It seems that there are a few religious organizations involved with some kind of sexual abuse investigation and/or lawsuit today. There really does not seem to be any organizations that are exempt.


In a comparative study, I would be interested in knowing how your particular religion handles such occurrences.

Since so much emphasis is put on trust, faith and the family institution, are religious organizations just a beacon to attract sexual predators?

Can religions continue using the explanation that some long standing members or leaders who are acussed of such allegations do not represent God or their religion?

How does one examine the fruits of a religion after an incident like this happens and an organization keeps the incident secret or does not cooperate with their county’s law authority?

Are religious authorities more concerned about bringing their offenders to justice or or are they more concerned about what other people will think of their faith or religion?

What is the solution from preventing these occurrences from happening again when the power, justice and fear of God or human law is no longer a deterrence or a reliance?

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"There is one thing that organized religion is not qualified to teach and that is an individual's purpose."-GOD

We could just remove "religious organizations" and replace it with "secular organizations" for this statement to remain equally applicable. We must always be vigilant to protect our youngest members of society. I know the church we attend has a number of safeguards that include background checks and rules against having only one adult supervising children.

The most important point is that parents must talk to their kids from early on into adulthood to always tell someone if they ever feel intimidated or mishandled in an uncomfortable or harmful manner. The tragedy about these kind of sins is that they are often preventable had the person showing deviant behavior was confronted early on when they showed symptoms of that kind.

I really think that our society must do more in identifying mental illness and deviant behavior. For example, I've known a few people who have gambling or other financial addiction problems and this forces them into financial ruin (and the others who out of pity lend money to them that they cannot afford to lend, etc.). Why don't we have a system that makes you (in a limited kind of way) a ward of the state if your financial management score drops below a certain value? If you wish to re-gain your independence, then you have to earn back your independence over time within a pre-defined program (e.g., you get a certain allowance which must be used to pay one bill on time, and then over time the allowance is increased to pay more bills until finally you achieve your financial independence again).

Similarly, I'd like to see the same kind of program instituted for mental illness and deviant behaviors. If a kid was caught torturing animals, for example, then this would be subtracted from their social behaviors score. If over time their score dropped to a certain point, then you would be put into counseling and within a strict program that you are given a chance to earn back points (e.g., going to a self-help group every week).

I realize that this system sounds like Big Brother, but I don't think it has to be that way. Rather, if this kind of system is administered as our credit records are managed, then it is not so invasive. It is only when our credit score drops to a certain point that we cannot buy houses and cars, so it is for those with these very low social scores that they cannot buy guns, have internet access, or work in places in contact with children (for example).

This system is very mild and only affects those people who really need help. They would be given an opportunity to increase their social scores and be independent again, and they never have to come in front of a judge.

In the Baha'i Faith if someone abuses a child it is reported to the civil authorities or law enforcement and the person who say abuses the child sexually or otherwise can lose their administrative rights and whatever office they hold in the Faith if any.

An official statement on this issue was made by the Univeresal House of Justice 24 January 1993:

It is difficult to imagine a more reprehensible perversion of human conduct than the sexual abuse of children, which finds its most debased form in incest. At a time in the fortunes of humanity when, in the words of the Guardian, “The perversion of human nature, the degradation of human conduct, the corruption and dissolution of human institutions, reveal themselves ... in their worst and most revolting aspects,” and when “the voice of human conscience is stilled,” when “the sense of decency and shame is obscured,” the Bahá'í institutions must be uncompromising and vigilant in their commitment to the protection of the children entrusted to their care, and must not allow either threats or appeals to expediency to divert them from their duty. A parent who is aware that the marriage partner is subjecting a child to such sexual abuse should not remain silent, but must take all necessary measures, with the assistance of the Spiritual Assembly or civil authorities if necessary, to bring about an immediate cessation of such grossly immoral behaviour, and to promote healing and therapy.

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler