Introduction
Because our salvation required it, Jesus did not consider the cost to be too great. No suggestion that he could not afford it. It was just - right.
Caring for victims
Who really cares for 60,000 victim survivors?
I refer to the estimate of survivors of Australian child sexual abuse at the hands of religious institutions and others.
The "Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse" recommended a national scheme of "redress" for victims. (The report was written as long ago as July 2015.) Numerical values are uncertain and may well be exceeded in reality.
READERS OF THIS BLOG MAY WELL NOT LIKE WHAT FOLLOWS: The estimate of potential claimants includes a majority from non-government bodies (ie, especially religious institutions). For NSW and VIC the comparative participant estimates are (government/non-government) 7,150/14,730 and 5,290/10,690 respectively. It is clear that the vast majority of abuse is laid at the door of "religious institutions". For stating that, I offer no apology. To victims I can only say I am truly sorry and I wish it were not so and that they had never been in the hands of the untrustworthy.
Abuse happened. How do you genuinely redress the abuse of a child at the hands of a trusted perpetrator? I think that nothing humans can do can expunge the criminal acts. For victims, I hope that what is done is right and provides real help. I am reluctant to even suggest it, but the path of forgiveness may help a victim. Saviour Jesus prayed from his cross of suffering for those who made him victim. Yes, it was different then; they did not know what they were doing. Your abusers knew all too well.
I hope that a proper scheme is quickly established and provides a little redress to those who so much need it and deserve it.
The Royal Commission, in addition to general recommendations to all religious institutions, made specific recommendations to particular religious institutions:
Compensation
As far as compensation is concerned, only the Catholic Church has said it will sign-up to the suggested national scheme to provide redress.
Still "considering" at the end of 2017:
The self-serving activities within religious institutions and the instinct to grasp at straws may support survival at any cost, even at the cost of further victim suffering.
If paying compensation means obliteration of a religious institution, how would the world be worse off? Justice and righteousness (sound familiar?), compensation, before institution survival.
If Jesus held back at the point of taking the cup, where would we be now? That is an unthinkable concept. The offence was not his. His path was that of sacrifice. What of those who claim to follow him?
PLEASE - for God's sake - no more victims.
In writing this post I have drawn on the website of the Royal Commission and the (infuriating) recent article by Tess Holgate in Eternity (Eternitynews) Number 87, December 2017, page 3: "Will churches join child abuse redress scheme?"
Footnotes
1. I am not and have never been a member of the Roman Catholic church
2. As to self-serving within religious institutions: If you can stand it and want to, do a Royal Commission website search on (Anglican) Bishop Keith Slater and see the story of him recovering his title/ordained status, providing no help to abuse victims. That story relates directly to the very appropriate first recommendation to the Anglican Church by the Commission (see page 50).
I have not gone far into the voluminous documentation of the Royal Commission.
Because our salvation required it, Jesus did not consider the cost to be too great. No suggestion that he could not afford it. It was just - right.
Who really cares for 60,000 victim survivors?
I refer to the estimate of survivors of Australian child sexual abuse at the hands of religious institutions and others.
The "Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse" recommended a national scheme of "redress" for victims. (The report was written as long ago as July 2015.) Numerical values are uncertain and may well be exceeded in reality.
READERS OF THIS BLOG MAY WELL NOT LIKE WHAT FOLLOWS: The estimate of potential claimants includes a majority from non-government bodies (ie, especially religious institutions). For NSW and VIC the comparative participant estimates are (government/non-government) 7,150/14,730 and 5,290/10,690 respectively. It is clear that the vast majority of abuse is laid at the door of "religious institutions". For stating that, I offer no apology. To victims I can only say I am truly sorry and I wish it were not so and that they had never been in the hands of the untrustworthy.
Abuse happened. How do you genuinely redress the abuse of a child at the hands of a trusted perpetrator? I think that nothing humans can do can expunge the criminal acts. For victims, I hope that what is done is right and provides real help. I am reluctant to even suggest it, but the path of forgiveness may help a victim. Saviour Jesus prayed from his cross of suffering for those who made him victim. Yes, it was different then; they did not know what they were doing. Your abusers knew all too well.
I hope that a proper scheme is quickly established and provides a little redress to those who so much need it and deserve it.
The Royal Commission, in addition to general recommendations to all religious institutions, made specific recommendations to particular religious institutions:
- Anglican
- Catholic
- Jehovah's Witness
- Jewish
Compensation
As far as compensation is concerned, only the Catholic Church has said it will sign-up to the suggested national scheme to provide redress.
Still "considering" at the end of 2017:
- Anglican
- Presbyterian
- Baptist
- Salvation Army
- Uniting
- Australian Christian Churches
- Lutheran
- Seventh Day Adventist.
The self-serving activities within religious institutions and the instinct to grasp at straws may support survival at any cost, even at the cost of further victim suffering.
If paying compensation means obliteration of a religious institution, how would the world be worse off? Justice and righteousness (sound familiar?), compensation, before institution survival.
If Jesus held back at the point of taking the cup, where would we be now? That is an unthinkable concept. The offence was not his. His path was that of sacrifice. What of those who claim to follow him?
PLEASE - for God's sake - no more victims.
In writing this post I have drawn on the website of the Royal Commission and the (infuriating) recent article by Tess Holgate in Eternity (Eternitynews) Number 87, December 2017, page 3: "Will churches join child abuse redress scheme?"
Footnotes
1. I am not and have never been a member of the Roman Catholic church
2. As to self-serving within religious institutions: If you can stand it and want to, do a Royal Commission website search on (Anglican) Bishop Keith Slater and see the story of him recovering his title/ordained status, providing no help to abuse victims. That story relates directly to the very appropriate first recommendation to the Anglican Church by the Commission (see page 50).
I have not gone far into the voluminous documentation of the Royal Commission.
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