American redemption, post Epstein

Both the sex-abuse scandal and the slow response to it have driven up public distrust. Yet even as institutions associated with the late financier make reforms, it is individuals who can help spark a moral rebirth.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (right) testifies on Capitol Hill Feb. 11, in front of survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Tom Brenner/AP/File

Since the 2019 arrest of Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking charges and related crimes, Americans have witnessed a steady disclosure of the names of public figures and institutions tainted by past association with the late financier. They have noted little if any justice for survivors of his alleged abuses, along with other troubling aspects of the responses to a scandal at the upper reaches of U.S. society.

One probable result: a heightened crisis of trust, especially among those less fortunate toward what is seen as a self‑protective network of elite and wealthy people.

A survey conducted last year found the United States now has the world’s largest gap in trust of government, business, and media between low-income and high-income earners. The gap is 29 points compared with a global average of 15. The American underclass now perceives a rigged system more than it did in the past.

This “mass class” trust divide, as the Edelman survey called it, has helped drive systemic changes in institutions following the Epstein-related revelations. Congress has approved new antitrafficking tools and pushed for transparency in releasing the Epstein files. Prestigious universities caught up in the scandal have made internal reforms. The corporate world has purged leaders associated with Mr. Epstein and set up rules for workers about associating with “toxic” figures.

Yet change might be more than institutional. In past centuries, Americans have joined together in bursts of moral reckoning and ethical awakening around particuliar issues, such as slavery, monopolies, civil rights, the environment, and sexual harassment. And religious people in the U.S. have long held a desire to create a perfect society based on a model of perfection in their understanding of spiritual reality. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to a moral “arc” that would lead to a “beloved community” in America. The early Puritans sought to create a “holy New England.”

Rebuilding trust, along with healing and justice for those sexually abused by Mr. Epstein and his associates, might now depend even more on individual acts of moral renewal and spiritual rebirth. The Edelman survey, for example, found that workplaces are “the safest space for discussion of difficult topics because there are rules for behavior.” It also found that such “brokering” of trust can lift the level of trust among low-income people.

A good example of spiritual reclamation is the purchase of Mr. Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, a suspected scene of abuse. The new owner, Texas businessman Don Huffines, has renamed the property San Rafael Ranch, after the saint associated with healing. He plans to turn it into a Christian retreat.

“What the enemy once meant for evil,” he wrote on social media, “God can redeem for good.”