Increasingly, it seems that the more repressive a religious denomination is in matters of sex and sexuality (particularly in their stances against gay rights), the more cases of sex abuse that seem to be rampant throughout the denomination. While the Roman Catholic Church wins the prize hands down for repressive sexual teachings combine with incredibly wide spread sex abuse of minors by priests, the Southern Baptists seem to have a similar problem with its clergy. The latest Southern Baptist abuse case comes from Arizona, but it is only one of dozens and dozens of cases. It would appear that Richard Land of the SBC might do better tending to his own denomination's obvious systemic problem rather than running about on a constant anti-gay jihad. Here are some highlights from EthicsDaily.com (http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=10022):
A grand jury in Tucson, Ariz., has indicted a Southern Baptist youth minister arrested Jan. 11 on eight counts of sexual abuse of a minor, a local television station reported Friday. According to KOLD News 13, the five-page indictment details charges against Christopher Decaire, 57, who was arrested after police served a search warrant on East Tucson Baptist Church. Decaire had worked two years as a part-time minister but volunteered in the church's student ministry before that for six years.
Last week Pastor John Anderson told EthicsDaily.com that East Tucson Baptist Church found itself in "uncharted waters" in dealing with accusations that a trusted staff member sexually abused a 13-year-old girl. "They don't teach this in seminary," Anderson told a Tucson newspaper. But the church is hardly alone. EthicsDaily.com has reported on at least 72 news stories about sexual abuse by clergy, the vast majority involving allegations against Southern Baptist ministers, since September 2006. Stories included reports of 11 arrests, three convictions and one suicide in 2007 alone. Other stories included a church that allowed a convicted sex offender to preach from its pulpit while knowing about his past and an executive director of a Baptist children's home who asked for leniency in the sentencing of a pastor who confessed to criminal sexual assault of a teenage girl.
SBC president Frank Page went on record to deny clergy predators are a "systemic" problem and accuse victim advocates of using the issue for personal gain. Robert Parham of the Baptist Center for Ethics accused Southern Baptist leaders of "hiding behind a false wall of local church autonomy" as an excuse not to act.
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