XPost: az.general   
   From: michelle@michelle.org   
      
   According to the Southern Baptists, gays don't have any rights, but   
   apparently, they don't see anything wrong with ministers molesting women   
   and girls.   
      
   NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- The victims' advocates who dogged the Roman   
   Catholic Church over sex abuse by its clergy have now turned their   
   attention to the Southern Baptists, accusing America's largest   
   Protestant denomination of also failing to root out molesters.   
      
   The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has   
   started a campaign to call attention to alleged sex abuse committed by   
   Southern Baptist ministers and concealed by churches.   
      
   SNAP presented a letter Monday to Southern Baptist Convention executive   
   committee members in Nashville, asking the group to adopt a   
   zero-tolerance policy on sex abuse and to create an independent review   
   board to investigate molestation reports.   
      
   Church leaders concede there have been some incidents of abuse in   
   Southern Baptist congregations, but say their hands are tied when it   
   comes to investigating complaints across the denomination.   
      
   40 cases of alleged abuse   
   Unlike the Catholic Church, with its rigid hierarchy, Baptist churches   
   are independent. They make their own decisions about hiring ministers   
   and conducting investigations, Baptist leaders say.   
      
   "They don't want to see this problem," said Christa Brown, a SNAP member   
   from Austin, Texas, who says she was sexually abused as a child by a   
   Southern Baptist minister. "That's tragic because they're imitating the   
   same mistakes made by Catholic bishops."   
      
   In the past six months SNAP has received reports of about 40 cases of   
   sexual abuse by Southern Baptist ministers -- with some of the incidents   
   dating back many years, Brown said.   
      
   SNAP leaders hold that abuse is typically underreported because being   
   molested is such a painful experience that victims often wait years   
   before stepping forward.   
      
   Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page said the denomination   
   plans to teach its churches how to conduct background checks, and to   
   require letters of recommendation for job candidates.   
      
   But he said the Southern Baptist Convention does not have the legal   
   authority to create an independent board to investigate abuse complaints.   
      
   "As much as possible within our structure, we're going to assist   
   churches," Page said. "We're deeply concerned about this. We believe   
   children are the most precious gifts from God."   
      
   Southern Baptists passed a resolution in 2002 urging its churches to   
   discipline ministers guilty of sexual abuse and to cooperate with   
   authorities in their prosecution.   
      
   Pregnant with her minister's baby   
   But Brown said that's not enough.   
      
   She says the Southern Baptists need an independent review board   
   precisely because there's no clear chain of command among Baptist   
   churches. The SBC also does not keep a list of ministers who have been   
   accused of abuse. Advocates say this means molesters could move from   
   church to church.   
      
   "I believe kids are not safe in Southern Baptist churches," said Brown,   
   who runs a Web site called the Voice to Stop Baptist Predators.   
      
   One SNAP member, Debbie Vasquez, said she was raped by a Southern   
   Baptist minister in Texas when she was 15 years old.   
      
   Now 48, Vasquez filed a lawsuit last year against the pastor, the Rev.   
   Dale "Dickie" Amyx and his current church, Bolivar Baptist in Sanger,   
   Texas, about 45 miles north of Dallas. She claims the church knew, or   
   should have known, about Amyx's past.   
      
   Vasquez says she was raped when Amyx was a minister at the now-defunct   
   Calvary Baptist Church in Lewisville, another town north of Dallas.   
      
   When she became pregnant with Amyx's child at age 18, church leaders   
   forced her to go before the congregation and ask forgiveness as an unwed   
   mother. But the congregation was never told it was Amyx's baby.   
      
   The lawsuit claims Calvary Baptist helped Amyx get another job at a   
   church in Arizona.   
      
   Amyx acknowledged in court documents that he had a sexual relationship   
   with Vasquez and was the father of her child. Texas court records also   
   show that Amyx was convicted in 1967 for giving beer to a minor.   
      
   When reached at home Wednesday, Amyx said he couldn't comment on the   
   case and referred all questions to his lawyer, James A. Harrison. The   
   attorney did not return multiple phone calls.   
      
   Vasquez said she filed the suit because she fears Amyx could be abusing   
   other girls and she wants to see him removed from his position.   
      
   "In any denomination where you have these men with this power that's not   
   questioned and you have these people who are vulnerable ... you're going   
   to have a problem," Vasquez said.   
      
   Cover-up accusations   
   Philip Jenkins, a professor of religious studies and history at   
   Pennsylvania State University and author of the book "Pedophiles and   
   Priests," said it's harder to track child sexual abuse in Protestant   
   denominations.   
      
   "Southern Baptists are massively decentralized compared to the Catholic   
   Church," he said. "They're independent. It's very difficult to gauge how   
   many abuses might be occurring within the Southern Baptist Convention."   
      
   Several child sex abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches have surfaced   
   recently.   
      
   Bellevue Baptist, a megachurch near Memphis, fired a longtime minister,   
   the Rev. Paul Williams, last month after he acknowledged sexually   
   abusing his son 17 years ago.   
      
   The church's internal investigation found that church leaders, including   
   current pastor, the Rev. Steve Gaines, knew about the abuse last year,   
   but did not act immediately.   
      
   The investigation began in December only after the prodding of Williams'   
   son, who asked Gaines why his father was allowed to continue as a   
   minister even after leaders had found out about the abuse.   
      
   "I accept full responsibility and could have handled this in a more   
   appropriate way," Gaines told the congregation last month.   
      
   In another case, Shawn Davies, a former music and youth minister at the   
   First Baptist Church of Greenwood, Missouri, pleaded guilty last month   
   to molesting boys ages 12 to 16.   
      
   Vasquez says she's seeking damages for medical costs and mental and   
   physical injury as well as punitive damages.   
      
   "They're allowing these men to go from church to church," she said.   
   "They're not protecting the victims. They're protecting themselves."   
      
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