Evangelical sex abuse record 'worse' than Catholic, Billy Graham's grandson says

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Evangelical Sex Abuse Record 'Worse' Than Catholic, Says Billy Graham's Grandson Boz Tchividijian. (Religious News Service/Huffington Post)
AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) The Christian mission field is a “magnet” for sexual abusers, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor who investigates abuse said.
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While comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response, ”I think we are worse,” he said at the Religion Newswriters Association conference, saying too many evangelicals had “sacrificed the souls” of young victims.

“Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics,” said Tchividjian, a grandson of evangelist Billy Graham and executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE).
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Abusers discourage whistle-blowing by condemning gossip to try to keep people from reporting abuse, he said. Victims are also told to protect the reputation of Jesus.

Too many Protestant institutions have sacrificed souls in order to protect their institutions, he said. ”We’ve got the Gospels backwards.”
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more at the link
 
Sad sad sad....
Religion is the perfect tool, excuse and cover for those that prey on children.


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The new Pope is a breath of fresh air for Catholics and I hope that other religions like Protestants start doing some of the same house cleaning he has started on. (he just had or is having a conference with 8 personally picked cardinals to get the vatican on the right road after to much caring for itself and not the people)
 
The new Pope is a breath of fresh air for Catholics and I hope that other religions like Protestants start doing some of the same house cleaning he has started on. (he just had or is having a conference with 8 personally picked cardinals to get the vatican on the right road after to much caring for itself and not the people)

I'm an atheist but even I find the new pope refreshing! I'm digging him!


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After the hidden world and corruption we have seen in the vatican over the decades it is so much fun to see someone who really cares about the people he is leading. Makes me thinking of converting to lol. Do you remember when he was voted in, an article said he made an impassioned speech the night before about what the church should be and unbeknownst to him the Cardinals took him up on it. Wonder what they think of their decision now lol. He called some of them courtiers :D
 
After the hidden world and corruption we have seen in the vatican over the decades it is so much fun to see someone who really cares about the people he is leading. Makes me thinking of converting to lol. Do you remember when he was voted in, an article said he made an impassioned speech the night before about what the church should be and unbeknownst to him the Cardinals took him up on it. Wonder what they think of their decision now lol. He called some of them courtiers :D
Yes! "courtiers in the curia." And "Proslytism is solemn nonsense."

If my late Catholic friend Peter were still around and we were sitting here goofing off and drinking a beer or three, he would have done what he always did in such circumstances when he was shocked into happiness by something he'd heard or seen or read: he would have barked!
 
Having dipped my toes in both pools (born and raised Catholic) with adult evangelical experience, I can believe this. I wish we could all just major on the majors, minor on the minors, and get along.
 
I read the new interview with Francis in Repubblica this morning. I'm ready to convert! lol. Make way for a Lutheran!

http://www.repubblica.it/cultura/2013/10/01/news/pope_s_conversation_with_scalfari_english-67643118/


Was it Chesterton who once said to someone considering converting: "C'mon in, it's AWFUL!"? :lol:

Francis has such a great amount of positive attention right now, I would love to see his first encyclical be an updating of one of the great social justice encyclicals, like Rerum Novarum (in fact, it's 125th anniversary is coming up in two years...). I think with the spotlight on him so heavily, it would get more of the public reading these documents. And it's definitely a message that needs to be heard NOW.
 
Was it Chesterton who once said to someone considering converting: "C'mon in, it's AWFUL!"? :lol:

Francis has such a great amount of positive attention right now, I would love to see his first encyclical be an updating of one of the great social justice encyclicals, like Rerum Novarum (in fact, it's 125th anniversary is coming up in two years...). I think with the spotlight on him so heavily, it would get more of the public reading these documents. And it's definitely a message that needs to be heard NOW.
Quite probably Chesterton did say it. I think he also said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”
 
I like this one, from Belloc, I think it was in The Path to Rome:

Wherever the Catholic son doth shine
There's always laughter and good red wine.
At least I've always found it so -
Benedicamos, Domino!

He left out mentioning good food, though, lol.
 
Far be it for me to defend evangelicals (most of whom it seems are no friend to folks like me), but as bad as the molestation of children by Catholic priests was--and it was very bad indeed--what was even worse was the INSTITUTIONAL corruption that allowed pedophiles to be moved from parish to parish where they could prey on more and more children.

Few if any evangelical sects (perhaps the Mormons are an exception; are they considered evangelicals?) have the same sort of bureaucracy. So even if there are bad ministers (and of course there are), there isn't an institution to protect them, to move them and to offer up more victims.
 
It's true. Hierarchy can be both a blessing and a curse, and in the pedophilia cases in the church, it has most definitely been a curse. A hierarchy should ideally mean more accountability, more people watching, a chain of command to report to and look to for action. Instead, from the bottom up, the attitude was to instead protect the institution.

I wonder if the "hierarchy" of the military similarly plays into the ongoing rise of sexual assaults in that institution. We are finally starting to hear more and more about those numbers this year. Let it all come out! First step towards making an institutional change.
 
Far be it for me to defend evangelicals (most of whom it seems are no friend to folks like me), but as bad as the molestation of children by Catholic priests was--and it was very bad indeed--what was even worse was the INSTITUTIONAL corruption that allowed pedophiles to be moved from parish to parish where they could prey on more and more children.

Few if any evangelical sects (perhaps the Mormons are an exception; are they considered evangelicals?) have the same sort of bureaucracy. So even if there are bad ministers (and of course there are), there isn't an institution to protect them, to move them and to offer up more victims.

Yes, the institution of the Roman Catholic church is what allowed the abuse to be so prevalent. When offenders were caught and disciplined, higher ups at the front line weren't allowed to fire these priests, so the only option was to transfer them to other parishes and of course it starts all over again.

There are more higher ups who are now retired and are speaking out. There were many who tried to expose and "fire" these predator priests, but they were prevented from doing so by those in much higher positions.

Evangelical churches don't have this type of hierarchy, power and protection. Many in the evangelical church won't talk about the abuse they suffered from the church, but it wouldn't be any where close to that of the R.C. church. The secrecy is worse than the R.C. church, but not the number of victims.
 
That has nothing to do with the problem. Married or not, predators will always find victims and place themselves in environments where they can access the most vulnerable. It's the way the R.C. church operates that allowed all this abuse to happen.
If priests had an issue with being single, then they would go find prostitutes, have secret affairs with women or secretly hook up with a nun.

And truthfully for years the RC church operated very much like our judicial system before Megan's Law.
In reality .....STILL there is a REVOLVING door in prisons for child sex offenders to be churned right back onto the street to assault again and again. So before everyone bashes select groups for their despicable behavior...let's look at society as a whole. It's come a long way, but there is still a very long road ahead when it comes to protecting children from pedophiles once they've been identified.


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And truthfully for years the RC church operated very much like our judicial system before Megan's Law.
In reality .....STILL there is a REVOLVING door in prisons for child sex offenders to be churned right back onto the street to assault again and again. So before everyone bashes select groups for their despicable behavior...let's look at society as a whole. It's come a long way, but there is still a very long road ahead when it comes to protecting children from pedophiles once they've been identified.


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Thing is, religious pedophiles, or secular, pedophiles receive little punishment. In fact, the current trend seems to be LESS than a slap on the wrist.

I believe one needs to ask themselves WHY? Maybe we should take a good look at the powers that be?
 
And truthfully for years the RC church operated very much like our judicial system before Megan's Law.
In reality .....STILL there is a REVOLVING door in prisons for child sex offenders to be churned right back onto the street to assault again and again. So before everyone bashes select groups for their despicable behavior...let's look at society as a whole. It's come a long way, but there is still a very long road ahead when it comes to protecting children from pedophiles once they've been identified.


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Absolutely! And if the offender is a family member, that's even more of a challenge. Tears a family apart and the victim may not get the support and protection they require.

Where I live offenders are placed on a registry, but that doesn't stop them from accessing and being around children, and right there is the problem.

Only the most extreme offenders have their names publicly listed and are prohibited from being within a certain distance of children under 17. For others, some of them get released from jail, get into a relationship and have children OF THEIR OWN!!! Scary!
 
Not buying it. I grew up and still attend protestant churches and while there was an incident here or there, it was in no way rampant....and rarely occurred. Anywhere there are people gathered, and children are present, creeps are going to be attracted....thats a fact...what type of religion has NOTHING to do with it. Pedophiles are pedophiles and they come in ALL shapes, sized AND religions.
 
Not buying it. I grew up and still attend protestant churches and while there was an incident here or there, it was in no way rampant....and rarely occurred. Anywhere there are people gathered, and children are present, creeps are going to be attracted....thats a fact...what type of religion has NOTHING to do with it. Pedophiles are pedophiles and they come in ALL shapes, sized AND religions.

bbm, Exactly. Be they neighbor, teacher, family or church leader.
 

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