MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Courier
By Senator Lena C. Taylor
Since becoming a mother twelve years ago, I have found a new and unexpected concern for the safety of my child and thousands of children like him. This is not to say that men or younger women cannot or do not worry about the safety of children. That said, the stress and great joy of motherhood has greatly shaped my priorities as both a private citizen and a public servant.
The matter of child abuse weighs heavily upon my mind. I have been disturbed the stories I have been reading. For example, Philip Caminiti, formerly a pastor at Aleitheia Bible Church here in Milwaukee, was found guilty of instructing congregants at his church that infants and toddlers were never too young to be beaten with wooden rods.
Caminiti claimed his teachings were in accordance with the Bible, but any true Christian would say that Caminiti knows nothing about the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Bible I read, Jesus proclaimed peace even against feared enemies. Caminiti distorted our faith and used it to excuse violence against children! In recent months, few news stories have so greatly affected me. How could this happen?
Though encouraging others to harm children is most certainly a terrible crime, I believe that protecting abusers may be a worse offense. Reverend Lawrence Murphy, who taught at a Milwaukee school for the deaf, died in 1998. He was accused of sexually abusing about 200 boys.
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