The Biggest Clergy Sex Scandals May Yet to be Revealed


Defenders of clergy sex scandals often hide behind the fact sex abuse is everywhere. That sexual abuse happens in all professions does not mean clergy sex abuse is the same. It is different. It happens because religion plays with the minds of victims. Other professions do not present the same opportunities for terrible people.

It is the one-year anniversary of charges against the preacher Ravi Zacharias. He was a mega star in evangelical circles. After some decades of professional life in public a young woman who had been abused sexually had a chance to ask Zacharias how he avoided the temptations of power and stardom. His answer, she said, was so perfect she knew for certain this man of God was able to avoid the fall to temptation experienced by so many others. She did not know that at the moment he gave such a perfect answer about his innocence he was already under investigation. His fall came not long after.

A psychologist tells us humans are wired to believe "the big lie" that opens the door to smaller lies. People want to seek comfort and avoid pain. 

In my view, Christianity tells the perfect "the big lie" of receiving comfort and avoiding the pain of coming death. It's forgiveness of sin followed by a "heaven." Once the big lie has been swallowed the smaller lies of approval for sexual abuse fall easily into place. 

Another example is the big lie Trump tells when he says he won the 2020 election. Millions of people believe it. This is because they were so certain Trump was popular it pained them to be wrong. They can avoid this pain and live in comfort by believing corruption in voting stole the election. We know that to be a lie factually. But, like the lie of life after death, the most attractive path is belief. 

Sexual abuse by clergy follows belief in the big lie of forgiveness of sin and life everlasting. This makes sexual abuse by clergy a matter deserving of all the bad publicity that we continue to see. It makes it likely we will see sex abuse by clergy as long as there are clergy.

Believers seem most often in the camp of protesting Black Lives Matter and other concepts of critical thinking. Critical thinking leads to the pain of unpleasant truths. Seek pleasure and avoid pain is a weakness of the human minds.

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