I know that what I am about to share with you could be taken the wrong way. Therefore, I am going to do everything I can to keep that from happening. Please read the following bullet points.
- Sexual misconduct is a sin, but it’s also a disqualifier for ministry leadership.
- Sexual misconduct, particularly assault, but not exclusively, is a crime which should not be tolerated.
- Any sexual misconduct that is reported should immediately be turned over to the proper authorities. Nothing is to be handled internally.
- All accusations of sexual misconduct should be taken seriously and investigated.
- Alleged victims should be treated with compassion and respect.
- Sexual assault, especially by a trusted leader or mentor, is monstrous and deserving of punishment to the fullest extent of the law.
Next, I would like to remind you that my family and I have had to endure the pain of sexual misconduct and abuse. We have personal experience with the legal and judicial process, also. Even more, I carry with me the guilt of having not seen the red flags early enough and the shame of having believed the denials and lies of a sexual predator.
So, my point is this: Don’t get on a podium and preach to me about this subject, especially when I say what I’m about to say; I know of which I speak.
Accusations are not proof of guilt. Denials are not proof of innocence. Therefore, when it comes to accusations of sexual misconduct, the accused deserves to be treated as innocent until proven guilty. That’s not only constitutional; it’s biblical.
Unfortunately, especially for those in ministry, accusations are about as damaging and destructive as a conviction. Because of how our legal system works, it is possible for a good defense attorney to get an actual offender cleared of all charges. Therefore, though technically innocent (or “not guilty”), it is feasible for the accused to still be guilty, though not punished. The result is perpetual suspicion that the accused is guilty, regardless the evidence.
Let me be honest, I believe once a sexual predator, always a sexual predator. I didn’t used to believe that, but my opinions changed several years ago. Therefore, if you’ve ever been convicted of a sex crime, don’t ever expect to come to a church I pastor and think you’re going to be treated the same as everyone else. It doesn’t matter if you’ve repented; I can’t take the risk with my sheep. But what do I do with those who’ve been accused, yet never convicted?
This all came to the forefront this week when news that the Guidestone report on the investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Board was released. In it are damning allegations of sexual misconduct, even assault, by not only individuals on the board, but also evidence that misconduct in local churches by pastors was covered up.
So, what we now have are major influential ministries and ministers in the Southern Baptist Convention having to step down from their respective positions, see their incomes taken away, and be forced to live with the ever-present stain of disqualification, guilty or not. This is where I have a huge problem.
Tragically, this conundrum affects both parties involved. The victims often find it difficult to be believed and often have their character destroyed in trial by the defense. Those who are accused are often considered too risky to keep around and therefore lose everything in the process of proving their innocence. All the while, those of us on the outside rarely receive enough credible information to make an informed decision and we’re often the products of our own biases (i.e., “always believe the woman,” or “it’s always political”).
As hard as it may be, the fact is that we need to remember a fundamental doctrine in our system of law – everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It is NOT the other way around. Although the accusations may be disgusting and horrible, we are not guilty of them until proven. We cannot continue to allow the accusation of sin be the conviction of sin.
By the way, it’s pronounced “uh-salt,” NOT “uh-sult.”
The Recovering Legalist 
Cultural Commentary for Friday, 5/20/22
There comes a time when even the quietest person, even the blogger whose keyboard has acquired a layer of dust, must rise up and speak (or type). Now’s the time for me.
If you’ve heard these phrases/questions before, raise your hand and say “amen.”
You may have never heard the last two, I suppose, but the first three, especially the first two are on the lips of just about everyone we meet these days. And it’s no wonder, because the world IS going crazy.
Stop and think about it, who in their right and healthy minds would literally believe and say with a straight face that men can have babies, therefore men can have abortions? Nobody. That’s crazy. That’s insane. We’re talking put-a-helmet-on-and-take-your-meds crazy.
Actually, I bet if you went to facilities where the clinically diagnosed resided in padded rooms and asked them if men could have babies, they’d look at you, then themselves, and start crying from confusion.
Yet, when Aimee Arrambide, Executive Director of Avow, a Texas-based organization devoted to “securing unrestricted abortion care and reproductive rights,” was asked before a House Judiciary Committee if men can get pregnant and have abortions, she said, “YES.”
These are smart people. These people are even allowed to drive cars, own guns, and have unrestricted access to the Home Shopping Network! But at the same time, let’s face it, they’re losing their minds.
But it’s not just abortion rights activists worried about losing millions of dollars from the loss of legalized contract murders, it’s even in the Supreme Court of the United States. After all the years of sitting in doctor’s offices and looking at anatomy posters on the walls, like Aimee Arrambide, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (nominated on the basis of her sex) can’t even define what a man or woman is!
Yet, I’ve got to hand it to them. Seriously, if life was a game of chess, the Left have been playing 20 moves ahead. They’ve even planned for these days by making sure that when they started talking like people who should be kept away from sharp objects, the word crazy is now considered stigmatizing, alienating, and “problematic.”
In other words, calling crazy people crazy is tantamount to insanity, or at least insensitivity, which can result in crazy restrictions, loopy cries for sensitivity training, and downright nutty condemnation from people who can’t (or won’t) even say if the human that plopped them out of the womb was a woman or not!
If you don’t think we are living in a “Romans 1” world . . . well, I don’t want to stigmatize you.
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