Posted on 06/20/2017 11:15:37 AM PDT by Morgana
It was a hot day in July, a Saturday afternoon, and Kim James was bored. Her older sisters had taken her to a church event in their small hometown in Indiana, where the girls were spending their summer. Her parents were back in Bangladesh, working at the remote Baptist missionary compound where the family had lived, on and off, for five years. For an adventurous and high-spirited 13-year-old like Kim, Indiana seemed dull compared to Bangladesh. She missed her friends, the dozen or so missionary kids everybody called “MKs.” She missed the menagerie her parents let her keep: goats, cows, a parrot, a monkey. She missed the jackals that called in the distance at night, and the elephants that sometimes crashed through the compound fence.
As she thought about the mission, though, Kim felt troubled. Something was weighing on her mind. So she decided to skip out of the church event—it was for little kids, anyway—and go see the pastor. She found him in his office, trying to compose the next day’s sermon. Kim ambled around his desk, picking things up, putting them back down. Eventually, with feigned casualness, she pointed between her legs and said, “Is it wrong when someone does this—touches you here?”
The pastor dropped his pen and looked up. “Kim,” he asked, “has this happened to you?”
At first, Kim said no. But as the pastor gently persisted, she began to sob. Yes, she had been touched, there and there, lots of times.
The pastor asked Kim who had touched her.
Uncle Donn, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at newrepublic.com ...
And as far as the inflammatory, flame baiting, misleading headline, NO, not a Catholic sized sex abuse scandal.
That organization is not the size of the Catholic church and I have never heard of it before now.
“This is not to bash Catholics, I am just pointing out that from an organizational standpoint they are more likely to be able to get away with a scandal and cover up than Protestants.”
There was a study done years ago in which 46% of Protestant pastors surveyed admitted to cheating on their wives with women in their congregations. Remember, 46% ADMITTED it. How many didn’t admit it? Clearly there’s LOTS OF COVER UPS among Protestants.
For all the significant criminal failings of a few Bishops and clergy, it pales by comparison to the exaggerations spread far and wide by the media and the usual hard core anti-Catholic crowd. Now, the same media will spout exaggerations about all other Christian churches of any size (and especially small very devout groups) and those exaggerations will be magnified and spread by the dedicated hard core atheists and anti-Christian groups of Muzzies and others claiming to be atheists.
Having lived by the sword, so to speak, the very same anti-Catholic crowd who helped spread every false claim and exaggeration but claim to be non-Catholic Christian will now die by the sword as they are singled out and named as accessories after the fact for covering up the crimes of non-Catholic Christian clergy and church leaders.
JMHo
“And actually, they took the appropriate Scriptural action. Take it to the church leaders.”
This is true except a crime has occurred. A very serious crime. One that only the law should handle. This just gives the perp a chance to cover it up. Yes take it to the church leaders but let the police do that. The police can sort it out better than you and I. They have experience in telling if someone is lying that you and I don’t posses.
Plus and I hate to say this the church has it’s reputation to consider. A sex abuse scandal can ruin any church. Yes they will attack the victim and the victims family in order to protect their reputation. It’s wrong but true.
Plus your child needs to be seen by a doctor in order to be treated and maybe collect evidence if the crime had just occurred.
Watch this video by Anna Saulter. The pastor in it was found guilty of sex abuse. Was a long time ago but it’s haunting. He talked about he won people’s trust in the church and how he got away with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sEqWlJbEX4&list=PLFhKns6iHFzbu5-WRGg0L__H5i4I0wG9A
I used to have a neat animated GIF of nuns waving pom-poms but I can’t seem to find it. Dang.
I think you’re right about the organizational structures’ differences making a distinction. There’s a hierarchy in the Catholic church where a powerful overseeing organization shuffles priests around to parishes and can control what news gets out and doesn’t.
It seems this story speaks to Baptists in particular, who are independent when it comes to what church a minister will pastor. There’s no convention that assigns pastors to churches. If some preacher is involved in a scandal, generally it isn’t a secret very long; the grapevine is effective. I grew up in a parsonage. The things I heard when ministers visited among themselves... oy!
You say, “we’re not that organized”. It’s more than that; we’re not organized at all.
And, of course, pastors aren’t free from scandal. If they’re effective in their ministries Satan will do what he can to compromise their effectiveness. Sexual temptations will be thrown their way.
Father John J. Geoghan.
Were that the case, there would be no "bad" protestant churches. There would be no flaming liberal denominations. Unfortunately, Protestants are just as susceptible as anyone. And, the financial angle could just as easily cause some people in leadership to precipitate a cover up to protect their own position. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.
Charity begins at home - with your own kids
Those who remain in the dead and dying mainline Protestant churches are, and I’m going out on a limb I know but I perceive this to be true, not particularly concerned about their spiritual condition to put it kindly. They’re more concerned with the social and business aspects of their particular church and so they stay. It becomes a respectable social club with some nice do-goodism to feather their caps. Those sorts of churches likely would be slower to admit to wrongdoing, to your point so you’re not entirely off base, since the whole thing for these churches has devolved to outward appearances and social advantage. But, even there, you will find very little in the way of tolerance of pastors or preachers sexually abusing anyone. You might find consensual activities that are highly immoral under any circumstance but particularly so in a purported house of God, though.
New Republic.
Trying to pit Christians against each other.
There are 1.2 BILLION Catholics in the world, and we are ONE church. Law of averages says that we’re going to have some bad guys in a church of 1.2 billion.
Protestant denominations are highly divided and split up, law of averages (likelihood of having pervs as members/pastors) does not apply to them in the same way.
What is considered a BIG church in Tempe AZ is only about three thousand. Even the biggest non-Catholic church in the U.S. is that megachurch in Houston run by Joel Osteen—but it still has less than 17,000 members. That’s 0.0014% of the size of the Catholic Church.
You’ve fallen for it.
Here’s what you should have said “There’s plenty of pervs running around everywhere”.
“Those who remain in the dead and dying mainline Protestant churches are”
Good grief RC how many articles a day to I post about Mainline and non mainline Protestant churches supporting abortion!! If that is not dead I don’t know what is! In the articles I post it’s often the pastors preaching that abortion is okay and supporting Planned Parenthood. Many FReepers here say they have left these churches and when I post these stories they are not sorry they did.
**But despite Ketcham’s obvious pattern of misconduct, ABWE seemed more interested in silencing the women involved than in punishing their abuser. **
And they have always criticized Catholic priests.
Actually the rate of abuse is much higher in non-Catholic Churches than with priests. Priests are the lowest number on the totem pole.
Family, teachers, coaches, ministers all included.
Physician heal thyself. You clean your house. We’ll clean ours.
Dang. I still haven’t found that nuns with pom-poms animated GIF.
Why has this devolved to a Catholic vs Protestant issue?
>>>>>>What about the children?<<<<<<<
OK, I realize that’s something libs say when they want to get people up in arms about the Paris treaty or whatever, but seriously, what can parents do to protect their children, or teach them to protect themselves, against this predatory behavior on the part of *some* priests, pastors, doctors, teachers, coaches, kids’ activities leaders (hey, Boy Scout scandals did not start when they began to permit homosexuals to join!).
There needs to be a serious effort to investigate the best way to help teach children which protects them and at the same time does not injure their innocence.
This problem is everywhere, not just in churches of one denomination or another, but in every institution in which there is access to children. Rather than fight among ourselves, let’s fight against the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
They should take it to the church FIRST and then to the authorities.
But the Scriptural action of church discipline is a must.
ANd it’s got nothing to do with reputation. It’s got everything to do with 1 Corinthians 5.
Ranking of sexual abuse pedophiles by religion.
1. Atheists (more sexual abuse of all kinds than all other groups combined).
2. Muslims
3. Mostly Catholic homosexual priests, and occasionally heterosexual
priests who are forbidden marriage.
4. Satanists
5. Cultists.
6. Goats and wolves in the church but not in Christ.
7. All other religions not listed above.
0. Sheep who belong to the good shepherd Jesus don’t sexually abuse anyone. Read the Bible, those who love Jesus don’t live in sin after being born again! They are new creatures in Christ, too in love with Jesus to be caught in the grip of sin.
First they came for the Socialists...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.