Are Kids Safe?
SHOULDN'T PARENTS BE TOLD ABOUT A MINISTER LIKE THIS?

DISCLAIMERS

 

 

Shining Lights and Black Holes of 2006

Shining Lights

  • Miguel Prats: Advocate and listener for countless survivors; kindness and caring exemplified. He has worked tirelessly to help StopBaptistPredators, and now he's even working to raise money for it. Without him, StopBaptistPredators would not have gotten off the ground.

  • Bob Allen and EthicsDaily.com: Stepped up to the plate, kicked the dirt, and started swinging to advance the cause of accountability for Baptist clergy who sexually abuse kids. Hit a few out of the ballpark and consistently provided extensive coverage of the issue.

  • Donna Fielder and the Denton Record-Chronicle: Ended the year with the most comprehensive article yet to appear on Baptist clergy sex abuse. Courageously turned the town upside-down for the sake of truth-telling and protecting kids.

Black Holes

  • Jerry Falwell: "To everything there is a season and a time..." Ecc. 3:1. When 22 people report being molested as kids by a church's pastor, it is NOT a time to sing the church's praise; it's a time to call for answers and accountability. Falwell should have known that.

  • Charles Wade: How can this guy ever expect to restore trust? A huge financial scandal AND he's a "blind Baptist leader" who looked the other way while a reported clergy molester continued in children's ministry in Florida. What about all those Florida kids who were left at risk?

  • Frank Page, Morris Chapman and Richard Land: The silent treatment won't make kids any safer. These SBC leaders haven't even bothered to respond to SNAP's letter. Even if they didn't like SNAP's requests, they could at least DO SOMETHING. When kids' safety is at stake, a can't-do/won't-do/won't-even-try style of leadership just won't do.

  • James A. Moore and First Baptist Church-Farmers Branch: Music minister Moore knew about another minister's sexual abuse of a kid and kept quiet for decades. Court documents allege this single church had 4 ministers who were involved in or complicit with sexually abusive conduct. Then they have the arrogant gall to threaten suit against a child molestation victim who finally reports the perpetrator.

  • Stephen Wakefield and Sonny Spurger: An attorney often referred to as the "hatchet man" for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and a BGCT director. This two-headed Texas monster has heaped a whole lot more hurt onto victims while letting clergy perpetrators remain in pulpits. AND they're still using secrecy contracts - a practice the Catholic Church had the decency to end in 2002.