In the Larry Nassar case, Rachael Denhollander gave a strong and very religious statement.
Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you. I pray you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.
Not to diminish the crimes committed against her and the other girls abused by Nassar, but that’s sugar-coating the Bible. She may have personally found solace in religion, but Christianity, as practiced by most Christians, does not extend grace and hope and mercy to everyone — it has been used as a weapon against black people, against gay and lesbian people, against trans men and women, against Jews and atheists. It is a blunt instrument that can be wielded in the aid of just about anyone, and against just about anyone…including, often, women.
For the record, it should be noted that the abuser read the Bible, too — Nassar was a practicing Catholic.
Former MSU employee Larry Nassar was a catechist for St. Thomas Aquinas Church’s seventh grade class, though the parish is not eager to claim him.
Nassar also served as a Eucharistic minister at St. John Church and Student Center, also part of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, according to the spring 2000 edition of Communiqué, the magazine of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Denhollander is aware that there’s more to moral behavior than the Bible. She has rebuked the church.
Yes. Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse because the way it is counseled is, more often than not, damaging to the victim. There is an abhorrent lack of knowledge for the damage and devastation that sexual assault brings. It is with deep regret that I say the church is one of the worst places to go for help. That’s a hard thing to say, because I am a very conservative evangelical, but that is the truth. There are very, very few who have ever found true help in the church.
It’s not the Bible, it’s not God, it’s not Sacred Reason, it’s not conservative or liberal, it’s the people. What matters is humanism. Churches are poor places for that, but it’s not just the church — atheism can be severely anti-humanist, too.
By the way, does this sound familiar?
The reason I lost my church was not specifically because I spoke up. It was because we were advocating for other victims of sexual assault within the evangelical community, crimes which had been perpetrated by people in the church and whose abuse had been enabled, very clearly, by prominent leaders in the evangelical community. That is not a message that evangelical leaders want to hear, because it would cost to speak out about the community. It would cost to take a stand against these very prominent leaders, despite the fact that the situation we were dealing with is widely recognized as one of the worst, if not the worst, instances of evangelical cover-up of sexual abuse. Because I had taken that position, and because we were not in agreement with our church’s support of this organization and these leaders, it cost us dearly.
Very familiar indeedly.
I was reading her story yesterday and I thought to myself that there were times when I would think that atheist communities would be much much better at handling such issues. And then one woman dared to say “guys, don’t do that” and mi illusions died. There are renowned atheists who would happily jump at the statement “Church is one of the least safe places to acknowledge abuse” with glee whilst simultaneously defending the prominent rapey skeptic.
The problem are people. I thought the problem is religion or other authoritative ideologies, but the problem is Homo sapiens.
I think she is talking perfectly reasonably given the constraints imposed upon her by a religious ideology. Atheists, I think, should be trying to understand how religious ideologies gain such power over our very thinking process and what we can do to allow people to see through them. Religions seem to have power even long after they are seen as discredited by the vast majority. We are still, for instance, naming planets after ancient Greek gods and goddesses! And the program that sent men to the moon was named after the chief Greek god, Apollo.
“There are people in the world who do not love their fellow man…and I *hate* people like that.” –Tom Lehrer.
Re: Ed Seedhouse @ #2…
The ancient Greek religion is safely dead, so the names of their gods, demigods and heroes are up for grabs. And–by the way–last I heard–Zeus was the chief Greek god, not Apollo. On the other hand, note that 4 of the days of our week are named after old Teutonic gods and one after an old Roman god.
“true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me — though I extend that to you as well.”
For all my wrongdoings in my life no forgiveness from anyone but myself (and certainly not from people I’ve never met and probably will never meet, like Rachael and Jesus) can be enough – and I forgive myself a lot less easier than I forgive others. My only consolation is that at the other hand I’ve done some good things as well, according to people who can know it. That doesn’t undo my wrongdoings, especially the irrepairable ones, but it does enable me do live with myself.
No, I’m not going to confess my wrongdoings, thank you very much. People who matter to me know.
@4 Whheydt: no, they are not dead.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22972610
“Zeus was the chief Greek god, not Apollo” – yeah I always get mixed up between the Roman and Greek names. I think my main point stands though – these old ideas don’t die easily. I would be surprised if there wasn’t some small cult of Zeus worshipers hanging around still, though I don’t know if there is.
The thing is, religions serve a purpose, and if we want civilization to grow out of them I think we have to find out what that purpose is and how we can provide it to people without all the superstition.
However, the Bible, as read by most Christians, extends grace and hope and mercy to each individual Christian who’s reading it so you can *individually* feel guilt and then repentance, no matter what the specifics of your case — even as the church destroys you.
See also: Stockholm Syndrome.
Apollo was originally Greek, although the Romans found a place for him too; and he’s supposed to be a son of Zeus, not a Roman version of him. Jupiter was the Roman equivalent of Zeus.
whoops. I didn’t close the blockquote correctly after the first sentence.
The Catholic Church pretty much blames women for everything men are gods. Blech!
I think Marge that the Catholics have a Goddess whom they worship without the name ; a sosie of Anahita and Isis, namely their virgin Mary.
demonax, sorta, but it’s more complicated than that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariology_of_the_Catholic_Church
Thanks John.
I was not referring to what they say-or their reams of theological exegesis, but what they do.
Hm.
The Catholic Church resembles a bureaucracy with an Emperor/Tribunal on top. But you might be able to get what you want if you appeal to the Empress to intercede for you, or various functionaries of the empire to do so.
Of course, the Catholic Church got started at time when there was a strong central power in the Emperor, and a hierarchy of bureaucrats. And Protestantism had as one of its themes the reassertion of the primacy of God alone, at a time when local rulers were trying to emphasize their own local primacy [NB: This last part is off-the-cuff, and needs research].
Now I’m wondering if anyone else has written up how/if religious systems mirror contemporary political systems… [I suppose I can look that up myself. Note to self: look this up!]
I completely missed that Nassar isn’t even a doctor.