The Terrible Toll of Child Abuse

Not all sights here on the Cape are beautiful ones, and not all speak equally eloquently of the presence of God, but some are so compelling that they cry out for attention.  This was one of those.

200 gaily spinning silver pinwheels whose beauty stands in jarring contrast to the background message that each stands in for one of the 200 children who reported sex abuse on the Cape and Islands in the past year.

It happens in our homes. It happens in the camps to which we entrust our children (currently there are claims from some 13 former campers that they were allegedly abused at Camp Good News by multiple perpetrators over the course of several decades). It happens in our churches, as those familiar with the global reach of the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandals, and with cases that know no denominational bounds, know.

I happens, and it keeps happening, often because of misguided and dangerous concepts of what it means to forgive those who abuse.  Forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences for the perpetrator of abuse; forgiveness does not mean keeping the abuse secret to protect the forgiven perpetrator; forgiveness does not mean failing to take every possible precaution to ensure that the perpetrator will not have the opportunity to abuse again.

Abuse of our children is horrific.

And perhaps only outweighed by those who know about it and, through their actions and omissions, allow it to keep happening.

May we all work for the day when no gaily spinning silver pinwheels mar our beautiful landscapes....