Читать книгу Blessing the Curse? - Ksenija Magda - Страница 21

After the undisputed veil of sanctity was lifted from the church in the nineteenth century^[19] – and even more through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries – many background injustices that were committed by the Christian system against the “little ones” in the church have come to light. Long concealed by church structures, the unveiling of these sins calls Christians to mourn and repent, but also to rejoice. For when we address structural sin, healing and freedom become possible. The church must be confronted by the horrors it has committed “in the name of the Lord” and confess these acts as spiritual abuse, for any human abuse of power conceals the glory of a good God. This confrontation has often felt like a cataclysmic earthquake (e.g. H. S. Reimarus or Ludwig Feuerbach),^[20] and more recently, through the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, many Christians have had to rethink their faith or wonder how the church will survive. Tragically, many people knew about the atrocities, including victims and their loved ones, and yet they still kept silent. Though hierarchies of power invent traditions to enslave people and use violence to intimidate them, this reality does not take away our responsibility. A mother may say, “I was too weak to protect my children from their violent father,” but by failing to protect them, she abandoned her children.

Tucked away in the spare room for centuries, these sins were rarely challenged, and no boundaries were established. Perpetrators were silently moved from one place to another, where they continued their sinful business, reassured that this time, they would get away with it. It is impossible to give an extensive report about all that has gone foul in the church, but everyone knows of the sex scandals, power abuses, and money embezzlements. Elaine Storkey’s book Scars of Humanity depicts the suffering and pain of the “little ones” throughout society.^[21] This all suggests that the church is not a safe place for women, children, or anyone who is not part of the power structures. No hierarchy is a safe place.