Abuse and the Independent Local Church
“One of the mysteries here is why the DOJ is looking into this at all. Abuse is always reported to local law enforcement and abuse investigations are in the purview of local and state authorities.” - P&D
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There’s no mystery to why DOJ would be looking into this, SBC’s Baptist Press has an article that posted Friday: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/former-fbi-agent-wei….
A portion:
“McChesney, now a consultant, said federal law enforcement officials often investigate sex trafficking, child porn and crimes against children on the internet. It’s less common for them to investigate sexual abuse, which is often handled by local or state officials. In 2011 a Texas jury sentenced Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to life in prison for abuse after Jeffs spent years on the FBI’s most-wanted list as a fugitive. The DOJ generally gets involved only when a federal crime may have occurred, often when victims are transported across state lines as part of an illegal act. While it has been rare for the FBI or other department investigators to look into religious groups’ activities, the DOJ is currently investigating the Archdiocese of New Orleans to determine whether abusive Catholic priests took children across state lines, The Associated Press reported in June.”
So it’s a matter of, here’s a pile of information SBC has uncovered and reported; we should see if there is anything of federal concern there that we should investigate further or prosecute.
We should not be talking about pretexts for persecution in situations where there is no evidence of anything of the kind.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
The SBC’s churches cross state borders. Of course we would expect that the FBI might look at how covering things up might violate federal law.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
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