Jesus loves the little children

Sometimes it’s hard not to be cynical about the things Baptist leaders say. For me, this is one of those times, as I watch the stuff spewing forth from the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Louisville. If I didn’t poke fun with a bit of sarcasm, I’m afraid I might dissolve into a puddle of weeping.

They issued a “pro-adoption” resolution. That’s nice. I’m all for adoption. But it started looking a little weird when it started looking as though Baptist leaders might be promoting adoption, in part, simply because they want to raise their membership numbers. “More kids” means “more Baptists.”

Seminary president Danny Akin made this view clear when he urged families to “have a bunch of kids” as a way of reversing the denomination’s decline. He also suggested that it would be a way to keep the Muslims from taking over.

I kid you not.

But hey… I digress.

The SBC’s pro-adoption resolution said this: "We pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit on Southern Baptist congregations so that our churches will proclaim and picture, in word and in deed, that 'Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.'"

Isn’t that sweet? I’m already singing along in my head. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.” That just about covers all the children, doesn’t it?

But I don’t think Baptist leaders really believe that. The average 5-year-old believes the words of that song more than the average Baptist leader does. For Baptist leaders, it’s “Jesus loves the little children” except the children who are chosen for abuse by Baptist clergy. And those children? Well… they just need to go away and shut up.

If Baptist leaders really believed that “Jesus loves the little children,” wouldn’t they take action to work toward protecting the kids in their own churches?

Isn’t that what this convention was supposed to be about this year? “Actions speak louder than words.” Remember? So why are they giving us feel-good songs instead of real action to protect kids?

The more I thought about it, the more I remembered a Southern Baptist resolution from about a decade ago. It was a resolution criticizing something an author said in an article published in a journal of the American Psychological Association. Even though the American Psychological Association had already issued a public statement clarifying its associational view against the article's authors and "opposing child sexual abuse," the Southern Baptist Convention decided to use the occasion to toot its own horn with a public resolution about “precious” children.

Here are some excerpts from that resolution, with what I imagine Baptist leaders might have really been thinking in brown italics. (Did I mention that I’m feeling a bit sarcastic today?)

"...children are precious gifts from God..."

UNLESS you were a child who was molested or raped by a Southern Baptist anointed one, and then you're automatically transformed into a pariah and banished forever. There's nothing "precious" about pariahs.

"The spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children is our sacred duty."

UNLESS you were a child who was targeted by one of our own Southern Baptist anointed ones, and since that means you were predestined to be less-than-human anyway, we can't possibly have any sacred duty toward you.

"No civilization can long survive without protecting and nurturing its children."

And THAT'S why we have to keep covering this stuff up. It's for our own survival. We have to make sure that people in the pews will keep putting money in the offering plates and won't realize that, in reality, our denomination is NOT protecting children in the churches.

"The sexual abuse of children is a particularly heinous assault on the dignity of children"

UNLESS you were a child who was molested or raped by a Southern Baptist anointed one, and since that automatically makes you less-than-human anyway, it can't possibly be so heinous, and besides, if you're less-than-human, you don't have any dignity anyway.

"We...commit ourselves afresh to protecting our children against sexual abuse...."

UNLESS they're children who were predestined to be targeted for molestation and rape by our own Southern Baptist anointed ones, because those children will automatically become pariahs anyway, and so they aren't worthy of our protection to start with.

"We encourage those who are victims of sexual abuse to seek appropriate spiritual counseling in order to find the support and strength they need...."

UNLESS you were sexually abused by a Southern Baptist anointed one, and then we just want you to shut up and go away... and we sure don't want you to get any counseling, because we don't want you to have enough strength to talk. Besides, the only creatures worthy of counseling are humans, and those who have been sexually abused by Southern Baptist anointed ones are automatically deemed less-than-human.

"...we commit ourselves to pray and work toward the creation of safe communities for all children."

EXCEPT that our first and primary priority is to create safe church communities for our Southern Baptist anointed ones so that they don't ever have to worry about even the possibility of a false accusation from one of those less-than-human creatures - the pariahs.


Think I’ve become too cynical? Well, it’s hard not to be cynical when you see the things Baptist leaders say and then start looking around for deeds that back up their words. The deeds don’t exist.

Where are the actions to show that Southern Baptist leaders care about protecting the kids in their own churches against predation by their own clergy?