tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post179959607154141227..comments2024-03-17T16:21:14.907-05:00Comments on Stop Baptist Predators: Help for clergy victims like taxis to MarsChrista Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-83607196448520342782007-10-30T09:38:00.000-05:002007-10-30T09:38:00.000-05:00I believe denial is a normal human response to hor...I believe denial is a normal human response to horror. For those of us who personally experienced such traumatic things, it's how our brains protect us so that we CAN survive.<BR/><BR/>If people like Phyllis, who personally experienced such trauma, can nevertheless show the extraordinary courage to lift that veil of denial, then why can't Southern Baptist leaders who have NOT personally experienced it show a similar sort of courage? Shouldn't leaders act like leaders? And there should be systems of accountability in place that take into account the normal human response of denial.Christa Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-72192050356141554322007-10-30T08:36:00.000-05:002007-10-30T08:36:00.000-05:00Depending on their circumstances, some people are ...Depending on their circumstances, some people are not able to be made uncomfortable and face the evil head on. You have to get to a certain point yourself. As long as I lived in Memphis around my perpetrators, I still could not even admit there was a problem. I lived in DENIAL until I was 40 years old. It took leaving Memphis and getting me away from those who hurt me, to be able to deal with my childhood abuse.<BR/>PhyllisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-2091110854101784712007-10-29T20:59:00.000-05:002007-10-29T20:59:00.000-05:00You're right Christa. Just by facing it, calling i...You're right Christa. Just by facing it, calling it by name,even acknowledging the pain... we ARE showing courage that those in denial cannot.<BR/><BR/>A minister in the know from my former SBC church recently commented to me that he is blessed by people like me that won't be bullied.<BR/>I said...I HAVE been bullied...even broken. But some things are worth the cost.<BR/><BR/>Those in denial aren't willing to be made uncomfortable or pay the price required to face this evil head on. <BR/>It's not a comfortable thing to do. It would then require taking responsibility.<BR/><BR/>Better to let those already "bullied" by SBC ministers continue to carry the responsibility of this secret sin in the SBC churches.gmommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11713588262748876624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-88336904238856078372007-10-28T22:20:00.000-05:002007-10-28T22:20:00.000-05:00Say it loud and say it proud: We are survivors! I ...Say it loud and say it proud: We are survivors! I believe every abuse survivor who brings him or herself to the point of seeing and confronting such an ugly reality shows courage the likes of which most Southern Baptist leaders can't even imagine. After all, they STILL cannot bring themselves to actually see the full hideous horror of the violence, abuse, and rapes that are committed in their churches and by their ministers. Instead, they find a gazillion ways to minimize, deny and trivialize it, because if they were to actually allow themselves to see it, then the pure raw horror of it would indeed compel action, and that would take some courage and some alteration of the status quo. So their brains wimp-out and go for the easy route of denial instead.Christa Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04560409585720043015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874123597623259718.post-64954009584417625732007-10-28T20:41:00.000-05:002007-10-28T20:41:00.000-05:00It is amazing that we all live long enough to be a...It is amazing that we all live long enough to be able to call ourselves survivors. It is so easy to get stuck in victim mode. Sometimes you feel it would just be better if life would end -- not that you want to die, or not that you do not want to live. Just sometimes the pain can be so overwhelming and crippling and it can take your breath away, that sometimes you just want something, anything, to take the pain away.<BR/>PhyllisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com