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Women of Faith Find Ford Assault Testimony Deeply Disturbing: 'I'm Surprised by How Hard It Is to Watch'

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Beth Moore is one of many women of faith who tweeted about Dr. Ford's Senate testimony

Many women of faith, including sexual assault survivors, found Thursday's Senate hearing testimony by Dr. Christine Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh deeply troubling. Their posts on social media spoke of inner turmoil no matter their political persuasion. 

Author and speaker Mary DeMuth has written about her sexual assault as a child and said Ford's recollection of laughter during her attempted rape brought her to tears.

"I am crying right now," she tweeted Thursday. "I remember that too – the bantering, the joking, the lackadaisical ways the boys demeaned me, treating their abuse as no big deal."

Southern Baptist leader and survivor Trillia Newbell tweeted, "I'm surprised by how hard it is to watch this hearing."

Former prosecutor and sexual abuse expert Boz Tchividjian said the testimony created a painful day for many survivors. "May these amazing souls be comforted and loved by those around them," he tweeted.

Likewise, Bible study speaker and assault survivor Beth Moore said, "A lot of people feeling stripped bare today. Your kindness and compassion even toward matters you don't fully understand could be a blanket to somebody. It's a cold world. Warm it up a little."

Christian publisher and abuse survivor Jennifer Lyell talked about three things people have done that helped her over the years: believing her story and telling her so, telling her they were sorry and not changing how they treated her.

With the rise of the #MeToo movement and the #ChurchToo movement, awareness of sexual abuse is growing in the pews and affecting how people of faith view abuse survivors, be they in their church or a Senate hearing room.

The Southern Baptist Executive Committee recently announced it will spend $250,000 for a sexual abuse advisory study.

And two-thirds of Protestant pastors surveyed in a LifeWay Research study said sexual and domestic violence affects their congregations. Eighty-five percent said they had heard of #MeToo and three-quarters said they knew someone who had been sexually harassed.

One in five also said they personally had experienced domestic or sexual violence.

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim