Honors Projects

Abstract

Sexual abuse in the Christian Church has been a problem for many decades, and scholars have written extensively about sexual abuse occurring in the Catholic Church. However, abuse occurring in the Protestant Church has not been given that same attention. In 2017, the #MeToo movement went viral and has inspired many sexual abuse survivors to share their stories. I will argue that the Protestant Church should acknowledge the #MeToo movement’s accomplishments, and that this acknowledgement would lead to positive changes in how it approaches sexual abuse. I also will discuss financial abuse, which is a correlating behavior along with sexual abuse. Following a literature review, I critically engage with the legacies of Jim Bakker and Ravi Zacharias. As a counter to this problem, I propose that religious disobedience and survivor support organizations help combat pastoral sexual abuse.

Department

Philosophy

Major

Philosophy

Second Major

Communication

First Advisor

Dr. Jeffrey Carroll

First Advisor Department

Philosophy

Second Advisor

Dr. Lisa Hanasono

Second Advisor Department

Communication

Publication Date

Spring 4-25-2022

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