I have written quite a bit about the Catholic church and their long history of clergy abuse and systematic efforts to protect offenders and conceal crimes. I have supported efforts to expose these crimes and their concealment, and I will continue to do so as long as it remains necessary. But we do not have the luxury of ignoring Protestant denominations, some of which have their own problems when it comes to clergy abuse. As I noted here previously, Southern Baptists have been especially guilty of not handling abuse by their clergy well.Stop Baptist Predators offers a powerful account from a reader about sexual abuse suffered by a 16 year-old boy during a Southern Baptist Convention in the 1970s. As much as we pick on Catholics, we would do well to remember that the Southern Baptists are no strangers to abusing children either. And in some ways, they seem to be even less willing to help victims than the Catholic church.
I am encouraged to see that this issue is receiving more attention in the atheist blogosphere. By helping to call attention to abuse by Southern Baptist clergy, we are making sure people are informed.
See a partial list of clergy abuse resources for more information about how you can help.