{"id":139983,"date":"2025-03-17T16:31:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T16:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/what-is-going-on-with-the-southern-baptist-sexual-abuse-investigation\/"},"modified":"2025-03-17T16:31:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T16:31:43","slug":"what-is-going-on-with-the-southern-baptist-sexual-abuse-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=139983","title":{"rendered":"What is going on with the Southern Baptist sexual abuse investigation?"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In case you missed this, the Southern Baptist Convention has announced that the federal investigation into the Convention\u2019s treatment of sexual abuse survivors has come to an end. Here is Liam Adams at The Tennessean<\/em>:<\/p>\n

A historic federal investigation into sexual abuse within the nation\u2019s largest Protestant denomination is officially over after yielding just one conviction.<\/em><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice notified the Southern Baptist Convention it\u2019s not pursuing additional criminal charges against the convention or SBC-affiliated agencies, called entities. The news confirms earlier speculation surrounding the conclusion of a case last week when a\u00a0federal judge in Manhattan sentenced<\/a>\u00a0former Southern Baptist pastor and seminary professor Matt Queen, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities.<\/em><\/p>\n

But some abuse survivors and allies\u2019 hope for more serious criminal proceedings evaporated with the news of the inquiry\u2019s official conclusion. Outside legal counsel and staff for the SBC Executive Committee, which manages business for the Nashville-based denomination outside the two-day SBC annual meeting, confirmed the news in response to a request for comment.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re grateful that we can close this chapter in our legal proceedings and move forward,\u201d Jeff Iorg, chief executive for the SBC Executive Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lawyers for the executive committee who specifically handle abuse-related legal proceedings, Gene Besen and Scarlett Nokes, said the DOJ notified them earlier Wednesday of the investigation\u2019s closure. Besen and Nokes then relayed the news to Iorg and his team. \u201cWe are pleased that the matter has been resolved without any charges or further expense against the EC or other SBC entities,\u201d Besen and Nokes said in a statement.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the\u00a0likeliest charges to apply in this scenario<\/a>\u00a0would have dealt with racketeering, commonly referred to as a RICO case \u2014 an abbreviation for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Unless there was trafficking across state lines, the prosecution of most incidents of clergy sex abuse is under the jurisdiction of state attorneys general or local district attorneys.<\/em><\/p>\n

A May 2022 report from third-party investigator Guidepost Solutions on cover-up and neglect by top Southern Baptist leaders prompted the DOJ to pursue an investigation across the denomination and its 11 major entities, which are based in different states. But the SBC\u2019s hierarchy \u2014 local churches, regional associations and state conventions are autonomous and voluntarily partners with the national convention \u2014 long presented a dilemma for a RICO prosecution, for example.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read the entire piece here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What are Southern Baptists and others saying?<\/p>\n

Abuse survivor Christa Brown:<\/p>\n

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Today has been a struggle. Despite 2 decades of watching the ruses & maneuvers of SBC officials, and of hearing 100s of sexual abuse & coverup stories, I’m still just not sufficiently steeled to it all.<\/p>\n

Today felt hard.<\/p>\n

Thanks to so many of you for your solidarity. It helps. https:\/\/t.co\/AMVdgNbP6r<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Watching as pastor after pastor perversely twists the closure of the DOJ investigation into an exoneration gives whole new meaning to the word “revolting.”<\/p>\n

It’s false. It’s cruel. And it’s a punch in the gut for #SBCtoo<\/a> survivors.<\/p>\n

Rotten to the core. #ThisistheSBC<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/6m7PGPtFX7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Exactly. They’re acting as though Paul Pressler never happened\u2026 and many 100s more sexual abuse & coverup cases.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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“The glee of the SBC defenders.” Yes. That is exactly what it is that is so impossible to stomach at this point.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Jeff Iorg says: “We reject the false narrative\u2026that Southern Baptists are uncaring in responding to survivors.”<\/p>\n

So\u2026 why do so many #SBCtoo<\/a> survivors say church’s response was more traumatic than pastor’s rapes & abuse?<\/p>\n

Southern Baptists are uncaring. #ThisistheSBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/voNQ1w4L6k<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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With quote after quote, this article shows how SBC pastors are twisting closure of the DOJ investigation as if it were proof of “no SBC abuse crisis.”<\/p>\n

Sickening.<\/p>\n

But I’m quoted too: “The SBC’s chronic failure to reckon with abuse remains.” #ThisistheSBC<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/qb0hOEEf4W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christa Brown (@ChristaBrown777) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Christa Brown at her Substack<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice has now\u00a0shut down its investigation<\/a>\u00a0into sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

So say attorneys for the SBC Executive Committee who assert that the DOJ notified them today of the investigation\u2019s closure. <\/em>(A cautionary note: The DOJ itself rarely comments, and it\u2019s worth noting that we heard a similar story a year ago, with a top SBC official\u00a0claiming the DOJ investigation had ended<\/a>\u00a0even as survivors were saying FBI agents had assured them the investigation was ongoing.)<\/p>\n

On social media, many Southern Baptists cheered this latest news of the investigation\u2019s shut-down as though it were proof that there\u2019s no abuse crisis in the SBC \u2013 as though it were proof of their righteousness. (For examples, see my update below.)<\/em><\/p>\n

This strikes me as either ill-informed or disingenuous or both.<\/em><\/p>\n

The shut-down of a federal investigation is not a substantive determination on the absence of crimes. It\u2019s a procedural event.<\/em><\/p>\n

Furthermore, crimes involving sexual abuse and assault are more typically crimes that fall under state law.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, the absence of federal prosecutions does not in any way indicate the absence of criminal conduct, the absence of immoral conduct, or the absence of harmful conduct.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is why, together with David Clohessy and Dave Pittman, I had previously\u00a0called for state attorney general investigations<\/a>\u00a0of abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, similar to the nearly two dozen state investigations that have been conducted on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nothing about the closure of the DOJ investigation changes a thing about the fact of 700 known victims that were documented by the\u00a0Abuse of Faith<\/a>\u00a0expos\u00e9 on sexual abuse in the SBC. (And those were almost all child victims in cases with criminal convictions, which experts recognize as the tip of the iceberg.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Nor does the closure of the DOJ investigation change anything about the\u00a0Guidepost investigatory report\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0documentation of how terribly top SBC officials treated clergy sex abuse survivors and of how they did nothing to help survivors \u2013 or to protect others \u2013 when confronted with clergy sex abuse reports.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nor does the investigation\u2019s closure change anything about the fact of hundreds of Southern Baptist pastors who were listed on the\u00a0SBC Executive Committee\u2019s own long-secret list<\/a>\u00a0of credibly accused abusive pastors\u2026 or about the fact that\u00a0they kept the list secret<\/a>\u00a0for so many years.<\/em><\/p>\n

All of this documentation remains. It\u2019s not as if the closure of the DOJ investigation erased it, and it\u2019s cruel for some Southern Baptists to pretend that it did.<\/em><\/p>\n

Likewise, the SBC\u2019s chronic failure to reckon with abuse remains.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyone who follows the headlines can readily see the ongoing stream of news reports about sexual abuse and coverups in the SBC.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read Brown\u2019s entire piece here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here is the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention:<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s announcement from the Department of Justice marks the end of a long and painful chapter in Southern Baptist life. Our hearts are with all survivors of sexual abuse wherever such injustice occurs. As a people committed to the gospel, we have worked diligently to make our\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Clint Pressley (@pastorclint) March 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Former Southern Baptist Convention J.D. Greear wrote this on his X feed<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I am grateful that this investigation has concluded with no federal charges related to sexual abuse. Our goal from the start was to foster cooperation by equipping churches to minister more effectively and stand guard against predators. Beginning in 2018, in response to multiple actions by the messengers, we set out to consider how Southern Baptists at every level could take discernible action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse and to foster safe environments within our churches and institutions.\u00a0We knew we needed reforms both in our posture and procedures, so that predators would have no place to hide within our system. We knew our 1st impulse should be protection of the vulnerable rather than self-protection of our institutions. By God\u2019s grace, many reforms have happened and the work continues. This was (and still must be) the focal point of all our efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are few responses to the Pressley and Greear tweets:<\/p>\n

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Until those who made these false allegations are kicked out the SBC and sued for defamation\u2026. nothing will change. There will be more false allegations made by leaders in the SBC to take out their political enemies. Show courage and actually kick out @jdgreear<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Christopher Calvin Reid (@ReidFirm) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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@pastorclint<\/a> I love and respect you, brother. You may not disagree with this, but I at least want to remind you:<\/p>\n

The truth will never keep us from reaching the world for Christ. Sure, false narratives hurt our witness. But the truth does not. Give us the truth, and nothing but\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Brian Gunter (@BrianGunter1689) March 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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“Let\u2019s not mince words\u2014this was a hit job. Moore and his\u00a0allies\u00a0(including\u00a0Phillip Bethancourt, J.D. Greear, Jared Wellman, Grant Gaines, and\u00a0others) weaponized emotionalism and vague insinuations to smear faithful leaders because they wanted applause from the secular world.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 RCGWho (@RcgWho47810) March 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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If facts bother you, skip this thread. But if you want more evidence\u2014& more reminders\u2014of the kind of failed leadership that has cost the SBC millions of dollars &, more importantly, spiritual vitality, then take a look. https:\/\/t.co\/COzyHCSkqb<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Ascol @tomascol (@tomascol) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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The Southern Baptist sexual abuse nothing burger narrative was pushed by many who claim they were are are against it. Here are a few examples.<\/p>\n

1. Al Mohler pushed the idea that David Sills abused Jennifer Lyell and that it was not a consensual. Sills took his complaint against\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tfxujzwW7y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Harris \ud83c\udf32 (@jonharris1989) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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3. J.D. Greear is one of the major figures who set the SBC down the path that has threatened to bankrupt them in his development and promotion of the Caring Well Initiative. <\/p>\n

According to Greear, the purpose of the Caring Well Initiative was to help churches engage the problem\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/KvgNYx1DZW<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Harris \ud83c\udf32 (@jonharris1989) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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5. Even Ronnie Floyd got into the emotional knee-jerk frenzy in the moment. Later he’d be condemned by harder edged #metoo<\/a> advocates within the convention. pic.twitter.com\/NAxllMdilO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Harris \ud83c\udf32 (@jonharris1989) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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I could go on and on. The point is, lots of people made extremely poor choices for the SBC that has cost her dearly. Many of these people are trying to distance themselves from the very problem they created. <\/p>\n

Al Mohler having Joe Rigney on to talk about emotional sabotage and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Harris \ud83c\udf32 (@jonharris1989) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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I could go on and on. The point is, lots of people made extremely poor choices for the SBC that has cost her dearly. Many of these people are trying to distance themselves from the very problem they created. <\/p>\n

Al Mohler having Joe Rigney on to talk about emotional sabotage and\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jon Harris \ud83c\udf32 (@jonharris1989) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Boy, sure am glad the abuse issue in Baptist Churches is a hoax and there’s no need for a system to keep track of these guys to make sure they don’t move around after their release. Glad it all turned out to be woke, liberal witchhunt. Phew! https:\/\/t.co\/xyGsyxdP9v<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jacob Denhollander (@JJ_Denhollander) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Megan Basham on X<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll probably stop ranting soon about the latest evidence that the SBC abuse crisis was an entirely manufactured false narrative, but I can\u2019t help but think about how all of the sophisticated institutional types sneered at those of us who insisted that the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic, etc. were getting it wrong. In fact, they did worse than sneer, they defamed and slandered. <\/em><\/p>\n

We were just a bunch of stupid, abuse-coddling MAGA outrage peddlers and that\u2019s why we didn\u2019t believe the smart people like Russell Moore, who has friends at the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Atlantic. <\/em><\/p>\n

And just like with critical race theory and Covid, now that evidence keeps coming up that they were entirely wrong about the alleged abuse crisis, they\u2019re just dropping the subject. They\u2019re not gonna talk about it now. Because they\u2019re too sophisticated to dip back into the past and remember how they acted and what they said. <\/em><\/p>\n

And when the next thing comes up that we rubes are getting right while they sneer and shake their fingers at us, they somehow, once again, won\u2019t remember anything that came before.<\/em><\/p>\n

More Basham on X<\/a>:<\/p>\n

What does this mean? It means that after a 2-1\/2-year investigation, the BIDEN DOJ was not able to bring a SINGLE charge against national SBC leader or entity. Not one. The only charge is against a lone seminary professor who lied to the FBI about witnessing the destruction of a document that contained abuse allegations against a student \u2013 \u2013 not a pastor or a leader, a STUDENT. And again, that was at a local seminary, not national leadership. What this once again confirms is that @drmoore<\/a>\u2019s claims that the executive committee was involved in widespread abuse coverups and \u201ctearing women and children apart\u201d (claims that were then amplified by @DavidAFrench<\/a> , @peter_wehner<\/a>, and others at @TheAtlantic<\/a>, @nytimes<\/a>, @NewYorker<\/a>, @CNN<\/a> and @washingtonpost<\/a>) were a FALSE media narrative all along. Its purpose was to allow Russell Moore (aided by @jdgreear<\/a>, @griffingulledge<\/a>, @deaninserra<\/a>, @bartbarber<\/a> and Grant Gaines) to exact revenge on his political enemies, and to replace the former members of the executive committee, who were strong conservatives. <\/em><\/p>\n

Do you expect any of these people to now acknowledge their role in slandering the character of the former executive committee members? Will they correct the record and acknowledge that there was never an \u201cabuse apocalypse\u201d? The SBC was never a \u201cdiseased orchard\u201d? <\/em><\/p>\n

But boy, we sure did spend a lot of money and get a lot of media coverage there for a while, didn\u2019t we?<\/em><\/p>\n

Reporter Robert Downen:<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s funny that Megan wrote an entire book trying to find some secret cabal that concocted a fake abuse crisis, when she could have just Googled \u201cPaul Pressler\u201d or \u201cPaige Patterson\u201d or read any of my many Twitter replies in which I told her why her claims are absurd. https:\/\/t.co\/HRaydPEaBw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Robert Downen (@RobertDownen_) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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But I get that there are deadlines that force tough choices. Ex: Do you prioritize publicly naming a Southern Baptist president’s alleged victim? Or do you focus on the litany of child rape claims against one of the most important Southern Baptist leaders in a century?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Robert Downen (@RobertDownen_) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Its a shame she only had time for Option 1. Because if she had looked at all into Pressler or talked to me, she’d have immediately realized that her thesis was utterly ridiculous and probably scrapped the book entirely \u2013 as any ethical journalist would!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Robert Downen (@RobertDownen_) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

More:<\/p>\n

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He still doesn\u2019t get it. These comments still suppose there was a big problem that needed \u201creforms.\u201d Not true. A few bad apples does not mean the SBC as a whole was rotten. What is true is that you have thousands of churches filled with and led by people repulsed by the sin of\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/6jpQNzrBfj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sharayah Colter (@SharayahColter) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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“Beginning in 2018, in response to multiple actions by the messengers\u2026”@jdgreear<\/a>, do you think the messengers would’ve ever taken the actions they took without you, @drmoore<\/a>, Grant Gaines, and other SBC leaders steering the messengers in that direction? https:\/\/t.co\/AuhDVltNDB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Buck (Five Point Buck AKA Five Point Baptist) (@TomBuck) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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The SBC conservatives you were told not to like were right about every major issue over the past 5 years.<\/p>\n

The “respectable” moderates who slandered the conservatives were wrong about everything and were blindly executing the play called by a calculating political operative. pic.twitter.com\/kIV7lol5zd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 James Silberman (@JSilbermanFTS) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Russell Moore was the story’s architect. Phillip Betancourt knowingly lied and misleading clipped secret recordings. A few others at the top were in on it.<\/p>\n

I think most of the SBC was simply trusting the wrong people: ie. Moore et al. instead of Ascol et al.<\/p>\n

\u2014 James Silberman (@JSilbermanFTS) March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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4 years ago:
“\u2026 cowardly smear campaign & admission of participation in sexual abuse coverup by Russell Moore (who stayed quiet for\u2026years about what he calls \u201ca culture where countless children have been torn to shreds, where women have been raped\u2026”https:\/\/t.co\/vSkC5Dccx9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Ascol @tomascol (@tomascol) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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The big lie of an “abuse crisis” and even a “criminal conspiracy” in the SBC, launched by Russell Moore, was always false.<\/p>\n

The DOJ’s closure of their investigation proves it. Now it’s time to call it what it was: A hit job. <\/p>\n

From @jrwhitehead<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/eeBdc31YLC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Center for Baptist Leadership (@BaptistLeaders) March 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Southern Baptist theologian Denny Burk on X<\/a>:<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s bottom line on the SBC abuse \u201ccrisis.\u201d There wasn\u2019t one. A federal investigation closed after making one arrest\u2014not for abuse but for making false statements under oath. An independent investigation by Guidepost Solutions found no systemic problem with abuse at the SBC Executive Committee. We have spent about 14 million dollars in legal fees as a result of investigations that uncovered no systemic problems with abuse. The problem here is not with the good intentions of Southern Baptist messengers who were doing their level best to address a problem that was presented to them. The problem is with the misinformation they were given about a \u201ccrisis\u201d that in the end no one can find any evidence for.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Each one of them is a crisis. Of course abuse is a crisis for every individual, church, and community where it occurs. But that\u2019s not what we are talking about.<\/p>\n

We are talking about the alleged \u201ccrisis\u201d of abuse and cover-ups at the EC, which is what the Guidepost lawyers were\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) March 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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Using \u201carrests\u201d as the sole benchmark in measuring a systemic problem with handling abuse. A mischaracterization generates comments reflecting hostility toward women. Be aware of that if you are considering attending an SBC church. Not all are like this, but too many are.<\/p>\n

\u2014 John Carvalho (@John_P_Carvalho) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Former SBC president Jack Graham and the director of the Liberty University Standing for Freedom Center:<\/p>\n

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From the beginning the outcry and false reporting of a systemic sexual abuse problem in the SBC has been a hoax. The damage is done and now the SBC is facing the consequences. The proponents of this disaster should be held accountable https:\/\/t.co\/sQNTiAM4A7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jack Graham (@jackngraham) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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