The Black Church must Empowers VOICES to Speak UP!

Why the Black Church should speak out against Sexual Predators and Assault.

Even though, to date, there has been a judicial ruling to suspend litigation proceedings regarding the Sexual Assault case against, famed Bill Cosby; there stands good reason for the faith community, especially the black church to continue to advocate, support and confront the issue.

With the staggering numbers of women and men, boys and girls being sexually assaulted, the black church community of which I am a part as a Pastor and Community Leader must continue to confront this matter regardless of what happens to Bill Cosby. We cannot afford to allow our voices to go silent, as it appears is the case with his legal matters. I am not interested in taking a side on the Bill Cosby case. His case is simply the backdrop, that gives us reason to speak to the larger more systemic issue of sexual assault in our communities.

For the Black Church, the Bill Cosby case offers a challenge and an opportunity. So many African Americans watched his shows faithfully, and even viewed his TV family as a model to uphold. He is intimately a part of black culture and his influence runs deep.

Now, 55 women have come forward accusing him of rape.

It would be easy to for pastors to ignore the story—too controversial, fear of rebuke, or loss of membership and giving. Whether or not you agree he is a rapist, whether you feel we should stand with Bill Cosby or be a part of the deconstruction of the icon, the case provides a great opportunity for churches to tackle the larger discussion around sexual violence and rape.

Like many, I have had to struggle to separate my thoughts about Cosby, the persona and Cosby, the real person. As survivor of sexual violence and pastor, though, I definitely know that silence is not a just response.

I'm not alone as being a victim of sexual violence. Nationally, one in three women and one in six men have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Translation: if a church has 50 women, 16 to 20 of them have experienced similar acts of sexual assault or rape as have been described by the 55 women who have come forward about Bill Cosby. If a church has 50 men, eight to 10 of them have been victims of sexual assault.

And don't miss out on doing the math on the perpetrators that are also in our congregations. If you have 100 people in your church, that means, you could possibly have in your congregation 10-20 persons who have committed a crime of sexual assault.

To be silent on Bill Cosby is to miss an opportunity to speak to the real people in our pews. As clergy, we claim that we want to be "relevant" and to speak to the present culture. But quoting rappers doesn't equate to relevance. Sexual violence is relevant.

I will never forget one of the responses to a guest sermon I preached on sexual violence. As I exited the sanctuary a man about 6'2", approached me and said, "Pastor Juju, thank you for what you said about men and women being victims. I was molested when I was a boy, but I never told anyone because I was afraid of what people might say."

The Cosby case also allows us to deconstruct stereotypes about both victims and sexual predators. Based on our stereotypes of predators, no one would have ever believed Bill Cosby could do these things. Not the Coogi sweater man!

But rapist, molesters, pedophiles don't all wear black mask and lurk in dark places. Many perpetrators of these crimes are someone known to the victim, from within their family and social circle.

Meanwhile, the tone of the Bill Cosby debate is that somehow the women could not be real victims, because many of them are to some degree successful white women. When the incidents allegedly happened, some were young aspiring actresses, used recreational drugs and were looking for an easy way up the entertainment ladder. The implication is that their tears aren't real and their stories are untrue.

The same holds true, sadly, for most of the 13 victims (that we know of) in the Daniel Holtzclaw case. A serial cop rapist, Holtzclaw bet the house that no one would believe the stories of his victims because they were black women with tainted records, drug offenses and questionable lifestyles.

The criticism these women and others faced—the sense that they will not be believed—is the leading cause for victims not reporting the crime.

A pastor cannot look out into the congregation and guess who is a survivor—or who's a perpetrator.  Perpetrators can be well dressed, educated, art collectors, well traveled, do a lot of social good and be connoisseur of the finer things of life. They can be the good ole church folks (male & female). Victims and perpetrators alike sit in the pews, serve on the board, sing in the choirs, shout in the aisle and tithe faithfully. 

We can't know who they are, but we can speak to their pain, create the space for healing and hope; and remind survivors God sees you, knows and cares! And by lifting the issue, we can make sure perpetrators know that the opportunity is made available to repent and seek help.

Otherwise, to be silent on Bill Cosby is to be complicit with a prevailing rape culture.

I especially urge my dear brother pastors to be intentional to raise your voices against sexual violence. There has always been a loud cadre of women, lifting up "women's issues." But it wasn't until a male comedian, Hannibal Buress, made his joke about Bill Cosby raping women, that the real fire storm happened: a journalist got on the case, dozens of woman started coming forward, court documents were unsealed and now an official charge has been brought.

Crimes of this nature thrive in secret and silence. To be silent about Bill Cosby makes it easier for the "Cosby" in our pews to sit comfortable and unaccountable.

Accountability is one of the failings in our system, when it comes to sexual violence. Victims often stay silent due to the failure of the justice system to be on their side. And when a case does make it to court, victims face being re-victimized due to line of questions, verbiage used and lack of belief in his or her story. When we see predators not be held accountable by their organizations, denominations, colleagues, and/or groups, this too is a miscarriage of justice.

We all agree that a thief should be held accountable for stealing; molesters, rapists and pedophiles have stolen lives, innocence, trust, security, hope and a person's self worth.

Our complicit silence also becomes a culprit. We can't be prophetic and silent.

To be silent on Bill Cosby but rage about Same Sex Marriage becoming legal is an imbalanced stand of righteousness. We do our congregations and community a disservice when our theology is imbalanced; meaning we pick and chooses what we will and won't take a loud vocal stand against or for based on comfort and conformity, not justice. For the overwhelming majority of victims, another leading reason people (male and female) rarely report these kinds of crimes, is often due to there being no voice for justice outside of and even within the justice system.

To be sure, rape is an uncomfortable topic to talk about. Pastors run the risk of upsetting those leaders in our congregations who are major contributors, facing their rebuke on a subject they are not ready to handle or simply leaving the church because the message is too controversial. These are real concerns for clergy.

But this case is bigger and broader then William 'Bill' Cosby, this is not just about a person, but a culture, systems of oppression and injustice; its about the need for restoration and healing. Today we have an opportunity to use our various platforms to speak out against sexual assault, because it is the relevant issue and the moment is today.

Originally Submitted by: Damali N. Smith, 3/7/2016