Raised as a Southern Baptist, I was always told that sexual abuse belonged to those dreaded Catholics, you know, people who worshipped statues and had allegiance to an old man in Rome. This was, of course, back in the 1950s when Christian camps were as divided as they are today, but for different reasons.
Last summer the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was forced to face the very issue they accused people they called idol-worshippers of. And now we learn that the SBC had suppressed complaints and claims for years. It’s really no surprise, for no body politic wants to have the world view its failings.
It’s pretty much the same argument for why some people want to obliterate ugly truths from our history as a Nation. It doesn’t matter whether it is the ugly truth of racism, the exploitation of children in factory labor, or of fear of immigrants. Facing truth is difficult, for sure, but admitting to our failures helps us to build a better society, a better Nation.
Prayer for the Day
We know, O Lord, that before we can be forgiven, we must confess,
But to confers is to acknowledge our weaknesses and failings;
We know, Merciful One, in order to be reconciled, we must forgive,
But to forgive means we must ask for forgiveness as well.
Help us, O God, to extend to others what we want for ourselves,
Touching others with the same grace you give to us.
In the name of the One who opens our hearts,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We need the courage to face the truth about what we are doing in the world and to act responsibly to change it.
- Daniel Ellsberg, social activist.
If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell the truth about other people.
- Virginia Woolf, British writer (1882-1941)
The voice of the Lord cries to the city (it is a sound wisdom to fear your name):
Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city! Can I forget the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the city and the scant measure that is accursed?
Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of dishonest weights?
Your wealthy are full of violence, your inhabitants speak less,
With tongues of deceit in their mouths.
Micah 6: 9-12