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	A Time to Plant and a Time to Uproot By Jaime Romo Healing and Spirituality April 20, 2010 http://www.jaimeromo.com/blog/ Where I live, it seems that anything can grow any time of the year in my garden. It's a beautiful garden because we looked at what we had, worked with what we wanted, redesigned and reconstructed what was a mess, and now we maintain it. It makes me think of the way some doctors treat cancer, dealing with a patient as in the context of a garden. Religious authority sexual abuse (RASA) is, in my mind, another kind of cancer. And cancers are not individual cells gone bad, but failures in the immune system to recognize and remove the bad cells. Religious authority sexual abuse is systemic, not just located in individuals. It is supported by onlookers who do not act, perhaps out of blind faith or misplaced allegiance, or by others who see or do not act to end the abuse. Sociological discussions apply to Exxon Valez disaster or Kitty Genovese murder—many people allowed these tragedies to happen. It is similar to RASA. The RASA garden is build with soil that is not tended by onlookers, those formally charged with care, who either did not act or colluded. In this religious environment, the religious cancer spreads with the help of its cover up. The RASA garden chokes out other good efforts (flowers) that might thrive—but the soil is too hard and dry, and under the surface may be filled by toxic elements that weaken everything in reach. A doctrine of pray and obey, a practice of not questioning or using our God given voices on behalf of those who, when they are abused by representatives of God, are rendered voiceless, yields RASA. Victims are silenced and self silence in shame, which adds to the toxicity in the air and soil. Apparently even clergy are silenced and live in shame. I wish we were just talking about flowers. That would be easy. But we're talking about Religious authority sexual abuse, which is toxic and tragic, abhorrent and criminal behavior. But the analogy is intuitively obvious to me and makes current responses against intervention (e.g., statute of limitations reform) seem ridiculous. If we see a problem in a garden, we wouldn't claim that we can't take the weeds out because there's a statute of limitations about when the seed was sown. But some (e.g. AZ State Senate President) with vested interests as well as churches advocate against statute of limitations suspension for abuse cases across the country. By the way, there's no statute of limitations for kidnapping. There's no statute of limitations for murder. In Australia and Switzerland, there's no statute of limitations for sexual abuse. Religious authority sexual abuse is soul murder. It kidnaps minds and hearts for decades and sometimes leads to suicides. There should be no SOL for RASA. It seems to me that many people, a community, can restore and rebuild a garden—not just 1 person, the old gardener. A rebuilding process is to: Identity what is going on and then imagine what we wish to have going on. Then begin the difficult process of turning and aerating the soil. After the soil is opened up and the bugs and rodents are dealt with, after the soil, the foundation is ready, then it is time to introduce nutrients to rebuild the soil. The process continues, turning over and open up ground that has been sealed for too long, introducing new 'hardscape' to support and manage what we want (i.e., programs that protect and help others develop a voice to take action). And we need gardeners who are contemplatives in ACTION, people who believe what they see and act on it to protect children and vulnerable adults. We don't need more contemplatives' inaction. That's what's going on now—people are beginning to see what survivors have known and pointed to for so long. With the ongoing, undeniable revelations in Europe and in other parts of the world, it is clearer. I hope that a critical mass will understand that programs that were put into place hastily, before the public understood the systemic nature of the cancer, may need to be uprooted and replanted, or at least re-examined. There is work to continue and begin to have the kind of spiritual garden in and out of religious settings. Ending sexual abuse everywhere is part of my vision for a worldwide garden. Those who have been onlookers to this point, oblivious or guilty bystanders, are called to join in this clean up and transformation—or get out of the way. Dr. Jaime Romo is author of "Healing the Sexually Abused Heart: A Workbook for Survivors, Thrivers, and Supporters."
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