UNITED STATES
Patheos.com (blog)
February 3, 2018
By Sarahbeth Caplin
Christianity Today is not exactly known for its progressive stance on, well, anything. However, I was pleasantly surprised to read Jen Zamzow insist that churches shouldn’t handle cases of sexual abuse “internally”; that is, have the offending staff member sent on sabbatical without ever notifying the police, as was the case with pastor Andy Savage who assaulted a teenage girl decades ago (but whose story went public only recently). Savage’s church, as we know, is far from the only one to do this, and the practice not only further traumatizes victims but puts other congregants in danger
Zamzow rightly points out that while it’s easy to assume the worst of strangers, many of us are hesitant to do so of people in our inner circles. And this is something more Christians need to come to terms with.
“We’re all familiar with our tendency to evaluate our own moral failings more leniently than the moral failings of others. When someone else does something wrong, we condemn; when we do something wrong, we rationalize.
“The problem is, this bias doesn’t stop at ourselves.
…
“There might be an even greater danger of rationalization when it comes to judging church leaders than non-religious leaders. Church leaders are not only working for us; they are working for God. Precisely because working for God’s kingdom is a noble goal, it can lead us to justify any sins committed by those who have made it their career. Indeed, this is one of the ways people often try to rationalize keeping leaders accused of sexual abuse in power.
“This is a precarious road, however. Many terrible injustices have been rationalized in the name of “God’s kingdom.” Power without accountability is dangerous.”
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