat his kids and wife. It made sense to me as, whenever we hung out with his kids growing up there always seemed to be something off about him. It also explained the day when we were at his house and all of his kids were in the bathroom crying. I thought nothing of it at the time, and I still feel bad not only because I didn't say anything, but because I likely caused it. I in my infinite wisdom as a 5 year old took the wireless mouse off of his desk in the basement and chucked it at the floor, breaking it just prior to them getting beat. Also learned from one of my siblings that one of his kids had said that he once wrapped a belt around his neck and snapped it. And being the classy guy he is, he shoved his wife down a flight of steps and cheated on her.
His wife left him finally and decided she was done. He actually was spying on one of their daughters changing supposedly. Anyway, so they had split up but now theyre back together because she felt bad for him because he lost his job. I feel awfully bad for her, nicest woman you'd ever meet. Too nice though, as she lets him do this stuff. And I don't understand it.
I came to learn other church members knew about this and were actually acting hostile toward her for leaving him, because marriage is forever and evidently abuse and adultery does not constitute a reason for divorce to some of them. It really disgusts me.
I cant do a whole lot other than not go to church with the prick as Im a state away and don't have much proof other than what ive heard from my family and his wife. Most of his kids are grown up and gone fortunately.
But it really hurt my belief in organized religion. Seems nowhere is really a decent place, as bad people always find their way in and up in the system.
The Baptist churches I went to growing up, they were not Southern Baptist churches. IIRC they were their own independent churches in the area, but were sister churches of each other. In that time and after I witnessed some who truly did not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I am by no means perfect, I don't go to church anymore I just study on my own, but some had no business being in the positions they were. This is gonna be a book, so I apologize in advance
My first church's Pastor was the worst of them all. But at the point in time where he was pastor of this church I was very, very young and me nor my family were not aware of it at least as far as I know, in fact we were family friends with them. He and his family moved away so we changed churches. I'll come back to this in a bit.
Second church I went to had a legit good pastor. He was the kinda guy who would get so into preaching the suit jacket would come off and roll up his sleeves, he'd go passed the usual hour of service if he got real into it, and he'd pace. One day though, he brought all the kids up to the front of the church and told the rest of the church basically that though Jesus says to forgive, if someone laid a hand on one of these kids he could not forgive them. Didn't understand it at the time why he said it, still don't, someone there may have been rumored to have done something. Anyway, this man's wife had cancer. She died a little later and in classic fashion, the church voted to remove him as pastor and replaced him with a man who later ran off with another church member's wife. I feel bad for the guy, as he was a decent person but his wife was, to quote Errerrerrwhere a floosy.
After this we left and went to a new church. It was an ok place. Unfortunately later on, the pastor's wife bad mouthed my mom to some of the other church members. One of my family members told the pastor he needed to get his wife under control and that was when I pretty much quit going.
Now a while later, first pastor turns back up in Indiana. It was at this point and time that I learned from my mom who was friend's with his wife that he was a drunk and that he beat his kids and wife. It made sense to me as, whenever we hung out with his kids growing up there always seemed to be something off about him. It also explained the day when we were at his house and all of his kids were in the bathroom crying. I thought nothing of it at the time, and I still feel bad not only because I didn't say anything, but because I likely caused it. I in my infinite wisdom as a 5 year old took the wireless mouse off of his desk in the basement and chucked it at the floor, breaking it just prior to them getting beat. Also learned from one of my siblings that one of his kids had said that he once wrapped a belt around his neck and snapped it. And being the classy guy he is, he shoved his wife down a flight of steps and cheated on her.
His wife left him finally and decided she was done. He actually was spying on one of their daughters changing supposedly. Anyway, so they had split up but now theyre back together because she felt bad for him because he lost his job. I feel awfully bad for her, nicest woman you'd ever meet. Too nice though, as she lets him do this stuff. And I don't understand it.
I came to learn other church members knew about this and were actually acting hostile toward her for leaving him, because marriage is forever and evidently abuse and adultery does not constitute a reason for divorce to some of them. It really disgusts me.
I cant do a whole lot other than not go to church with the prick as Im a state away and don't have much proof other than what ive heard from my family and his wife. Most of his kids are grown up and gone fortunately.
But it really hurt my belief in organized religion. Seems nowhere is really a decent place, as bad people always find their way in and up in the system.
This post was edited on 2/10/19 at 5:55 pm
Posted on 2/10/19 at 2:25 pm to thatguy45
Posted on 2/10/19 at 2:29 pm to KSGamecock
yeah its lengthy. Just giving some of my experience with church. It didn't hurt my belief in the Lord, but it showed me that even smaller churches have issuesPosted on 2/10/19 at 2:43 pm to thatguy45
So I just finished reading that and man, you've seen some shite. Kind of fits the last quote from the article.
Stories like yours or like the ones hinted at in the article are part of a larger pattern that doesn't really get addressed or does but not adequately; power and abuse.
You see it in Churches, both Catholic and Protestant, in healthcare, in sports, scouting, and in the military. Anywhere where someone can rise to a position of relative power and trust over people who might be vulnerable or not fully in their own with a limited degree of oversight and you see these abuses.
I saw it in Recruiting all the time and it's a constant issue, recruiters having sex with high schoolers was an especially common problem.
Is it that people who want to do bad things are naturally attracted to these positions or is it that the nature of these positions energizes people who otherwise wouldn't do these things?
How should organizations seek to prevent abuses and respond to them?
We're seeing two setups that have caused failure. The Catholic Church is highly organized and sought to protect its reputation and institutional integrity above all, as a result it covered up and didn't address the issue.
The SBC is the opposite, completely unorganized, no checks or qualifications, local churches can hire whoever they want. No quality assurance. It's a mess in a different way.
These things are going to happen no matter how much an organization wants to prevent it. They can increase oversight and supervision to limit them, but it's still going to happen. The real question is how they respond when it does. The Catholic Church has failed horribly in this IMO and is still failing but that's another thread.
quote:
"So many people's faith is murdered. I mean, their faith is slaughtered by these predators."
Stories like yours or like the ones hinted at in the article are part of a larger pattern that doesn't really get addressed or does but not adequately; power and abuse.
You see it in Churches, both Catholic and Protestant, in healthcare, in sports, scouting, and in the military. Anywhere where someone can rise to a position of relative power and trust over people who might be vulnerable or not fully in their own with a limited degree of oversight and you see these abuses.
I saw it in Recruiting all the time and it's a constant issue, recruiters having sex with high schoolers was an especially common problem.
Is it that people who want to do bad things are naturally attracted to these positions or is it that the nature of these positions energizes people who otherwise wouldn't do these things?
How should organizations seek to prevent abuses and respond to them?
We're seeing two setups that have caused failure. The Catholic Church is highly organized and sought to protect its reputation and institutional integrity above all, as a result it covered up and didn't address the issue.
The SBC is the opposite, completely unorganized, no checks or qualifications, local churches can hire whoever they want. No quality assurance. It's a mess in a different way.
These things are going to happen no matter how much an organization wants to prevent it. They can increase oversight and supervision to limit them, but it's still going to happen. The real question is how they respond when it does. The Catholic Church has failed horribly in this IMO and is still failing but that's another thread.
This post was edited on 2/10/19 at 2:46 pm
Posted on 2/10/19 at 2:51 pm to KSGamecock
The lesson learned is that a church is a dangerous place for children.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 2:58 pm to KSGamecock
quote:
The real question is how they respond when it does
most churches fail at this, my own included
It irritates me that churches will ignore, or worse try to hide it.
I don't know if its an issue of the person or the office. Probably both
Posted on 2/10/19 at 3:05 pm to Sody Cracker
quote:
church is a dangerous place for children.
No more dangerous than any other activity you might take your child to. I have some great memories from church as a kid, and there were members I have no doubt that if they had witnessed something there would've been violence.
Some people though ruin organizations.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 3:18 pm to KSGamecock
Perverts are everywhere.
But organizations like the Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, and Universities like Michigan State and Penn State are supposed to uncover it and deal with it severely.
But organizations like the Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, and Universities like Michigan State and Penn State are supposed to uncover it and deal with it severely.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:03 pm to thatguy45
quote:
yeah its lengthy.
That isn't the problem, really. It's the block of unbroken text that makes it not worth my time to try to read.
I'd be happy to read it if you could edit it and and simply hit the enter button once in a while to create paragraphs.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:06 pm to A Lite
You can read it or you can not.
If some spaces make the difference for you copy it into a word processor and press enter a few times.
I don't care, up to you
If some spaces make the difference for you copy it into a word processor and press enter a few times.
I don't care, up to you
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:07 pm to A Lite
quote:
simply hit the enter button once in a while to create paragraphs.
But he would have to not be an idiot to know how to do that.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:08 pm to KSGamecock
quote:
But he would have to not be an idiot
That hurts. Do you hate me because I'm WildcatMike?
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:12 pm to thatguy45
Obviously because of this 
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:16 pm to KSGamecock
Not my fault UK has become south carolina's daddy
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:19 pm to thatguy45
You'll have to win another five just to tie the rivalry. We're still daddy.
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:20 pm to KSGamecock
You know who your daddy is, and he's a manlet
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:20 pm to thatguy45
Speaking of manlets, you want to come to twitter and harass Patton Oswalt with me? He seems like the kind of guy who could be broken pretty easily and probably sperg in a funny way.
This post was edited on 2/10/19 at 4:21 pm
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:23 pm to KSGamecock
quote:
Patton Oswalt
Isnt that this dude?
Posted on 2/10/19 at 4:25 pm to thatguy45
No, imagine the midget in Game of Thrones but not funny, preachy, and very insecure.
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