We fully support Senator Hill’s bill that requires clergy to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect, without exception. For too long, religious authorities have been protected from reporting these cases, leaving children vulnerable and unsafe. Like teachers, physicians, and other mandatory reporters, members of the clergy often
Ending the abuse and betrayal of religious child maltreatment
Religious institutions continue to perpetuate child sexual abuse. Ongoing abuse further undermines any claims to moral authority by religious leaders. Now that religious groups are being forced to disclose this collusion, we must do our part to end religious child maltreatment, abuse and betrayal.
Stories of clergy sexual abuse are
My abuse weaponized me against my body. Until my body won.
Bethany Brittain, a former board member of the CFFP, talks about how the physical and emotional abuse of her childhood affected her relationship with her body and, ultimately, her health.
When I was 13, I declared war on my body. It wasn’t hard to do. It was quite natural even.
Left Behind: When will Baptists catch up with #MeToo?
At a Southern Baptist mega-church in Memphis, pastor Andy Savage admitted to having a “sexual incident” with a 17-year-old girl twenty years earlier. The congregation’s response? Silence? Boos? No, a standing ovation.
The admission came after the now-grown woman, Jules Woodson, posted a January 5 #MeToo account on social media,
An Open Letter to the Alabama Baptist Pastor Group
More than 100 Alabama Baptist pastors have signed a public statement denouncing “sexual abuse, assault, harassment, and exploitation of women.” Christa Brown, a survivor of sexual abuse, an outspoken critic of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a board member of the Child-Friendly Faith Project, responds.
To Baptist Pastors of Alabama:
I
Remembering Barbara Blaine, Founder of SNAP
CFFP Board President Dr. Jaime Romo shares a remembrance of Barbara Blaine, who died on Septermber 24, 2017 at the age of 61. Ms. Blaine founded the advocacy group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
In 2002, as an assistant professor at a Catholic university, I attended a conference
Are Idaho lawmakers ready to legalize all religiously motivated child abuse?
As Idaho legislators consider a bill that would protect children from egregious “faith healing” medical neglect, some have a lot to say about religious freedom.
Sen. Lee Heider, who chairs the Sen. Health and Welfare Committee, has repeatedly stated that he opposes a bill that would make it illegal for adults to
Interview with Marci A. Hamilton, JD
Professor Marci A. Hamilton holds the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. One of the country’s leading scholars in church/state law, she represented the City of Boerne, Texas, in a successful challenge to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a
What does a victim of child sexual abuse look like? Don’t ask Christianity Today.
An embarrassing apology published by Christianity Today shows that leaders in the faith community still have a lot to learn about child sexual abuse.
The readers of Christianity Today have taught the magazine a lesson—they know more about child sexual abuse then its editors do.
Last Monday, CT published an article on its Leadership Journal website written by an unnamed pastor who is serving time in prison