When The Church Is Silent

The Podcast pertaining to this article is "What Has The Church Become Pt. 3" 

 Since her show in which Tyler Perry presented his startling revelations of childhood physical and sexual abuse, Oprah Winfrey has increased her conversation on the issue of sexual molestation especially as it pertains to men.

In her mini-series on the issue, Oprah has presented an audience and panel of guests consisting of over 200 men that have suffered and experienced sexual abuse at the hands of either parents, adults, or other family members, and yes…even religious leaders, during their lifetimes.

Two of the formerly abused include twins Patrick and Kevin who were 8 years old church workers who were sexually molested by their priest almost everyday for over 13 years. At one point the priests would pay them for their services as if they were prostitutes. One of the twins, Patrick, said:

"It started with just simple spanking,"… "I'd go over his knee, and he'd casually touch our private parts."

During the most horrific event, multiple priests gang raped he and his brother as if they were solely there for their perverted sexual pleasure. Kevin said:

"I can remember smelling alcohol on their breath,"..."[They] held us against our will."…”You go to school and come back and do your homework or slip in a little abuse during the day during school or after school,"

In my post, 'Have you been A Victim of Clergy Sexual Misconduct', we find that all abuse is evil, but sexual abuse from clergy seems to be especially gut wrenching because it is not only a violation of the spiritual body, but also of the spirit. This is the devastating effect of CSM and the effect that many of the gentleman on Oprah’s panel have discussed.

Where Is The Church?

Aside from shuffling offenders from place to place to cover their atrocities, or providing out of court settlements and loosing places of worship as a result of settlements or judgments that exceed insurance
coverages, the additionally surprising and equally as disturbing part about all of this is that the church, by far and large, has refused to significantly deal with the issue in a proactive manner. (pictured below is a Jurisdictional Headquarters of a Church Of God In Christ Jurisdiction in Washington,being sold due to a payout of clergy sexual abuse)

As I often say, “Silence Is Not Golden” and has proven to be devastating for the modern church when it is forced to deal with this issue even against its own will. When the church deals with the issues after the fact, this seems, in every case, to only further damage the victims, reverse any image of goodwill that the church had established within the community and sets aside the perception that the church is capable of seriously dealing with tragic and devastating personal situations. In other words, the community is exposed to an evil straight out of the pit of hell, and because the church has no nerve, the devil reeks havoc.

Matthew 16:18 ~ "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

For sure, silence is not the will of God for the church even if it has no offenders. But certainly because the church does have offenders, it should further take the lead in implementing standards which will safeguard souls at all levels of operation within the church. However, since the church remains silent, individuals like Oprah Winfrey step forward. Having been abused herself, she becomes the conduit whereby others speak out and against certain evils. Unfortunately, the ultra extremist within the church, with such an “us against them” type of mentality and spiritual disposition, easily gets the issues confused and begins to talk about all of the negative or anti-God spirituality that Oprah espouses while sneering at her efforts to help both saint and sinner alike deal with this form of tragic molestation. Although, the belief system that one espouses is a concern, it does not affect her ability to see and deal with this issue clearly, nor her ability to provide a platform so that the issue can be vented in the public forum.

When the church is silent, who will undertake issues to heal the community and individuals within the church itself. The church cannot afford to pretend any longer that these things don’t matter.

Crimes Against Humanity

According to a Oct. 29th 2010 AP report, the United Nations is being asked to consider adding “systematic sexual abuse of children” as a crime against humanity, under Article 7 of the United Nations Treaty which establishes the U.N. International Criminal Court. The court currently considers, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, or any other form of sexual violence, as an international crime against humanity. Adding systematic sexual abuse of children will call for international actions against individuals and organizations who previously either handled these matters privately or otherwise overlooked the matters and handled things at their convenience.

The push is currently being spearheaded by Mr. Gary Bergeron, one of the first to meet with Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to the United States. Mr. Bergeron speaks from personal experience as he was also a victimized by a defrocked Boston area Catholic Priest (Cardinal Law) when he served the church as an altar boy in his youth. According to Mr. Bergeron, in the 8 years since the scandal broke (which many mistakenly thought was restricted to the Catholic church) the Vatican hasn’t “taken sufficient responsibility” and “hasn’t reached out to victims or put in place universal prevention programs”. In the interview he further stated:

“We always realized this was a huge issue. We were ahead of the curve”… “the world wasn’t ready to listen”

The world is ready to listen, but many major denominations seemingly REFUSE to listen. Why? Money and image. In the modern church money and image standards are higher than God himself. This idolatry of self and self-will will destroy them that pursue it.

When The Pain Isn’t Healed

When the pain of childhood sexual abuse isn’t healed or dealt with in any significant manner, one can receive monetary settlements and still yet have an emptiness. This sort of emptiness led 44 year old Will Lynch to track down 65 year old, retired Jesuit Priest, Jerold Lindner and severely beat him.

Mr. Lynch and his brother had been victims of this perverted Priest more than 3 decades ago when they were 7 and 5 years of age. At the time the priest took them to the words raped them and demanded that they perform oral sex on one another as he watched. According to the report at least a half dozen other individuals, including his sister, nieces and nephews, said that they were abused by him both before and after he was ordained.

Conclusion

So HAIL to my Beautiful Black Queen Oprah! I am proud that she has undertaken this issue when so many fail to even attempt to say a word. On this site, I refuse to victimize victims a second time by evaluating their present conditions with no consideration or feeling for what they have experienced and whom they have been devastated by. We have all experienced something and yes, we must stand for our actions, but God knows us and will help us, but we must also help one another.

Job 23:10 ~ " But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

Blessed!