UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast
ZACK KOPPLIN
Questions about childhood sexual abuse, homosexuality, and even porn are based on the false belief that victims will turn into abusers when they grow up. Worst of all, it’s legal.
If you want to work for the Twin Cities Bible Church, you will have to disclose whether you were raped as a child.
“Have you ever been physically or sexually abused as a child?” is one of the questions on the Urbana, Illinois church’s job application. “If yes, when, where, and what were the circumstances?”
The questions are shocking, but not rare for Protestant churches and religious organizations across the United States. These groups want to know the personal histories of prospective employees in an attempt to protect themselves against liability for potential sex abuse scandals based on the false belief that victims of sex abuse as children are destined to become abusers as adults.
Hundreds of churches, including The National Community Church (PDF) in Washington, D.C., the Shalom Mennonite Fellowship in Arizona, Nazarene Churches (PDF) in Ohio, and Church on the Rock (PDF) in Missouri all ask applicants some variation on: “Were you a victim of abuse or molestation while a minor?”
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