LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage
June 16, 2019
By William Lindsey
This is a continuation of an essay by Ruth Krall, the first half of which was posted a few days ago. As that previous posting noted, this essay, entitled “Religious Leader Sexual Abuse: A Pan-Denominational Approach,” continues Ruth’s analysis of religious leader sexual abuse of vulnerable individuals from the standpoint of public health. It proposes that “any effort to eliminate sexual abuse as a public health problem must, therefore, be both a national and an international effort. It must also be pan-denominational — reaching into multiple religious communities.” Here’s the second half of Ruth’s outstanding essay — note that footnote numbers begin in medias res because this part of Ruth’s essay links to the part previously posted:
Organizational Management Equivalencies
The equivalent here for me is financial embezzlement. Let’s say a bank employee is emptying the cash drawer on a regular basis for his own use. This behavior would not be tolerated. The individual would be (1) fired and (2) reported to civil law enforcement agencies. Given the magnitude of the theft, she or he would also be publicly outed by means of news media.
Many years ago now, I watched as one of my alma maters became aware of financial embezzlement by its business manager. He was fired on the spot and an announcement was placed in the annual alumni newsletter so that all alums would have accurate information about what had occurred. I am guessing — but do not know — that this institution’s governing board and president wished to forestall rumor-mongering among its alums as well as in the larger community in which the school was located.
In another situation, as a very young mid-level administrator, I watched a narrative of embezzlement unfold inside my organization. A subordinate financial officer reported his department head boss to the governing body of this institution. The subsequent — and very quiet — investigation revealed that the mid-level administrator was indeed cooking the books. He was fired on the spot and immediately escorted off the premises. A brief and very terse announcement was made to local media by the organization’s president. I learned of this episode the way my neighbors did — by televised news reports that evening. By the next day, many more internal details were visible inside the organization’s various departments.
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