"Nothing more... "

The immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Frank Page, was recently appointed to serve on the White House “faith-based” advisory council. Given Page’s abysmal failure in addressing clergy sex abuse and cover-ups among Southern Baptists, let’s hope he displays better judgment in his role on the President’s advisory council.

An open letter:

Dear Dr. Page,

I haven’t forgotten how you publicly castigated the clergy abuse survivors’ support groups by saying we were “nothing more than opportunistic persons.”

Those were hateful words coming from the highest leader of the largest Protestant denomination in the land.

They’re words that have stuck with me, as I’m sure they did for many other abuse survivors.

But I wonder whether your words held meaning for you? Or did you simply toss them out as though they were a matter of no consequence?

Did you realize the hurtfulness of your words when you spoke them? Did you realize how such words, coming from a high-level leader, would help to legitimize a Baptist climate of dismissiveness toward clergy abuse survivors?

I have long pondered how any decent person could say such a thing, much less a person who purports to be a religious leader. To this day, it remains a mystery to me.

At first, when I heard your statement, my mind honed in on your accusation that we were “opportunistic.” It was so ludicrous and mean-spirited that I couldn’t see past it. Where was the “opportunity,” I wondered, in being molested and raped by a Baptist minister?

But as time went by, I realized that the real sting of your words was in the “nothing more.”

I try to imagine a religious leader saying that clergy abuse survivors are “nothing more” than swine.

Or “nothing more” than “Polacks.” Or “nothing more” than “potato-eaters.”

Or maybe in Jesus’ day, it would have been “nothing more” than Canaanites.

Pick your pejorative. That’s the effect of your words. You slung a slur and then said we were “nothing more.”

And you did it publicly.

“Nothing more.” Think about what those words mean.

Now, think about what they mean when said by the highest leader of a 16.2 million member faith community.

It’s an age-old hate-mongering propaganda tactic to sling a slur at a disfavored group and then say they’re “nothing more.” Sadly, it's a tactic that can be very effective when used by influential religious and political leaders.

It’s a tactic that is dehumanizing.

Frank Page, you were wrong.

We are more. We are much more. We are infinitely more.

Clergy sex abuse survivors are children of God, just as you and everyone else. We are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons. We are friends, spouses, and partners. We are business people, techies, writers, artists, singers, electricians, designers, city administrators, teachers, athletes, nurses, chefs, students, pastors, lawyers, waiters, inventors, volunteers, and on and on and on. We are atheists and agnostics, Baptists and Buddhists, Christians and Catholics, and on and on and on. We are cancer survivors, heart attack survivors, suicide survivors, and on and on and on.

To list all the ways that we are more than your “nothing more” would be endless.

To list all the ways that your “nothing more” was hateful and hurtful would be endless.

So while you’re considering all the “nothingness” of clergy abuse survivors, Frank Page, you should also consider something about yourself. You’re someone who is apparently incapable of hearing the hatefulness of your own words… and of rendering an appropriate apology.

Of course, I know you’re more than that. But however much more you may be, it doesn’t change the fact that you still owe a serious apology.

Sincerely,
Christa Brown
______________________

Update: “Turning an opportunistic Page,” Baptist Planet, 3/17/09.