YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009 - (Page 14) Culture Watch by W a l t M u e l l e r Recently, a man I know—a professing Christian, active in ministry—went away to prison for a long, long time. He was found guilty of more than two-dozen counts related to the sexual molestation and abuse of young girls. My head is spinning. As I’ve tried to get my mind around his actions, their causes, and their ramifications, one thing has become very, very clear: The rocks he threw in the pond have made ripples that will spread far and wide for a long, long time. His choices and actions have ruined relationships, families and individual lives. The reality is that while God’s mercy can result in incremental healing for those who have been victimized by this man either directly or indirectly, every one of them will spend their entire lives—until the day they die—in a boat that rocks on those ripples. Child sexual abuse is at epidemic proportions. Some experts project that by the time teens reach the age of 16, one out of every three girls and one out of every five boys will have been sexually abused. If you’re tempted to think this is the kind of stuff that only happens “out there,” think again. Christianity Today magazine recently reported that in the course of the last three years, an average of 23 new articles each day have appeared in secular media sources revealing sexual abuse allegations in Protestant churches in the United States. It is estimated that there are now 60 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse living in America today. The sexual that steals a survivor’s innocence leaves lots of other junk in the hole once occupied by innocence. Survivors spend a lifetime struggling with a variety of resultant problems including fear, anxiety, nightmares, sleeplessness, depression, anger, hostility, inappropriate sexual behavior, an inability to love or be loved, poor self-esteem, a tendency toward substance abuse and difficulty with close relationships. It’s likely they will withdraw from friends 14 March/April 2009 | YouthWorkerJournal.com http://www.YouthWorkerJournal.com
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