Posted February 27, 2008 Book: Spoils of the Kingdom: Clergy Misconduct and Religious Community Author: Anson Shupe University of Illinois Press. Champaign, IL. 2007. Pp. 184 An Excerpt from the Flyer: In Spoils of the Kingdom, Anson Shupe investigates clergy misconduct as it has recently unfolded across five faith-based groups. Looking at episodes of abuse in the Roman Catholic, Mormon, African American Protestant, white Evangelical Protestant, and First Nations communities, Spoils of the Kingdom tackles hard questions about the sexual abuse of women and children, but also about economic frauds perpetrated by church leaders (including embezzlement, misrepresented missions, and outright theft) as well as cases of excessively authoritarian control of members’ health, lifestyles, employment, and politics. Drawing on case evidence, Shupe employs classical and modern social exchange theories to explain the institutional dynamics of clergy misconduct. He argues that there is an implicit contract of reciprocity and compliance between congregations and religious leaders, which, when amplified by the charismatic awe often associated with religious authorities, can lead to misconduct. An Excerpt from the Book: The Delicate Balance of Reactance Power, authority, and public reputation, balanced by obedience, faith, and trust, are the sociological archetypes of clergy malfeasance. They form the organizational and emotional elements of the opportunity structures provided by religions. They also run like a red letter through all the forms of religious leaders’ misconduct cited in this volume. For example, the Roman Catholic pedophilia scandals did not originate in Boston in 2002 but were the outcome of a North American legacy that began at least as far back as the 1950s in various North American states. Nor did they end with the publicized resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in 2003. With the arrival of Boston’s new archbishop, the Reverend Sean Patrick O’Malley, that same year the church was making limited progress in offering $55 million to settle more than 540 lawsuits (Emery 2003). But it was struggling to preserve at least the veneer of internal and external authenticity over the sex scandals. Many past victims vociferously denounced the deal as a bad “quick-fix” model for settling future “batch” claims by numerous victims. Said the president of Survivors First, an advocacy group, “As we all struggle to figure out what moral leadership here is, we realize that $60,000 per victim as an average legal fees is probably woefully inadequate just to pay for their direct out-of-pocket costs in their lifetime for dealing with the tragedy.” and a victim of the Reverend John Geoghan added, “It makes my life very cheap. It makes me feel very worthless: (Payne 2003). During that same summer the Indianapolis Star reported a third sex scandal involving priests in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2003 (Shaughnessy 2003), and several days later a judge in Louisville, Kentucky, approved a $25.7 million settlement by the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky with 234 people sexually molested by priests and church employees (Associated Press 2003e). Meanwhile actions by leaders that struck some people in their denominations as authoritatively abusive continued. In the July 2003 issue By Common Sense, the newsletter published by dissident and excommunicated LDS members belonging to the Mormom Alliance, Paul J. Toscano took Elder Russell M. Nelson of the LDS Council of the Twelve Apostles to task for a previous article Nelson had written claiming God’s love was not unconditional. Toscan (himelf a former LDS member) admonished Nelson in an “open letter” for selectively using the Bible and attempting to mask personal opinion as revealed inspiration: The subject you address, divine love, is of vital importance to Latter-day Saints, to Christendom, and to many yet unconverted, seeking souls. For this reason, I am writing this open letter to suggest to all who may read our article that on this point, you are likely quite wrong, despite your apostolic calling and the status of your article as an official pronouncement of the Church; for your conclusion, though supported by some scriptural passes, runs clean contrary to many others and to the great belief and experiences of the disciples of Jesus in and out of the Church (Toscano 2003). And as far away as South Africa, Episcopalian bishops were angered and dismayed as a council of North American Episcopalians confirmed their church’s first openly gay bishop, an issue contentious still in the Anglican church’s home, Great Britain (Stammer and Moore 2003). Religious turmoil, not the complacency of satisfied social exchanges, set the tone for the new millennium. Table of Contents: 1. Communities of Faith and Clergy Malfeasance 2. The Logic of Social Exchange Theory and Clergy Malfeasance 3. The Iron Law of Clergy Elitism 4. Authenticity Lost: Faith and Victimization 5. Reactance, Crime, and Sin