UNITED STATES
Raw Story
TOM BOGGIONI
15 APR 2016
Faced with what appears to be an epidemic of child sex abuse cases, U.S. churches have taken to asking prospective employees if they have ever been sexually assaulted based on the belief that a childhood attack may result in the victim becoming an potential abuser.
Writing at the Daily Beast, activist and journalist Zack Kopplin notes the rising tide of churches requesting the sexual history of job applicants as a condition of employment — including porn-viewing habits.
While churches should be commended for taking a hard look at applicants who might be working with small children, Kopplin points out they have another motive.
Money.
Wary of civil lawsuits when a church employee is arrested for sexually assaulting a parishioner or their child, churches have begun pressing potential employees to divulge answers to questions one would never think would come up in a job interview.
“Have you ever been physically or sexually abused as a child?” reads a question on the job application at the Twin City Bible Church in Urbana, Illinois, before asking: “If yes, when, where, and what were the circumstances?”
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