The eight articles contained in this section were written and published in early 1995, in response to a request by Jack Harwell, the editor of Baptists Today. This publication sprung up in the late 80's, as a result of the political take-over of the Southern Baptist Convention. The take-over occurred by ultra-fundamentalists in 1988, after a decade of well-orchestrated moves to get control of the agencies and places of leadership within the Convention.
For those who do not know, the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845 as an act of rebellion. The issue was the desire to appoint a slave-owner as a foreign missionary in Africa! The myth passed down through the years has been that the purpose of the SBC's formation was for the cause of missions.
Baptists Today became one of the free voices for those who were grieving over the take-over and wanted to remain connected to like-minded people. Among it's thousands of readers are people who have lost careers because of their refusal to go along with the right-winged thinking that now dominates the Southern Baptist Convention.
The articles in this section are as timely today as they were in 1995. Parts of the articles will pertain specifically to structures and terms that will be familiar only to Southern Baptists or former members of this convention. Hopefully, this explanation will help readers to understand the context. If there are questions, contact the author.
One note of interest: The same week that the invitation came to write these articles, I learned that I had breast cancer. Thus, you will find this fact used as a metaphor in the first articles. Ironically, one of the few negative responses I've gotten to my writing came after the first article. It was from a pastor who refused to believe what I was saying about the widespread problems of abusive clergy. He expressed his anger for being misled by the title, for he was also a cancer survivor who said he didn't find any of the promised hope in the article. (Of course the titles were not of my choice, but I saw no problem with them.)
Whether you are a Baptist or not, I trust that you will find in the articles many timely gems for any denomination, regardless of the year you are reading them. Today, almost a decade after publication, I still believe they are as applicable to our current place in the struggle as they were in 1995. Chances are they will remain so for decades, if not centuries, to come.
Articles in this series:
Article 1: Struggles with Cancer Teach
Disciplines of Patience, Hope
Article 2: Churches Must Be Honest
to Confront Sexual Abuse
Article 3: Denial and Ignorance Hinder
Answers to Severe Problems
Article 4: 'Hold Hands in the Dark'
with Victims of Violence
Article 5: The Kingdom Is Not Served by
Self-Seeking Secrecy
Article 6: Christians Need Courage
to Break the Silence Barrier
Article 7: Victim Asks: "What If's?"
about Clergy Sexual Abuse
Article 8: 'A Mistake of the System'
Calls Out for Compassion
This article, like all at www.takecourage.org is copyrighted
by the author. Other writers, by copyright law, may use up to 300 words in other
published works without asking permission, provided the author is given full
credit. This also applies to the acronym "DIM Thinking," a term coined
by Miller. You may download and/or distribute copies of any of these articles,
for educational purposes, PROVIDED the pages are distributed without alteration,
including this copyright statement.
www.takecourage.org by Dee Ann Miller, author of
How Little We Knew: Collusion and Confusion with Sexual Misconduct and The Truth
about Malarkey.