Dartmouth Events

Marie Griffith, John C. Danforth Distinguished Professor in the Humanities
Washington University in St. Louis

Thursday, February 20, 2025
4:30 PM
41 Haldeman
Reception in the foyer to follow
Free and open to all

Lecture title: Holy Terrors: Silence, Vulnerability, and Sexual Abuse in American Religion

Abstract: Accounts of clergy sexual abuse and institutional coverups have made local and national news for decades, yet most still read as exceptions to a norm presuming clerical leadership to be benign, self-sacrificing, and protective of its flocks. While most stories have focused on Catholic priests, many have also emerged of abusive evangelical and other Protestant ministers as well as abusers of both children and adults in Mormon, Eastern Orthodox, and other Christian communities. The stories have often illuminated how church bureaucrats, sometimes aligned with law enforcement, have protected abusers and subverted the efforts of victims and families to seek accountability and justice. This talk analyzes the forms, habits, and practices of religion that enable, facilitate, and conceal clerical abuse by contextualizing it within the broad history of Christianity in the U.S. Is this a case of a few bad apples or institutional corruption? How has the church’s response been shaped by fear of scandal, hatred of secularism, or theological teachings on gender and homosexuality? How does sexual abuse relate to the church as a hierarchical institution? And what do we learn about religion by studying sexual abuse in American Christianity?

The James and David Orr Memorial Lectures on Culture and Religion bring to Dartmouth each year scholars and writers whose achievements are at the highest level, but whose main fields of interest are not necessarily religion. Past Orr Lecturers include historians, anthropologists, novelists, biologists, and philosophers.