Baptistland: One week -- three op-eds

[Joanne98]

In one week’s time, three prominent Baptist scholars and journalists wrote op-ed columns decrying the problem of clergy child molestation and cover-ups in Baptist churches.

I’m grateful for all three of them.

It may not seem like much, but this is what the slow process of institutional change looks like.

We’re still far from the point of any actual action in Baptistland -- of anything even resembling what other major faith groups are already doing -- but at least we now have a few people who are openly acknowledging the extent of the problem in Baptistland and who are publicly seeking to open the eyes of others.

David Gushee got the ball rolling when, on March 31st, he revised an op-ed that was primarily addressed to the Catholic crisis so as to include this statement:

“The Baptist situation may be no better than the Catholic, only shielded more deeply from view. This situation demands reform, immediately, for the sake of the vulnerable and abused children among us -- not to mention for the sake of the gospel witness, so desecrated by the abuse behind our stained-glass windows.”

Gushee is a distinguished professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University. His publicly-stated recognition of the Baptist problem, and of the fact that it is “shielded more deeply from view” is significant.

Next up came Robert Parham’s column on Easter Sunday. Parham is the executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics. (That’s Parham in the photo.)

Continued>>>
http://stopbaptistpredators.blogspot.com/2010/04/one-week-three-op-eds.html