I know, Goat. SMDH right there with ya.
In this story, it's not unlike others that have broken regarding sexual abuse of minors in the confines and secrecy of a church. Children and teens taken advantage of, their innocence taken away, and then shame and punishment for them, not the offender. Stories of young teens having before marriage sex and having to appear before a panel of all men, Elders, and recounting their experience.Was it once only? Where was it? Did you enjoy it? So much for privacy. For the abused, it's somewhat similar, but they make it one major degree worse: did anyone else witness the act? How fucked up is that? It must be seen or heard by another party because God forbid they accept the word of the victim. They of course follow the lead of the Catholic Church and keep it all safe and quiet from police and others. Until now. The abused are emboldened by the courage of others and will not be silenced.
Time to wake up, people.
The church-whatever one in question-likes to keep abuse quiet and keep the victims in shame.
Consider the scandal that rocked the internet: Andy Savage sobbing in front of his congregation and asking for their forgiveness. Not Jules Woodson's forgiveness mind you. Not the young woman he forced to give him a blowjob and not the young woman whose breasts he groped before he begged her to take the incident to the grave--to protect himself with no regard for her. She was a 17 year old who trusted him and he assaulted her. He used his position to gain access to her young flesh and he then used their church to not only escape justice, but to then receive the forgiveness of all in his congregation because he felt bad about it. I'm sure he did, but I bet Jules felt worse. He likely felt bad just because he got caught and couldn't see another way out except through the veil of faith and belief and victim blaming that exists in the Evangelical realm. Savage won't lose a damned thing. He gets to keep his name, his ministry, and his freedom because he's repented and received forgiveness through the church. He has God's grace, so no need to discuss it further. Time to move on.
Oh yes, JenLaw. That's the way it works.
I'm sure I need not remind anyone of the Catholic Church's scandal. It's likely the most well-known. This wide-spread cover up has some things in common with the Savage assault: forgiveness and cover-up through the church. You see, when a report came forward, the higher up priests would simply move the offending priest somewhere else. The offender of course received forgiveness through the sanctity of the confessional. The victims of course know this and must accept that God has forgiven the priest who raped them. They will know they will never receive legal justice because the priest has repented, God has forgiven, and the young victim need only repent and pray for guidance. Trust the Church and your faith will set you free. Never mind that it was a church representative who assaulted you. Don't concern yourself that it was a church representative who let the sex offender go free. Ignore the warning in your gut that tells you the predator will just offend again on some other trusting, young, impressionable follower.
That's right, Sloth. You called it faster than any church ever.
It's difficult for me to see any church as "of God" when stories like these keep coming to light. A friend of mine who was raised Evangelical told me once that churches like hers are now considered forms of emotional abuse. I wasn't surprised as I had also read about the clinical view of church indoctrination. I was surprised to hear it from her as she had been so devout growing up. My family is still quite devout in the Catholic Church. My mom has grown more so over the years. She'll "be Catholic til [she] die[s]". Her words. Not mine. I have a hard time sitting with the family at gatherings and listening to them pray before meals or watch them take our niece and nephew to mass. It turns my stomach that they continue to go to mass; to accept the line about repentance and how the action of one person (A lot of men actually. Too many to count really.) should not sully the faithful; to provide tithes that fuel the systemic secrecy of sexual misconduct. They should pray for the offenders' souls and rest comfortable in the loving arms of their church. God loves them.
Oh, Dorothy. Sometimes it's hard not to.
I am both fascinated by world faiths and horrified. I am not so naive as to think there is any faith exempt from sexual assaults. Not even Pagans; although I'd like to think that the Pagans would not protect the predator. Humans are humans and there are perverts in any organization. But when the organization protects criminals who put the youngest and most vulnerable at risk, they become a tool of evil. If I believed in the Devil, I'd point at those holy men and women and call them servants of Satan. That is what they are when they cover up and shame the victims. They are Lucifer's minions when they forgive the beasts who hunt their children. Participating in an organization that knowingly and willfully allowed predators to not only go free from prosecution, but also allowed them to prey on more innocents is something I cannot understand. I don't want to honestly. But what should I expect from organizations that believe babies are sinful when born and must be cleansed through baptism?
Suffer little children to come unto God, right?
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