Quote: (07-16-2018 11:39 AM)debeguiled Wrote:
IIRC, molestation in the Catholic church was at about the same rate as molestation in the general population, and far far lower than rates of molestation in public schools, and was being used as a way of breaking up influence of the church on the general population.
I grew up in the church, in the SF Bay Area no less, and met a lot of priests, many of whom were obedient Irish boys who ended up alcoholic priests, and many of them traditionally masculine dudes, with only a couple of obvious limp wristers. If a supposed lavender mafia existed anywhere, it would be there, and while it is undoubtedly true that some seminaries and some monasteries were under gay influence, it is pretty inaccurate to say that the whole church was gaying it up all the time.
DOBA,
I think you are exaggerating, and a much better approach would be to take the church to task either for the fact that their track record wasn't better than the general population or go after them for the years long cover up of the abuse.
I think it was the cover up for the sake of the reputation of the church that was the real sin in all this business.
Pedos are crafty, and can sneak into organizations, and you cannot change them, only catch them. Churches will have no immunity to this.
However when outwardly good men start hiding the sins of their organizations to protect their own status, you really do have a rot that will spread out and affect everything.
Especially Christianity, and especially Catholicism with its sacrament of confession. These people were violating one of their own sacred tenets, and that is as bad as it gets.
There is no need to craft a narrative of an entirely gay controlled church losing members because of its gayness.
The truth is bad enough.
"IIRC, molestation in the Catholic church was at about the same rate as molestation in the general population, and far far lower than rates of molestation in public schools, and was being used as a way of breaking up influence of the church on the general population."
I've read otherwise and recall this being propaganda to save the church.
According to a 2010 Guardian article, 4 percent of priests and deacons had been accused of sexually abusing someone under 18 as opposed to 0.4 percent in the general population. That's ten times the rate.
The article notes that the church's molestation rate might be the same as other professions per se (as opposed to the populace), so I'll give you that. But then, we already knew "educators" were sleazy.
Another point the article makes is that what made the Catholic church scandal unique is that it was boys being molested as opposed to girls, who are more likely the victim of sexual abuse.
This, IMO, is why it got so much publicity. Most grown men are accused of molesting girls, so it was a man-bites-dog story for the media when priests sexually abused boys.
***
I do not respect ANY authority other than the one that comes with the badge or the one that comes with the gavel.
Everything else, IMO, is made up. That goes especially for those who don robes, collars, or yarmulkes and expect us to bow and scrape because they of their little costume.
These costumes are an easy way for authoritative individuals to get power over others by claiming they know some kind of "truth" (there is no "truth") or are in touch with God more than you or me (which is crap).
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." - H. L. Mencken