A civilian employee at an Army base was not too pleased with what he heard at a program on rape and sex trafficking. Apparently the speaker said that the only real therapy for such horror is to get saved and accept Jesus as your savior.
On Wednesday, the Redstone Arsenal–best known as the birthplace of the modern space program–invited sex trafficking survivor Tajuan McCarty to speak at a program commemorating the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Awareness Response and Prevention (SHARP) Month. McCarty now runs The WellHouse, a Christian-oriented shelter for human trafficking victims located in Leeds, Alabama; a suburb of Birmingham.
The employee, who was one of 300 people on hand at the meeting, said that an email announcing McCarty’s visit billed her as “a special guest speaking about her experience as a sex trafficking victim.” However, he was floored when the chaplain opened the event with a Christian-oriented prayer. It went downhill from there when, according to the employee, McCarty declared:
“The only way to truly overcome the horrors of rape and sex trafficking is to have Jesus as your King.”
The employee, who remained anonymous out of fear of retaliation, told Military.com that he doesn’t question McCarty’s sincerity. However, he believes that whether it was unintentional or not, McCarty had no business telling people they needed to be saved, or that it was the only legitimate therapy for abuse victims. He himself is a former Christian who respects Christians’ right to practice their faith, but doesn’t want them pushing it on him.
Not long after the meeting, this employee and 26 others who attended the meeting alerted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an organization that fights against religious intimidation in the military. MRFF president Mikey Weinstein says that the great majority of the complaints come from Christians who objected to McCarty using her speech to push her faith.
A statement from Redstone’s command claimed that McCarty was merely offering her “personal perspective,” and her views “do not represent the views of Redstone Arsenal.” Hogwash, Weinstein says. He noted that the event was part of a mandatory SHARP presentation, and the command offered no explanation for the chaplain opening with an unmistakably Christian prayer. He wants the Army to apologize to those who have come forward. He also wants those responsible to be held to account, saying that “without (disciplinary action) you don’t get any change.”
It’s regrettable that McCarty felt the need to turn her talk into an evangelistic push, because human trafficking is a very real problem. The WellHouse is located just off Interstate 20, which is a particularly notorious sex trafficking haven. Watch this WellHouse promo on the trafficking problem along I-20.
What kind of legitimate therapy starts out from the outset by pushing people to get saved? None that I know of. Has it occurred to McCarty that maybe, just maybe, just being there for these victims would do more for them than telling them they need to be saved? Apparently not, if her speech was any indication. Maybe it’s just me, but comforting these victims and being a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on would be a thousand times more Christlike than telling them they need Jesus.
