Baptist Standard: Why would survivors attend SBC meetings?
The false narratives of right wing politics that are aimed at the destruction of constitutional democracy have also brought conflict and controversy to a Christian denomination at the heart of American Evangelicalism, exposing an ugliness that is evidence of growing apostasy and the increasing influence of heresy. The Southern Baptist Convention has had to deal with a sexual abuse scandal, and some gross incompetence in handling revelations of abuse as they were reported to its Executive Committee, revealed by an investigation published by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News in February of 2019.
The investigation, Abuse of Faith, was limited only to sexual abuse cases among Southern Baptist church leaders in 20 states that had already been convicted, or had confessed, to the abuse. The invsetigation only included those who had been convicted, or confessed to their abuse crimes, over 380 church leaders, mostly pastors and church staff, and involved over 700 victims. There are many more cases which have been reported, but in which the perpetrators have not been charged.
The tragedy of the abuse, occuring inside the largest conservative, Evangelical denomination in the United States, one which often arrogantly touts its own claims of Biblical fidelity in smug, self-righteousness over other Christians, is that many of the abusers were allowed to operate under the protection of secrecy, moving from one church to another without the second congregation knowing any of their past history as an abuser. Cases reported to the denomination's executive committee went unheeded, as leaders claimed they had no authority to report anything because, in a Baptist denomination, local churches are "independent and autonomous."
Resistance to Reform is Rooted in Right-Wing Political Rhetoric
The very structure of the Southern Baptist Convention has allowed the denomination to resist any possible solution to the problem. As the evidence was exposed, and the scope of the abuse became clear, messengers from the churches to the denomination's annual meeting were horrified, not only with the scandal itself, but with the growing realization that much of the denomination's leadership knew about the abuse, and were acting out of self-preservation, rather than in any meaningful or effective way to deal with the problem.
They voted, overwhelmingly, to take action that would help deal with the crisis, including establishing the means for local churches to access information to prevent abusers from moving undetected from church to church. They set up training programs to help churches minister to those among their congregations who were victims. They added the ability of the convention itself to remove churches from affiliation that refused to follow the guidelines for removing abusers from their congregations. Then they put responsibility for carrying their wishes out in the hands of their traditional, and very backward, denominational bureaucracy. That bureaucracy, made up of some of Southern Baptists' finest bureaucrats, many of them who serve on multiple committees and boards at the different levels of Baptist bureaucracy, achieved absolutely nothing effective over a three-year period of time, at a staggering cost to the denomination's reserve capital funds.
What has developed is an ugliness that exposes a lack of any spiritual presence, guidance or depth among the leadership of the nation's largest Protestant denomination.
The biggest concern is not for victims of abuse, not by a long shot. The biggest concern that has developed is that by taking on the rampant problem of sexual abuse in its churches, the SBC is exposing its precious financial resources, it's money and assets, to lawsuits. The sympathy and concern for the victims is miniscule in comparison to the caterwauling and hollering about legal exposure. How Christlike is that spirit?
Some of the more prominent voices within the denomination, which was already embroiled in a conflict between various theological factions over its control, threw a hissy-fit over the fact that the secular law firm they had hired to conduct a full investigation and make recommendations for a resolution, was secular, and also represented LGBTQ clients. That allowed them to claim that the entire investigation, which named some prominent, powerful Southern Baptist leaders with clout and influence as abusers, was invalid and ineffective.
The biggest obstacle to any real, serious consideration or resolution of this issue, though, is that much of the opposition to any resolution at all is based on the belief, by many Southern Baptists, that the victims of abuse are woke liberals bent on using #metoo as a means of attacking the godly, righteous work of the Southern Baptist Convention, and as a way of undermining conservative politics. There are deep seated religious prejudices at work here, among those who see women as subservient, not equal, and concluding that they can't be victims of abuse, because it's not abuse, it's just the natural order of things.
The article that is linked at the top gives a full picture of exactly how this denomination that portrays itself in pious, self-righteous, arrogance, believes women should be treated. And they claim support from a mis-interpreted Bible.
The Southern Baptist Convention drips with hypocrisy when it comes to this issue. Those who are active in the denominational political drama, those who seek after denominational committee seats or board seats because of the power and influence they provide, for the most part, demonstrate some of the most characteristically un-Christlike behavior in their attitudes and words toward the women who are victims of sexual abuse within their churches and denominational entities. They can't shake their bigotry and they ignore the characteristics Christ placed at the core of Christian practice and faith. They claim to believe in a Bible that is "inerrant and infallible," but their behavior indicates they believe none of it.
There are many things that provide ample evidence of the apostasy of the Southern Baptist Convention, including the affinity many of its leaders have for the MAGA cult and Trump. But the sexual abuse scandal they are now dealing with is proving to be the issue that brings down the house and exposes the ungodly hypocrisy for what it is. I do not believe the Southern Baptist Convention will survive either its infiltration by MAGA cultists, or its handling of a major sexual abuse scandal by its pastors and church leaders.
Give Credit Where Credit is Due
There are a few people in the Southern Baptist Convention who see this for exactly what it is, and are working to try and salvage the denomination's reputation, as well as put it in position to provide resources for ministry to the victims of sexual abuse and who will press for reform in the way in which the denomination deals with pastors who are sexual abusers. What is unfortunate is that none of them are prominent power brokers who are in a position to get much done. In spite of the overwhelming reaction of messengers to a convention meeting in Nashville two years back, when the anger over the scandal reached its peak, the gatekeepers and influence peddlers have moved on. The focus of ths upcoming annual meeting is turning away from the sexual abuse scandal, and on to passage of an amendment that will allow the denomination to violate the independence and autonomy of its local churches, and kick out those who dare to have women serving as pastors in any capacity.
Distraction and disversion is always the name of the game. This will help keep people focused on other issues while denominational leadership handles sexual abuse within its ranks from Donald Trump's playbook, shirking responsibility, blaming victims and protecting their assets from lawsuits.
The manner in which these victims of sexual abuse within Southern Baptist churches are treated when they show up to the annual convention meeting to be advocates for other victims is inexcuseable from any Christian perspective. It is evidence that the Southern Baptist Convention, as a denominational body, is spiritually bankrupt, apostate and dead. The manner in which some of its leaders heap abuse and derision upon victims of sexual abuse and assault at the hands of fellow pastors and church leaders fits the Biblical definition of antichrist. It's not surprising that a denomination founded on one of the most grievous theological and doctrinal errors of Christian history, the belief that black people are inferior to white people and are therefore destined to be slaves, is capable of vicious cruelty prompted by bigotry based on false teaching about women.
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