In view of how some so quickly cite the 8th Commandment as an intimidating scold, perhaps this quotation from C.F.M. Zorn's devotional Crumbs: Short Devotions for Every Day of the Year (CPH: 1914, reprint) might give pause for thought: "The most obvious tale-bearers are those who spread vile lies about their neighbor. But those, too, are tale-bearers who withhold from the neighbor the truth which would benefit him."
Luther's Epistle Sermons for the Ninth Sunday After Trinity. The text is 1 Corinthians 10:6-13. Here's a quote some might inwardly digest: "Where the Word of God is lacking or disregarded, human wisdom makes for itself a worship. It will find its pleasure in the thing of its own construction and regard it as something to be prized, though it may be imperatively forbidden in God's Word, perhaps even an abomination before him. Human reason thinks it may handle divine matters according to its own judgment: that God must be pleased with what suits its pleasure. Accordingly, to sanction idolatry, it appropriates the name of the Word of God. The Word must be forced into harmony with the false worship to give the latter an admirable appearance, notwithstanding the worship is essentially the reverse of what it is made to appear." (Sermons of Martin Luther, vol.8. pp.186-187, Lenker, ed.)
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Not telling the truth to avoid scandal led to a century of molestation at a German school south of Frankfurt (the title says decades, but the account says 100 years):
The Roots of Abuse
Decades of Molestation Haunt Odenwaldschule
By Matthias Bartsch and Markus Verbeet, 22 July 2010
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,707658,00.html
For many, the Odenwaldschule was an educational Eden. For others it was more like a living hell. Historical documents suggest that teachers began sexually assaulting pupils at the school, once attended by writer Klaus Mann and other luminaries, shortly after it was founded 100 years ago....
excerpt: As undeniable as the evidence seemed, the parents shied away from open confrontation. Although some enclosed the love letters their daughters had received from teachers while on vacation, the parents showed remarkable restraint. One mother even went so far as to assure the school that she had no intention of "causing a scandal" that might cast the Odenwaldschule in an "unfavorable light".
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GJ - Don't read the linked story - it sounds too much like Missouri, WELS, and the ELS.
Abusive pastors need not worry. They can do whatever they want and have the synod officials cover up for them:
1. Never happened.
2. I don't remember.
3. Who told you?
4. Eighth Commandment.
5. Matthew 18.
6. Before my time.
7. You are being divisive.
Have a fling - get moved upstairs. Have numerous flings with married women and teenaged girls - change synods and become a Church Growth guru.
Let your assistant have an affair with a minor girl. The insurance will cover the cost, but the synod will lie in court to prevent even the tiniest bit of justice. Be do not worry - felonies are rarely pursued against church officials who cover up.
- misprision of a felony
- Taking affirmative steps to hide the fact of another's felony. Merely remaining silent when one knows of a felony is not a misprision, but hiding evidence or intentionally misleading law enforcement could be.
This is all crashing down on the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans. DP Robert Mueller was miffed that he had to go to all the extra trouble, for the insurance companies, to show that he newest guys were not sex offenders. He must have thought, "How am I going to keep my pals on the praesidium?"
Mueller explained that he never told a congregation they were getting a known adulterer, because "they won't call him if they know."
