It is undeniable that one of the major reasons for the prevalence of abuse in churches is that due to the privileged status granted by religion. Anyone associated with a church is often seen in a trusting light, even when this trust is unwarranted. This guarantees an innumerable amount of tragedy, a fact we are regularly reminded of on a daily basis.
Just a few days ago, pastor Robert L. Carter was arrested in Huston. His crime? Over the span of a decade, he repeatedly raped one of his parishioners (that we know about), beginning his assault when she was only 6 years old. The abuse was an almost daily occurrence, ending only when the victim decided that the abuse had to stop. This was 3 years after she had given birth to a child she was forced to give away.
The victim is now damaged for life, and is fighting to get custody of a child that was wrongly taken from her. This will no doubt add to this tragedy, with a new family being torn apart to undo past wrongs.
With all of these lives destroyed, you would think that perhaps a little self reflection had occurred. You would be wrong. Rather than take responsibility for his crimes, and for destroying multiple lives, Carter is quick to blame his monstrous deeds on outside forces beyond his control:
“I need you to understand that it is not about my flesh because my flesh causes me to do the things that I would not do. Paul said the good that I would I just can’t seem to do because he said whenever I [go to do good] evil is always present because I’m in my flesh,” he said. “Your flesh will send you right to Hell. Your flesh will get yourself in trouble.”
What a load of utter nonsense, straight from the mouth of a deeply troubled individual that barely qualifies as human. This gobbledygook might mean something to the faithful, but when someone not beholden to this word salad hears this, they see it only as a disgusting omission of responsibility. So long as religion continues to give lowlife scum like Carter a safe space to operate, these tragedies will continue to be a daily occurrence.