Barnabas File

Time for full confession.     Until I read All My Knotted-Up Life , I had never read anything by Beth Moore.     To the best of my knowledge, I have never heard her speak.     Of course, I knew who she was.     I understood that she was Lifeway Resources’ (formerly the Baptist Sunday School Board) most popular and profitable author. I also knew that she had a significant reputation as a Bible teacher and speaker.     It also was clear to me that she had finally decided she could no longer remain silent in a denomination that refused to address sexual abuse and the submission of women.   As a result, I came to this book with few preconceptions.  To be honest, I found it both painful and insightful.  Painful because I can identify with the structures that failed women like Moore (I was even part of them).  Insightful because of her willingness to be honest about her own complicity in these structures. ...

Our local news outlets have recently reported that some schools--private and public--have failed to report abusive situations involving students.   Several reasons have been cited by officials for their actions, but these indicate that they failed to protect vulnerable individuals under their supervision. We have seen this before in churches, schools, and not-for-profit agencies.  Institutions can quickly become more concerned about protecting themselves than in doing the right thing.  There two primary errors that institutions commit in relationship to abuse--sexual, verbal, physical, or psychological. First, very often institutions act as if it can’t happen to them. Several years ago, I worked for an organization and became concerned that we be more proactive about possible incidents of abuse.  Nothing had happened, but I believed that it would be appropriate to take steps to head off any problems both for the sake of those we served...