There has been no shortage of examples in the past year or so of Christians supporting the hateful policies of their proto-fascist President. But I have seen few examples of the cynicism with which churches will weaponize Christ's admonition to forgive one another more egregious than this.
It started in Houston, where a young youth group leader was to take a 17 year old high school student home. He did, but not before driving to a secluded area and forcing her to perform oral sex for his gratification.
Today, 20 years later, the girl and now woman has been empowered by the #metoo movement to confront this former youth group leader with his crime.
That man, Andy Savage, is now a pastor at a megachurch in Tennessee. Being the morally upstanding Christian leader he claims to be, he admitted his guilt in church, to his audience of fellow churchgoers. He did not describe the crime in detail, referring to it as a "sexual incident", and claimed to have thought it resolved years ago. He said he'd always been open about it with church leaders. His mea culpa culminated in an apology, of sorts:
“Jules, I am deeply sorry for my actions 20 years ago. I remain committed to cooperate with you toward forgiveness and healing.”
For all this, Pastor Savage received a long standing ovation.
After his admission, the lead Pastor at the church told the congregation, according to the New York Times, that "[ Savage ] was one of the people 'hurt by the ripple effect of the consequences of that sin.'" He goes to pray for
.
Mind you, that 17 year old girl was not a victim of sexual sin, Andy Savage is, however. The girl did not sin when she was assaulted, and while she can be reasonably said to be a victim of his sin, Pastor Conlee has already stated that Savage was a victim of his own sin. Thus victim and perpetrator are equivocated in prayer, and the perpetrator is applauded for having the courage to admit his guilt.
Savage's apology, however, is a case study in passive aggressive religious coercion. What else can it mean to say he would "cooperate" with the victim "toward forgiveness and healing", except that healing for her depends on forgiveness for him?
Forgiveness for sale is the very reason the Protestant churches came to be in the first place. In the 21st century, however, things have moved on from the 17th. So called "indulgences" are no longer directly used to extort parishioners. But just as the Catholic Church and its Pope did for those priests accused of raping children, this evangelical church places forgiveness of its own as its top priority.
So my question to you is how should a victim of sexual assault feel when the perp is lauded for his admission and prayed for by the church, while the victim is hardly mentioned?
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