UNITED STATES
Stop Baptist Predators
“In a generational changing of the guard, Southern Baptists are gaining a new advocate for their values in Washington and around the country as Russell Moore, a media-savvy theologian, takes the helm of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.” This news, reported last week by the Religion News Service, means that the ERLC will no longer be headed by Richard Land, who had been at the commission’s helm for nearly twenty-five years.
As the ERLC’s new leader, Russell Moore claims that he will use “convictional kindness” to defend Southern Baptist ideals.
“Convictional kindness.” What do you think that means with respect to the denomination’s do-nothingness on clergy sex abuse? Will there be any change?
Kindness starts with listening. But Southern Baptists lack any system for even hearing the voices of clergy abuse survivors, much less for listening to them. There is no denominational office to which people might report abusive clergymen – no safe place where they might hope to have their abuse reports compassionately heard – no trained panels for responsibly assessing abuse reports – no one in denominational authority who will take any responsibility for doing anything at all, regardless of how many abuse reports a minister may have against him.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.