Jesus Christ taught the esoteric aspects of the Christian religion to the 12 Apostles and seven women during the forty days between His Resurrection and Ascension:
TinyURL.com/EarlyChristianityVideo
1 Timothy 3:1-2
This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
1
All of this forgiveness and support for these perpetrators and nothing but revulsion for the victims of which i would include Michael W. Leathers. But it certainly would explain these same people voting for the sexual predator we now have as president. Organized religion should be banned.
12
Why does the press call forcible and unwanted sexual relations "abuse".
The proper word is "rape." Thank you for using the word rape.
19
The Jews don't recognize Jesus as the son of God.
The protestants don't recognize the pope as the leader of the church.
The Baptists don't recognize each other at Hooters or the liquor store.
How dare these 'administrators' protect mammon and evil desires over and above the dignity of other persons.
Same thing, different century.
Heartbreaking.
11
I am not the least bit surprised to hear about this disgusting behavior occuring right in the heart of the self-declared morally superior bible belt.
15
God "the Father" has got to go.
That's been obvious to me for decades.
5
Brilliant article. Thank you.
7
I'm burned out pedophile clerics of any stripe. Immediately upon discovery of wrong doing, clerics should be immediately be reported to police.
Let me paraphrase Martin Luther (overlooking the fact that yet another organized religion was formed around him anyways):
No one needs the middleman (organized religion, specifically Roman Catholic) to commune with their deity.
Many religions (eg megachurches, Osteen, Rick Warren, et al) are little more than tax exempt entertainment complexes with some bogus supernatural veneer. Southern Baptist SBC split off over the most obvious heinous immoral issue ever known to mankind throughout the ages - slavery.
We don't need any of this.
The US is (allegedly) a secular government with a godless constitution. Organized religions are corporations, and should be treated as such - taxed and regulated.
9
Having only male pastors or priests is not part of the problem
It is THE problem
13
Just make religion illegal. It causes way more problem than any other institution. We can all pray silently and alone. It's all a myth anyway. On the other hand it sells newspapers
7
The Southern Baptists are a political party masquerading as a religion.
Created in 1845 by Southern Baptists to protect slavery, and to extend slavery to the new states of the American West, it's never been a religion. The Southern Baptist mega-churches just likes the tax advantages.
26
I mean this as a compliment: I forgot who had written this piece within the first few paragraphs, and only at the end, when I saw Mr. Kristoff's name, did I even remember that I was reading an Opinion piece ... it seemed more like objective truth to me than the subjective point of view of one person.
9
I think that since the Catholic Church holds itself to be above the laws of this country they should be dis banded and or expelled, like the Jesuits were from Mexico and many other countries.
1
Well, so much for celibacy being the problem.
8
As an atheist, money and sex are never apart of some fraudulent belief in some fraudulent deity. I always liked Benjamin Franklin’s saying, which was our country’s first motto minted on our first coinage, “Mind Your Business.” Nothing about trusting a fable. Or putting your trust in those that peddle lies.
8
Eschew 'organized religions'. All of 'em. Do not idolize humans. Any of 'em. Seek spirituality personally. You can spend your life contemplating the mysteries in a blade of grass.
8
The reason that these men are able to commit these crimes and live with themselves is that they are atheists. They do not fear G-d's punishment. I saw a news article last night that showed in Catholic schools they are teaching children how to identify these advances and how to deal with them. Perhaps that should be part of Sunday school for all faiths.
6
Cluster B personalities, including anti-social personality disorder (psychopathy) and sociopathy and narcissistic personality disorder, thrive on conning and controlling and abusing good people. These types do wonderfully in a hierarchical church culture. They take advantage of the Christian ideal of forgiveness and the 'turn the other cheek' teachings. These so called Men (and women) of God who have abused so many are going to lose their dangerous invisibility as more and more people begin to educate themselves on what Cluster B personalities are all about. It's way past time for this. Enough is enough.
5
All that is said here is also true of the Mormon Church where all men hold the priesthood, and no women do at all. Where being gay is less tolerated than child sexual abuse.
6
Anything less than opening Church files and turning them over to civil authorities for prosecution, if the evidence merits such, is simply more of a criminal cover-up. Not that it will happen, but serious consideration of a R.I.C.O. prosecution should occur in the U.S.
As to the Catholc Church, the Vatican has full diplomatic status, Catholic priests who are subservient to that state should have to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
As well, Vatican files should be opened on the Church's role in the Holocaust.
This is all one more reason tax-exempt status should be abolished completely. Why should you have to pay taxes to support my beliefs and causes? Or me, yours?
6
If it wasn't a church, they'd be prosecuted under RICO
3
Well, there you have it. People who are believers also believe that they will be forgiven, or in the case of Catholics, just say a bunch of hail marys (as many as the priest tells you to) and you're good to go, even if you just murdered someone. Remember reading about mafia members receiving communion and absolution? If you need to outsource your morality to a diety, essentially you have none.
8
They may not believe that God is male, but they do believe that the Devil is female.
4
"The only person in the New Testament who wins an argument with Jesus is an unnamed woman who begs him to heal her daughter (Mark 7:24-30 and Matthew 15:21-28)."
___________________________________________
Not entirely true. In performing His first miracle, water to wine, his mother suggests He do something about the lack of wine and He answers "My time hasn't come yet"--in other words, it's not time for Him to start His miracles ministry. Like any good Jewish mother, though Mary completely ignores her son and pushes on--she went to the people in charge of the wedding and says "Look, whatever He tells you to do, do it." One can imagine Jesus rolling His eyes a bit, then getting up and figuring "OK, mom, you win". He then performed His first miracle.
I'd say that's a win for a Jewish mother over the will of her son.
5
Why aren't these criminals and their enablers (accessories after the fact) being tried and imprisoned. Is it statute of limitations? There should be none for these crimes.
3
Kristof, as usual, gets it half right.
"as long as inequality is baked into faith, as long as “men of God” are unaccountable, then sexual assaults will continue.
The problem is not just wayward pastors and priests. Rather it is structural, an inequality and masculine conception of God that empowers rapists."
And, perhaps, embarrasses God."
The "problem" is the structure and essential nature of our mind. Being deluded isn't just a cool feature of our brains, it's an "essential" feature and religion is the most addictive of these essential features....
This is another example of the Jesus Myth being used to promote everything that the myth is against. It is another example of people emulating the antagonists of the Gospels, "the Pharisees," and not the protagonists, Jesus and his followers, male and female.
It is another example of the failure of myth.
Jesus weeps.
Seems that many men who wanted to sexually exploit children without penalty, could just become clergy and thus get access to many children over a lifetime, who were taught to look up to and obey them.
Clergy are seen by many as the epitome of morality, while they tell other people how to think and behave, based on religious authority, while they enjoy personal authority over respectful true believers.
And they're in an organization that enjoys prestige, power and privilege that its leaders will protect-- no matter the crimes of their clergy. They put sex crimes of clergy in a different category than the same crime by ordinary people.
To try to understand this is too repellant.
1
And this coming from an institution that has a need to control the sexual activity of others, especially women.
2
The best argument for separation of church and state is what the Roman government did to Christianity. The majority of Christians were held in near slavery in Europe with the Church in alignment with state and political overlords for 1,000 years after the fall of Rome. Indeed, the RCC remains more committed to its political power than to its adherents today.
So the Baptists follow suit. Ugly little men with ugly little souls lording it over the rest of us.
No wonder so many folks are leaving churches behind. Aside from the picnics, what's left to trust?
1
The only change necessary in religion is for there to be no religion that "worships" a God. Because then you involve God's human conduits, the priests and the pastors and whatnot. We have hopefully evolved beyond that concept. Therefore the end of religion. We have to think up a better term than "God." How about nature? Or the universe. As Camus put it, "The benign indifference of the universe."
1
Perhaps Shakespeare wrote that in 1601, but certainly not in 1901.
Don't know why Nicholas needs to add sugary cherry-picked bits of "but the OG Christians were good to woman". Let's call a spade a spade: the church and religious orthodoxy has been a bedrock of patriarchal institutions since T = 1.
2
It's unfortunate that so many people believe in an invisible being that somehow manipulates events, if you pray hard enough or follow his dictates, or accept events as His will. Always, the male ruling. And, women have stood by while men waged war in the name of their god/gods. For starters, we have Judaism, positing a creator/dictator, in his own voice, condemning, rewarding, punishing his creations for not living up to his standards/dictates, though his standards are suspect/ his dictates serving his own ends. Then sprouts Catholicism, eager to embellish on the world's ignorance. Another Abrahamic tradition is Islam. All three sprouting from the same tree, but remaining violent, male centered, and controlling. The effects of religion seen today in Latin America, (Church ruling) stagnation, poverty and ignorance in abundance. Asia and Africa, still tied to Islam or some other abracadbra seems unable to fiind its peace. The world is looking for peace, yet maintaining a relationship to a warrior god, who demands more converts, more missions to convert., and blind obedience. A prominent Hawaiian said it best and exemplifies religion:
The missionaries brought poverty, prejudice and Jesus (substitute any other god) to their island. That seems about all they do bring, along with their own feeling of joy at having "saved a soul," whatever that means. When we shake off the shackles of religion, we can start making some sense of our world and ourselves.
1
Thanks. Sad for the everyone that this has been happening in any church (or anywhere!)
Howver, your summary of male focused church ministry is very one sided. (Ask Tim Keller if you want to see another side.)
Also: It is a minor point, but Jesus wasn’t arguing with the Canaanite women in Matthew 15:21-28. He was using it to teach his disciples that he was a Messiah for all peoples. (Yes “s” on peoples.)
He was using irony.
Nicholas, the prevalence of sex abuse is far higher in the media/entertainment worlds. On a percentage basis, possibly 2% of clergy are sex abusers, but the media/entertainment professions have a prevalence rate off the charts. Go down the list - every network and almost every studio. Charlie Rose, Head of CBS, Matt Laurer, Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, Head Executives at NPR and on and on and on.
The perpetrators all happen to be men - yet this is a world with large numbers of women in anchor and executive/producer/lead roles. Men whether heterosexual or gay are much more likely to be sexual abusers. And possibly much more likely if they work alongside women in so-called gender equality if they are heterosexual. Having so-called gender equality as the media/entertainment worlds have claimed for decades has nothing to do with the prevalence of this horrific act.
You need to look at your own backyard because the most pervasive problems are right there in your media/entertainment work world.
I think male-centric, male-dominated, male-worshiping religions were created entirely for the purpose of enshrining male privilege and providing a context in which the exploitation and abuse of women and children was not just condoned tacitly but absolutely a central part of the belief structure. Worship of Christ, a male God, male priests, pastors, bishops, preachers, etc. is not tangential to the religion, but its central social purpose. And the domination and abuse of women and children in all its endless iterations is a CORE problem in our current world crises.
8
Excellent article, in my opinion. As a preacher's kid and member of various (American) Baptist congregations for many years, I have to say that I have been far better ministered to and cared for by female ministers than males in my adult life. (My father was the exception.) Stories of inappropriate behavior in youth groups by male pastors, denominational leaders drinking heavily with subordinates, and the overlooking of suppression of women within local congregations were common. Because each congregation was independent by Baptist principle, there was very little effective local or national oversight. I bristle when the phrase "all have sinned and have fallen short" is used as an excuse within the leadership structure.
Beyond all that, doesn't it just make sense to include, and not ignore 51% of the population as full participants in advancing the kingdom? Both arch-conservative Protestants and the entire Catholic church might experience a revelation.
7
Since no religious group commands the loyalty of a majority of religious believers, it follows that most religious believers are members of a religion that is at least partly false.
Therefore, anyone or any group that claims to have a unique right to speak for God should be considered corrupt unless it can prove otherwise. Repeatedly, at intervals.
That's especially true of any religious group that has a history of using social or economic sanctions or violence to punish people who question its authority, or a history of lying to conceal misbehavior of its officials.
Why is anyone surprised by this kind of misuse of authority in authoritarian institutions?
"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing god's service when it is violating all his laws."
~ JOHN ADAMS
"Religions are all alike - founded upon fables and mythologies."
~ THOMAS JEFFERSON
"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
~ JAMES MADISON
"The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion."
~ THOMAS PAINE
“With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles.”
~ GEORGE WASHINGTON
What can I possibly add to these?
9
The Unitarian Universalists have welcomed former Evangelicals and Catholics into their congregations.
8
There is nothing in the text of the Free Exercise Clause nor in our history that would prevent the government from regulating religion. In fact, religion was subject to governmental oversight 250 years ago. We need to return to those roots and regulate religion in the interest of the public welfare.
3
Churches have been given free passes for too long. Any other institution would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law under similar circumstances.
The big question is how many other hidden abuses are yet to be discovered?
5
Excellent!
In addition to having women in leadership roles, as well as in the pulpit, two additional elements to consider:
1) any church should not be allowed to "investigate" abuses. A crime is a crime and must be handled by the police and judicial system. Withholding evidence makes one an accessory and is also a crime
2) some religions allow each congregation to choose its spiritual leader. That creates greater accountability and decreases the likelihood that an assigned leader has been recycled from another parish where he used his power to prey
5
I think the solution to the Baptists' problem and the Catholics' problem is the same: greater accountability to the outside world. Part of why this sort of thing has gone on for so long is that religious organizations have been allowed to deal with it as an internal matter, and stonewall or sidestep outside authority. Crimes committed by clergy MUST be treated the same way under the law as crimes committed by anyone else. Alleged misconduct (or worse) must be investigated by independent authorities with no stake in preserving the status quo. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
7
I'm not an atheist but our son is. He has always said that so much of the world's problems are in the name of religion. I'm starting to believe him.
10
While it is necessary to expose structural supports for abuse (all kinds) in order to remove them, and necessary to build structural support and succor for those abused, don't we need to go at least one step beyond and build structures that prevent people from becoming abusers? It seems to me that anyone who has an urge to abuse children will find a place where it is relatively safe for them to do that. We will never be able to make the whole world - or even the whole neighborhood - completely safe and protected.
Do we have a clear understanding of what turns a person toward abusive behavior? Do we have a range of interventions to help them *before* they assault a child (or anyone else)? Do we have treatments to help an abuser control their urge to hurt others? Until we do, we're playing whack-a-mole -- make one place safe for children, and the problem will tunnel away somewhere else.
1
@R. T. Keeney Good points, however the crucial point not made is that rape is a crime, rapists must be accused, prosecuted, tried, convicted, removed from society while we’re learning about treatment for abusers and improving institutions. “Problems that tunnel” is rather euphemistic for finding, reporting, prosecuting powerful men who rape little children in churches. Making the world safe from rapists is a worthy goal. Catching and prosecuting rapists is an immediate objective.
1
Nuns teach, nurse, and counsel. All roles that were once restricted, in the Catholic Church.
During a recent hospital stay a lay woman brought me communion and prayed with me. Unheard of a few years ago!
They're ministering in so many ways, all roles of priesthood, what's the hold up on ordination?
2
Perhaps the real problem is the percentage of abusers exist in the population as a whole. Because of the supposed role of religion to codify and support morality, it appears more reprehensible, but, surely the indifference within the justice system to prosecuting abuse and rape exists alongside the protection of abusers by religious organizations.
I often see the statistic that 25% of women have experienced sexual abuse and harassment in their lifetimes.
Is there a statistic that shows that the there is a higher percentage of practicing religious as abusers as opposed to non religious.
Can religions legitimately use the argument that there isn't a problem with religion because everyone does it? Like Trump and his argument for redlining of minorities because everyone was doing it.
Which is worse, the hypocrisy of religion or of our legal systems?
Mr. Kristof: You need to rewrite your penultimate sentence.
A feminist revitalization will not save the Catholic Church.
Religious dogma does not change. Catholicism, like most other religions, is anachronistic and patriarchal by definition. Christ’s chief vicar, the Pope, has no interest in introspective and self-conscious amendments in keeping with the times. Neither does the College of Cardinals.
Why should they? The Church has served these so-called religious men well. They enjoy tenure lifetime tenure over millions of benighted parishioners.
The United States’ Constitution is subject to amendments in a continuous process of negotiation between Congress and state legislatures.
The Catholic Church encourages parishioners to prostrate themselves before priests because they are closer to God; Protestant elders control the pastor, including deciding his wages.
The Catholic Church is not open to negotiation or compromise. Therein lies its power and psychosis.
5
Whether it’s our government ( a woman president ) or our churches women are excluded from positions of power. The Catholic Church and the Baptist Church have relegated women to secondary status in their connection to God. How is this even possible today ... we have women brain surgeons, Supreme Court justices, fighter pilots, etc. ... ? Times Up on churches excluding women in priestly roles !
3
This is why I am an atheist. There was a time when religion was used to help the poor and the downtrodden. Now that it has been hijacked by the Right, it is now used to condemn and judge people who are not like them. It is also used to cover up sexual misdeeds whether it's Southern Baptists or The Vatican covering up priests' bad behavior.
7
I deeply don't understand how/why the story ruined Michael W. Leathers' career. Understand it doing so at a Southern Baptist publication (I mean yuck anyway) - but surely he could have found employment with a more mainstream, credible publication?
1
We cluck like hens over the Saudis just now allowing women to drive. Yet women’s rights haven’t advanced much further in the Catholic and Southern Baptist churches.
8
How utterly Freudian. Men are driven almost exclusively by sex. Give us money and we will use it to obtain sex. Give us power and we will exploit it for sex. Give us the power of God, and we will (usually) not even be questioned.
Some of us are able to control that instinct. But I'm not sure it's conscience. It may be just our understanding of power relationships.
3
This same inequality and conventional power structure empowers religious husbands to abuse their wives. Of course, much of that is also kept quiet, but I see it often in the conservative area where I live.
6
Thank you for this article and for the way you help shed light on a very ugly and painful situation. As a woman in ministry it can sometimes feel like patriarchy and toxic masculinity are so ingrained in the church/religion in general they will never be exorcized, and I am in a quite progressive church and denomination!
6
The idea of hypocrisy is not new and awareness of it, use of the term, engaging in it, accusing others of it are all commonplace in culture all over the world. A lifetime spent studying religion and engaging with people who identify as religious has made me aware of a bizarre phenomenon. When it comes to people who follow a specific religion and how they respond to criticism of members of their religion, it is routine for the religious person to appear to be almost blind to the idea of hypocrisy. Recently, a Catholic cardinal remarked that pedophiles are found throughout society, so why are people so inordinately critical of the church for this? It is as if there is a disconnect on the subject of hypocrisy. To make matters worse, people of that religion usually come to the wrongdoer’s defense. They say things like, “only God can judge.” This, despite the fact that most church leaders of the world’s various religions routinely judge others constantly, publicly and usually not in a forgiving or compassionate manner. We expect those who stand up on a pulpit day after day criticizing others for immorality or unethical behavior to practice what they preach. The pope recently said that people criticizing the church are in league with the devil, even while the church urges forgiveness for the pedophile priests? Hypocrisy is lost on the religious when it comes to wrong doing by members of their religion and I honestly have no idea why.
3
If the majority of parishioners cared enough this would end tomorrow. Here is a simple rule - completely boycott any religion that has aided and abetted child sexual abuse. If you are totally convinced the religion has thoroughly purged all sexual abuse and has taken all steps possible to make amends and be sure it will never happen again, then wait 10 YEARS and return. If there is a god, she will support you. Explain to me why there are millions among us who do not follow this rule. Ultimately, they own this abuse as much as anyone.
3
1601?
Clergy members/Church representatives should face the law of the land through the official actions of their denominations, not simply removal from the club, for their crimes.
3
The "all male" aspect is one issue.
The larger issue?
The church willingly Covering Up Sexual Predators.....Had each one been arrested, tried (and if warranted) convicted, this would *not* be an issue.
The cover up is worse than the original crime, it permits the assaults to continue over and over and over.
2
Well sir, thar ain't nuthin new under the sun. As wrote in "Grapes of Wrath":
The preacher spread out his hand and looked at his palm as though he were reading a book. "An' there's me," he went on softly. "There's me with all them people's souls in my han'—responsible an' feelin' my responsibility—an' ever time, I lay with one of them girls." He looked over at Joad and his face looked helpless. His expression asked for help.
4
It is important to separate the faith from the deeds of some aberrants.OC has been introduced to this country close to 2 Thou yrs ago Catholics + Beth Israels,etc. have been around close to that.These ancient faiths by supplying a moral structure have safeguarded millions against distractions that invite being a headache to society.I have seen many Catholics too who remained an asset to their society and quite good influences to those around them.Where Marxist-Leninis-Maoist dictatoships prevailed the dictators main tool in cementing their system is banning the above type organized religions and by so doing they destroy existing social fabrics.For societies whose moral structure is shaped by the omnipotence of the above religions there is no a similar replacement.That is why when this moral spiritual cushion is forcefully pulled out the lives of the people concerned gets ruined.The Morale of the above argument is that the presence of aberrants doesn't eliminate the intrinsic goodness of the faith 4 the faithful.However,a pressing question is how such deviants made their way into such Church's structure?, what precautions could be in place to prevent such deviancy?. Whether 1 is a Journalist, a scientist or any other professional he or she can be an advocate of the sanctity of their respective faith and still remain objective assessors of any important issue.Being objective is not the sole province of those who insist that objectivity requires rejecting all Organized R.TMD.
Nicholas, it is time for writers such as yourself to put to rest the notion that male dominated organized religion has any usefulness left other than the Dustbin of History. Human development has reached a point where we can now understand that spiritual awareness is best left to and nurtured by, the individual. Self appointed privileged White Males leading us to "god" need to stand down and join the Human Race.
2
To sove the problem of the statutory crime of child rape by clerics in any church, first requires redefing the nature of the offense and then invalidating all euphmism and obfuscation of the civil crime as a sin.
Only when child rape by clergy is labeled a civil crime committed in civil society will the absurditity of classifying the act as a sin against God cease. Jurisdiction is crucial. As a crime against “the people”, the proper venue for punishment is indictment and trial of the perpetrator and his conspirators in state criminal justice system. To permit the church to judge and punish guilt for rape committed by the church hierarch is to allow the church to be the judge of its own crimes. God punishes sin. Caesar punishes civil crimes.
3
I grew up in Frist Baptist, Dallas under W.A. Criswell. Now the church is run by Robert Jefress, religion reporter on Fox, and #1 Evangelical counselor to trump.
The church is a hot bed of evil. Really. I remember in the 60s and 70s how important mission work to Spanish people was. We made annual pilgrimages to build and do work on the border. We took in immigrants and helped them get settled. We even had a separate service on Sundays in Spanish. You look at the mission work the church is doing now and there going to Africa rather than the border. Jefress even said from the pulpit if an American didn't vote for Trump he/she sinned!
The Southern Baptist Church compromises mostly ignorant and insecure people.
9
It would be more powerful to use the word “rapist” when the clergy member raped someone. That’s not a word often used with “Pastor” or “Reverend” and it would catch people’s attention and perhaps heighten attention.
4
@Jim Stevens I agree totally. There are rapes being committed and hidden under the catch-all of "...sexual abuse..." or just "...abuse...".
cal;l it what it is. Charge the rapists and out them on trial.
This stuff is not complicated.
1
"embarrasses God." Unlikely. God, who committed genocide, endorsed slavery, and torments people for all eternity simply because they don't believe in him, would not be embarrassed. His standards are not high. Thankfully, he does not exist.
2
When are people going to realize that you don't need church to be religious and you don't necessarily need to be religious at all. I wouldn't expose my kids to any church right now. It seems that they are centers for child abuse.
3
The original premise of patriarchal religion, that of the "superiority" of men as a direct conduit to God, is collapsing like a deck of cards, mercifully.
1
Raised in an intensely religious (Catholic) household, I long ago concluded that religion was created by men to control women. Perhaps that is why religion also seems obsessed with sex and sexuality.
2
I think it’s relevant that many denominations emphasize Genesis 2 in the origin of Eve. In that account, Eve is built from one of Adam’s ribs, in effect making her subservient. Yet Genesis 1 tells a different story in which both sexes are created simultaneously, thus making them equal. Why the misogynistic insistence on the rib story?
1
Nicholas, the problem is not an all-MALE clergy, it's the idea of clergy to begin with.
God, if such a thing even exists, certainly would not need human intermediaries to communicate his will.
We are speaking of Christians here, who believe that god revealed his desire to people already in the past (hence, the Bible). So why should he not be able to communicate to everyone directly, rather than relying on ancient messages written down before the printing press?
Clergy are injected as an intermediary between people and god, and span the gap. But any time you put someone else between you and god you set them up for abuse of power. The entire idea that someone else can dictate to you because they are divine should be considered morally obscene. These are just fellow apes, there's nothing special about them. They share all our human failings and foibles, and should not have been put on a pedestal to begin with.
4
I was raised in the Catholic Church. As a child, we were taught never to question the Bible, the Church, or the priests. I was never abused, but I can understand why so many victims never came forward.
Religion puts regular, fallible men in positions of authority, so powerful as to be second only to God. How is a child supposed to defend against that? How are they supposed to feel safe in telling anyone of the abuse?
All of the religions have had issues with abuse over the years. It's not just the Catholics or Baptists. Child predators have obviously come to the conclusion that the Church is the perfect place for them. Because even if they're caught, they pay no consequence. Maybe they get moved to another church. Maybe they suffer a bit of private embarrassment or shame. But other than that, their lives carry on as normal, all while leaving a trail of destroyed lives in their wake.
2
I grew up Southern Baptist in Alabama, amid the dichotomy of strong Southern women who worked to support their families (my mother was one of them) while insisting that God required them to "submit" to their husbands' leadership. As an adolescent, I was taught to be "a righteous fox" in order to bring men into the Southern Baptist fold. I wasn't supposed to sleep with them, but I was supposed to lure them.
I saw women kow-towing to men simply because these men self-identified as "good Christian men," even if their actions in no way lined up with their self-portrayals. It sickened me then. It sickens me now. Deacons, pastors, and even male Sunday school teachers enjoyed a status that often had nothing to do with their character, everything to do with their gender.
14
When is that time when we stop treating religious institutions and their members as sacred cows and when we start applying the law to their conduct. They are not above the law because they represent religion. It is as simple as that.
13
I grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition. At least in our community, the welcoming of the stranger, the meaningful support of the poor and the willingness to engage in work to make the community better was so impressive to me. It seemed to me that the people in our congregation really did try to walk the walk. And as Mr. Kristof has acknowledged in the past, many Christians have contributed much to helping the world.
But, I ended up leaving because of the leadership and their failure to embrace the people who were holding up more than half the sky in the church, namely women. To devalue talented female teachers and preachers by saying that God did not want them to be in religious authority is ridiculous, not to mention the terrible advice friends have received over the years to stay with abusive spouses and the hypocrisy of many in positions of power in the church. Jesus would weep.
Those in church authority should remember: "Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." James 3:1 NIV
8
The problem is not exactly that only men are ordained (priests empowered to celebrate the sacraments) but that for the most part until recently only ordained men have been in positions of leadership.
You don’t inherently need a collar to manage a parish, set policy and budget, lead the religious education and ministries, teach theology, or be part of a canon law tribunal.
The badness of men is hardly news, but is it really the reason that this is happening?
I don't think so. I think that organized religion make a wonderful home for abusers. If you can convince a credulous group of people that you are the guy (or gal) who talks to, and for, God, then you get to do whatever you want. It happens in all religions. If you are God's guy (or girl), that's a license to steal, abuse, whatever. It's not just men that do this. Real about the nuns running orphanages in Vermont and other places.
So even though it's easy and ever-so-stylish to blame men for this and everything else, it's a shallow analysis and obscures the real issue. It's all about control, and what better place to do it than in church?
2
@Ken It brings to mind the homes for unwed mothers in Ireland that were run by nuns where the babies were cruelly taken from the mothers who were "fallen women."
No woman, except but one according to legend, became pregnant without a sperm "donor".
1
The proscription against questioning authority is the cornerstone of clerical power. So long as this is their business model (as opposed to the communal nature of early Christianity) we will have men doing everything and anything they can to hold on to their position of power.
4
This will go down as one of my favorite articles of all time. It should be read by every one who identifies as christian (as I do). A totally empowering piece within a dynamic, or phenomenon that inspires rage. Thank you Mr. Kristof.
4
Thank you, Mr. Kristof, for citing Mary Daly and acknowledging the patriarchy. Would that those who belong to "no women at the top" churches would open their hearts and minds to the possibility that the ancient writings on which they base their "god wants only men in charge!" belief are a product of their times, needing to be interpreted and weighted in the light of Jesus's life and teachings. People: there are Christian denominations out there that ordain women and that are welcoming to all. Methodist, Congregational, Lutheran, Episcopal, Northern Baptist, etc. Look for a healthy community.
5
@AS "there are Christian denominations out there that ordain women and that are welcoming to all. Methodist, Congregational, Lutheran, Episcopal, Northern Baptist, etc"
Add Presbyterian Church - P.C.-U.S.A.
1
These articles and comments seem to assert that religious activity is normal and a given. Considering the preaching of mythology and the never ending collection plate (spreading the Gospel--leave people alone) to say nothing of evil personified seems enuf reason to enjoy the real world each day without promise of "everlasting life". Babies are not born into "sin". Sin is manufactured by patriarchal men who want grovelling for forgiveness. Huey!
6
Actually these people are even worse than that. They believe that men are inherently sinful, will sin (ie, be sexual predators), and then will ask for forgiveness. Someone forgives them. Repeat process. Pence is in this group - which is why he won't be in the same room with another woman unless his wife is present. He knows he is a sexual predator, so this is his way of dealing with it. The churches are full of these supposedly religious people. The church does not exist to stop them from doing it, rather it exists to give them an excuse to keep doing it.
2
While visiting a Coptic Church in Cairo, Egypt, we were told that any male who wanted to become a priest had to be educated, married with children and could not join because they ran away from life outside the church. They had to be mentally stable. Only then could they relate to the average person within their church. It made a lot of sense to me.
6
Allowing women to become priests and pastors might make churches safer for their parishioners, but the evils of Christianity itself would remain. We are talking about a religion that promises eternal salvation to child molesters, sexual predators, and every other kind of reprobate in return for simply accepting the divinity of Jesus, and which promises eternal damnation to anyone else who refuses to.
It is nonsense and it is evil, and it has encouraged every kind of irresponsible behavior by individuals, governments, and societies for the last 2000 years.
The spread of Christianity is the greatest catastrophe of human history, and it will probably remain so no matter who is promoting it.
4
maybe, with all the "fake news" flaps, not to mention some common sense about "human nature," (the most facile dodge of all), and all the "if that turns out to be true..." tropes maybe the times can tae the lead in sharpening the dull edges of critical examination and restore inquiry, the sharp edge of analysis and argument..
under every rock, (be said rock a church, a university, a media outlet, even a congress), there is some kind of critter,..how about no more judgements without lifting the rocks?
in law the critical practice, when questions are answered or stones thrown, is "qui bono, ' who or what benefits?
once upon a time beginning reporters were told to consider that... always.
The most holy worship is to awake thankful, to be grateful throughout the day for those people, items and pursuits that enrich our lives, and to treat strangers as if they were part of our family.
Organized religion, in too many instances, runs counter to this and is a total charade. And it is also, too frequently, a cover for brutal gang violence. Exit church and go exalt everyday holiness everywhere.
Religion is not found in a cloak or facade; it is available in every moment, wherever we are
5
@hotGumption
Thank you, that was great! I'm making a copy to keep.
My disgust with most religion, in general, is their blatant hypocrisy on top of their made-up rules.
Re-Build the Wall - that is Separation of Church and State.
8
This is not a problem of the Baptist or Roman Catholic Church ,it’s a Religion problem.Hopefully, this may be a blessing in disguise.There is nothing holy in the religion business . It’s like any other business, where corruption & evil revel.It’s the best kind of business that controls the minds of their Flock & their wealth, and do not pay taxes. It’s great to be a Pastor, Priest, Rabbi.orMufti.When will God punish these hypocrites that do evil in your name.
2
a wise friend said of the right wing "christians" who preach hate and act in all ways as the opposite of love: the louder they talk about it the less they act like it
2
This is the best editorial I have ever read on clerical sexual abuse. I couldn't agree more.
2
It's not just Baptists or Catholics; it's all organized religion.
When any human being claims to have a direct line to God, to have His private cell phone number, the door to misbehavior is already open.
Those fools who look to human beings, pastors, priests to tell them the TRUTH, to look to a book for all the answers deserve everything their folly brings them. They are asking for trouble.
3
Was it Cicero who remarked about the clerics in his time that he didn't understand how they could suppress breaking out in laughter when they ran into one another on the street?
1
Nope. Not Cicero. Thanks for playing; better luck next time.
1
The hypocrisy of evangelicals never ceases to amaze.
5
Nick
Ordaining women gives them a greater stake in the rot.
You hit it on the head here..... .....as long as “men of God” are unaccountable, then sexual assaults will continue.
All the rapists sodomizers and blind administrators need to be placed in the stocks in the public square.
Keep reporting Nick.
1
I think Jesus would just say, "Go for a walk in the woods." Skip all the other nonsense.
1
Excellent article
1
So much for the misguided notion that if priests were allowed to marry child rape would be less of a problem. Baptists have no restrictions on marriage, they encourage it.
The child rapist needs opportunity. Does it occur to anyone that no child should be alone with a priest or preacher for any reason? All hierarchy breeds arrogance, self righteousness, being above rules. Hierarchy makes the rules for that matter.
Krishnamurti’s favorite story was about a man walking along with the devil. Ahead of them, a man stopped, bent down and picked up a piece of paper, read it and continued on his way.
The man with the devil said, ‘I wonder what was on that paper?’
The devil said, ‘Oh, it was a bit of the truth.’
‘That’s bad news for you then.’
The devil replied, ‘Not at all, I’m going to help him organize it.’
How can this church say it has any moral superiority?...How is any understanding or undertaking or firm purpose of amendment to be allowed, when the original sin, so to say – the radix malorum (root of evil), the fons et origo, the problem in the first place – is the belief on the part of this church that it does possess a truth that we don’t have, and it does have a God-given right – a warrant – a mandate of heaven – to tell other people what to do, not just in their public but in their private lives. And until that is changed – until that fantastic and sinister and non-founded claim is changed – these crimes will go on repeating themselves, being partially denied, partially admitted when it is too late to do anything else, and covered up. ~Christopher Hitchens
1
The Episcopal Church has opened its doors to women clergy and successfully at that.
Maybe it is time for a religious #me too.
1
“God did not create man in his own image. Evidently, it was quite the other way about, which is the painless explanation for the profusion of gods and religions, and the fratricide both between and among faiths, that we see all about us and that has so retarded the development of civilization.”
---the late, great, Christopher Hitchens
2
What is the deal with highly religious people thinking they can get away with crimes - do they really think their God won't notice or is it they really do not believe? And yet the demand we follow them and believe them.
'And as long as inequality is baked into faith, as long as “men of God” are unaccountable, then sexual assaults will continue.' Alas, sexual assaults will very likely continue long after inequality is reduced or eliminated. And accountability should be the norm now, regardless of who's in charge.
1
Does the article's almost euphemistically named "sexual misconduct" occur predominantly in Christian organizations? I don't know the answer to that question, but we certainly don't hear much if anything about sexual abuse in Jewish temples or Muslim mosques. And perhaps among Christians, the problems are most pronounced among the more patriarchal sects.
In any event, I celebrate the rise of the "nones." According to the latest Pew survey, nones (atheists, agnostics, and other unaffiliates) in the U.S. have increased more than any religious affiliation and will very soon represent more than one-fourth of the population.
1
If God is love, isn't it easier to then think of God as a loving Mother? Even to start the Lord's prayer with Our Mother who art in heaven, gives more warmth and peace.
Separating women from men in Jewish and Muslim worship traditions leads one to ponder. Is it to escape temptation? Maintain power? Avoid encountering the deeper truths of being human and accountable? And what then?
I always love the assertion that Jesus is god incarnate, but reasonable people today completely understand there are no such things as demons, but Jesus, as quoted in Mark 7:24-30, a dude, supposed spawn of the entity responsible for the expansion of the universe couldn't sort this out 2000 years ago. Yet, for the past 2000 years of all the "you need God to be good" or "fear god" or "love god" teachings, the flock responsible for handing down borrowed ethics/moral teachings are the worst offenders and show no evidence that such teachings are effective at actually being moral or ethical. And Christians wonder why non-religion makes more sense, are are yet terrified at these facts for fear of actually acting humanely firstly before crying about how their Christianity is threatened by critical thinking. Ya think!?
1
Organized religion is the worst scourge ever perpetrated on humankind, responsible for millions of deaths and an unfathomable amount of human misery.The Bible has been used to justify America's original sin of slavery and the vile, toxic misogyny that Mr. Kristof exposes in his commentary.
I'm reminded of Epicurus, who in circa 300 B.C., made the most cogent argument I've yet encountered to deny the existence of God. He focused on the confrontation between God and evil. Here are his four possibilities (syntax subject to my recall): (1) If God is able to stop evil, but does not, then he is indifferent to suffering; (2) If he is willing to stop evil, but not able, then he is not all-powerful; (3) if he is both willing and able to stop evil, then whence cometh evil? and, (4) if God is neither willing nor able to stop evil, then he is not God.
2
You are aware, I suppose, that this a disputed quote of Epicurus, who had no concept of Christianity and the notion that all mankind is created with free will.
1
Patriarchy is the problem. Unless religions commit to recognizing women and men as fully human and valued the abuses will continue.
2
A tragedy,another example in the banality of evil.
Among observers of the sex scandal within the Roman Catholic clergy are some who believe that celibacy is at the root of the problem, and that if Catholic priests were allowed to marry, the problem would disappear or be greatly reduced. The Southern Baptist sex scandal suggests that it is not that simple. Sexual abuse of children by clergy exists in many if not all religions, Christian and non-Christian. It must be exposed and perpetrators must be punished by civil law. Personally I favor allowing Catholic priests to marry but I have no illusions about this eliminating sexual child abuse.
2
Love it when I find articles and everyday readers agree with me.
1
I belong to a world-wide church founded by a woman. It has no clergy; is democratically run by its members and focuses its attention on teaching and healing as Jesus did in the Bible. It doesn't hold political positions; doesn't tell you how to vote or who to love; and holds to what the Bible says about God's creation: There is neither male nor female, Greek nor Jew, bond nor free.
IN keeping with that, all church positions are equally held by men and women, from staffing child care and Sunday School to leading the services and serving on the 7 member board.
All elected positions are for 3 years.
I won't name the organization, but it rarely makes the news.
It publishes a Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper.
There's a branch right about Washington Square, if you want to visit or just come in, read Bibles and religious texts, testimonies of church member healings, pray or ask questions.
All are welcome.
A happier congregation you will not find, anywhere.
1
Quite a bit here about what this religion does not do, and not enough about what it does do.
It discourages it’s followers from obtaining medical care and holds that physical challenges are the result of an improper understanding of God.
It discourages medical care for children; it’s paid practitioners have been charged with being accomplices to the failure to treat diabetes in children.
The downside of this belief has now been sufficiently illuminated that the number of adherents continues to decline.
1
@Marion Cooley
People constantly confuse the religion's mission with healing the body. That's not it. It's spiritual healing; drawing closer to God; leading a Christly life. Period. Physical healing is often an outgrowth of that direct, one-on-one communication with God, but it is not the primary objective. If it was, the church would have closed its doors a long time ago. But it hasn't. It is growing world-wide though it has had declines in membership in the US, as you note. But so has every mainstream church (though not on the scale of people leaving Catholicism).
I know both members who have health insurance and those who don't, same as in the general population. Some go to doctors, some don't: same as in the general population.
I lost three dear friends to cancer in the last two years, by the way. None were church members. Two had extensive medical treatment. One was a healthcare professional who went the natural route (herbal supplements, no doctors). I mourn them. And I certainly didn't question their choices. They made them in good faith. But medical treatment does not = life eternal. On that, I hope, we can agree.
Consider a thinking experiment. Is it possible that the issue is hierarchical, authoritarian and doctrinal RELIGION itself that is the problem? And that we all need to grow up and not look to a big daddy to direct and organize our lives ? Do we not all need to confront our own irrational desire for institutions that tell us how to act, think, feel and live ? Do religions not foster and encourage and support abuse of power by those thirsting for a kind of leadership only religion could offer ? Could it be that each of us needs the courage to think for ourselves based in rationality, science and the evidence or reality ? The fictions of religion create an environment that itself creates "gods" on the earth who demand and get our obedience and passive assent. True faith is when each person can stand with integrity without the trappings of RELIGION in its pretendings and mythology.
2
Like the Catholic Church, Southern Baptists are embarked on their own 'conversion therapy'. They will point to the efforts to rationalize their inevitable failure. And they'll once again return to treating symptoms--over and over again a la Catholicism--rather than the causes.
Individual priest predators are a symptom, not a cause. The real problems are structural.
As long as both churches relegate women to second class citizens, denying them high positions of spiritual and administrative responsibility, the problems will continue. Look to Catholicism for two thousand years of failure. Southern Baptists may lack the rich history of abuse but they are catching up quickly in aberrant, predatorial and avoidable behavior.
The solutions are readily available for Southern Baptists. It is only the elder male problem that stands in the way. Where have we heard that before?...
I'm reminded of a scene from the iconic film, "Old Yeller". A black man is relating how he mistakenly entered a white church and was lucky to escape with his life. In the telling, God appears to him and complements him on gaining entrance explaining that he has been trying for years to get into that church without success.
It seems that God is still trying to find a way into the Southern Baptist Church. Just be glad you're not Catholics for whom Church hierarchy trumps reform. Baptists enjoy readily available solutions.
And remember, spirituality withers without light...
1
While it's difficult to tease out cause and effect, we must remember that many denominations are built around the belief of blind obedience to faith and to the men of the cloth, including Catholicism which adheres to the notion of Papal infallibility. This includes the belief that even when Popes have disagreed, both are still infallible and both are still right. Such adherence to belief over reason and questioning fosters an environment where we do not question God, the teachings of the church, and as an extension, the men who run the church.
In short, many denominations are authoritarian in structure. And, as the saying goes, authority without accountability fosters corruption and abuse.
Many churches have shown a stubborn and criminal unwillingness to police clergy and hold them accountable. So perhaps the only other option is to start questioning the authority of these incredibly flawed yet somehow infallible church leaders.
3
"Abuse of Faith: Investigation reveals 700 victims of Southern Baptist sexual abuse over 20 years"
By Robert Downen, Lise Olsen, John Tedesco
February 9, 2019, Houston Chron
“Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention have declined for more than a decade to create a list of sexual predators from affiliated churches….
The newspapers spent nearly a year building a database of church leaders and volunteers who pleaded guilty or were convicted of sex crimes in the past 20 years. Most are now in prison or are registered sex offenders. More are from Texas than from any other state."
"The sin of silence: The epidemic of denial about sexual abuse in the evangelical church"
By Joshua Pease Washington Post, May 31, 2018
"As clergy abuse summit begins, survivors say Vatican must act" Boston Globe
By Mark Arsenault, Feb. 21, 2019
17 Baptists and Evangelicals in the Senate,
15 Republican and 2 Democrats.
22 Catholics in the Senate,
10 Republican and 12 Democrats.
Senators should allow legitimate, non-partisan law enforcement to complete the investigations into the Trump administration.
Instead of impeding the inquiries through transparent partisan interference they should instead focus on the religious organizations in their states and the leaders of the churches they attend, who foster, and may even engage in, the sexual assault of their constituents' children, grandchildren, and other congregants.
Unless they feel that loyalty to party transcends the safety of children.
5
I am all for women in the clergy, especially in the Catholic church, taking as an example the reference to the 'apostle Junia' in one of his epistles. Early on, this reference to a woman in the early church was 'corrected' to Junias, the masculine form of the name that never was used in antiquity. Nowadays most biblical scholars accept Junia as a woman. The initial form of Christianity did not have a clergy at all, and leadership of a congregation's gatherings rotated among the congregants, men and women alike. The all-male clergy was a later power grab, much like our current political and religious predicament. The books of respected biblical scholars Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman are well worth looking at in this regard. The present day churches are a distortion of their original form. Hardly surprising.
4
You cannot get further from the teachings of Jesus than the practices and behavior of the so-called "evangelicals." Do they really think they are fooling anyone by supporting liars, cheaters, and adulterers like Trump? I bet their God isn't fooled.
9
One GLARING fact that both the Southern Baptist leaders and the Vatican fail to mention is the searing comment made by Jesus , in the Gospel of Mathew, 18:6 "But if anyone , causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea".
A powerful statement of the one who cared for and loved people!
Are pastors and priests who molest children, but claim to follow Christ, blind?
3
@Kenell Touryan : How can an innocent victim's involvement in sexual abuse be described as "sin"? I think you've chosen the wrong verse to condemn molesters.
When I read the headline, I thought it was yet another article on the Catholic Church.
Sad!
2
Bronze Age mythology made more sinister by Dark Age superstition perpetuated by centuries of political machinations. When will we escape this religious lunacy?
5
When someone with the authority of a teacher, say, describes the world and you are not in it, there is a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked in the mirror and saw nothing. Yet you know you exist and others like you, that this is a game with mirrors. It takes some strength of soul—and not just individual strength, but collective understanding—to resist this void, this nonbeing, into which you are thrust, and to stand up, demanding to be seen and heard. Adienne Rich
5
Rapists and pedophiles in positions of authority, trust and power aka athletes, coaches,entertainers,physicians, politicians, police, preachers and priests deserve the harshest criminal justice and civil law treatment. No mercy. No excuses. No explanations.
5
No woman should be a member of a religion where women are banned from ordination and positions of power. Walk out, now. Why would you dig your own grave?
8
If, as Karl Marx pronounced, "Religion is the opium of the people," then it also is, by the widespread nature of is abusive behavior across all flavors of Christianity, the Viagra of the clergy.
2
Almost all religions were created by men to dominate women.
4
Who is in a position to rule out the hypothesis that these abominable churchly creeps are in fact carrying out "God's Will"? If said God can "work in mysterious ways," why can't such a being also work in deleterious ways? Oh yeah, I forgot, we little peabrained humans just can't understand.
1
“So Leathers is no longer a journalist, and Mason remained a pastor.”
Was Mr. Leathers unable to find a job elsewhere as a journalist? Or did he want to be only a Baptist journalist?
I am going to take a wild guess here and say that not a single one of the sex criminals referred to in this article was ever deprived of his right to vote for Donald Trump.
4
One more example of how men of god hide their failures.
2
The male of most primate species is hard-wired for battle, dominance and power. Often in nature only these successful alphas breed and presumably the next generation also has the same tendencies and personality, the right measure of testosterone, readiness for fight or flight, rage mode and dominance. Naturally the female of the species also tend to self-select these "winners" and nurture the offspring to embody these same characteristics. Everyone understands this because we're all homo sapiens. But religion is supposed to lift us beyond our merely animal selves. Christianity specifically teaches us how to do unto others and does not suggest that the others not include women. These crimes rob everyone, not just the victims. Criminal clergy rob people's faith. Another problem: many religions pretend that God is masculine. Not true. Orthodox Judaism, the faith of the Messiah, Yashua (his God-given name according to the Gospel), a Jewish rabbi, knew that God was all powerful and all encompassing. To assign a sex to God, to limit God in any way was therefore blasphemy! But what does the Messiah know, right? God's teachings are forgotten by the Tea Party and others today. Fundamentalists like to focus not on healing tortured souls, but simply on the Cross, sacrifice and blind submission. Not to uplift us but to actually encourage animal behavior. They use their "Christianity" to knowingly destroy the entire flock. Woe to us.
4
Once you believe that priests, ministers, rabbis, and all other supposed masters of religion are closer to God than you are because of their calling, you've given them a pass to act on their human weaknesses and allowed yourself to be subjugated.
This is their power, and it has been dominated my males.
3
@Michael Piscopiello
And money.
Chris Hitchens was right.
4
Much the same as the catholic church.
3
Pastors are All-powerful in the SBC and the Church teaches male domination and female submission. A recipe for rape.
2
In Greek mythology Zeus takes on the form of a swan and rapes a mortal, married woman. Helen of Troy is the result. In the Christian story God, sometimes depicted as a dove, impregnates a mortal woman who is betrothed to someone else, Joseph. Jesus is the result. In modern times, men of God prey upon children. Is there a lesson here?
2
There is a touch of irony that the priests made habit of praying to little baby Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mother, neither of whom would have been safe in the physical presence of these same holy men.
4
@KB Men know they will always be excluded by nature from that group of two. Some of them feel better believing they have control over it.
Religious patriarchy is a scourge.
2
There are no gods. The damage that beliefs in gods has caused the human being is beyond measure.
Religion is the most destructive force in the universe. Free your minds.
There are no gods.
3
Perfect logic. I guess this is why we never hear of sexual abuse in the field of education? Since it’s a female dominated fiend, sexual abuse is rare or non-existent?
I think not.
“‘If God is male,’ Mary Daly, the feminist theologian, wrote, ‘then the male is God.’”
Mary Daly’s dictum is spot on. Having been raised in a religious tradition very similar to the Southern Baptist denomination, I was taught from a very early age that God wanted all domestic power and authority to reside in my father, and that specifically he was the indisputable “head” of my mother, his wife, according to Ephesians 5:23 in the New Testament (“the husband is the head of the wife”).
What I witnessed in my own home, as well as in so many others, including Southern Baptist homes, was not the interpretation of Ephesians 5:23 as popularly laid out by the late Billy Graham, whereby the emphasis on headship is on love and care, nurture and protection. Rather it was an emphasis on power and control, on authority and domination. That’s why Nick’s point is so crucial: the inclusion of female clergy can’t help but mitigate power and control, and can’t help but cultivate nurture and protection.
4
The idea that tweaking the leadership structure of religious organizations is a cure for the modern-day sexual scandals we are learning about ignores the ultimate cause: religion itself. Or, more precisely, a religion grounded on ancient (pro-male) observations and philosophies that have little relevance today given everything we now know about our world and ourselves.
The insular institutions that arise from these shared, imaginative beliefs, necessarily will develop policies designed to protect the institution at the expense of individuals. Just as our brains function to deceive us if necessary for survival, so, too, will the controlling structure of faith-based human institutions operate to deceive if necessary to survive. Indeed, aren't we now discussing the results of ancient misunderstandings about sex, both in terms of gender and the complexities associated with sexual desire?
More women in leadership roles may well diminish the sexual scandals among church leaders, but it will not address the insanity--and the acts arising therefrom--that comes with being convinced (a) to believe something for which no evidence exists; and (b) you hold the exclusive key to everlasting salvation. Fix the religion problem and countless other problems, including men who think of themselves as gods, will vanish.
2
Organized religion has become a safe harbor for deviant behavior--rape, child molestation, abuse--at the same time leaders in some Christian sects preach the holiness of wealth and the degradation of women. The Falwells and Robertson are just two of many guilty of these outrages. One wonders why so many continue to follow this sickness, in which the spiritual has been replaced with "virtues" of business and rank hypocrisy.
2
There is an answer.....If your congregation of whatever denomination does not deal with such behavior and tries to remain a male led organization that covers up rather than atones for its sins, stop putting money in the collection basket and leave. The problem with the Catholic church is it hasn't paid the price yet. Literally. If people moved to inclusive and accountable congregations and took their money with them, things would change. But as long as the church leaders act with impunity and the coffers never suffer, "we will look into it" suffices as accountability. Always remember God is open for business 24/7. Everywhere. And you don't have to pay to get heard. So if you don't like what you are seeing and hearing in the church you attend, shop around until you find what you are looking for. Your prayers will be answered. You don't have to accept sins from your earthly spiritual leaders for that to happen.
258
@walking man
OMG!!! My wife just showed me your comment and said “this is EXACTLY (WORD FOR WORD) what you have been saying for the past few years”.
You have hit the nail on the head - things will change very quickly if the actions you mention are implemented. I myself have been a practicing Catholic all my life until this behavior by priests was uncovered. I absolutely refuse to participate in a religion that is involved in the abuse of innocent children and pedophilia. Weekly contributions to the church are only contributing to the legal defense of the abusers. In addition to the recommendations made by this commenter, the only logical solution to these horrific abuses is to allow priests to marry, as most other religions do. After being a Catholic all my life, I now am a proud member of Christ Church, a Protestant religion.
92
@walking man
24/7 and on your oen terms.
Exactly, there is no need for 'churches', a historical entity carried from the past to presence by the power and need for power by the so called people of God.
6
@walking man. There are still a number of denominations that take such a literal view of the Bible ( often the KJV - which by the way was not translated from original languages) that men seem to be the only ones being spoken to. However if one looks at the life of Jesus (Emmanuel = God with us), it is pretty clear that He had a much higher view of women than most men in such denominations.
7
Bravo, Mr. Kristof. A leading pastor in these parts has transported his sexual additions and abuse from church to church and, despite discovery and losing pastoral positions, is now teaching in a respected seminary. It is a fraternity of men of God ignoring or refusing to police men of God to the suffering of so many.
1
Interestingly, one of the most conservative evangelical churches, the Pentacostal Church, ordains women and the most progressive of the main line churches, Episcopal/Church of England does, too.
When churches become fiefdoms, as are all the Baptist mega churches, the members become its serfs from whom money, not field labor, is demanded. The head preachers are millionaires and absolute rulers.
3
If churches don't allow both or all sexes to serve as pastors or priests, they will never solve this. I know of a drug related issue in the Catholic Church where the police notified the bishop, but agreed to keep the story private and let the church move the priest. The male cops and male clergy work together. But also, as some comments point out, some parents don't want these stories spread about their children. Human fear of scandal must be very strong. A line from Monty Python comes to mind, "Run away, run away!" Humans can be kind of despicable.
1
These activities have been going on in the church for millenia. The list of popes includes more corrupt, autocratic mysoginists than the leaders of most of the rest of the counties of the world combined. The good charitable work has been done by parishoners. It is a shame they must suffer with the hierarchy and its victims.
1
Patriarchy above all else in a religious institution reveals the impossibility of a woman being elevated to a senior pastor position and yet continues to turn a blind eye to child abuse. As long as this continues, child abuse continues.
1
Oh,please, for “god’s sake”, for “Christ’s sake”, let’s do away with all these institutions that have become political moneymakers and start taking responsibility for our own “sins” and foibles! There are too many hypocrites calling the shots for these institutions to be saved. Christ’s teachings were important,as were the teaching of many Greek and Roman philosophers. We can live by those without the churches. Frankly, I cannot understand why any parent,anywhere,would allow a child to be left alone with a priest, no matter how “loved” that priest may be. Time for all of us to grow up and live good lives without all that nonsense!
3
When I said something about the sexual abuse from the Youth director in our Evangelical church on NYT . I received a comment from a woman protesting saying she didn’t believe a evangelical church would have that in it .duh!
It’s in many churches , but it’s the Catholic Church that is talked about . I compliment them on addressing this issue
Keep your head in the sand lady and don’t send your child to youth camp they may wait until adults to tell you like my son did .
By the way, wish I had my tithes and support back to give to a credible organization.
couldn’t drag me into that organizations church.
1
There is a larger perspective here, about patriarchal privilege. Christian and Catholic Churches are patriarchal, and that sense of male privilege underlies the abuse of girls, women, boys, men around the world in various contexts. The idea of that male privilege, that ‘they can grab [whomever] by the genitals’, that others exist for purposes of my pleasure and power, is the root of all of these abuses. Call it what it is — patriarchal abuse of power, across the board.
4
The white male run Southern Baptist sect was pro-slavery from 1845 to 1995 and has been misogynistic throughout its history. The most extreme members populate the Dominionist and Seven Mountains movements which seek to impose an Evangelical Theocracy on America.
2
Show me ANY religion where women are not given equal leadership roles with men, and I will show a religion filled with violence, corruption, and degradation. It is a universal, global problem.
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@Here's The Thing: True. And historically, lack of female leadership is also seen in our government, in sports organizations, and in higher levels of corporations. Thus violence, corruption, and degradation are not solely located in churches.
2
This is one of the best columns ever written on the subject. I loved it. Also, though: I am tiring of hearing the occasional admired woman described as "strong." It assumes she's an anomaly among her sex and that all men are strong by default. But there is nothing strong about hiding behind your entitlement while raping women and children and then squalling like a baby when someone reports it. Just as an example. Strength has nothing to do with gender.
1
Once again, preservation of an institution is given priority over the well-being of children; Penn State football, USA gymnastics, the Catholic Church...and the list goes tragically on.
3
Was Mary given a choice? No. Why should other women expect one when God gave Mary no choice?
Religions - all religions - are human constructs and until we mature enough to come to terms with that singular fact all manner of abuses and misbehaviours will be tolerated in the name of Gawwwwwd!
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@stilldana
Yes, Mary was given a choice. She chose to "obey" and accept the call and the service God gave her. She could have had an abortion, you know. They knew how, even then.
Here's the good news: there is no god. Here's the bad news: all the treachery and evil done in the name of one is perpetuated by men (yes, men) on the pretext that there is one and that they have some inside track to this god so they can use some fabricated power based on such a belief to abuse other human beings. It might actually be the single greatest, most far-reaching crime in human existence.
2
As long as millions of sheep tolerate their church’s abhorrent behavior by subjugating themselves to its power and thievery, as long as the adulation of big church remains, its cult leaders will continue to protect and condone the predation of children.
3
Nicholas: You are my favorite columnist, along with David Brooks, at the Times. The reason for this is your unremitting passion for the poor and disenfranchised. But I often find myself wishing you'd stop writing about religion. Your conversations with prelates and theologians are often puerile, your "concerns" sophomoric. I share, of course, your scandal at abuses in my church, the Catholic Church and among the Baptists as well. But turning to Union Theological Seminary for answers, and getting the by now problematized and threadbare theories of "masculine religion," you are, of course, finding what you already believe. You will note that the Pope's first prayer was to ask for Mary's intersession and guidance. Please take some time off and read Charles Taylor's magisterial, "A Secular Age." Secularism, even when disguised as progressive Christianity-seriously read Taylor-is no solution at all.
2
Male abuse of power over children, women and young men is one commonality that binds all the world's religions together. When male authority is unquestionable, expect the worst.
4
It seems to me that one of the issues that face the Sountern Baptists, the Roman Catholics, and other religious communities that have tolerated child sex abuse is the treatment of these violations as "mistakes," or "errors in judgment," of offenses to which penance and prayer are solutions. In most all of these cases, these acts are crimes. These are violent sex offenses committed by men in power, against children whose lives are often severely damaged by these sexual crimes.
Many of the victims of the sex crimes suffer psychological damage during their lives, and some have committed suicide. And yet, these disordered and dysfunctional churches treat these serious offenses as missteps, amenable to treatment by prayer and reflection. This approach makes these institutions complicit in serial sex crimes for which they should be held accountable in both criminal and civil courts.
These churches are often refuges for pedophiles. Thes men that learn in their lives that they are attracted sexually to children gravitate toward churches, schools, Boy Scouts, and choir groups. It is incumbent upon these institutions to appreciate that their own institutions are magnets for these kinds of abusers, and adopt strict screening and reporting protocols so that these pedophiles can be exposed, prosecuted and rooted out of these institutions.
2
Wouldn't it be nice if we finally got serious about punishing sexual abuse, especially of children, regardless of where or when it happens, or which institution is culpable in a cover up.
Step one - Eliminate the statute of limitations on all sexual crimes.
Step two - Establish in black letter law that the use of familial DNA to track down and prosecute sexual crimes is permissible.
Step three - Pass legislation that imposes a life sentence for a second sexual offense, with a mandatory 30 year sentence for the first offense.
Step four - Any tax exempt organization who systematically covers up sexual abuse shall lose their tax exempt status for a period of 5 years. A second occurrence of covering up abuse results in a permanent loss of tax exempt status.
If this sounds too radical you have never experienced sexual abuse.
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@Yakker
You are too generous.
Permanent loss of tax exempt status should be enforced with the proof of first offence.
1
Misogyny and male domination. Systemic throughout history and the largest and most influential religions and governments.
That’s why you find the same crimes in nearly all societies.
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By the time I was 23, I realized that I didn't believe:
Genesis 1.1: In the beginning God...
So I no longer could believe anything that followed.
However, Mr. Kristof, you are wrong.
Rapists who call themselves (fill in the blank for the religion) are "men of God." In fact, that's exactly what they are.
Sexually assaulting women and children didn't even make it into God's top ten list of sins...because it's NOT a sin. Owning slaves is not a sin either.
However, watch out men. It is a top ten sin to covet your neighbor's wife.
2
What frustrates, no angers me most is when these submissive women are so complicit. They not only “voluntarily” hurt themselves, but their children, their daughters AND sons, as well as all other women in this country. Over and over again we see the scam of these evangelical leaders, bleeding their congregations of their donations for their own gain and raping their congregants. Yet these women remain not just silent, but angry at the media or congregants who dare bring light to this darkness.
Religion served its purpose in the cave days and early formation of societies. But I fear, the way all religions have evolved, or perhaps devolved, that they have outlived their purpose and good. It’s almost cliche now to say religion and each one’s claim to superiority causes war and hate, and will not protect us from this dying planet.
Perhaps it’s time for another 40 year flood - perhaps G-d’s hand is involved in global warming to end this current evolution to Towers of Babel and Greed.
1
Yes, there are men who treat women violently, harshly, cruelly. Power over women, often expressed with physical and mental harm, is too real throughout our world. Women wanting some freedoms, like driving a car, are tortured in Saudi Arabia. Young women - school age - are captured and mistreated by the Boka Haram. Priests sexually abuse young girls and nuns. And, as your article clearly articulates, Southern Baptist leaders have committed sex crimes against women. I believe you are right that if men and women share the power in an institution / corporation, etc. there will be a reduction in the inexcusable, demeaning, frightening behavior toward women.
At what point does an organization with a proven and extensive history of protecting its leaders even as its leaders are raping children and other parishioners get shut down? Why are these organizations allowed to continue to exist? Why do parents continue to place their children in schools and programs run by them? That the United States has not shut these pedophile protection rackets down is a national disgrace. That parents continue to send their children into their care is child abuse.
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Yes, sexual abuse in Christian churches is a structural problem. And if they continue to insist that God is male, it will continue. However, I think a lot of abuse in the Catholic Church would be eliminated if priests could marry.
@Minnesota Progressive Although it's true that priests' inability to marry tends to attract unsavory elements to the priesthood, simply allowing them to marry isn't going to do that much within a corporation like the RC Church, which thrives on secrecy and corruption and has so much influence on and within our government hierarchies and law enforcement.
Any rapist should suffer incarceration as provided by law. Period.
What if local postal carriers were to rape someone during a delivery? Would USPS be liable for their behavior? What about the Boy and Girl Scouts? What about a school district or university? What if a soldier raped someone? Is the US Army responsible.
We many oppose such egregious behaviors, but why do we hold the employer responsible only in our churches? Surely, church leaders know and teach that such behavior is wrong.
While such acts are wrong, they are also illegal. It should not be up to our churches to deal with these crimes, it's the purview of law enforcement.
For years, our police leaders have largely ignored the prosecution of clerical rapists. Put them in jail!
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Believing in magical thinking as adults is fundamentally a form of psychosis. Religion is based on childish ideas that have been based on many mythological characters. Religion is based on psychosis and indoctrination. Sorry to break the news. We can still be ethical and moral without religious fantasy. Look at what religion has done to destroy innocent people.
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Re "Rather it is structural, an inequality and masculine conception of God that empowers rapists.
"And, perhaps, embarrasses God."
I'm always struck by the truly fantastic contortions of logic Christians must go through to explain their "omni" god (all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good).
Here's this supposed entity, so powerful it created everything that exists within time and space, so powerful that it is aware of *every* thought that goes on inside the heads of billions of humans on one small rock of a planet out of millions, so powerful that based on a single factor — belief — it can condemn these poor creatures to an *eternity* of ruthless suffering for failure to believe ... and so on, and so on ...
And yet, because of "free will" (or something), this same unimaginably powerful entity stands by and does nothing while some of the more powerless of humans, children, are raped by adults.
I like what Tracie Harris of the podcast/show The Atheist Experience has noted: the difference between most humans and this purported deity is that, were we to witness the sexual assault of a child, we would step in to stop it, whereas the "god" of Christianity is content to *watch* it on the theory that, well, the perp will be punished in the afterlife.
Unless, of course, said perp "accepts" the god of Christianity and its son. Then all is well, and presumably, the perp will go to the same heaven as the child he raped.
Lovely.
1
The true faith protects you.
The clergy abuses you, divides you, pushes you into the endless wars and teaches you to sheepishly obey and follow the local kings, tyrants and dictators.
Can’t you realize whom the clergy has been working for - you or the earthly power?
The problem has nothing to do with the gender of clergy but its very existence.
When somebody in a robe comes to me and declares self a better believer while demanding to follow him or her blindly, I run for the exit.
If you stay there, you are putting yourself and your family at risk!
The faith is the system of values. The clergy has no copyright on it. It belongs to you and not to them!
The objective of faith is to set you free. Its role is not to make you obedient, follower or sheepish.
It trains you to believe in the Almighty with a single objective – so you wouldn’t have to be the slave to any king, politician, celebrity or clergyman…
If you are still timid and dependent on the leaders, then you have no faith in you.
The leaders are just working on your behalf. That’s how the faith empowers you. You are the quality enforcer for the presidents, lawmakers and the individuals in position of power!
If the system isn’t working properly, it’s your responsibility!
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"Tis a small thing, I know, but could we stop refering to those who commit sexual assault as rapists? The "ist" suffix seems to denote some kind of art form which is wholly inappropriate.
Arlo Guthrie got it right; these people are rapers.
2
I've always thought that it must be very easy to be a conservative religious man. When you hear so much that you are the apex being and everyone must honor and kowtow to you, sounds like a pretty cush gig! And no, I'm no man hater.
"The indifference to criminal behavior is an echo of what has been unearthed in the Roman Catholic Church over the decades."
That what is really worshiped in these houses is hedonism.
Oh, the hypocrisy Baptists are generally obsessed with sex. They preach abstinence before marriage, condemn adultery, oppose contraception for single women, insist on employers' "religious freedom" to deny sexual health coverage to their employees, etc. Not too many years ago, they told women it was immodest to wear slacks. They still fulminate about immodest dress. And so on and so froth. And froth and froth and froth.
Then they whinge when a "man of God" is caught violating their own standards.
Religion needs to disappear completely. It is flawed in its very conception, so trying to fix it is useless.
Excellent and important article. BTW, The Christian Science Church, founded by a woman, has always spoken of God as both mother and father, male and female, Mind, Life, Truth, Love, Principle.
I really appreciated the comment from MJM of Newfoundland pointing out the virtue of the religions born beyond the Middle Eastern desert.
Our family enjoys exploring myriad mythologies and folklore that draw insight from the divine feminine as well as the divine masculine. Over many years of this type of exploring, I've come to see the Christianity that I grew up with (Roman Catholicism) is imbalanced, and the great depravity of the church is certainly tied up with this imbalance.
Thank you, Nicholas Kristof, for articulating a big part of the problem.
1
If God indeed created the humans in own image, all the humans would be eternal, almighty, all-knowing, peaceful, loving, tolerant and unbelievably smart…
If it really happened, we would be capable of easily making the distinction between the Commandments and Instructions created by God and those forged by the mortal humans.
Those are coming from two completely different sources with different logic, system of values, morality and vision.
One of them is extremely short-term-lived, local and greedy.
The other is universal, inclusive and eternal.
Can you figure out who created what?
It is extremely easy task if you have the faith inside your soul…
We had a serial predator Baptist minister in our extended family. When he was in his 70's and attending a family wedding, he grabbed my daughter, who was in her 30's, by the behind and whispered in her ear that there was nothing she could do about it.
I wish I had known before the event ended. He would have had several broken fingers. These guys NEVER change.
2
"The Chronicle found 380 credible cases of church leaders and volunteers engaging in sexual misconduct, with the victims sometimes shunned by churches, urged to forgive abusers or advised to get abortions."
And people say, just report! Why didn't he or she just report?
People DO report. To police, to other leaders, etc., and they're often ignored or dismissed as not credible or simply he said, she said situations.
Look how many women had to come forward before Cosby was finally held accountable. Look how many young women reported Nassar only to have him stay in power for decades. Look how many kids Sandusky abused while people looked the other way.
Simply telling victims 'to report' ignores larger institutional systems that enable and allow abuse to flourish while hushing or minimizing abuse and blaming the victims. This includes our criminal justice system that doesn't even always bother to actually process forensic rape kits when women have reported and gone through the very invasive process of that evidence collection. It's maddening.
So glad for #MeToo and more and more people speaking out and holding organizations accountable.
815
@Anne You are exactly right. The criminal justice system has failed victims of sexual violence. We must take matters into our own hands by documenting and memorializing the assault with contemporaneous notes and pictures and filing civil lawsuits for intentional infliction of distress. Once an attacker is found liable it may be possible to convince a prosecutor to go forward with a criminal case or to connect with other victims of the same attacker and go to court together. We must create consequences for sexual assault to make them stop.
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@Anne A country, the US, undergoes its 'MeToo' moment and the head of one of the most powerful systems of abuse, Harvey Weinstein, is chosen to represent that abuse in court. Not guilty at the time of writing and his lawyers are kicking the charges down the road so that over time everyone forgets.
Meanwhile, over decades, another powerful figure, R Kelly, uses *his* system of abuse to molest under-age girls with impunity, protected by his wealth and the 'justice' he can afford to pay for. Not guilty at the time of writing and his lawyers are kicking the charges down the road so that over time everyone forgets.
Finally, the President of the United States, a renowned abuser of young women and under-age girls, uses *his* system of abuse (including the National Enquirer) to carry on being POTUS as if nothing had happened. Not guilty at the time of writing and his lawyers are kicking the charges down the road so that over time everyone forgets.
You can talk about Southern Baptists all you like, but the whole of US civil society is organized to worship at the feet of power and wealth, and geared to protecting that wealth and power, no matter what crimes it commits.
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Good for you. The enablers are many, our society is riddled with corruption and depravity.
12
Here is the long overdue task for the team of computer geeks.
Load all the verses from the Old Testament, the Bible and the Quran into a single databank.
Since the computers have to personal preferences, tell them to collect all the verses that are mutually compatible into the single Book and eliminate the repetitive sentences.
Separate all the verses that are at the conceptual, structural and moral odds with the previous group.
Then conclude what group came from a single source – the Almighty - and what group was created by the regular humans that were more or less describing themselves, creating their wish list or justifying their cravings…
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The patriarchy protects its own and that is a problem onto itself, but the culture of celibacy and a herd of men may not be the cause of the abuse. History continues to show that any position where a person (usually male) has power with no oversight over a helpless being (usually women, children and animals), abusive types are attracted like moths to a flame. This is my main concern over the detainment camps on the border--helpless children and who knows what degree of oversight. This summit in Italy is a joke. Way too little way too late.
4
I have the feeling that BIG Churches are often more interested in money making and acquiring power than in the welfare of the poor, the down trodden, the sin sick, the afflicted, the molested, etc.
Why would it be otherwise? We elected an obvious con man and grifter to be President. Our society values making as much money as possible anyway possible. Your measure of success is how much money you have.
3
In the South it's common to ask newcomers "What church do you go to ?" In other words they want to know which tribe you belong to. It lets them know if you're a potential friend or one of the "others." It is so ingrained they don't even know they're doing it.
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@Nick Adams
Sure! That’s exactly why we say that.
Same reason we ask, “who’s your people?” Or “where were you raised?”
Or “are you ‘any kin’ to...?”
Ironically, we say those things for the exact opposite reason than you seem to think. It’s actually a way of making connections, associations, and finding common ground in community. Questions like that open the door to “oh! Do you know Mr. Jones, he’s my neighbor and also attends there?” Or “really, you attend the Methodist church, maybe you know my Aunt Billie Sue; she makes the best pecan pie!”
In sum, the questions we ask are not usually intended to highlight differences but instead are framed as a way of finding common ground.
@Olyn S
OK. But you should see the expressions on the faces of those inquisitors when one responds, "I don't belong to a church. I'm an atheist."
1
End the tax exempt status for all religious institutions.
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It's unfortunate that so many people believe in an invisible being that somehow manipulates events, if you pray hard enough or follow his dictates, or accept events as His will. Always, the male ruling. And, women have stood by while men waged war in the name of their god/gods. For starters, we have Judaism, positing a creator/dictator, in his own voice, condemning, rewarding, punishing his creations for not living up to his standards/dictates, though his standards are suspect/ his dictates serving his own ends. Then sprouts Catholicism, eager to embellish on the world's ignorance. Another Abrahamic tradition is Islam. All three sprouting from the same tree, but remaining violent, male centered, and controlling. The effects of religion seen today in Latin America, (Church ruling) stagnation, poverty and ignorance in abundance. Asia and Africa, still tied to Islam or some other abracadbra seems unable to fiind its peace. The world is looking for peace, yet maintaining a relationship to a warrior god, who demands more converts, more missions to convert., and blind obedience. A prominent Hawaiian said it best and exemplifies religion:
The missionaries brought poverty, prejudice and Jesus (substitute any other god) to their island. That seems about all they do bring, along with their own feeling of joy at having "saved a soul," whatever that means. When we shake off the shackles of religion, we can start making some sense of our world and ourselves.
3
Which year is this? What country is this? Reading the littany of serious abuses against women children and disabled by church and priests - running over decades - you would think we are still living in middle ages.
Just ditch this monstrosity of 2000 years already. If you have to have a religion then move to eastern dharmas. Enough already.
1
How does allowing women to be pastors eliminate sexual misconduct? Are women incapable of it? I don’t have a problem with women being clergy —- but this is a separate argument.
2
@Jacque I agree, and I feel it's just another way to make women into repositories for men's perversions.
Are we going to be the suckers forever?
Will we ever learn?
We have even irritated the Almighty, so God refused to send us the help any longer.
No more Prophets!
Why?
We aren’t listening to them anyway.
Moses, Jesus and Mohammed didn’t establish any professional clergy nor build any temple, church or a mosque.
They didn’t prescribe any official language of prayer what didn’t stop the clergy from licensing the Hebrew, Latin or Arabic as such.
They didn’t create the Vatican, the Pope, the Catholicism, the Greek Orthodoxy, the Protestantism, the Sunnism, the Shiism, the Wahhabism, but we blindly obey the aforementioned.
They didn’t create the Hadiths or the Sharia Law.
We did it.
We are still at the intellectual and spiritual level of cavemen, incapable of figuring out the “bait and switch” schemes.
Allegedly, there is no faith without the clergy. Allegedly, there is no freedom, justice, and democracy without the political parties and the lobbyists. Allegedly, there is no happiness, love and friendship without those overpriced corporate products.
Will we ever learn?
We cannot fix anything by diving into the racial, age, gender, religious, regional, ethnic, or political groups.
The divisions are not the solutions but a source of the problems.
1
Though no religion seems exempt, the fundamentalist strains of the religions of Abraham seem particularly rife with misogyny and abuse. Their having evolved in harsh desert environments, and their inherently reflecting that harshness and related judgmentalism, may form a mental basis prone to cultures of abuse of the vulnerable.
1
Prohibiting women from the highest ranks of formal leadership fosters a fundamentally toxic masculinity,” Jonathan L. Walton
The same could be said for government and businesses.
1
Mr. Kristof represents a category of people - journalists and opinion commentators - who have never committed any sins. They have never lied. They have never treated women badly. They have never buried any stories. Never.
So, it's good that Mr. Kristof has the moral high ground to attack the Southern Baptist leaders.
Hopefully, in his next column, he will use that moral high ground to criticize Islam for some of its abuses. It has been brave of him to take on Southern Baptists. One would assume that he will be brave on other fronts too.
2
I am SOoooo fortunate to have been reared by people who’d left the church due to stunning hypocrisy and what I was taught to believe were outright lies told by the church.
My family did right by me as a child. I’m a very spiritual person with strong beliefs. I was never victimized as a child and I haven’t given a dime of my money to these imposter pastors.
Evil remains evil. The fact that others are evil too is not a defense. This is appalling, even for the Southern Baptist denomination, of which my expectations were already extremely low.
Organized religion, especially clerical religion, underlines the aphorism that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." No one needs pastors or priests to intercede between them and God. Especially when rape is involved. Take away clerical power, and a major step towards eradicating such horrendous conduct will have been taken.
The Baptist church that I attend, a member of the American Baptist Church, was established almost 200 years ago in a part of the country that has to be considered very conservative. Yet, our current pastor is a woman. She is retiring in June and is being replaced by another lady who is only 32 years old. Our church tries to follow the teaching of the Bible as closely as we can, such as the statement by the apostle Paul that " In Christ, there is no male or female...….for you are all one in Christ Jesus."( Galatians 3:28)
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@Aaron Adams, Northern Baptists are very different from Southern Baptists. The Baptist church I grew up in, in Worcester, Massachusetts, was more like a Congregational church -- in fact, my parents started out as Congregationalists, but they preferred the sermons of the First Baptist minister (Gordon Torgerson) and switched.
7
@Aaron Adams Thanks. Galatians 3:28 is worth repeating many times each day. I'm sure Paul would today add 'there is no black nor white ....'
9
@Aaron Adams
As long as you don't read other advises given by Paul about women, you are ok.
8
Thank you, Nicholas. You have brought attention to something I have been saying for more than 50 years. The SBC’s problems with its clergy’s treatment of women (and other people considered “non-normative male”) will not begin to change until the denomination’s theology vis a vis gender changes. Women cannot be relegated to “different” roles that just happen not to include pulpits and church leadership and still be considered fully human, fully capable, and fully deserving of as much respect and dignity as a man. ClergyMEN in the Southern Baptist Church are on a pedestal so high and unreachable that any criticism of them is simply not acceptable, particularly by women.
I spent my early years in that church and walked away from it knowing that I would always be secondary and subservient to men as long as I was there. All these years later nothing has changed. If the denomination is serious about addressing clergy sexual abuse, there is one way to do it. Understand that God honors women with talents and calling just as surely as God honors men. Until they accept and enshrine that truth in their theology and in the churches, there will be men taking advantage of women, children, and those to whom they consider themselves superior, which is a recipe for sexual abuse.
6
This isn't limited to religious institutions. These attitudes are evident in the boardroom, in the executive suites across America, in unions, and every other establishment where males rule the roost. How else did we wind up with two Supreme Court Justices who were accused of harassing or sexually assaulting women, sitting on the bench? It wasn't their good looks or their intelligence that got them there, not after the accusations were made and the reactions they had. The mostly male senate decided that these male conservatives had to be on the court even if there was a good possibility that they had done what they were accused of doing.
We make a huge mistake in judgement when we automatically give men the benefit of the doubt in cases involving sexual assault, rape, or even harassment. The results are clear: men prone to doing those things take this benefit and run with it. And women, girls, and boys get hurt.
17
Good and truthful headline.
4
Church leaders and clergy are usually in a unique position of trust that is magnified by the aura of "holiness" that theye either receive with ordination (e.g., "Holy Orders") or they otherwise arrogate to themselves along the way. This makes their congregants and parishioners easy prey for those whose secret lusts use that mantle of assumed decency to violate the trust. Pastors who violate the trust of those who look to them for spiritual guidance and example are no different from, or better than, shepherds who slaughter and dine on the lambs in the flocks they are charged with protecting. While accused "religious" abusers should receive "due process" from the law (ecclesiastical and secular) before judged, once found to be transgressors, they should be duly punished, not transferred to another church, or excuses made for them ("we don't understand their psychology"). The accusers should be listened to, not ridiculed or their complaints trivialized. While the "psychology" of the abusers may not be ''full understood" (I disagree), there's no mystery as to the psychological damage abusers inflict on their victims or as to the disgust reserved for the rank hypocrisy of the abusers' apologists and enablers.
1
Certainly interested in what your colleague Ross Douthat has to say on this subject. He must be tired of defending the indefensible yet there's a new horror story every day.
4
If Jesus was around today and saw all the things done by those who purportedly honor him, he would just pack his bags and go home.
9
But... but... the bible!
2
Once again the NY Times loves to criticize Christianity (deservedly!) while giving other religions that have the same issues a pass. Islam is arguably much worse because of the child marriages.
2
@Tom, this has nothing to do with Christianity per se. It is solely focused on the abuse, by individuals hiding behind the cloak of divinity, in the Southern Baptist Church. I was brought up in the SBC, baptized in it and was a regular churchgoer until my late 20’s, which was a long time back. I left because I came to realize the hypocrisy back then was just as it is today. We had a “pastor” who “ran off” with one of the deacons wives, who he had been having an affair with for a couple of years. He left a wife and two small children. The hypocrisy that I saw in this was a man who was committing adultry almost on a daily basis but stood behind the pulpit every Sunday and preached against the very things that he was practicing.
Like this article, it is not a condemnation of Christianity, but of those hypocrites who hide behind it to commit their terrible deeds as well as those in positions of authority within the church who turn a blind eye to those who commit these deeds.
1
@Tom Agreed.
Thank you, Sir. Until we Women refuse to participate in our own
“Religious “ slavery, this will continue. Yes, sometimes I miss the friendships and Singing from my youth, growing up in a Baptist Church. But I left the church at age 18, and will never, ever go back. I’ve studied this issue, and listened to all the talk.
Every possible degree of neglect, abuse, cruelty, even perversion exists in many Churches, of ANY denomination. It’s covered-up, swept aside, the offender often just transferred, no involvement of the Police or other Authorities. But always, the Victim(s) Are somehow always at fault, and blamed.
Some of these churches are merely scams, a pyramid scheme, a tax dodge. But one of the great fringe benefits they offer is ready access to victims, and silence.
The sound of silence. Because who will listen to children, or mere Women ? They lie, they are disobedient, they don’t know their place, they just need to submit to God, and Male authority, or they are damned.
Walk away, Women. Refuse to submit or participate. Save yourselves, save your Children. NOW.
13
The fact that the article Mr. Leathers wrote cost him his career instead of making his career is simply mind-boggling until you consider the mind-boggling hypocrisy he exposed. Thank God for him and others like him. Obviously and unfortunately, that same hypocrisy always has been and probably always will run rampant in most institutions and organizations throughout our ‘culture’ since it is as much a part of human nature as hatred, racism, bigotry and too many more examples of our behavior.
152
Until there is ZERO TOLERANCE for any form of sexual abuse, the
inequality of women, people of color and/or LGBT persons, none of these so-called religions have any credibility. Jesus was compassionate and tolerant of all persons and would be appalled at the misogynist, exclusive, dogmatic travesty that most organized religions have become. Abuse hides and is supported by rigid structures of male authority, whether in church, school, government or families.
6
The day of reforming the church has come and gone. It will not allow reform even though there are many good people there who sincerely try.
In the search for another belief system, many have found pre-Christian practices that go back thousands of years to before the patriarchy. There are belief systems that venerate the divine feminine as well as the divine masculine, that understand we all are made up of masculine and feminine and that each has spiritual strengths and archetypes that have been part of the balance of the human race for as long as we have been humans.
It always amuses me that in the Anglican Church a woman priest is pointedly not called a priestess, although that is only a minor slight to women compared to many of the practices and preachings. The Christian Church is not alone in it's existential exclusion of the Divine Feminine.
Ancient civilizations had Goddesses as well as Gods. Humans need the Divine Feminine as well as the Divine Masculine to be whole. In that lack of balance we find the origin of the denigration of women, and of children who are traditionally the responsibility of women and thus share their vulnerability.. We are finally beginning to understand what we have lost in the West when we destroyed the "idols" in the Temple and replaced them with a vengeful, punishing God.
5
@MJM The "-ess" ending to feminize a profession -- actress, priestess, postmistress -- has mostly been dropped in the last 20 years because it is now seen as belittling or diminishing a woman's accomplishments. But I get your point about "priestess" seeming to reflect a more pagan/pre-Christian tone in a way that "priest" doesn't.
A fundamental aspect of the problem is that the clergy, every one, are outlaws in the legal sense. Our country was founded on the principle that all persons are responsible to society for their own behavior, yet this entire class of persons is accepted by the religious public as being responsible to only church dicta and punishment. I say baloney! This is a travesty of law. These frocked criminals must be treated like any other citizens, must be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed like any other citizens for their crimes. To do otherwise is to perpetuate a fundamental disrespect for the law of the land by the public and by the police and judiciary which are sworn to protect and defend our Constitution.
6
Minor point, but not without bearing on the issue of accountability: Falwell was not a Southern Baptist and Robertson is a Pentecostal. Lots of ways to add to the mockery of the man on the cross.
1
It is always shocking, always sickening to learn of sexual abuse, and the hypocrisy of religious leadership is infuriating. I know this is nothing new, but I have to believe the if we could develop real statistics on sexual abuse, there will be an eye-poking point of inflection when personal computing and Internet access arrived in the early 90s. The abuse and degradation of women and children, and, yes, men, too, has now become normalized and warrants nothing more than a shoulder shrug. At its best, sex is a form of loving communication, but we seem to be MUCH more interested in what it is at its worst.
Sadly, no religion on the planet has managed to produce agents (such as priests) who can deal with the unquestioned power. I guess to an outsider, the notion that a person who has read one book knows something, is absurd. The notion that I one can buy one's way into heaven, is beyond absurd. But, I wouldn't challenge anyone who already swallowed Kool-Aid. No point, I guess, in mentioning that in the third world, the abuses by people of cloth are disturbingly common, and far worse (er, that be for all religions).
Every prison/guard experiments tells us exactly what we are capable of as humans. We have a hardware problem, not a software glitch; attributing authority to others to feel good about ourselves. What do I know of religion? But I know people are bad, when they can be bad. We are downright terrible when we know we can get away with it clean. And these monsters - the focus of this article - are getting away with it clean, with an army of defenders and apologists, quick to blame everyone else including insurance companies (and I suppose, Mexicans). For some 2000 years.
4
Presbyterians are not superior, but we begin with the notion of "total depravity," which means that anyone of us is capable of the worst evil. Therefore, when sexual abuse became known to Presbyterians (why wasn't it known before?), they developed rules and procedures for dealing with accusations and determinations of proven misdeeds. Through the '90's I observed churches that did not ordain women struggle with this with greater difficulty than we did we with our concern for justice and orderly processes.
Recently, Stephen Patterson in "The Forgotten Creed" shows us that the earliest Christian creed may have dealt with bigotry, classism, and sexism with greater wisdom. Paul in Galatians had spoken of communities in which there was "no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female." This is the true "old time religion."
2
I don't understand how masculinity is deduced as the cause of rapes and abuse. Where were the parents of these children? Did they not have mothers? Grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins to voice feminine outrage? Did these mothers not speak up? Did the masculinity of the fathers allow this to go on unchecked? If something like this happened to my child, my masculinity would certainly get toxically outraged and demand justice. Just because a few men do something outrageously onerous doesn't mean "masculinity" should be the culprit. My impression in these cases is not that men are the cause, but money. Money is the root of all evil, not men. There was probably a big effort to cover it up to retain some financial stability. If this gets out, we're going to lose a lot of money. That's the villain here: filthy lucre. Not men. And just because an organization is dominated by men, does not make it prone to toxicity. I, as a man, would never in my life allow rape to go unchallenged. It's an absurd conclusion that just because some men do it, there is some disease called male toxicity.
24
@Ron So the essence of your complaint is "not all men." Noted.
18
@Ron Not masculinity. Patriarchy. Those grandmothers, sisters, aunts, were taught to be submissive.
49
@Ron. One of the primary objections to Betsy de Vos’s “new rules” concerning rape cases on campus is that the end result, as described here, is the quashing of justice for the victims. You don’t have to be the perpetrator to be a supporter of these crimes.
32
As for the early Christian church, wasn't the Gospel of Mary declared heresy by Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria when he defined the Christian canon in about AD 375 (39 works in the Old Testament, 27 in the New)?
3
@Thomas I think that sort of action is what Kristof refers to when he writes, "But then conventional hierarchies asserted themselves, and women were mostly barred from religious leadership."
"And, perhaps, embarrassed God."
Yes, certainly. I can think of no major organized religion today that has not totally strayed from its simple, humane, and compassionate teachings. They've all too often just become bastions of male dominance and, too often, also criminality.
If the major theme of most organized religions used to be simply "love," it is now way too often, "these men are in charge - pay them well."
4
BIG organized religion is a pox on society.
Take away their tax-free status,seize the real estate they have used to build wealth and turn it into community centers and make them register on stock exchanges as the BIG businesses they are.
Time to end their fairy tale. Time to end their reign of hate-anger-fear-guilt-abuse.
25
@njglea
"Organized religion" is exempt from property and sales taxes because it is non-profit. Denying the tax exemption on the basis of religion would violate the First Amendment.
"It’s complicated, of course, for many of the Catholic victims were boys." Say what? What's complicated? Abusers should be brought to the attention civil authorities and sentenced to jail. Along with those who enable them. It's NOT complicated.
13
A new Church policy is needed. It's called "911."
All church's should be required by law to report ANY allegation of sexual misconduct immediately to law enforcement. That's the fix. Counseling, defrocking, and firing are grossly inadequate when applied outside the law. Report them and they will no longer feel safe within the confines and security of the clergy.
BTW - the same rule should apply to parents when they suspect abuse - don't call the rectory, call 911
19
@R. Bennett
That is the Law. The purveyors of lies are given a pass.
2
Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
New International Version- source Bible Hub.
Using HIM is one issue, but the idea that male and female are part of the image is a good beginning. The perspective kinda went downhill from there. Who took care of all those men?
28
@Judith Hishikawa It would appear that man actually created God in his own image...
13
@Judith Hishikawa
I have been for years refer to God figure as She/He and Her/Him.
That would be a good start.
@Judith Hishikawa. The Bible clearly states that God is a spirit so the"image of God" does not apply to the physical appearance of a human being but the Spiritual essence of His creation ("man") Glad to help clarify this,
2
As one born & raised a Roman Catholic, and witnessing daily the horrors of ongoing revelations, I am intrigued to see that similar scandals exist in other denominations. The press and the churches must continue the investigations, statutes of limitation must be revised in the interest of victims, and perpetrators must be subject to criminal law. As time goes by, it may well be discovered that Christian denominations do not have an exclusivity on child sexual abuse, although the RC church will surely take first prize for hypocrisy.
4
Sex abuse is far worse in public schools than it is in religious institutions. Please report on that phenomenon as well.
1
@Thomas. Your allegation is made without any support (e.g., links to empirical evidence, to journalistic exposes by credible sources) and appears baseless. It smacks of the kind of defensive, what-aboutism that allows sexually abusive clergy to freely engage in their violent behavior (yes, violent - sex is simply a weapon to humiliate, dominate and inflict suffering).
1
@Thomas - Do you have evidence of that?
@Thomas
Statistics to prove your statement?
Real, hard, impartial,substantiated facts not propaganda please.
Just want to see the numbers you use for your statement.
1
“even today a majority of religious women still belong to denominations that do not ordain women. “
Hmm... Is anything or anyone preventing these women from NOT belonging to such denominations. There is merit to the saying that we are as the company we keep.
3
@citizennotconsumer Yes, there are people preventing these women from switching denominations. Parents, husbands, peer group pressure, and, of course, a whole lifetime of being taught that good women are silent and submissive.
2
Yes. Their husbands.
The elephant in the room is that among the strongest, most committed Trump supporters are evangelicals. It didn't matter he was on tape bragging about sexually assaulting women, that he had boasted of his infidelities and affairs in the past. Hush money for affairs with a Playboy model and a porn star when his wife had a new baby were not even a blip for evangelicals or Catholics. They shrug at Trump's separation of families and children in cages. Lies by the bushels don't faze them.
Abortion is the Holy Grail these days for evangelicals and Catholics. Kavanaugh was accused by multiple credible women of sexual assault. Roy Moore's background with teenage girls comes to light and many don't care.
"He says he didn't do it." "God says we must forgive him." "He apologized."
The victims don't matter, not their trauma, their pain, the lasting harm. All is forgiven as long as a no abortion policy is forced on the country and women are denied basic control over their bodies and healthcare.
Of course if these twisted patriarchal churches had women in high positions, equality in their deliberative councils, and women in roles of power, many of these sex crimes would be stopped on the spot and not swept under a rug!
No woman of conscience would tolerate children being assaulted and harmed like this. There is a deep corrosion of values in these churches, and they have sold their souls for power, for politics, and for protection of the criminals and abusers among them.
21
As long as "God" is represented by "He" or "Him", women will share a lesser spot at the table.
To even think that the term "God" actually represents something of a sexual nature (which is what "he" or "she" indicates) is not only ludicrous, but insulting to whatever "God" actually is -- if anything at all -- which no living being actually knows.
6
Hmmm... This helps explain why Dan Brown’s book, “The Da Vinci Code”, raised such a ruckus with the Catholic Church in particular, and religious leaders in general. The notion that Jesus may have been married and thus had a woman disciple at The Last Supper was sacrilegious to male dominance and religious doctrine.
There was no way that could be allowed. Women could never be considered an equal... or considered in any way, period.
8
I find it offensive that the Da Vinci code perpetrated the idea that in order to be a woman disciple she had to be married to Jesus. Why can’t we wrap our heads around the possibility that Mary Magdalene may have been a disciple because she understood and followed the teaching?
1
@Carol Rodin
I am in 100% agreement!!
“Women and girls taught to be submissive...”. For all it’s commonality, this brought to mind three current events.
The book “Educated, A Memoir”, on how home schooling seems to fly under state radar as to how, what children are not learning.
Today’s NYTimes article on the teenagers in Colorado (and other states) demanding fact-based sex education classes, especially that consent part.
And my state’s (Oregon) proposal to lower the voting age to 16. When I first read about this, I thought....a bridge too far. Too young, too emotional, too....
But now- I also think about the Parkland students.
Maybe it’s time. Maybe they aren’t too....Maybe, we aren’t, enough?
Thanks, NYTimes- it’s not easy, changing oldster’s minds....but keep up the good work!
7
All true, yet stops way short of the total condemnation deserved by institutions responsible directly or indirectly for most of the ills the Earth and all who live on it face.
4
All of this piece needs to be heard and what a pleasure to see it in print. One bit about Michael Leathers puzzles me. While a journalist might not be appreciated by those who are pinpointed in a negative piece, how can that result in that journalist no longer being a journalist? It seems that one of the characteristics of journalism is a revelation of fact, something shared almost universally in the free press, and when that is accomplished, one does then not be a journalist.
2
@karin church He is now a media relations consultant at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield IL, so he doesn't work directly as a journalist anymore. He's still involved with the Baptists, however.
Sexual abuse should never happen, by clergy or anyone else. However the hypocrisy and lies of clergy is why I am a recovering Catholic and foe of organized religion in general.
That said, one factor in this problem that is never raised or addressed is that women are the primary care givers of children in our society.
This is it not to "blame" them for the sexual abuse, it is to point out that they more than any other group have the ability to imprint children with a new reality. That the kids are not victims, vulnerable, and ill taught.
Women have the unique ability to inform boys & girls that some behavior is flat out wrong and they don't have to put up with being touched by any adult in sexual manner.
As a group, the power of women to shape the next generation is legion, and women collectively need to stand up and use that power to teach kids their bodies are their own. That telling mom & dad when someone touches them or threatens them is the right thing to do.
Men have to help, that goes without saying, but our society still places women as the primary caregivers, which makes them the most influential person in their kids lives for many years.
We have to deal with that reality and women need to take advantage of that power to shape their kids to be creatures with a sense of self-worth instead of insecure blobs that don't protect their own privacy zones.
2
@mike So men get to be the perpetrators and it's the responsibility of women to prevent it and/or to clean it up?
How about we place the onus for this where it belongs; on men who take advantage of their physical power and dominant position to sexually abuse children.
I propose a different arbiter that may be a bit more effective. How about putting some teeth into the punishment of these offenses by eliminating the statute of limitations on ALL sexual crimes? How about making it official by placing in black letter law that familial DNA can be used as an investigative tool to track down rapists and the murders of innocent victims of sexual crimes? How about holding the clergy, or anyone else for that matter, who is responsible for covering up abuse, by imposing the same punishment on those who protect abusers as the ones who commit the crimes?
Too radical? If you think so you have never been or have never personally known a victim of perversion.
1
Expecting children to protect themselves strikes me as a bit ridiculous. No matter what they are taught, children are not adults. They will have trouble navigating a fraught and complicated situation, let alone physically repelling someone who is out to abuse them.
What exactly is it that you think most parents are telling their kids, anyway? Virtually every mom (and dad! they are not just "helping women" here, they are parents too) I know is teaching her kids that they don't have to give kisses and hugs when asked, etc., etc. It gets talked about a lot. Abuse still happens. For reasons that are probably best reflected in your haste to pin the blame on women for failing their kids, rather than on all of us for failing to punish and remove known abusers from positions of authority.
Simplistic (but fashionable) solution to a far more fundamental problem: humans are fallible.
Lately it seems that "more women" is the solution for every world ailment (and there are plenty) spotlighted by the NYT.
It would be great if it really was that simple -- add women, problem solved.
But I honestly don't believe it -- I doubt that the NYT does, either.
1
YES funky irishman....
tax dollars are subsidizing the tax exemption for religious entities, even though you may believe in something else, or nothing at all. This goes against separation of church and state, but here we are.
4
No one should be surprised by this. These same "Christian" leaders have chosen to conveniently overlook all the adultery, lies, and hush money payments made by Trump over the last few years. It is for more than one reason that they have declared "he is one of us."
4
Organized religion is history’s greatest scourge upon mankind. People simply refuse to believe that, They can’t confess that their most deeply held beliefs are wrong, even as the discoveries every day that men of god have been victimizing the most innocent, and their leaders have betrayed their flocks and covered up for these evil men for centuries.
What kind of all-knowing, benevolent god allows that to continue?
3
This article fights for two causes.
What is straightforward is the author's demand for female equality with respect to the clergy, which is part of the larger, epochal, struggle for female equality in general.
In this respect, it is an informative and quite useful piece.
However, the quotes from two theologians drop in a couple of shibboleths of sexist feminism (as opposed to equality feminism). These appear as though they are ordinary parts of the language, without a gloss to indicate their ideological content.
One is "patriarchy", "which goes back millennia". Or so say a relatively small group of propagandists for sexist feminism. And, say the academic disciplines they have conquered.
The other is "toxic masculinity". Some synonyms of "toxic" are poisonous, venomous, virulent, noxious, dangerous, destructive, harmful, unsafe, malignant, injurious, pestilential, pernicious. Put bluntly: many or all men are subhuman.
Such, probably unthinking, smuggling in of the party line of a faction disfigures an otherwise fine essay.
1
And yet we continue to allow these corrupt institutions to not be subject to taxation. It’s time to take them off that pedestal as well.
12
Men behaving badly because they can. They can because their organization’s structure permits it. Instead, join a church that has no hierarchy. Join a church where each local congregation governs itself and, through its church council, takes swift action in times of crises. Join a church that ordains women. Join a church that recognizes and respects the equality of all in every way. Join a Lutheran Church of the ELCA.
1
Add to this what has now (again) surfaced in the Catholic Church and it begs the very fundemental question: Where is God in all of this ? Or as a friend of mine keeps saying when the question of God's existance comes up: The proof that God does not exists is right there in front of you.
3
@Bill
For many, the proof that God does exist is right there in front of you.
The assertion proves nothing except that you have an opinion.
This is a problem with all "revelatory religions" wherein a "god" whispers secrets and commands into the ear of a man (and it's always a man) and a faith is born. That "original power" goes to their, er, well ...., and the rest is a 2000+ long history of hidden abuse - but no longer!
There is no forgiveness (in my heart at least) for the wide ranging sexual and psychological crimes committed by men against the defenseless over the millennia.
1
Religion done right can be a great inspiration and healer, done wrong it can wreck lives and start war and cause blood baths.
3
How do fix it?
Remove men from all political offices, that’s a start. And doable. Change the lay of the land in every sense of the word.
Even then there will be women like the AG (from Nevada? a woman) who was the “expert” for the panel who claimed that Dr Ford didn’t have her story straight in her report to congress. Or a Susan Collins. Both examples of women lost to their own cause, damnable pathetic creatures who aren’t up to the job of fairness and law.
Like others, I am so numbed by the daily onslaught of horror stories from behind the pulpit that nothing surprises me anymore. But what stood out in this article was an actual prison sentence, something that is spectacularly rare in such tales of sexual abuse by the clergy.
In all of the years of reading about these many sex scandals, I have yet to find a compelling answer to to one vital question - why are these monsters not in jail!? Defrocked? Scolded? Relocated? That's nice. Where is the actual punishment based on our secular, and not religious, code of law? What are the reasons that so few of these cases make it to a courtroom?
I hope the Times (or Mr. Kristof) would consider an in-depth report on this. This nagging question surely doesn't have a simple answer, but it has bothered me for years and I cannot be the only one.
2
All of the western faiths need to rethink their conception of what their god is, not just the Catholic and Baptist churches. Their views and tenants are anthropomorphic and self-centered. Such beliefs can be understood in a time when humanity's understanding of their world was so limited and their belief systems were just evolving from animism. But we know a lot more now. We know cosmos is huge beyond our understanding, in both space and time. We know there are trillions of suns in our universe, many of which likely harbor some kind of life. In fact there are sound reasons to believe that our universe is not the only one out there.
So it's time for all our faiths to move past their little itty bitty tiny god and start imagining something more greater than just the overseer of homo sapiens. When you look out at the stars at night see and understand how immense your universe is, and then try to imagine a God commensurate with such vastness and diversity.
"The indifference to criminal behavior is an echo of what has been unearthed in the Roman Catholic Church over the decades."
Echo? No this is full-throated mass sexual, criminal aggression on a large scale. The Southern Baptists own this horror exactly as the Catholic Church owns its. In other words, these vile revelations are likely the tip of an ugly, massive and polluted iceberg.
The predators and their enablers in the Southern Baptist fold, along with all the congregants, bear the responsibility to plumb the depths of this horror, dig out all the truth, convict all the offenders, expose all the abettors, and hope the sin is not so great that an all loving God, who weeps for the weak and the vulnerable, can not find forgiveness in his omniscience and thirst for justice.
3
The Abraham religions are patriarchal at the core. God is imagined as male and in Christianity as Father. Jesus is the son of God not son of Mary. She is merely the nurturing vessel as women have been seen ever since. Men were thought to plant the "seed", ie the whole child. They were creators, doing on earth what God did. Not until the 20th century did we learn that women, via the ovum produce half the "seed" so to speak, half the genetic constitution of every person. These religions, in my view, are corrupt at the core and I do not see that having women priests or ministers will get rid of the patriarchal underpinings.
The persisting themes of religions are subjugation of followers with unfettered material and physical exploitation and particular suppression of women.
Corporate America must take its substantial exclusion of women from senior positions from the religious models where the females always have a foot on their neck...or worse. There are no Ms. Popes.
The Southern Baptist Church was formed in 1845 to protect slavery, and to push for extending slavery to the new states of the American West.
The Southern Baptist Church was, and is, a Confederate political movement masquerading as a religion.
The Time Religion?
It's the Southern Baptist Church, founded on supporting and promoting slavery.
2
If churches want dynamic change, internal and external healing, as well as renewal and relevance today, then let the women in.
1
It is simply beyond my comprehension that religious organizations don't have a no tolerance policy for the types of sexual assaults that they have been accused of and convicted of. Every allegation should be immediately investigated by the police and the priest furloughed until the investigation is over. Any clergy found guilty should be jailed and prohibited from reentering the clergy. I don't understand why the heads of these organizations don't make this type of policy clear on Day 1 of employment. Are religions so hard up for clergy that even those convicted of sexual assault are needed? Is it the inclination to forgive and the desire to be willingly duped by seemingly repentant people? Sure forgive and accept, but let them sit in the pews. They don't need to be up front.
1
Never been a fan of American religions. The hypocrisy and divisiveness, the intolerance and greed have always been so apparent to me. And yet so many feel obligated to report for duty each Sunday and then look down on us that don’t go. Tax the churches and you’ll find that those that truly believe in helping and ministering for good will still be around. And the other 99.9% will scurry into the dark and back under rocks.
1
It's like the US government. One thinks it is about democracy and preserving individual freedoms. Instead, its primary purpose is to sell weapons to countries around the world and represent the extractive industries as they destroy our planet. Same with churches. One thinks they are about spirituality and the care of the soul, and instead they are criminal organizations protecting pedophiles and rapists. The key here is to realize the true purpose of these organizations and, while we can't get rid of the US government, we can at least leave churches that inflict severe trauma with lifelong effects on our young people.
1
As the universe of abusers, and abused, expand, no one answers, or even pursues an answer, to the question, Why do all these men do this? Is there something about religious life that attracts people who might be inclined to behave as sexual predators? Is there something about living as a cleric of an institutionalized religion that stifles a person’s ability to have normal personal relationships? Is it that the authority structures in these institutions trample these people down and literally drive them to such perversity? Whatever, it seems time that, we must as a society go beyond the terrible act of abuse and ask the real question: Why do these men do this? Without an answer we will simply wallow in the tragedy and sensationalism.
3
It has always been the same. Power and control. The myths are created to satisfy the misguided and gullible followers.
4
Another factor is that females bear the blame when males stray so there’s a culture that believes on some level that men are not responsible for their sexual actions but are being led into temptation by others.
4
Mr. Kristof’s thinking runs as follows: Southern Baptists are sexually self righteous and claim to be holier than thou. But they are worse sexual offenders than most in large part because their offenses arise from the very values of the church.
It is satisfying to find fault in those that claim to be better than us. But there is missing evidence here. We do not know how many Baptists are abusers. — it may well be that they exercise added self-restraint and are less abusive than the average. Certainly, there is added publicity when they offend, which probably exaggerates their numbers.
Also, the psychology of offenders is not well-understood. Most offenders start young and many are serial offenders. Whether that tends to tie their abuse to their religion or their upbringing is not clear.
:Attacking the religious, like any minority, is dangerous ground. And you need to have your facts straight.
1
The Southern Baptists are a dying denomination gasping their last breath. In Atlanta, their huge church buildings sit empty with a few gray-haired members and they are selling off parcels of their valuable property to high rise condo developers. I do not know a single person under 50 who attends a Southern Baptist church. My hope is that the victims will sue and get some monetary compensation, though that will hardly make up for the damage inflicted on them by this church.
7
I used to work with lawyers. Many of them were good lawyers and had a great deal of respect for the law. Others broke the law regularly, as though laws did not apply to them, that they knew their way around the law, and they knew judges who, if pressed, would do nothing more than slap them on their wrists.
I cannot help but think that religious authority figures operate the same way. Most are good priests, ministers and rabbis who have a great deal of respect for the Law and God. Others break the Law regularly, as though it does not apply to them, that they know their way around the Law, and that they have such a special relationship with God, who loves them so much that He will do nothing more than slap them on their wrists for their sins.
2
As a former believer I am always stunned by these revelations, and the knowledge that people buy all this hustle from preachers of all stripes. Modern Christianity is an abomination of the origins of Christ. I've seen firsthand the interior desecration of faith-based organizations. It repels the soul.
8
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that many 21st century US churches are systematically slandering the Gospel of the Jesus they claim to follow.
12
Why isn't RICO brought to bear?
They will not change until laws are enforced.
Nick,
I'm from your home state. Please get a copy of Jesus (1933) by Charles Guigenbert who was a prominent history professor at the Sorbonne and think about what you write. Jesus wasn't interested in a post-life religion that has lasted nearly 2,000 years with stuff like that Vatican. He thought the Kingdom was at hand. Didn't happen. Paul came along. The four gospels were written, edited and re-edited to inform a Church which had become an arm of the Roman Empire. Read Mark 6:3. Jesus had at least six siblings. If you want to see sexism in action, please Nick read it. Your fellow Oregonian, John
When I read about instances of grown men raping 3 year old toddlers, I feel enraged. That an institution would protect the so-called pastor is outrageousness to the power of ten. There are simply no good words for criminality of this level of heinousness. It is no wonder that millions of Americans are running as far as possible from what they perceive to be religion.
All the accounts I've read come from Christian sects. Are there any sexual crimes to be found among the clergy of other faiths? It would be an interesting study, but I hope there wouldn't be. However, paternalistic ways of thinking lead men to devalue women and children. In every instance, rapists and child abusers need to be held accountable.
101
@MKathryn, sadly, yes, there are lots of abuse reports from other religious traditions. The issue is one of power and there is something about faith organizations that leads people to suspend their good judgement and look away from signs of abuse.
12
@MKathryn
Some reports of abuse have escaped from Hasidic groups, which isolate themselves from the community at large, so that it is unlikely that an outsider would ever witness anything. And there is profound pressure on individuals not to bring in outsiders to investigate.
Any group has abusers. Whenever there is accepted, unsupervised contact with minors, there is high risk. That's whether its in a locker room, a local gym, a choir loft or an examining room .
I think it is amplified when an group resists integration with the general community - say they have their own schools, so that children may not even have a clue that certain behavior is wrong or different.
9
Even in the Roman Catholic church, women were given much more prominence in the early days. In the 7th century mosaics in Ravenna, female martyrs and saints are depicted with equal numbers and positioning as their male counterparts.
This changed in the middle ages as the cult of Mary took hold and the female saints from the first milennium were mostly forgotten.
Mary's virtues -- motherhood, duty and subservience to the men around her, including a male God -- became the Church's virtues for all women.
7
Can anyone explain why the people covering up and lying about these crimes are not being prosecuted for aiding and abetting the felons who are committing them? It seems to me these Defenders of Morality and Family Values" are deeply complicit, and should be brought to justice along with the perpetrators.
16
Catholic Church - indifferent to the suffering of women.
Catholic Church - indifferent to the suffering of children.
Catholic Church - indifferent to suffering.
What's the point of the Catholic Church?
35
@fast/furious
Another Religious Snake Oil business and 'spiritual' opiates for the duped religious masses.
Sad.
16
@fast/furious There are some organizations that have helped alleviate the suffering of women, children, those with disabilities and the poor, but many of them have also had scandals and, like the rc church itself, have often attracted deviates seeking to take advantage of the vulnerable. Probably the least scandal-free have been the female religious orders dedicated to education and health care, but these too have had problems with abusive nuns. I am looking for an alternative to the church of which I was a member until August 2018.
3
@Socrates
The Catholic Church is the world’s biggest charity. It provides countless social services. It gives comfort to its members. It provides schooling to its children. And it gives moral guidance to its members. I am Jewish. But I grew up in a Catholic city. And I will never forget the respect and awe of my friends when the Monsignor visited the basketball courts.
If you have grown up in the presence of the church, you will likely appreciate its power to do great good.
4
Those of us who were raised Southern Baptist are all too familiar with the pressures that ministers can put on members of their congregation. I personally know of such a minister who escaped indictment for pederasty only because the parents of his victims didn't want their children caught up in the legal process and refused to let them testify. People in the town where this happened, in north central Texas, still regard the man as a shining example of Christianity.
139
@JPE
This happened to me by a deacon in the church when I was about nine years old. Of course, I never told because the church would have turned on me even though I was just a little kid. Now I tell it loudly because I know the Dys function that lives inside the entitled church which is why I don’t step foot in them anymore.
34
@JPE
Well...he is an example of Christianity.
13
It will be interesting to see whether the leaders of this Southern Baptist movement will qualify their critics as 'friends and relatives' of the devil as the pope has just done recently in the wake of the Catholic Church's perpetual sex scandal.
How can educated adults in developed countries such as the United States or in Europe continue to be influenced by such childish and medieval threats ? I actually fear these people MORE than the scattered jihadists who are fewer and far between...
14
As a woman ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1984, I find your comments and references such as the Gospel of Mary to be very relevant to my experience. There are a number of people (myself included) who consider ourselves to be Progressive Christians. There are many expressions of Progressive Christianity all over the country. Most of us struggle with the common definition of Christianity as articulated with people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Often we begin a conversation with the statement "I'm not that kind of Christian..." I suggest you seek out some progressive Christian voices for study. Rev. Dr. Jeanette Sherrill
25
@Jeanette Sherrill
I've heard several evangelical pastors in my progressive community denigrate Catholics and all other-believers as not real Christians, and subject not just to false doctrine, but to "bad doctrine." They are also, by their very own words, LGBT hate groups.
Completely and obviously, and by definition, divisive.
1
Baptists, Catholics, Evangelicals and all other religions should lose their tax-exempt status and be banned from all political activity. Note to readers: Republicans are not only responsible for most of the voter fraud committed in this country, Republicans are also responsible for most of the crimes committed by members of Congress. Since Nixon, according to Politifact, 4 Democratic lawmakers have been indicted and 2 convicted; 127 Republicans have been indicted and 95 convicted.
46
Though this is somewhat tangential, I've never understood the concept of a binary gender being applied to a singular, omnipotent god. Without the need to reproduce (or presence of a complementary being) , why would such a being be male or female?
34
@Scott
Why not call the entity Love? We humans use language to express ourselves. New Testament, GOD = LOVE.
A male and female Godhead COULD reproduce.
Just a thought,
Judy
@Scott Well that what the Hindu religion states, while there in an almost infinite pantheon of deities, both male and female, they are simply representations of the Atman or the Godhead which is nothing and everything, the alpha and the omega, etc., etc., and most definitely gender free.
@Scott, it is an unfortunate historical trick played by gender-inflected languages translated into gender-specific pronouns. And, of course, patriarchy.
As an atheist, I would encourage religious people to question their faith. Try to find meaning in community, nature, or education. The concept of God is not required to attain happiness.
Faith discourages questioning and encourages obedience. Try logic and reason - certainly won't get molested by them!
42
“If God is unable to prevent evil, then he is not all-powerful.
If God is not willing to prevent evil, then he is not all-good.
If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?”
God doesn’t get embarrassed, just as God cannot conceivably be engendered. ‘Negative theology’ is fairly basic stuff.
8
@ubique You may get some answers by delving into Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, especially the theory of Karma, which provides a fairly elegant solution to the apparent conundrum of a infinitely good and powerful God and the existence of evil.
Whether it is the Catholic church or some other denomination, the culture seems to be ripe for sexual abuse. Boys, girls, and women are all victims. I have read a lot in recent days about the all male culture of the clergy and even the hypothesis that men with homosexual leanings may find comfort in becoming a priest. I think when we prohibit marriage and condemn homosexuality within the denomination one serves, a problem is created. If these men married women or were openly gay we would see a lot less of this abuse.
Adding women to the mix would create a balance, but it would not fix the problem. This is definitely not to say that in the day and age women shouldn't have a more esteemed position within the Church. God is not necessarily a white male as many would like to believe.
Allowing sex offenders back into the Church, to serve and guide, is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Would any school allow a sex offender back into the classroom?
We need to focus on the healing. There is another opinion piece in today's paper about a man who was abused when he was 12 and 13 years old. His abuser has since died. In some kind of miracle he found healing through God. I hope the Pope has intentions during his summit to address healing. Asking for forgiveness is not healing. It may be a step in the right direction, but it doesn't undo grave injustices.
12
I get that the Illinois Baptist authorities have behaved unacceptably in (at least) three ways in this one case:
1) By turning a blind eye to sexual assaults from within their ranks,
2) By allowing a key perpetrator to later resume something like his prior (abused) job
3) By punishing the whistleblower.
But why is that journalist "no longer a journalist"?
That suggests moral rot not just within organized religion but within news media as well.
Furthermore, while the case for female ordination is compelling, that should not be a prerequisite for male pastors behaving properly. An all-male clergy is no excuse whatsoever for sexual abuse.
A just end (cracking down on sexual abuse by church leaders) may justify an otherwise controversial means (female ordination), but not as a dodge or evasion from confronting the problem directly as well.
6
it seems to me that the scandal plagued ministries-both RC and southern Baptist, have spent the last 20 years focused on political rather than spiritual issues. The neglect of the spiritual, which is (or ought to be) the core of religiosity, had led to the moral rot we now see.
25
@Bruce Brown, MDExvept it existed long before 20 years ago.
2
Many, if not most, of the women you mention that belong to congregations that do not allow them to participate in the church agree with and work to preserve the patriarchy that rules their religious lives. These women often participate in unequal marriages in which the man is the head of the home, as he is the head of her church. They believe the biblical instruction that tells them they must come second, and they teach their daughters to submit to their fathers and husbands. These women may be victims, set up by their religion to become prey for men, but they are also enablers, raising generations of women to be passive second-class citizens. Unless the women change, the religion will not.
106
@Ms. Pea But since they are brainwashed from a young age to think this is the only holy, correct mode of living, I'm not sure this is a fair expectation.
4
@Ms. Pea
Yes. And these women helped elect Trump et al.
5
@Ms. Pea Your comments are crucial to understanding the patriarchy/religion issues. There are multiple denominations that emphasize male domination of every facet of their beliefs; protestant, evangelical, mega-churches as well as some of the more 'mainstream' denominations. It's outrageous that women subscribe to these, support these, work as hired help to sustain these. The Falwell, Robertson, Graham, Dobson, men and their female minions are the most visible. But the church around the corner likely also tells women they are subservient, not worthy of ordination. How to change? I don't know.
4
All of the theories and hypotheses about Christianity's origins and history are fascinating, but they do not explain why these sorts of excesses occur in other religions too.
The problem quite simply is impunity. Definition: exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action.
Whether it is a Donald Trump or Bill Clinton or Roger Ailes, whether it is any of the creatures referenced in Mr. Kristof's piece, the one thing all of these scoundrels have/had in common while committing their predations was immunity.
In the case of Trump, Clinton, Ailes, Matt Lauer, etc... the impunity came from people, women AND men, who were unwilling to complain about their misconduct. And when a rare individual did speak up, people in positions of power (which should always be read as "responsibility") avoided taking action against the powerful.
This is not to absolve the leadership of these Churches, if anything, it is to highlight their failure to act morally and responsibly.
We all are guilty of enabling evil when we grant people we revere or adore, favor or fear, impunity. Women were not exactly innocent in the transgressions of the Catholic Church - the cruelty shown to "fallen women" by nuns and other Catholic women was real. Similarly the cruelty shown by Southern Baptist women to their servants and enslaved unfortunates was real and evil. The one thing running in all of these is the same - impunity.
We have to hold people accountable, no impunity.
29
"They both have very masculine understandings of God, and have a structure where men are considered the closest representatives of God.”
Which men? All men? Or just the priests?
Women have a subordinate position in the church. But what about the lay man?
The “male” that we talk about in the context of the church is not a single all-encompassing term. There’s a hierarchy of ‘males’ or male figures. The lay catholic man comes much lower in the hierarchy, after god the father, god the son, god the spirit, the pope and the priest.
The lay catholic man is also expected to show deference to this structure that exists above him. He is expected to see all the men and women in his family and social circle show extreme deference to the priest – by way of sacraments, confession, the mass. So what happens then? The man grows insecure about his place in the family and the world. Maybe there’s insecurity, maybe there’s guilt. More often than not there’s confusion. The ones who thrive - both men and women - are the ones who are ok with hypocrisy.
Over millennia, the church has caused irreparable damage to people, and therefore families, and economies. We ought to investigate in economic terms, just what exactly the scale of this loss is. It was never simply about male vs. female. There was always a group of people that considered themselves superior to the ‘simply male’, and that was the clergy. any wonder then that they consider themselves omnipotent and accountable to no one?
3
@dsi the lay "man" is still ranked above the lay "woman".
1
The problem is not in gender or religion of the clergy.
The problem is in the clergy.
The professional clergy is in direct contradiction with the essence of faith.
The faith cannot be anybody’s job. It provides us with the system of values. It is the part of our lives, but we cannot be paid for being faithful. The faith is the gift, the free one.
The professional clergy was established by the ancient rulers to assure their controlling influence. If you receive the grants from the kings, then you are dependent on them.
It is easy to test this hypothesis. Have you seen any contemporary politician capable of maintaining their independency from their largest donors?
If we learned from Moses, Jesus and Muhammed, we could quickly conclude what they had in common.
All of them were surrounded by the poor people. All of them were persecuted by the rulers and TRAVELED across the land. None of them had the professional clergy or built any temple, church or mosque.
We haven’t been able to correctly understand the essence of faith over the last several millenniums. The faith’s role is to unite the people instead of dividing them. It should teach us how to be tolerant instead of making us hateful.
The clergy, as any bureaucracy, is inclined to wage the turf wars in battle for dominance and control of territory - doing something completely opposite to the faith.
The sexual abuse of the minors is just a consequence of the critical problem – the blind obedience to any human!
9
Another example of an evangelical/Christian leader who abused his (not her) position of power for personal gain.
Another name to add to the growing list including the likes of: Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Robert Tilson, Bob Larson, Pat Robertson, Kent Hovind, Peter Popoff, George Alan Rekers, Lonnie Frisbee, Tony Alamo and Mike Warnke.
It begs the obvious question. Perhaps failing to remedy patriarchal myths and modernize religions sects that don't consider women equal to men is large part of the problem?
Helping to get more women in positions of power, reflecting that they're 51% of the populace's gender, would be a start. Another solution is to educate people of the danger when any religious sect demands unquestioning obedience to it's leadership. Jim Jones is an extreme case in that regard but there are many, many others. This is not to say all religion tends to become corrupt, but religious leadership needs to be ethically and morally governed by their parishioners and/or some "board of directors" to reduce abuses of power by a single leader.
11
We rightfully fall over backwards to be sure to keep church and state separated. And there was always an inherent belief that an organization so concerned with morality would never accept predatory sexual behavior, especially within its own.
The only remaining course of action is for the state to become more involved in policing the Church's behavior and consequences. It is obvious to anyone, including the most devout, that the Catholic Church is unable and unwilling to properly police its own. There is no remaining choice but to police the priesthood for them. Sad but true.
8
"I suspect it’s no accident that these crimes emerged in denominations that do not ordain women and that relegate them to second-class status."
That comment is one of the most compelling jusifications for the (wo)mandated inclusion of women in positions of leadership. And let's not forget every actual minority, since women aren't one.
9
The problem is not just the clergy; it's the very existence of churches. The "purpose" hardwired into humans by nature is the avoidance of pain, the pursuit of pleasure, attraction to sex, and survival. The other purposes assigned to humans by humans are mere products of the imagination. I realize that it is disquieting to think that our only purpose is a pain-free, pleasurable continuance, but in reality that is all there is - the rest is made up. Obviously, the promise of an eternal life appeals to a program for survival.
In the near future, we will program the survival program of humans in a computer (The "survival" program is the only program of the mind that can be programmed into a machine that cannot feel), and this program will teach us much about what the human mind actually does and what we have done to that programming in our societies. With this program of the mind, we shall finally know the truth, and, indeed, the truth shall set us free.
2
@RLB
Avoidance of pain, pursuit of pleasure, attraction to sex, and survival. Those are purposes? They sound like motives, as in method-motive-opportunity. When it comes to a purpose, I'll take "to glorify God and enjoy [God] forever."
The real problem is the existence of churches at all. The "purpose" hardwired into humans by nature is the avoidance of pain, the pursuit of pleasure, attraction to sex, and survival. The other purposes assigned to humans by humans are mere products of the imagination. I realize that it is disquieting to think that our only purpose is a pain-free, pleasurable continuance, but in reality that is all there is - the rest is made up.
In the near future, we will program the survival program of humans in a computer (The "survival" program is the only program of the mind that can be programmed into a machine that cannot feel), and this program will teach us much about what the human mind actually does and what we have done to that programming in our societies. With this program of the mind, we shall finally know the truth, and, indeed, the truth shall set us free.
2
Thank you for for writing this article. It’s important to highlight that societies where men fundamentally control all the real power abuse it through abuse and violence against women and children. That’s true whether it be a Church, corporation or fraternity. I grew up catholic and the symbolism still pulls at me but I don’t know if I will ever go to a church again until there is true reform that elevates women to the priesthood and other powerful roles. Too many of the evils, incl. child sex abuse, stem in part from this imbalance
12
You can be assured that the revelations in the Houston Chronicle are just the tip of the iceberg. For every public account of sexual abuse and rape there are dozens more that were handled quietly.
Patriarchy is driven by power, not sex. That's why the abuse of men and boys in the Catholic hierarchy is just as patriarchal as their abuse of women.
What theologians are now beginning to admit is that this manner of organizing Christian churches has no sound theological basis.
Where Christianity could have been a beacon of equality it instead chose to reflect the power dynamics of its day where women and children were little more than property.
Now they are equal under our civil law, but not our church practices.
But this is a new day and just as the movement for social equality is now being driven by women, a new movement for true religious freedom must also be driven by women.
Christianity has an opportunity to theologically rediscover itself and through that rediscovery find the true message of Jesus.
If the Southern Baptists fail to take this path, they like their Catholic brethren will be preaching to increasingly empty churches. And maybe that's what it will take for them to wake up and truly "see the light."
51
In the year 2000, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Carter withdrew their support from the Southern Baptist Convention and associated themselves with a less dogmatic group. Carter announced his decision by sending a letter to several thousand Baptist churches, and by giving some press interviews at the time in which he explained his reasons for the change.
In his letter Carter said: “I have been disappointed and feel excluded by the adoption of policies and an increasingly rigid SBC creed, including some provisions that violate the basic premises of my Christian faith. I have finally decided that, after 65 years, I can no longer be associated with the Southern Baptist Convention.”
The former president said that he and Mrs. Carter would associate with:
“Other traditional Baptists who continue to share such beliefs as separation of church and state, servanthood and not domination of pastors, local church autonomy, a free religious press and equality of women.”
I wonder what he will say about these revelations.
63
The fundamental question really is: is the patriarchy that is central to virtually every religion a feature or a bug? I think we all know how most men in these religions would answer that question. The follow up question would be whether patriarchy or misogyny is the more accurate term.
10
Over the years women oppressed by their churches have secretly sought my help. I’m a psychologist,not affiliated with any church, so these women are choosing to step outside their churches to heal. At first they ask for help healing from the sexual and mental abuse they have experienced at the hand one person (husband, elder, pastor, etc.). But eventually they have a crisis of faith because they realize that their churches condoned/encouraged the abuse. It takes courage to heal, to stand up to one abuser, and then to take on the institution that made the abuse possible. Furthermore, these women must do it alone, and with tremendous pressure to give up the fight. I hope the current spotlight on predators like Trump, Weinstein and Cosby are the beginning of a new age of healing for all of us.
44
Even Bible interpretation often glorifies the male while condemning the female - and even in churches which have long ordained women. Take the story of David and Bathsheba. The great King David has stayed at home while his army is out fighting. As he strolls on his roof in the cool of the evening, he looks down and sees the "wife of Uriah the Hittite" (Bathsheba) bathing; he decides he wants her, sends for her, and lies with her. When she tells him she is pregnant, he sends for her husband (who is fighting in David's army) to come home. There follows a series of events when David first tries to get Uriah to sleep with his wife so he can cover that he is the father (Uriah refuses that pleasure since his men are still on the battle field); David then arrange for Uriah to be killed in battle. He marries Bathsheba and God punishes him (them) by having the child die.
Even though the Bible itself clearly blames David for this affair in its story of Nathan the prophet, generations have been taught to see Bathsheba as a slut. In my theologically middle-of-the-road Presbyterian church, I had even women insisting that Bathsheba was to blame ("she wanted it" and "she bathed there purposely so that David would see her" and "she wanted to be the King's wife"). Those women had been well taught that women are always to blame; the "feminine wiles" are irresistible to me; that if men misbehave in that area whatever woman is involved is somehow to blame.
35
@Anne-Marie Hislop
I totally agree with you. The one compensatory benefit may be that it inspired Leonard Cohen (in part) to write "Hallelujah" which includes a verse about the Bathsheba affairs. The song has achieved anthem status and in a good way.
7
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Bad theology is everywhere. That doesn't mean we need less theology, it means we need better theology.
@R. T. Keeney
Agreed. My point is that biblical interpretation, even in churches which ordain women (I am ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA) often perpetuates stereotypes about women, male superiority, and male-female relationship which are damaging to women. Such understanding of scriptural stories are deeply embedded in many churches and among the laity. It is an uphill battle to change minds once folks incorporate a particular understanding into their belief system.
My Episcopal parish has had three priests in the last 20 years that were disciplined for sexual misconduct. All involved conduct at other parishes. One involved a 16 year old girl, one had an affair with a female parishioner, and one pleaded guilty to unwanted touching of female parishioners. So, I don't think sexual misconduct really has much to do with whether the church ordains females or whether it allows priests to marry. The Episcopal Church has ordained women priests for 43 years and all of the priests were married.
15
@Horace One day, when women rule, it will be discovered that women abuse power and are capable of horrid acts. I'm not saying that the fight isn't worth it but humans have a long way to go to reach living with a clear heart.
1
@Horace they were "disciplined" but I'll bet they're still priests.
1
After reading many articles on this issue it seems to me that women are sorely needed in leadership positions.
In the Catholic Church, celibacy and the all male clergy are clearly root causes of the sex abuse problem. The wrong people are being accepted as priests and celibacy keeps many potential candidates on the outside. Many of the qualities needed to be a minister are normal to women and it seems, homosexual men. A recent article in the Times dealt with the number of gay priests and it is believed to be at least half of all clergy. These men are denied loving relationships and are condemned to lonely lives.
Perhaps young gay men who have the calling believe that celibacy will be easier for them. It seems otherwise.
The Catholic Church needs to start with allowing married male priests and then move to women priests. It also needs to become more enlightened about gays. At the present rate the church will run out of priests. The Baptists need to join the 21st century and allow women ministers before they too become relics of the past.
13
@mike
Homosexuality and celibacy are not at the roots of pedophilia. Pedophiles are in the mainstream, both married and unmarried. Rape is an expression of power and control.
Churches and organized religion have historically provided safe havens for sex offenders by exerting power over followers and abetting crimes by finding ways to hide them, e.g., transfers to other parishes, not following through on reports of assaults and regularly dismissing claims of assault by labeling them "not credible."
We are FINALLY beginning the move out of the mindset that clergy is omnipotent, and challenging them is an act against God. It can't move fast enough.
2
@Patricia/Florida
I agree that homosexuality and celibacy are not the root cause of pedophilia but the all male celibate clergy is certainly a cause of sexual abuse. Imagine if a healthy percentage of priests were women. The sexual abuse rate would almost certainly be lower.
I agree that clericalism is another root cause of the problem. Leadership by the laity, men and especially women is sorely needed.
@mike, while I agree that celibacy is problematic. I don't really think closeted gay priests are the reason for pedophilia. If you are suppressing your attraction to adults of the same gender, that doesn't suddenly make you attracted to children of either gender.
2
The core of the problem may be unsolvable: the tendency to follow anyone spiritually. Giving anyone God-like, extra-legal persuasive power over vulnerable people (children or others) is a recipe for abuse. However, most people will never find the comfort that can come from belonging to a faith community without also giving themselves over to the undue authority of a charismatic leader. And there is no way to accurately gauge the integrity of a given "man of the cloth."
In the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and to some degree, Episcopal Churches, there is a flawed, organized, protect-the-clergy conspiracy of silence, starting at the top and filtering down through the hierarchy. In the Protestant denominations, where pastors are largely autonomous, the individual preacher has even more personal opportunity to do wrong, almost without check.
The problem is two-fold: the inability to tell who is above board and trustworthy vs who is a predator in shepherd's guise; made worse by the deep-seated need to invest blind trust in these self-declared men of God.
18
@Allen, you make some very good points here, but I disagree with the idea that belonging in a faith community necessitates accepting "undue authority" of a charismatic leader. As a former Southern Baptist now belonging in the larger Baptist community, I see many Baptists who still honor our principle of "soul competency" -- no one needs a "priest" to grant them access to God, and every soul bears responsibility for their own relationship to God. When the whole congregation bears responsibility for their own and each other's spiritual well-being, the opportunities for a predator are lessened. If a congregation puts too much responsibility on the pastor, it's not too surprising when they begin to think they are god-like; how else can they cope?
One of the strongest churches I know spent some 30 years with a pastor who was about as charismatic as a soggy pancake (and his preaching was worse). The congregation remained faithful to God and each other, and it is now a flourishing congregation with a generous spirit and deep roots in the larger community -- and a ministerial team that functions in love and mutual respect. Each member brings his or her strengths and no one has to feel that he or she carries the load alone. That, I think, is good leadership and healthy Christian theology.
1
No, sad to say the "all male clergy" may be part of the problem, but adding women won't fix it. Look at all the teacher-student scandals.
6
@Ryan, I agree. Adding women does, however, make it more likely that the underlying theology will change, and then the structures of power will change, and that will help.
1
Too little, too late for the Catholic Church. Had Mary Magdalene long ago tended the flock along with her husband (i.e., a priest) much of this would have never transpired. Until the Church acknowledges the appropriate and normal need for women to be priests and part of the hierarchy the arcane and unhealthy traditions (i.e., condemnation of gays, abortion, divorce) will continue to drive many away from Catholicism or force them to live with rejection and scorn. The heinous abuse of the innocents - women and children - has no absolution, calling for immediate condemnation and reform by Pope Francis regarding issues noted above, but sadly if recent history and thinking emanating from the Vatican are any indication there will be little more than empty promises and retreat into continued adherence to hoary theological tenets and practice.
11
It is not just these churches. I have been a member of two other « brands » of churches where the priest or minister was fired for sexual misconduct.
In both cases they were praying on vulnerable women who went to them for counseling.
19
@Jean Yes - "praying on them" as well as preying on them.
2
Looks like more Baptist perverts ended up in jail than Catholic priests.
8
@Nb
not even close, my friend. Not even close
As always, a moving presented hypothesis, attempting to be scrupulously humane. This statement, stirring and seductive as it is, fails that standard: "And as long as inequality is baked into faith, as long as “men of God” are unaccountable, then sexual assaults will continue." Whether inequality baked-in, either leads to or is already equal to unaccountability has not been established. And if they are separate and distinguishable conditions, then the comma can imply no affiliation at all, even as it imposes an unnecessarily higher standard of risk than is needed, for assault to take place. Equally and urgently to the point, the statement offers the highly pregnant implication that if these two conditions are removed, assault will not take place. That is such an irresponsible suggestion, that of course it is not intended; but one wouldn't know it, from this construction.
4
Since their fairy tales were written when people were less socially evolved, and since they busy themselves with imposing said nonsense on today's world, it follows that they are locked into the misogyny, bigotry and homophobia they both read into their 'sacred' texts and get out of them, mostly because they can't be bothered with learning/understanding the socio-historical contexts or root languages in which they were formed--too much work! So they use it to reinforce their bigotries, even if it really doesn't (it often does).
Certainly, allowing women to lead is a huge step in the right direction for the church, but in my opinion, leaving altogether and allowing letting the church collapse and fade into dust and irrelevance would be pole-vaulting in the right direction for HUMANITY.
88
@J I think your answer is spot on. The last few years I dived into the history of christianity (from a peer-reviewed/educated perspective) and was shocked at the facade that I've grown up with. Also helps I'm married to a Brit and he saw the light years before me...
10
Excellent article. For too long, men have written the history and made the rules. If the Catholic and Southern Baptist churches want to stay alive and relevant, they must rapidly evolve and allow the power structure to be turned upside down. I’m tired of hearing about how Jesus supposedly chose only male disciples. Men wrote the books and letters that were chosen by men to be in the Bible. This has always struck me as more about power than about truth.
33
It still blows my mind that so many people put their faith in a book whose authorship is mainly unknown. Most people, I bet, have not read much of the Bible. If they did they would find writings mainly about sacrifices, wars, and family lineage. Just a few inspirational passages that get read and re-read every Sunday. Maybe this is the type of person that also mindlessly follows the leadership that has caused so much pain.
59
@Rick - I agree. Having made the decision to read the bible cover to cover, I found it hard to believe that people make such a fuss over it. If people came to the bible without preconceived notions of god and religion and had to be persuaded by the book, it wouldn't happen.
I understand the same cannot be said of the Koran, which has been described as poetry. Unfortunately, it is also said that you must read it in the original language to appreciate it. Oh well.
3
Amen to that!
(Said as ironic pop culture reference and decidedly NOT a religious call and response).
6
Thank you for this important article, but pleeeeease, don't make the Jesus of the Bible out to have been some sort of early feminist. How many of the twelve were women? Right.
16
@Charlie Clarke I would respond that the 12 we know about were men and that may be in large part due to the fact that it was almost exclusively men who chose, translated, interpreted and rewrote the manuscripts that we now recognize as the Bible.
81
@Joanne Bartsch
And I would respond that, while there may have been a person, or persons, that inspired the stories about "Jesus of Nazareth," there is no independent historical documentation that the Bible should be considered a historical document. Zero.
19
@Charlie Clarke, there may have been more, but the Book was written by men. Historically when the New Testament was written, men were already subjugating and stifling women and their voices.
11
We are human animals. Men are therefore animals. Why should we be surprised at their tendency to power over and predation? I'm not excusing men by saying this. I'm pointing out it is men who need to step up and monitor one another. Honor is lacking by men too often. They protect on another in religion and laws even as I write this protest. Women can't fix the egregious lack of balance of power between men and women. Men have to do it. Read "Call to Action" by former president Jimmy Carter. Wise women are alert to protect their children and themselves from men in general. It is no surprise women and children are the victims of men's predation. It is sometimes almost comical if it were not tragic, how men will turn themselves inside out to blame women for their "weakness" either in scripture or in laws designed to control and malign the female. It's time for men to "man up" and do what they actually do best and are designed to do by nature, which is to provide and protect, BUT, without controlling and exploiting. That's a tall order. But if we are to be a civilized society, protecting the weakest and most vulnerable, this is what must be recognized, in my humble opinion. The unfolding and exposing of corruption in the churches, is just the tip of the iceberg. Most women who are murdered ( something like 98%), are murdered by men. Over 50% of them are murdered by someone they knew. We are not even talking about beatings.
43
"The church leadership would expel a church that appointed a woman as senior pastor, even as it accepted sexual predators."
Hypocrisy of all religions is unbelievable. Why a woman cannot be ordained as a pastor? Is it based on religious scriptures? Also how do we know that God is a male? Why God cannot be a female or no gender? All religions are "man" made, this is why god is assumed to be a male. I agree some religions accept god as a female. Women should fight over this assumption that god is a " male".
25
@Padman
Lots of religions all over the world have worshipped goddesses—even, you might say, monotheistic ones like the cult of Cybele, the “Great Mother.” No personal deity, to my knowledge, has ever been conceived of as neuter. The Judaeo-Christian-Islamic conception of the Deity has always been masculine (not “male,” a biological term), as their reference to Him as ”Lord,” “Father,” “Master,” etc. (rather than “Lady,” “Mother,” “Mistress,” etc) confirms throughout their sacred literature. There is certainly inequality in this. Whether inequality is always and necessarily injustice is a question progressive 21st-c thought never seems even to ask.
1
@Padman
The persistence of the anthropomorphism in the conception of a supreme being, as having gender, is amusing, but sad.
1
"....the Southern Baptists have promised greater training and more background checks, but what’s needed above all is accountability and equality." Perhaps we could throw "rigorous criminal prosecutions" into the mix? Or a class action suit that brings the organization financially to its knees or even bankruptcy? This isn't just bad behaviour or a lack of accountability. This is the kind of thing that voids an organization's right to exist. Are you listening Rome?
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A new synthesis is coming in Evangelical Christianity, where the denominations will embrace #MeToo. This is because both extol Puritan values. We may see churches requiring men and women to be seated separately with the main aisle between them. But Evangelical Christianity will also see the day when half of their pastors are women.
Except for abortion, there is not much cultural difference between feminism and conservative Christianity in principle. There is ample room for rapprochement.
2
@Epaminondas
Anti-abortion is anti-women, so it is hard to see room for rapprochement.
1
@Epaminondas
Not much difference in culture?
Are you kidding?
Evangelical and Baptist women are taught to shut up and be obedient to all men, who rule them. And let's not even get started with the prohibition against feminine sexual agency and the right to decide what happens to their own bodies and in their own wombs (ie. The Right to Choose).
A vast, vast difference. But maybe women who are Christians will wake up some day and see how they have been abused and used.
2
@Epaminondas
The difference is that most feminists can tell the difference between poetry (religious mythology) and prose (facts), and Evangelicals simply cannot.
"The result may be threefold: an entitled male clergy, women and girls taught to be submissive in church, and a lack of accountability and oversight." This is well-said and persuasive to me. I think it is an entitled male clergy and I think this can be applied to the Catholic priests as well as the Protestants under review. I used to work in a prestigious seminary as a student. The priests went to the buffet table, cut the center out of steaks and chops, and left the bones and fat in the serving dish. They picked the strawberries off the shortcake. They took one sip from their coffee and asked for refills, and knocked on locked doors when returning after midnight from the baths. Entitled perfectly captures their state of mind. I think it should be left to church members to ask how this has come to pass. As a nonmember, I have no useful suggestions, but I, too, think an all-male environment breeds a special form of conceit. Spoiled children should not be allowed to become spoiled adults.
59
No, the problem is a belief system that requires no evidence, which invites abuse of the vulnerable by the powerful. This is the problem of religion.
118
Instead of “our father”my friends the nuns substitute “mother and father’ or “the creator” in. their mind and sometimes out loud.
When one tried to make the language of the liturgy more inclusive, the priestcalled her to his office and told her to stop. He said a congregant threatened to withhold his church contributions unless the church return the language back to phrases like “mankind” and all.
I am grasping the idea of institutional sexism. My nun friends say that when Jesus was resurrected as Christ, he was neither male or female.
I met a woman who became a Catholic priest,albeit an excommunicated one. I asked her why she didn’t just became an Episcopalian priest and she said it was because being Catholic was in her dna. I know she did not mean institutional sexism had to be part of her dna.
13
You only have to look at how Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Franklin Graham, among others who have stood behind Trump, no matter what he says or does. Religion is now about power and money, not the word of God.
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@Sue Thompson
I would claim that it always has been so, as far as most of the clergy (in all religions) is concerned.
19
@Wolfgang. I agree with you.
2
@Sue Thompson
Always was, always will be.
1
Excellent article. The all male heirachy will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo and will find ways to maintain their leadership,despite the egregious actions they allow to continue and fester. The only thing that will oust them or allow change to occur, within church structures, heirarchies and how the religion is taught (basically encouraging enslavement of women) is a mass exodus of women. Sadly, all over, women who are indoctrinated via religion do not recognise their enslavement. Yet. Until then, the tide turns slowly.
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@Reader Rader
Then women need to change churches. Empty collection boxes will cure many evils.
23
There’s nothing in the text or original understanding of the Free Exercise Clause that would prevent states from overseeing and regulating and monitoring church activities. Such oversight was, in fact, the norm 250 years ago. Secular oversight BEFORE the abuse occurs must be a part of the solution.
22
The problem is inextricable from the essence of Christian Theology. The concept that the (only) way to deal with sin is to give your heart to Christ is fundamentally flawed because what it really means all that matters is doctrinal correctness. The dogma is all, what pushes the dogma is good, regardless of other failings. All that matters is promoting the right words. And why do we promote the right words? Because it's the best way to serve the cause of promoting the right words. Like all the most successful religions, standard Christianity is all delivery system and no contents.
15
@Robert David South - In other words, belief trumps behavior. This is the essential problem of born again fundamentalists - or fundamentalists in any religion.
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@Robert David South
For many of us, "giving your heart to Christ" is not a matter of doctrinal correctness. It is a living, breathing experience -- with plenty of "contents."
1
@Robert David South Perhaps, but this is more a protestant way of thinking than a Catholic one, which in relatve terms emphasizes the ultimate role of personal conscience and acts or works over spiritual faith. And yet the same problem persists.
This column reminds me that it is no so much the belief in the existence of a God that annoys me, it is the man-made, archaic religions and the sanctimonious leaders within them who claim to speak for God, the Master of the Universe, who, apparently, needs Earthly translators to convey his commands and wishes.
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@Alan R Brock - My mom was also greatly perturbed by this and said their should be an 11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak for me.
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@Alan R Brock
Thomas Paine called it "priest craft".
3
@Alan R Brock
God does not require others to convey His message. Last time I checked, I can ask God myself what is the right course for me in my daily life.
I get that you don't agree or understand my view on that, but you *choose* to have that view.
2
There is so much wrong with religion, the way women are seen and the reluctance with which authorities and faithful citizens are prepared to tackle the crimes committed - even those against kids - that it is hard to believe possible.
How can it be that we fight for equal rights in all areas of life (with more and with less success) but are willing to accept discrimination and human rights violations when it comes to religion? How come our faculty of reason seems to evaporate here? How come that many even look for answers & justification in scripture - texts that were handed down orally by ignorant peasants to be written down hundreds of years later? Whether it is the catholic Church, the Baptists or the Koran, manmade religion relegates half of our population to a second class position, and millions of followers - including women - seem to agree.
The only explanation I can find is brainwash - and a male population that has no interest in changing this. As long as this superstition of a (male) divine power is taught to toddlers by their parents this will never really change. As long as we claim that "people of faith" are good & moral people, implying that others are not, this will not change. As long as we do not openly challenge every claim religion makes, people will get away with crime just because they call themselves Reverend. We do not need religion to be moral citizens. We can do better without it and its representatives.
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@Wolfgang I think it is too simple to divide people into rational secularists and irrational religious people. Communism for instance was secular but also male dominated and oppressive. The cultural current in Europe is thoroughly secular, very different from the US. Let's put our efforts into uniting people of good will to build a just society, without looking if they visit a church service on Sunday mornings (like I do).
22
@Elisabeth
I happily agree with your last sentence. And yes, there of course are many oppressive secularists and good religious people. But that was not my point. We can have a a discussion about the short comings of communism at a different comment section. Still, to me religions are irrational. (No offence. I used to smoke. Completely irrational.) But my point here is: let us not get church away with crimes - as it often does - simply because it wields some power and gets reverence it does not deserve. Let us not allow ANY church or believe system the right to follow its own internal judicial system, which more often than not protects the perpetrator and ignores the victims.
54
@Wolfgang - Religion is better characterized as a-rational, not ir-rational.
5
One historical irony is that during the English Revolution in the 1600s, Baptists accepted women as preachers -- as did the Quakers, who still hold that God calls women as well as men to the ministry. Some branches of the Baptists (the majority, I guess) later pulled back from this idea, as did some Quaker groups influenced by Protestant theology (and mainstream patriarchal culture).
18
Is there a single religious group in the US, that protected children in their care, from sexual assault by their ministers?
In Australia we have just concluded a lengthy investigation called a Royal Commission, into institutional abuse of children. It found there was no religious group immune from predatory ministers. Some religious groups were better than other is protecting children in their care.
Time and time again the religious groups defended the offending minister and their organisation, while ignoring the complex needs of the victims.
What is incredibly sad is that groups that claim to be christian, behaved in a very unchristian way. Criminals were protected, and victims were either attacked or ignored. How did we get to such a position, where the moral leaders have been shown to lack moral leadership?
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@Barry of Nambucca
What's the common denominator in well north of 90% of these cases of abuse?
They are committed by men.
5
People seem to believe that priests become pedophiles because they are not allowed to have sex. The truth is that the coverups of all the rapes, the very unwillingness of the Church to press charges against these people, encouraged pedophiles to become priests. They were given license to do what they wanted, knowing they will be protected. The Church's policies actually encouraged and became a calling card for pedophiles. What a great life--to be vaunted as a priest and have all the sex possible. And my boss will protect me for life. A dream job for child abusers.
7
@Barry of Nambucca Barry makes an excellent point -- no religious group is immune. Unfortunately, their first priority is almost always to protect the institution at all costs.
3
“After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
436
@Socrates
I think that Nietzsche’s take here might be a bit harsh, but with all due humility, I admit that when I find out that a given person believes that the Bible or any other supposedly holy book is the actual word of God, I no longer respect that person’s intellectual prowess.
45
@Socrates Nietzsche always appeals to unpleasant macho types, so I would not quote Nietzsche in response to an article about oppression of women!
6
@Socrates Would you have washed your hands after coming in contact with MLK? If not, why quote such a thoroughly unpleasant man as Nietzsche?
1
Very tired of all this philosophy/history as an explanation for what is completely straightforward: people in positions of unchecked power can exploit the people under them and many take the opportunity to do so.
332
@unattributed - Power, even that so common as parentage, has a tendency to corrupt.
8
@unattributed
Amen.
1
@unattributed: Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Nobody is immune from this -- not liberals, not women, not any group such as atheists or agnostics.
POWER CORRUPTS.
6
Consider the history of the Southern Baptists. Split from the Baptist Church in 1845 over the issue of slavery, the Southern Baptists held there was no incompatibility between slavery and Christian theology. It wasn't until 1995 when the Southern Baptist Convention apologized for the racism of the past.
If scripture can be perverted into acceptance of a business model that relies on the subjugation of people into property, it isn't much of a leap to sexual abuse of the easily manipulated. The god business is rife with confusion between the messenger and the message. The authority granted a cleric by a church and its followers is an illusion based on the belief they're closer to god than the rest of us and should be trusted in thought, word, and deed.
That's like assuming a badge makes a cop honest, a stethoscope makes a doctor wise, a crucifix makes a pastor immune from temptation. Some will use their position for good, others not. Praise those who do, prosecute those who do not, and understand the difference between the pastor and the pulpit.
203
@BA_Blue
Re "If scripture can be perverted into acceptance of a business model that relies on the subjugation of people into property..."
Actually, there is ample evidence in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that slavery is acceptable and accepted by the purported god of those two books.
Exodus 21, Luke 12, 1 Timothy 6 and others. Look it up.
6
@C.B. Evans, read the letter to Philemon next. Paul doesn't quite get to the conclusion of abolishing slavery (social reform and restructuring wasn't his thing), but he certainly laid the foundation.
1
These crimes illuminate the pitfalls of unilateral relationships in which power is a one-way street. They also demonstrate what happens when a culture of compliance (submitting to your superiors and maintaining appearances) replaces a culture of righteousness, for which everyone is held accountable.
Any organization that asks so much of its practitioners needs to provide rigorous training in the practice of individual righteousness, and then hold the fully trained individual accountable for the same.
When accounting the victims of these crimes, let's not forget the priests who have consistently shown discipline and compassion in all their relationships, and who now face the additional burden of distrust and institutional laxity.
25
given the rampant prevalence of sexual abuse it is hard to see that not every priest, every clergy, knew not at least one abuser and didn't speak up.
2
Perhaps it is important to establish that Christianity was not actually meant to be a male-dominated religion. How about this interpretation: The whole of Christianity hinges on the acceptance of a woman to be the integral part of God's plan to redeem humankind. Scripture tells us that God asked Mary through the Angel Gabriel to bear the Son of God...notice that the Divine did not force "his" will on the Mother of Jesus, but sought her agreement ("Be it done to me as you say...") And it was a woman, again Mary, who inaugurated Jesus' entry into public life at the Wedding Feast at Canaan. Until actually analyzing it, I always disliked the New Testament story of the sisters Martha and Mary, with Mary sitting with Jesus as he taught, while Martha was left to do all the work of the household. When Martha asked about this inequity, Jesus defended Mary, likely indicating that women too had/have a rightful place in the discussion and dissemination of God's Word, i.e., as members of the clergy. Likewise, who remained with Jesus through his suffering, crucifixion, and death: Mary, his Mother, and other female disciples, while the men, his apostles, fled in fear (with the exception of St. John), even denying Jesus and his teachings as St. Peter did three times. And it was two women who were the first to discover the stone rolled from the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest after his crucifixion, that is, God permitted women to be the first to find evidence of Jesus' resurrection.
47
@LHH
Your comment as to the prominence of women in the gospels were details so clear to me on first reading as an adult. The mentions of John by name in the company of women, or as "the disciple Jesus loved," made me wonder if translators had applied the wrong gender to John, possibly a woman. As an unschooled reader, the gospel of John seemed to me to have a women's perspective. I assume more women in biblical scholarship will clear the matter.
Male-dominated religions have problems beyond the scope of the new testament, but every bit of women's emergence as full persons helps.
7
@LHH
Allow me one question: why on earth is it necessary to search scripture for hints of the obvious? Why should ANY reference to an ancient text add any credibility to what should be evident and obvious: the equality of sexes (or rather equal rights ).
It never seizes to amaze me that still today the so-called holy books are considered important reference, when all that is required - and all that should matter ! - is basic humanistic ideas and moral.
4
About 30 years ago I worked as a prosecutor in a juvenile court. I was surprised to learn that many of the male offenders had been molested when they were younger by either a female relative or a female babysitter. I don’t believe that putting more women in positions of power will reduce incidents of sexual abuse; we may discover that women are as equally capable of evil as men.
25
@Mary it’s not about women or men. Is about how to protect victims from predators (women or men), with in religious groups who tend to blame the victim or obligue them and the community to forgive the predator. And to hide every thing from the authorities.
21
@Mary
Thank you for making this point. These days, you could insert the same statement into nearly every commentary in the NYT (especially the straight up political ones) and it would be apt.
2
@Mary In counseling, my focus was sexual assault. Rare were the times that women were doing the sexual assaulting. Over and over, I saw victims from evangelical churches, Mormon Churches - yes even bishops, youth pastors, Catholic priests, etc. There are way more male offenders than female offenders. There are female offenders but not as many as male offenders.
6
Clergy: A career selling magical thinking, from within a tax shelter, that believes it is above any country's laws, and rarely subject to intrusive law enforcement.
The problem is magical thinking; sex abuse is a symptom.
Placing a few female magical thinkers in "management" does not solve the core problem.
Everyone has a right to free speech and free assembly, but not from within a tax shelter.
232
@Josh Evans They get the tax break because they are non-profit, not because they are religious.
Perhaps 'non-profit' needs to be investigated.
I think its quite a stretch to say that Jesus and the early church were supportive of women. Mary Magdalen is the best known woman and well informed historians think she played a role as the well-regarded outsider among the entirely male group of central followers. Yet to the bulk of the faithful, including myself at an earlier age, she is known as the reformed harlot, proof that even the most compromised people can be saved. I think the elevated position of Jesus' mother is not strong evidence for an important role of women. I am also not sure why it is important to establish that this male dominated religion was once more accepting.
22
@WHM It's important to establish that "this male dominated religion was once more accepting" because too often religious authority is claimed as a natural, eternal kind of order. By establishing that it was most certainly NOT always like this, we can show two important things: 1) there is no religious imperative, only social convention at work in relegating women to lesser roles and 2) that the church has evolved, and can evolve further.
43
@Chris
The same is apparent in Islam. Mohammed's first wife was a power. Women were not as subjugated as the more retrograde Muslims would have it today.
20
@WHM
Perhaps it is important to establish that this male-dominated religion was not actually meant to be so. How about this interpretation: The whole of Christianity hinges on the acceptance of a woman to be the integral part of God's plan to redeem humankind. Scripture tells us that God asked Mary through the Angel Gabriel to bear the Son of God...notice that the Divine did not force "his" will on the Mother of Jesus, but sought her agreement ("Be it done to me as you say...") And it was a woman, again Mary, who inaugurated Jesus' entry into public life at the Wedding Feast at Canaan. Until actually analyzing it, I always disliked the New Testament story of the sisters Martha and Mary, with Mary sitting with Jesus as he taught, while Martha was left to do all the work of the household. When Martha asked about this inequity, Jesus defended Mary, likely indicating that women too had/have a rightful place in the discussion and dissemination of God's Word, i.e., as members of the clergy. Likewise, who remained with Jesus through his suffering, crucifixion, and death: Mary, his Mother, and other female disciples, while the men, his apostles, fled in fear (with the exception of St. John), even denying Jesus and his teachings as St. Peter did three times. And it was two women who were the first to discover the stone rolled from the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest after his crucifixion, that is, God permitted women to be the first to find evidence of Jesus' resurrection.
9
It never stops, does it? It just never stops. Men in power abusing children, then being protected by their organization. What will it take for it to stop?
391
@sjs: Men holding men accountable. Men reporting me. Not being silent bystanders. Not enabling men to continue their behavior for fear that calling them out will impact one's own life or profession. That's what it will take. Men standing up and calling each other out.
291
Electing women is what it will take, to every possible office in the entire country. And even then there will be a few problems.
15
@sjs I agree that men need to keep other men accountable, as commenter Anne wrote. But really, people need to stop being dazzled by institutions! That includes their own families. So much abuse occurs in families. I'm not sure what the solution is, other than prevention. A huge push for mental health would definitely help break some of the cycles of violence and abuse. If everyone who has a child was exposed to information about what is love and what is not love, and offered high quality parenting courses, maybe we wouldn't have to wait for some woman's hairdresser to tease out disclosures of abuse after she and her kids have been damaged for years. Maybe we wouldn't have to wait for a raped boy's mother to get legislation passed 40 YEARS after her son was harmed (legislation fought by the RCC among other groups). Do you care about kids, or not? Then put up, or SHUT UP.
6
Good column It is worth noting that the first person to discover the empty tomb in the Gospels was a woman and not one of Jesus" male disciples, all of whom were hiding in fear.
282
... and Christianity should have stopped there right in its tracks. But, ya know, who would be more believed, a few men or one lowly woman?
5
@Mark Siegel
And they didn’t believe her!
I don't have much to say on the specific allegations, because I am (and I suspect many others are too) absolutely numb to it all. It seems like there is a story about it every other week, or every other day.
What is really disheartening (OTHER than the continuing subjugation of women, and continuous victims, and ultimately cover ups) is that YOU are paying for it all.
You are paying for the discrimination. You are paying for the subjugation. You are paying for the crimes. You are paying for the cover ups. You are paying for all of the lawyers. You are paying for all of the movement around thereafter of priests. You are paying for all of it and more.
Your tax dollars are subsidizing the tax exemption for religious entities, even though you may believe in something else, or nothing at all. This goes against separation of church and state, but here we are.
Detailing yet more crimes.
733
@FunkyIrishman
It's easy to see the First Amendment as forbidding special treatment for religions, including special tax treatment.
76
@FunkyIrishman - Tax money well spent. For all its faults, and there are many, religion is an enormous stabilizing influence in society.
7
Sorry Steve, not a stabilizing influence but a divisive one. One that takes advantage of the under educated, weak and most trusting in a community. Take away the tax free status of all churches and the ones that actually help would still be there. But 99% of the others would fade away with their leaders looking at other ways to fleece the community.
147