First Steps

Have you ever witnessed someone taking their first steps? It was awesome watching my kids take their first steps, and this year I have had the privilege of witnessing first steps of another kind. In my opinion, the first steps witnessed this year are more difficult than those made by my children. This year I watched people taking their first steps of freedom from a spiritual abuse/cult group. This first step is very hard because it begins a journey filled with fear and unknowns. It is awkward, uncomfortable and extremely unfamiliar. It appears that you are leaving a “supportive” (and I use that term loosely) environment for an environment that feels lonely and cold. Many friends and acquaintances will be lost and in some cases even family members will turn away from those leaving an abusive group. This first step is costly, but it is critical. What cannot be seen in this first step is the freedom and healing that will be encountered. Future opportunities that you will have on encouraging others to take their first steps cannot be seen now, but they will be realized one day. May those of you who have taken these steps this year never stop on your journey, and thank you for allowing me to be a part of it.

It's Been A Little While

Sorry that it has been a little while since I blogged. I am working on some things in regards to my blog and will be back to blogging shortly. Please bear with me as i am in bit of a transitional period at the moment. I hope to have a new post up in the next few days.

Ignorance Is Bliss

Ignore the problem and maybe it will go away. This is a philosophy that, in my opinion, the Southern Baptist Convention has chosen to adopt with its refusal to start its own sexual predator database. The official SBC response is that the government has a database, so churches should utilize that database for their research. I was hoping for a different response and in my opinion their leadership made the wrong decision on this issue. Ignoring this serious problem is not going to make it go away and it will open the doors for litigation against the denomination in the not too distant future. This problem is huge and the sad thing is that nobody seems to want to deal with it.

I think that the SBC should not have only started a database, but also partnered with an organization to setup an anonymous tip line to allow for the reporting of potential issues. The problem with church abuse situations is that they are being left up to the individual churches to handle, and in many cases the person being accused has a great deal of power and friends. This means that the victim may be victimized all over again by coming forward and trying to address the situation, and in most cases it is easier for the victim to leave the situation than to attempt to fight a losing battle.

I find it very interesting that a number of SBC Pastors will get together and sign a petition to protect the Earth, but there does not seem to be a group of pastors that want to protect its attendees. In my opinion, that is very sad.