Originally posted by lilpixieofterror
View Post
And thats an ignorant opinion that I have corrected you on, countless times, and youve ignored it. What part of,Baptist churches and the RCC function differently do you not grasp? Baptist churches, for the most part, function independently from each other and may have no clue what is going on at the Baptist church a mile down the road. In the RCCs case, there is no way upper leadership could not be aware of the problem because the RCC functions in a similar matter to a government. What part of this do you not grasp? This isnt hard to figure out, there is very little that an independent group can do to another one.
Since so many groups react similarly, then one conclusion that could be drawn is that there are some elements of the culture which affect such a response. That fact is like the woman with two black eyes, the single example, except church too showed that it is not isolated in any way.
The only way Baptists could admit to not knowing that there was a problem was if the problem was purposefully swept under the rug, ignored, or accepted as a normal part of church life. There is something that an independent group can do, even the decentralized group like SBC as well as independent churches, admit that there is a problem in existence and plan for response.
Do you have a massive problem with reading? How do you implement a change, across a group that runs independently and you have zero control over? Is this concept difficult for you to grasp or do you simply not bother to read?
A massive first step is applying the age old and well accept pastoral responses. These are not system wide, but at the organic and grass roots level, where individual Christians meet in worship and have a pastor. Again returning to the example of the woman with two black eyes: approach the woman as a soul in need, not as a threat to get get rid of. That, in and of itself would have nipped much of the problem in the bud. And it would have negated the need for, and changes demanded by church too women forcing themselves on church hierarchy in ways which are unprecedented.
The example of the RCC and sex abuse: Critics on both sides of the Tiber noted that an appropriate pastoral response would have nipped it in the bud, prevented a proliferation of cases. Which is part of the reason that hierarchy has been drawn in here. So some of the Protestant groups may not have similar hierarchy, in many cases there is some hierarchy.
Comment