If you love me or hate me or are on the fence about me, I think we can all agree that churches have a problem with the abuse and molestation of children. We can also agree that not talking about it, not reporting the abuse, and not caring for victims of rape in churches is worse than irresponsible – it’s reprehensible.
Together – whether you love what I’ve done and think of me as your hero or hate what I’ve done and think of me as a sellout, let’s agree that moving forward, together, we can do better. Here are 5 amazingly doable actions we can take right away…
1. A change in the law of the 7-year statute of limitations in the prosecution of rape and child molestation of children. It often takes longer for kids to build courage to speak out against their abusers than 7 years. This statute is inhumane and allows thousands of child molesters to roam free with NO PENALTY for their crime.
2. A national agreement by pastors, denominations, churches that criminal rapists of children need jail and not just off-record counseling. Too many pastors and leaders are protecting child-molesting staff members instead of reporting them and protecting victims. Only in the church can a staff member rape or molest a child and not be fired, tried, convicted, and sent to jail. Since this Sunday, I have heard over 100 cases of child abuse in the church. For most of these cases, when it was reported, the victims were told to be quiet so that the reputation of the church was not ruined.
3. A national admission of EPIC proportions that rape, molestation, and child abuse is an epidemic that we are all responsible for stopping. In Atlanta, in your city, in your state, maybe even in your church, this is going on in a major way. If we don’t acknowledge this and how heinous this is, we can never move forward.
4. A legal agreement signed by churches and pastors that they will report ALL sexual abuse to authorities and resign immediately if involved in the crimes or cover-up. Many churches are a part of a similar agreement regarding the appropriate use of church finances. We can make the same thing happen with the protection of children.
5. Creation of a Web site and hotline specifically designed for people to confidentially report sexual abuse in the church. It is clear to me that people do not know where to go or what to do when they are abused, raped, molested, or learn of it firsthand from victims. Because people have so much love for the pastor and for the church, they make what seems like an insane decision to let it go unreported. A credible, third party hotline/Web site system where these allegations can be reported is essential. These hotlines exist in corporate America with the issues of sexual harassment and racial discrimination already.
