Sexual abuse is “the rotten fruit of the Sexual Revolution,” says Jeff Dalrymple, director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s newly created Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response department, which operates under the SBC Executive Committee.

In two Baptist Press columns on May 5 and May 6, Dalrymple set forth his view that abuse is part of “the rotten fruit Western culture has borne over the last several decades” and blamed “the counterculture movements of the 1960s.”

In other words, rather than addressing the horror of clergy sex abuse within the SBC, Dalrymple points his finger outward at “Western culture” and sermonizes on “sexual sin.”

When I saw Dalrymple’s words, I literally sat at my desk and screamed. Then I reined myself in and decided to write about it.

Framing the SBC’s widespread sexual abuse scandal as stemming from “the Sexual Revolution” is a reach too far and a slap in the face for clergy abuse survivors. It’s also a tactic of deflection and obfuscation that has already been tried and rejected in the Catholic context. Of all people, you might think Dalrymple would have known that history. He is, after all, the very person that Southern Baptists are claiming has expertise.

With “Expertise” Like This, It’s No Wonder SBC Abuse Reform Fails

This is apparently what passes for “progress” on abuse reform in the Southern Baptist Convention. They create a well-paid job position for a crony, give him a title with the words “abuse prevention,” and then he spews bullshit institutional PR, and no matter how ludicrous it is, people applaud.

Dalrymple’s remarks are obviously outlandish. But they weren’t some off-the-cuff thing. He wrote this in two columns that others looked at and Baptist Press published. Yet no one in Southern Baptist life said “Whoa.” To the contrary, others praised him, including even the president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Meanwhile, there’s still no care for clergy sex abuse survivors and no accountability for Southern Baptist pastor-predators.

And one thing seems certain… with a leader who spews such nonsense as Dalrymple, no one should imagine that he’ll propel the SBC toward meaningful action to address its clergy sex abuse crisis.

Clergy Sex Abuse Is a Problem of the SBC’s Own Making

Regardless of one’s view about “the Sexual Revolution” of the 1960s, the rape and molestation of kids and congregants by trusted pastors – and the nauseatingly redundant coverups in Southern Baptist churches – are horrific crimes and brutish betrayals. They always have been and still are.

Thousands of lives have been decimated by clergy sex abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, and by the faith group’s unrelenting refusal to reckon with that reality.

But Dalrymple says nothing about the SBC’s decades-long complicity in protecting molesters, in refusing to hold abusers accountable, and in stonewalling clergy sex abuse survivors. It’s as though he doesn’t even see the reality of the SBC’s own role or the human cost of the SBC’s recalcitrance.

Instead, he shifts blame away. “Look over there! Look over there!”

Dalrymple’s Deflection Has Been Tried Before

Years ago, former Pope Benedict tried the same deflection for the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse crisis. Like Dalrymple, Benedict blamed the abuse crisis on “the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s.”

Numerous experts criticized Benedict’s explanation, calling it “problematic and damaging,” “deeply flawed,” “profoundly troubling,” “myopic,” “embarrassingly wrong,” and “catastrophically irresponsible.”

Yet apparently having learned nothing at all from the Catholic abuse crisis, a top Southern Baptist official now follows suit, mimics Benedict, and makes the same irresponsible explanation.

So, Dalrymple merits all the same criticism.

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More Evangelizing Won’t Cure the Clergy Sex Abuse Problem

Dalrymple not only blamed “the Sexual Revolution,” exactly as Benedict previously did, but he also offered up a remedy similar to Benedict’s.

As an answer to the Catholic abuse crisis, Benedict advocated a return to faith, saying that the solution was in “obedience and love for our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Similarly, Dalrymple urges Southern Baptists to address the SBC abuse crisis “with the clear hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” He even goes so far as to describe the sexual abuse crisis as an “opportunity” for Southern Baptists – an opportunity to evangelize.

Dalrymple calls on Southern Baptists to show people “the goodness of God’s plan,” apparently without the slightest realization that “God’s plan” is precisely the weapon that many clergy predators use to rape & molest kids & congregants. The crimes and abuses are facilitated by the power of the pastorate and the mantle of trust that the faith group bestows.

Dalrymple either doesn’t understand these unique dynamics of clergy sex abuse, or he just doesn’t really care. And it’s long past time when he should.

While Dalrymple’s evangelical rah-rah may resonate with many SBC pew-sitters who donate money – and perhaps that’s the point – his words are actually functioning as a distraction from the SBC’s in-house problem and from the imperative for concrete measures to protect kids and congregants against clergy predators.

Far better than the pabulum of evangelical platitudes would be the implementation of common-sense strategies, such as a system of record-keeping and information-sharing on credibly accused clergy sex abusers so that they can’t church-hop to new prey.

Three years ago, Southern Baptist messengers voted for such a concrete measure when they approved the development of a denominational database. But SBC officials have stalled it ever since.

And how about measures to hold accountable the many pastors who have kept quiet about the abuses of their clergy colleagues? Without accountability for the enablers and cover-uppers, you can be sure the preacher-predators will persist.

Southern Baptists Lack Both Moral Credibility and Expertise on Clergy Sex Abuse

At the SBC’s big gathering next month in Dallas, Dalrymple will be part of a panel presentation called “Safeguarding the Next Generation.

They’re selling tickets for it – $15 at the door.

That’s right… no matter that his so-called “expertise” is obtuse… the SBC is SELLING TICKETS FOR IT. (Oops… I’m screaming again.)

It’s as if they think they have expertise to offer.

They don’t. Southern Baptists have never even gotten their own house in order; so, they’re in no position to teach anyone else.

Having refused to implement even “the bare minimum” of abuse reforms – as described by the head of their own task force – and having failed to provide even a modicum of care for vast numbers of survivors sexually abused by Southern Baptist pastors, SBC officials are the very last people anyone should consider for expertise on dealing with abuse.

The expertise they hold is in hubris, because it takes audacity to talk about “safeguarding the next generation” when, for decades, they have refused the measure recommended by survivors, advocates, and experts – i.e., a denominational database of credibly-accused clergy sex abusers.

It also takes a cruel oblivion to the safety of future generations of church kids.

They are the ones who will pay the human cost of SBC leadership such as that offered by Jeff Dalrymple – leadership that focuses more on safeguarding the institutional image than on safeguarding the people.

Portions of this were previously published in a May 8 column I wrote for Baptist News Global (which, by the way, is NOT affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention).

For more on the ruses & maneuvers of the Southern Baptist Convention, check out my book, Baptistland: A Memoir of Abuse, Betrayal, and Tranformation. It’s currently on sale!