Evangelical leaders stand by pastor accused of abuse cover-up

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

Evangelical leaders stand by pastor accused of abuse cover-up
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey| Religion News Service,
Updated: Friday, May 24, 4:30 PM

Several leading evangelical pastors and authors have come to the defense of a pastor accused in a lawsuit for covering up sexual abuse of children.

C. J. Mahaney was named as a defendant in a lawsuit, which charged that he and other leaders of Sovereign Grace Ministries permitted the abuse of children to occur in churches that formed part of the group. Sovereign Grace, an association of 80 Reformed evangelical churches, is based in Louisville, Ky.

Maryland Judge Sharon V. Burrell dismissed the lawsuit ruling that nine of 11 plaintiffs waited too long to sue under the statute of limitations. Their attorney plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

After the dismissal, leading evangelicals are stepping up to defend Mahaney.

“We have stood beside our friend, C. J. Mahaney, and we can speak to his personal integrity,” wrote Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Ligon Duncan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Miss.; and Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/evangelical-leaders-stand-by-pastor-accused-of-abuse-cover-up/2013/05/24/30d6208a-c4b9-11e2-9642-a56177f1cdf7_story.html

[sakabatou]

1. I wonder if they'll still defend him if he's found guilty

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. IT IS ALL A RACKET

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. "All that live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." - 2 Timothy 3:12

Knowing a little bit how many Evangelicals tend to think - many would reflexively assume that this or any other charge are acts of persecution for being such good Christians.

[freshwest]

13. +1. Just forgot that abusing children isn't Christ-like.

Luke 17:1-2 (KJV)

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

From the link:

...But not everyone is rushing to Mahaney’s defense. Boz Tchividjian, a law professor and executive director of Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), which has investigated sex abuse allegations, found omissions in the pastors’ statement.

“Why no mention that CJ Mahaney was actually the Senior Pastor at one of these churches where all of this horrific abuse allegedly occurred AND that he discouraged these families from bringing this matter to the God ordained civil authorities?” he wrote on the Facebook wall.

“Omitting such a fundamentally important fact from this statement is a fundamental error...”

“This lawsuit is less about the abuse and more about an institution that took steps to protect itself and its reputation over the victimized souls (and bodies) of little ones,” Boz Tchividjian wrote...

His defenders had better think twice, it's profitable to defend the powerful, but damnable by the words of the man they profess to be following.

[SoapBox]

4. ewhhhh....it's SO

PERVY!

and sicko.

[siligut]

5. Does religion make people pedophiles or do pedophiles join religions?

“We have stood beside our friend, C. J. Mahaney, and we can speak to his personal integrity,”

Yessiree, filled to the brim with integrity.

[TalkingDog]

6. More the 2nd than the first. If you felt deeply flawed and there was a magic sky man that could help

You would probably hang around to see if he might deign to fix you.

And since people who like to congregate, say... in congregations, tend to be social, peer pressure and the pressure of authority comes into play. This can lead to repression of feelings and urges. And since you can't ever really repress anything (because it will just show up somewhere else in another, stronger form) you will have some of those urges manifest in unhealthy (read, in this instance: pedophilic) ways.

[siligut]

8. Yes, plenty of opportunity for pedophiles in church groups

There is even a building where the children have been taught to feel safe and loved, where the abuse can be hidden.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. "The trio, who said they did not want to comment on the case while it was still in court" - they did

If, in the middle of a case, you make a public claim of "personal integrity" for a defendant, you're commenting on the case. Then again, those men always talk bullshit, show why would they break the habit of a lifetime?

[CanonRay]

9. Notice they never said he didn't do it

just that he had "personal integrity", which is bullshitspeak for he's my good ole' boy.

[dembotoz]

10. so not just catholics

I was raised a prot and by no means am I a catholic so this is not self serving
just wanted to point it out

[freshwest]

14. Protestants and Catholics don't often cross paths. All the abusers I've known of were Protestants.

The RCC garners hate to some because of centuries of history. which has simply made it a bigger target, that can't move out of the crosshairs, as it is not as fluid as Protestant sects.

The presumption that the more DIY version of Christianity, that is Protestantism, is not full of abuse comes from the 'new is better' think. It's part of their appeal since the Reformation.

That's not meant as a slap at you or these organizations, just an observation.

Catholics repent of their sins to a priest. Protestants claim there is nothing between them and God. Both groups have poor opinions of the other at times.

I am not Catholic, never have been, no longer into religion. I was brought up Protestant and have seen good and bad.

But child sexual abuse knows no religion or lack of religion and should never be protected.

[japple]

11. This struck me as rather odd.

From the article:

Mahaney took a leave of absence in 2011 after other pastors in the Sovereign Grace network charged him with “expressions of pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment and hypocrisy.” Six months later, the group reinstated Mahaney, declaring full confidence in him.

I had to look up "unentreatability" and could find no definition--all of the links this word produced were to stories about C. J. Mahaney! I gather it means something like a failure to own up to your sins.

[TalkingDog]

12. Entreat: to make an earnest request or petition.

So.... I think you are probably right. But I would put it closer to: Unwillingness to ask earnestly for mercy, forgiveness or understanding.

[B Stieg]

15. Why can't "Holy Men"

seem to keep their hands off kids?

[bobthedrummer]

16. K&R n/t