UNITED STATES
Talk to Action
Frederick Clarkson
Sat Dec 13, 2014
One of the deep scandals of our time, and apparently times past, is that sex abuse, particularly of children, has been so tolerated and covered-up. What’s more, it is clear that the problem is not limited to the Catholic Church, where the problem is of such extraordinary depth and breadth. It is deeply ingrained in more of society than most of us who were not affected by these things can easily believe. In the past year, I have written a bit about the difficulties the Southern Baptist Convention has had contending with its problems. (Here, here, and here.)
Now comes an investigative report on the ongoing scandal at the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, in Greenville, South Carolina, where Republican candidates for president used to have to make a pilgrimage as part of their courtship of voters in the South Carolina primary.
The report focused on how the college treated sexually abused women like criminals.
Earlier this year, the University fired the outside agency it had hired to investigate the situation — just before it was set to publish its findings. Ultimately, the school was forced to rehire the well regarded “Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment” (GRACE), an evangelical organization led by Boz Tchividjian, a grandson of Billy Graham, former prosecutor of child sex abuse cases, and a law professor at Liberty University.
The resulting report (PDF) is devastating. It has been widely reported, notably by The New York Times, and by the always excellent Kathryn Joyce, writing in The American Prospect.
But all is quiet on the Christian Right.
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