Posted on 05/22/2008 4:56:38 PM PDT by big'ol_freeper
In recent years, our society has begun to better understand the widespread problem of child sexual abuse. Conservative studies indicate that one out of three girls and one out of seven boys will be sexually abused before reaching 18 years of age, regardless of religious or socio-economic demographic.
Law enforcement sources estimate nearly 60 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse are living in America today.
Sexual abuse is not limited to any racial, ethnic, or socio-economic class. It is no respecter of any religious denomination or creed. Sexual abuse can happen anywhere.
Parents allow their children to participate in ministry programs for the positive experience of Christian growth, fellowship, and spiritual mentoring. Obviously, this positive experience is shattered if a child is sexually abused while participating. Sexual abuse should never happen in ministry, but the church and Christian ministries have experienced its devastating impact. Families and lives have been devastated, churches of all denominations have been sued, ministries destroyed.
Unfortunately, the problem is growing.
In the last three years, an average of 23 new articles each day have appeared in secular media sources revealing sexual abuse allegations arising in Protestant churches in the United States. Protestant denominations have been tempted to call sexual abuse a "Catholic problem"; this is simply not true. Within the past eight years, verdicts, judgments, or settlements exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars have been levied against Protestant churches for sexual abuse allegations arising from children participating in ministry programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
Abuse can happen anywhere. It’s up to people to use common sense. Problem is, common sense is not very common at all.
You said: ...it is the problem of a permissive society unwilling to use the proper tools to cure the perverts.
Amen.
I call B.S. on this statistic.
A broad definition of “sexually abused” is in use here, I expect. If it includes groping, and if one defines any contact by a person over 18 with a person under 18, well, yeah, those numbers seem okay.
During the recent visit to the USA by Pope Benedict XVI, he spoke about the priest-sexual abuse problem. After apologizing for it, he also mentioned that fact that the entire society is permiated with sexual context and references, so as to seduce many in society into illicit sexual conduct. Now, those were not his exact words, but it comes close. His meaning was clear. If we, as a society, continue to allow such excess in our news media, our entertainment, music, movies, etc., then we ought not be surprised when people act out their fantacies on children.
This article is instructive as it points out the fact that such misbehavior and outright abuse is not confined to the Catholic priesthood.
Read your newspaper, and on a daily basis there are reports of teenagers being abused by teachers in the public school system.
PC demands we not speak the truth about the problem of the prietly abuses, which is the growth of homosexuals in the priesthood, and the overwhelming number of the cases being abuse against boys between 12-18 years of age. That of course serves two purposes: First, it protects the homosexual connection from being studied further - and thus offers the gay lobby a reason to gripe when the RC Church instructs the seminaries to screen out homosexuals, and second, it prevents the Boy Scouts from using these terrible facts in defense of their reasonable rule on not allowing homosexuals to be troop leaders.
Ordinary good people must speak out on this and defend the Boy Scouts.
Where are the comparative statistics for the
SECULAR HUMANIST PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
The only thing that I was disappointed about the Pope’s visit and his remarks on the abuse scandal is that he did not tie it to its cause: homosexual priests.
Not that there was not abuse by priests prior to the invasion of the priesthood by homosexuals in the 60’s and 70’s - but the numbers weren’t there. Also, to be candid, normal priests tend to break their vows with adult women (and do it discretely). I don’t excuse them, its just that their orientation is normal and does not include little boys.
The lay people of the Church know that our problem has been homosexuals and that we won’t get rid of it until we get rid of homosexual priests - the Pope should acknowledge that.
Exactly. Abuse by clergy of all denominations, as well as teachers and school administrators, not to mention other segments of society...including within families.. is a byproduct of society’s loose moral fabric and “anything goes” entertainment industry. Until we say “enough” the problem will only get worse.
Thank you for the ping.
How would YOU categorize this thread?
Pro Roman Catholic?
Anti Roman Catholic?
Neutral Roman Catholic and Anti Pedophile?
Neutral Roman Catholic and Pro Pedophile?
Generic Christian?
???
I would not characterize this thread as having anything to do with the Catholic Church, pro or con. Nor does it have anything to do with pedophilia (a term which is incorrectly used when discussing these abuse cases). I would also not say it was pro protestant or anti protestant (until someone starts equating protestantism as inherently the cause of sexual predation...then it becomes anti protestant bigotry). So I would say it is anti sexual predator.
At it's zenith, approx. 4% of Catholic Priests were accused abusers. Using numbers offered up in an earlier thread, I arrived at a comparitive statistic of 1.3 to 1.56% of teachers. Similarly, I arrived at a comparative statistic of 1% or fewer Protestant pastors from other data.
What, you don't believe the John Jay Study, the one commissioned by the U.S. Catholic Bishops' National Review Board itself? The byline for the article, on the AmericanCatholic.org website, reads
Four percent of priests serving over last 50 years accused of abuse
I was disputing your incredibly low estimate of pastor abuse.
Watch the large bold lettering. It could be interpreted as demonstrating a bitter, bigoted and lusting hatred of the Catholic Church.
Then again one would only need to do a search to figure that out.
You are certainly welcome to follow the links I provided, and do your own statistical analysis on the data, if you think you can dispute it. Make sure you compare apples for apples.
It could also be interpreted as the work of an Obamite plant trying to foist his liberal arse on FR, but not by reliable or even moderately sane witnesses.
Why would I do what has already been done and well documented?
Clergy sexual abuse of minors among non-Catholic clergy is higher, albeit primarily heterosexual in nature, versus the primarily homosexual abuse of minors that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s within the Catholic clergy.
Clergy sexual misconduct of all types (to include misconduct with adults) is exponentially higher among non-Catholic clergy and is a current and ongoing problem.
Abuse cases involving Catholic clergy misconduct during the last two decades are almost non-existent while those involving non-Catholic clergy are numerous and epidemic today and rival those occurring in the educational establishment.
Yup you are right. You only ever see them attacking Catholicism...never on political threads advocating conservatism. Does make a conservative wonder.
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