Abuse Under the Front of Religion

Recently I have been following the #metoo and #churchtoo hashtags.  It is disheartening and appalling to say the least. Evil done under the front of being a Pastor or church leader is the worst kind of evil there is.

I’m not just referring to those who abuse children physically/sexually or have illicit sexual affairs or other aberrant behavior. I’m also including those who cover up these deviant acts for those who have committed them. They are just as evil as the person who does these things.

We have seen a number of religious leaders/organizations that are now being called to account for sexual abuses against children, women and even men!  To name a few, there is Sovereign Grace Ministries, Southern Baptists, Association of Reformed Baptists of America, Willow Creek and Roman Catholic Church to name a few. I know there are many more, but these are the few I can remember off the top of my head.

In almost every case where someone comes forward with a credible story, the abuser either flat out denies it, calling the victim a liar, or the abuser minimizes what happened, stating the victim is taking a simple misunderstanding and blowing it out of proportion.  

The leaders in the organization will usually circle the wagons and do damage control.  A favorite tactic is to bully the victim into silence by gaslighting them. They twist the narrative to make the abuser look like the victim of an unwarranted attack. They may force the victim into silence or out of the church. In the case of a high profile Pastor or leader in an association, they tell a half truth to the churches in the association and the Pastors do damage control by impugning the integrity of those who would search out and report the truth. Those who persist in digging up the truth get kicked out of the church for insubordination and get called gossips and slanderers.

All the while the victims of these monster suffer continued abuse as they are called liars and worse. Many of these victims suffer in silence for years because they are afraid to come forward for fear no one will believe them or worse, their abuser may retaliate.

God has some things to say about abusers and those who protect them.

""Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

"He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD."
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17:15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How can you tell if a church might be an environment that would be an unsafe environment?  Here are some tells you might look out for:

1. A Pastor & leadership that expects trust without question
2. Questions are not welcomed
3. Accountability of Pastor and leadership to congregation is non-existent
4. Church business meetings cover very little and opportunity for questions or discussion during the business meeting is not allowed
5. No written policy for how allegations of abuse will be handled...they say Matt. 18 covers it all. One of their phrases is " We will cooperate with the authorities." This really means that they will cooperate only if the crime is reported to police and they will not do that or encourage the abused to report it either.
6. Congregation has no say in who their pastor will be should the current one vacate the position
7. A pastor that justifies deception by saying it’s not the same as lying when it’s done without malicious intent
8. People who leave the church and write an exit letter for the congregation are then alluded to in negative terms during the sermon to discredit why they left

   9. Look for the use of Christian Liberty to justify whatever they want to do or to get out of being 

        accountable for what they should do.