Southern Baptists' reckoning with sexual abuse

Southern Baptist Convention faces reckoning over sex abuse report; war in Ukraine enters its third month.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

The Southern Baptist Convention ignored decades of sexual abuse

Rodger Mallison/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

• According to an independent investigation released Sunday, leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention ignored, denied, and were hostile to victims of sexual abuse for decades. [Washington Post / Sarah Pulliam Bailey]
• The nearly 300-page report, commissioned amid pressure from church members, details abuse of women and children by SBC pastors and staff since 2000. [New York Times / Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias]
• According to the report, executive leadership lied to survivors, telling them they lacked the authority to keep a registry of abusers. In reality, the leaders held a private list of more than 400 abusers with ties to SBC. [Atlantic / David French]
• At a meeting Tuesday, SBC leadership said it would release its database of abusers to the public with redactions to protect victims’ identities. [Houston Chronicle / Robert Downen and John Tedesco]
• The findings follow a 2019 investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News that found SBC leaders had abused at least 700 people over 20 years. [Houston Chronicle / Robert Downen, Lise Olsen, John Tedesco]
• SBC delegates will meet next month to discuss the report and its recommendations, including providing support and compensation for victims. [CNN / Joe Sutton, Keith Allen, and Emma Tucker]

War in Ukraine reaches its third month

• Russia escalated its offensive in the eastern Donbas region as the war in Ukraine entered its third month Tuesday. [The Hill / Brad Dress]
• Fierce Ukrainian resistance has dealt Russia heavy losses and forced the Kremlin to abandon its plan to topple and replace the Ukrainian government. The invasion has become a grinding war of attrition. [Associated Press]
• Monday, Boris Bondarev, a top Russian diplomat who represented Moscow at the UN, announced his resignation over the invasion. [UN Watch]
• Meanwhile, in solidarity against the West, China and Russia held joint military exercises near Japanese airspace Tuesday as President Joe Biden and regional leaders met in Tokyo. [NYT / Edward Wong]

An 18-year-old gunman shot and killed 13 children and a teacher at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott said. Police officers reportedly have killed the gunman. [NYT / Jesus Jiménez]

• “Active shooter” incidents increased more than 50 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to the FBI. [ABC News / Luke Barr]
  

  Thousands of hacked police photographs and documents obtained and verified by the BBC shed new light on the severity of China’s detention of Uyghurs. [BBC / John Sudworth]

• In 2021, the US birth rate rose 1 percent — the first increase in seven years. [Axios / Adriel Bettelheim]
• The Department of Justice issued a new rule requiring federal agents to intervene if they witness an excessive use of force. [NPR / Bill Chappell]

  Support our journalism

Reader contributions help keep newsletters like Sentences free for all. Support our work with a one-time gift today.

“This is a denomination that is through and through about power. It is misappropriated power. It does not in any way reflect the Jesus I see in the scriptures. I am so gutted.”

[Jennifer Lyell, an abuse survivor and former SBC executive / Washington Post] 

Why the internet hates Amber Heard

It’s not just Johnny Depp’s fans — it’s Amber Heard’s anti-fans, too. The Atlantic's Kaitlyn Tiffany explains the Depp-ressing social media hate campaign.

Read more from Vox

Meet the new subvariants, your summer bummers

Quantum computers could change the world — provided they can work

To kill or not to kill: Butterflying during the “insect apocalypse”

The complicated tension of telling the truth at Cannes

 How the internet gets people to plagiarize each other

This email was sent to you. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution.

View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service.

Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036.
Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved.