I have complete sympathy with kari; I do not mean to detract one iota from the unspeakably cruel way she, and other victims, have been treated by NTM. As a corporation, NTM is guilty. And legally liable. One point I hoped to address in my first post in this thread was to question whether the current NTM leadership is trying to spread the blame, deflect the blame, while seeming to accept it. "We as an organization have sinned" is perilously close to saying "no one has sinned." At the very least, it blurs the issue. I regret saying that "I do not believe the organization acted corruptly." I meant that not every single member of NTM was guilty of these crimes, which is the point I understood Waukesha Grad to be making. As an organization, of course, I totally agree that the actions of NTM were corrupt. Even if, and this has not been demonstrated, no other members of the Executive Committee knew about these things, the corporation is responsible for them. I am very sorry that I was not more specific in my post. I would like to expand on my statement about whether or not an organization can sin: Organizations, as organizations, can lie. Lying is a sin. But, corporations, even when they lie, cannot sin, not in a biblical sense of the term; Jesus did not die for NTM any more than He died for IBM. In a biblical use of the term "Christian," there is no such thing as a "Christian organization." I know, I know. What we mean by that phrase is an organization formed to carry out particularly Christian endeavors. It is a useful shorthand, and I use it, too. But, if we aren't careful, it can lead us far astray: NTM's house counsel once told me that NTM was my brother in Christ.
While I do not believe that an organization can sin, it does not follow that I do not believe an organization can act contrary to the law or moral standards. Indeed, they can, and NTM has. Legally, there are differences between a corporation/ organization and individuals. Organizations can commit crimes, just as individuals can. Organizations, can be convicted of crimes, just as individuals can. Organizations can be fined for those crimes, just as individuals can. Unlike individuals, regrettably, organizations cannot go to jail. So, the parallels between humans and the organizations they create are many, but do not extend to every detail. I maintain that the ability to sin against God is one of details that are different. I don't mean to rule out a metaphorical use of the word "sin." It is, or should be, a strong word with overwhelmingly negative connotations. But, when used as a figure of speech in the same context as heinous crimes like those detailed on this blog/ forum, it can be confusing and has just a little too much of the smell of passing the buck about it. Blame should be placed on the guilty, and nothing should be said to mitigate that, to shift the blame to everybody or to nobody. None of this lessens the responsibility of NTM, as a corporation, to acknowledge the inexcusable way that victims of abuse have been treated. I stated above (below?) that being in an organization is a tacit agreement with their policies. I need to add that it also a tacit approval of the actions undertaken by that corporation, and from that standpoint I can understand kari's remarks that "NTM operates as a unit, and speaks as a unit, and their actions as a unit were sinful." All the victims were wronged by NTM as a corporation, as an organization. I don't think that would make missionaries who knew nothing about these events guilty. But, now that they know, they should either support how NTM is now handling these past incidents, work within the organization to see changes, or leave it altogether. There isn't much room on the fence. Like kari, I object to shifting the blame or minimizing the culpability. Nothing I have posted should be construed that way. I can't speak for Waukesha Grad; I have enough trouble speaking for myself. If s/he is implying that the things that happened were committed by individuals in the past and the corporation now has no responsibility or guilt, I would certainly disagree. The main point of my most recent post was that Waukesha Grad, in her/ his efforts to defend the current NTM leadership, has taken a position that contradicts their publicly stated position. Maybe it doesn't. . .
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