The very same who would condem all and sundry outside of their own church ignore calls to make a list of their staff who have been convicted or indicted on charges of molestation.
Facing calls to curb child sex abuse within its churches, in June the Southern Baptist Convention — the largest U.S. religious body after the Catholic Church — urged local hiring committees to conduct federal background checks but rejected a proposal to create a central database of staff and clergy who have been either convicted of or indicted on charges of molesting minors. The SBC decided against such a database in part because its principle of local autonomy means it cannot compel individual churches to report any information. And while the headlines regarding churches and pedophilia remain largely focused on Catholic parishes, the lack of hierarchical structure and systematized record-keeping in most Protestant churches makes it harder not only for church leaders to impose standards, but for interested parties to track allegations of abuse.
Time Magazine article.
"The largest Protestant denomination in the USA -- 16.2 million members -- refused to even attempt to implement the sorts of proactive measures for routing out predators that other major faith groups have."
For a Baptist minister, there is no one with the power to remove his credentials or to say that he can no longer be a minister. This is unlike the Catholic system where, if a bishop suspected a problem with one of his priests, and did nothing about it, he could be held accountable.
Baptist structure gives abusers free rein and makes Baptist churches accomplices to predator pastors who are recycled from one unsuspecting congregation to another.
And finally a quote
" We shouldn’t enjoy this Catholic mess too much. We’re waiting on the other shoe to drop, and when it does, don’t be surprised if there is more and more within our ranks.”
Bobby Welch, prior president of Southern Baptist Convention, 2002
