Opinion by David Von Drehle: When Southern Baptist victims reported abuse, lawyers stood in the way
Imagine that: These soldiers of Christ were urged to go AWOL on a matter of great moral importance out of fear that if they showed any interest or concern, they might be expected to do something about it.Behind the scenes, however, the lawyers condoned a secret list of credible abuse reports. “Basically, we are stuffing newspaper clippings in a drawer,” attorney Boto remarked dismissively in one internal memo.
They needed a very big metaphorical drawer, it seems; investigators found that the list, drawn from more than 10 years of reports, contained more than 400 likely “SBC-affiliated”For the victims, there is no difference between the worldwide sexual abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church and this calculated coldheartedness at the top of the United States’. Structurally, though, there is a difference — and the Baptist lawyers have clung to it fiercely.
Roman Catholicism is a formal hierarchy in which parish churches run by priests are part of dioceses run by bishops, and the bishop of Rome — also known as the pope — has authority over them all. By contrast, each Southern Baptist church is its own independent operation. The national convention has no authority except to say if a church is allowed to claim the brand.
Victim support groups have long argued that the national organization should refuse to allow churches to be part of the fellowship if they ignore abuse, fail to report abuse or hire known abusers. Enforcing that standard would entail the very eliciting of “information” and “details” that the lawyers have preached against — and so, nothing has been done.And here the distinction between Catholics and Baptists evaporates. In both cases, leaders have hidden behind their lawyers.
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