The Dallas Morning News calls out the SBC for continued inaction on abuse database
"The Southern Baptist Convention seems to be having trouble practicing what it preaches."
In an editorial titled, “Southern Baptists must make good on promise to address abuse. Half measures and foot dragging won’t do,” the Dallas Morning News publicly called out the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) for long-promised public database of abusive pastors on hold at its recent Executive Committee meeting.
“Any good Baptist preacher will tell you that repentance means more than just feeling sorry for one’s shortcomings. It means doing something about them — turning away from evil and heading in the other direction. But the Southern Baptist Convention seems to be having trouble practicing what it preaches,” writes the newspaper’s editorial board.
“Half measures won’t do. SBC leaders should be pushing as hard as possible to stand with victims and prevent more mistreatment. The press, both religious and secular, should be writing stories about the dangers of overcorrecting, about the herculean efforts of church leaders to turn the ship. But they are not because there has been no such effort.”
In 2022, the SBC released a 205-page document containing the names of hundreds of Baptist leaders and members accused or found guilty of sexual abuse of children. The list spans cases from 2000 to 2019 and includes 700 entries. The release followed a third-party investigation by Guidepost Solutions hired by the SBC revealing serious mishandling of sexual abuse cases by the SBC’s Executive Committee.
The same year the report was issued Guidepost Solutions caused an uproar after it posted a “pride” statement about LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community on its Twitter/X account.
Read the Dallas Morning News editorial
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