[Vision2020] National story with real local ramifications: Clergy as Sexual Predators

[Wayne Price]

I read the story this AM, but where is the "real local ramification"?







On Sep 10, 2009, at 8:57 AM, Art Deco wrote:

>
>
>
>
> September 10, 2009 in Nation/World
>
> Sexual advances by clergy not rare
>
> One in 33 women is target, survey finds
>
> Jacqueline L. Salmon / Washington Post
>
> WASHINGTON – One in every 33 women who attends worship services  
> regularly has been the target of sexual advances by a religious  
> leader, according to a survey released Wednesday.
>
> The study by researchers at Baylor University found that the problem  
> is so pervasive that it almost certainly involves a wide range of  
> denominations and religious traditions and a wide range of spiritual  
> leaders.
>
> “Clearly the problem is more than simply a few charismatic leaders  
> preying on vulnerable followers,” said Diana Garland, dean of the  
> School of Social Work at Baylor, co-author of the study.
>
> A growing number of denominations have become aware of the problem,  
> particularly since the Catholic Church’s sex scandal involving its  
> clergy. At least 36 denominations now have official policies that  
> identify sexual relations between adult congregants and clergy as  
> misconduct, subject to discipline.
>
> In Minnesota and Texas, it’s also illegal. The Texas law, for  
> example, defines clergy sexual behavior as nonconsensual sexual  
> assault if the religious leader “causes the other person to submit  
> or participate by exploiting the other person’s emotional dependency  
> on the clergyman in the clergyman’s professional character as  
> spiritual adviser.”
>
> Baylor used the 2008 General Social Survey, a nationally  
> representative sample of 3,559 respondents, to estimate the  
> prevalence of clergy sexual misconduct. Women older than 18 who  
> attended worship services at least once a month were asked whether  
> they had ever received “sexual advances or propositions” from a  
> religious leader.
>
> Said Garland: “When you put (misconduct) with a spiritual leader or  
> moral leader, you’ve really added a power that we typically don’t  
> think about in secular society – which is that this person speaks  
> for God and interprets God for people. And that really adds a power.”
>
>
> Note:  Baylor is a Baptist university.
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