On Advice of Counsel

It is more apparent every day that our religious institutions and spiritual leaders have been taken over by politicians and attorneys.

The most recent abnegation of moral/ethical responsibility was the revelation that the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. had covered up allegations of sexual abuse made against 700 pastors. Randall Palmer in an editorial in the LA Times wrote …. “rather than discipline ministers or prevent them from attacking others, the leadership, on the advice of attorneys kept quiet, going so far as to vilify those who filed complaints.
David Brooks, in the NY Times on the same subject was even more explicit about how religious leaders, alleged moral exemplars, have become “dutiful functionaries who focus on minimizing legal liabilities but not honoring human beings… you bureaucratize, create a system of non responsibility in which rules and procedures matter more than people.” You permit those in charge to blame others for that which they are guilty and to hide behind, advice of counsel, justifying their silence by claiming they are protecting the institutions they serve.

Evil flourishes where good people do nothing. This systemic enabling of evil is not confines to religious institutions. It permeates academia, law enforcement, medical facilities, charitable organizations and businesses. Fear of legal liability has supplanted morality and decency. The lawyers have rigged the system to force opposing parties to settle to avoid exorbitant legal fees, even when the lawsuits or threats are frivolous.

Social conditioning trains us to go along to get along and potential whistleblowers fear isolation and condemnation. Our leaders preach optics Uber Allie’s.
It is corrosive to the soul to have to choose between morality and legality, between cover your ass or speak your truth.

I have both witnessed and experienced spiritual leaders pressured to adhere to advice of counsel to resolve disputes in a win/lose way, injuring relationships of long standing instead of turning to healing solutions and reconciliations taught by their religions. It wasn’t the devil that made them do it, it was advice of counsel, the pressure to protect the assets of their institutions.