What they wore

[steve-in-kville]

In the military it was a common expression that you didn't have to respect the person but you did have to respect the rank.

I had an ambulance chief that was a Vietnam vet, saw combat and so forth. He was not one for fancy titles. He often talked about how (in the army) the new guys learned to stick by the seasoned enlisted guys and tended to ignore the officers that had a fancy education but saw no action. I have found that life in general is the same way.... I don't care much about your education and/or title. Show me you lived a little, struggled a little, then come talk to me.

[steve-in-kville]

I had plans to start a thread on the Anabaptist perception towards birth control, but after seeing the jack-wagoning of threads as of late, I may hold off

Mores the pity. Would be fascinating.

This thread seemed to stay pretty much on topic, or at least always came back to the main subject.

That thread went on for 4 years

[I Timothy]

I recently heard some of the local Catholic hierarchy interviewed concerning sex abuse in the local archdiocese. In 2002 it was reported that 2% of their priest had been involved in sex abuse of some type. The archdiocese came up with a plan that involved church and law enforcement. Basically the church would handle the spiritual side of abuse investigations and law enforcement would handle the criminal side after immediate reporting. Those suspected of abuse would be immediately removed from their role in the church and restored only after law enforcement cleared them. Background checks were required for every church volunteer. The church made a public list of those who were accused of abuse. New church leaders were required to go through 2 days of mandatory reporting law training. The result of all of this? In the past 20 years there have been only 2 credible allegations of sex abuse by a priest in the local Catholic archdiocese. If the Catholics can do this, why can't the CA community?

From the interview though, a big part of the success was the church working with law enforcement. The church understood Romans 13 and realized they didn't have the skills needed to properly investigate and deal with criminal behavior. The local archdiocese trained 118,000 adults in 20 years and 65,000 children yearly on how to identify and report abuse. Again, can the CA community match the success of the Catholic church?

[steve-in-kville]

New church leaders were required to go through 2 days of mandatory reporting law training. The result of all of this? In the past 20 years there have been only 2 credible allegations of sex abuse by a priest in the local Catholic archdiocese. If the Catholics can do this, why can't the CA community?

That question has been asked about a million times on this forum. Its a control issue, bottom line.

[Ken]

New church leaders were required to go through 2 days of mandatory reporting law training. The result of all of this? In the past 20 years there have been only 2 credible allegations of sex abuse by a priest in the local Catholic archdiocese. If the Catholics can do this, why can't the CA community?

That question has been asked about a million times on this forum. Its a control issue, bottom line.

In what sense?

I’m guessing what you mean is that within a particular congregation or CA community the bishops or church leaders sit at the top of the authority pyramid and wield a lot of control and power. However once the state is invited into their world in the form of police, CPS, district attorneys, etc. all of that vanishes. They no longer have any control at all over the course of events, punishments, etc.

This is probably a bigger deal the more closed and tight-knit the community is.

[steve-in-kville]

New church leaders were required to go through 2 days of mandatory reporting law training. The result of all of this? In the past 20 years there have been only 2 credible allegations of sex abuse by a priest in the local Catholic archdiocese. If the Catholics can do this, why can't the CA community?

That question has been asked about a million times on this forum. Its a control issue, bottom line.

In what sense?

I’m guessing what you mean is that within a particular congregation or CA community the bishops or church leaders sit at the top of the authority pyramid and wield a lot of control and power. However once the state is invited into their world in the form of police, CPS, district attorneys, etc. all of that vanishes. They no longer have any control at all over the course of events, punishments, etc.

This is probably a bigger deal the more closed and tight-knit the community is.

You basically nailed it. And yes, it depends on the congregation and surprisingly it has nothing to do with how conservative/progressive they are.

[Only an Anz]

Mores the pity. Would be fascinating.

This thread seemed to stay pretty much on topic, or at least always came back to the main subject.

That thread went on for 4 years

And it's all men

[Soloist]

And it's all men

This notion that only women can speak to birth control is just as stupid as saying only men can speak about men abusers.

[Joy]

"What they wore" is just one of many excuses clerical abusers give. And threats vary from, "You'll go to Hell," to "You'll bring down God's Church if you tell."

I can't say that all Christian groups have a terrible sexual abuse problem, but it appears all the large ones do. As has already been discussed many times on this forum, Mennonites; but then also sharing the shame are Amish, Catholics, Baptists, and Orthodox (not to mention cults like Mormonism and JW's) who have all tried to cover up sexual scandals among their ministers and church leaders, leaving a trail of broken victims, and desecrating the Name of Christ.

God's people need to heed the biblical command concerning elders, when they deal with the sin/crime and its aftermath:
Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. 1Tim. 5:20

[Ken]

And it's all men

This notion that only women can speak to birth control is just as stupid as saying only men can speak about men abusers.

Or that only men can speak in church?