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Problem of Rampant Sexual Abuse Among Protestant Clergy
Reformation.com ^

Posted on 06/15/2002 1:12:25 PM PDT by big'ol_freeper

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To: Enlightiator
and...."It's a false impression to think only Roman Catholic priests are involved with sexual abuse, says Dr. Gary Schoener, a Minnesota clinical psychologist and national expert on sex abuse by clergy members. In fact, he estimates two-thirds of the 2,000 cases he worked on during the past three decades involved Protestant ministers." from a different source.

Clergy Scandal is Widespread

61 posted on 06/15/2002 5:28:19 PM PDT by big'ol_freeper
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To: big'ol_freeper
You still havent answered my questions:

If a Protestant minister is found to be a pervert, he is arrested and fired, yet I have never heard of a Priest being arrested, only hidden by the church. The recent scandal in Boston possibly involved over 500 separate acusations? And that cardinal, (was it Law?) was castigated in the media for hiding these priests for over 35 years now, and one of the offending priests is in his late 60's. Bridgeport Connecticut had 50 cases from the past revealed this year alone.

That means this has been going on for almost 3 generations!! Each time, the RCC has taken these men from the community where they ruined little boys, and then let them in another parish to ruin more little boys, and when the laity tried to stop it they were told to shut up and be good Catholics!!

There is not one case of any national Protestant denomination that has the scandal of sex abuse like the RCC and you know it! There is no hierarchy in the Protestant Churches that could allow the national transplant the the RCC can do and has done!

And there is NO Protestant denomination that failed to fix this when things came to light! Mainstream Protestantism (Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheren, Presbtyrian) all have national councils which is against the Biblical model, the Biblical model calls for local rule. The RCC is the denomination that is most against this local rule, with a WORLD headquarters in Rome that has 'authority' to tell other churches and adherants what to do. And, with this power, why has it taken this long to have these meetings to condemn pedophiles and to announce what isto be done to those who molest children? Can you seriously believe that it is ok to keep these people as Priests working behind the scenes after they are caught? That is Biblical?? That makes you feel safe??

I will not deny that abuse happens wherever men are, but there is NO religion that has the amount of abuse the RCC shows, especially toward young boys by the Priests. And in order for you to create the numbers that show abuse in Protestant Churches as equal or greater than RCC abuse cases, you have to combine ALL Protestant abuses to equal the RCC abuse, that alone ought to tell you something is wrong in the RCC and has been wrong for decades! Something like this does not happen overnight! And you leadership allowed it to get this bad! It is only media outrage that is making them address this!

The plain and simple facts that the RCC cannot act in a timely manner to address this, and clearly and openly call for ZERO tolerance to sexual abuse by the priesthood, calling for their arrest and prosecution just for the sake of reputation alone is apalling!! Their stonewalling is a coverup, clear and plain, and is shameful!!

And I dont care who abuses who, if it is a priest/Minister/Imam, he should go to jail no questions asked! I have yet to see a pattern of ANY Protestant Minister that was shuffled around and hid by the Bishops for 40 years! 99% of the Protestant cases were local, with 1% on a wide scale, while the Catholic Scandals have involved multiple communities controlled by the same Bishops who kept shuffling these perverts around!!

I'll say it again, I don't care what you call your sect/religion/denomination, if you tell people that Jesus created your belief system, and your belief system allows pedophiles to serve after being found out as pedophiles, you are NOT in anything remotely Christian, you are in a cult!

62 posted on 06/15/2002 5:30:12 PM PDT by RaceBannon
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To: big'ol_freeper
They just can't stand it that 'their' church could possibly have
the same problems with sex abuse as RCs do. They've been so
busy scolding RCs, and bashing the leaders of the RC church;
and saying that we have our 'heads in the sand', that they expose
themselves as hypocrites.
63 posted on 06/15/2002 5:32:28 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: big'ol_freeper
He finds that sex with adult women or teen-age girls is the most frequent Protestant problem.

That means Protestant Ministers at least think of women instead of little boys. IS this the great amount of evidence you claim shows that Protestants are just as guilty as the RCC??

It is the rarity of hearing the Priests with women that makes it so public! Men wanting to be with women is common, right? Isn't it men with little boys that is the Problem that is out in the open now with the RCC??

SHOW ME WHERE THE PROTESTANT SCANDALS ARE ALL ABOUT LITTLE BOYS WITH MINISTERS and I'll concede your point!

64 posted on 06/15/2002 5:34:35 PM PDT by RaceBannon
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To: dsutah
They just can't stand it that 'their' church could possibly have the same problems with sex abuse as RCs do. They've been so busy scolding RCs, and bashing the leaders of the RC church; and saying that we have our 'heads in the sand', that they expose themselves as hypocrites.

We arrest our abusers, and fire our adulterers, we dont transfer them to other churches within the denomination like the RCC does, is that what you are ashamed to admit? Don't you see YOUR hipocricy in this?? You SHOUT that the Protestants are guilty, too!! but you refuse to condemn those in the RCC that are WORSE!

Adultery in the Protestant Churches is as bad as MOLESTING LITTLE BOYS?? And covering up for these molesters is as bad?? And refusing to let the laity see justice in prosecuting these molesters is just as bad??

Having 3 generations of hiding child molesters in Boston and elsewhere is just as bad as a man sleeping with some woman not his wife?

Or the minister that is busted for sleeping with a teenage girl, who loses his church, goes to jail for rape, get's sued for his assault on that girl, loses his wife and kids because of his sin, has his former church make public statements that he is being rightly punished for what he did, that is worse than the RCC HIDING A CHILD MOLESTER?? SHOW ME WHERE THE RCC EVER PROSECUTED A CHILD MOLESTER in the last 3 months!!

You have a warped sense of moral equivilency!

65 posted on 06/15/2002 5:42:26 PM PDT by RaceBannon
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To: DennisR
The problem is not the teaching of the Catholic Church but the infidelity of many priests--and not just pedophiles and not just about sex--to those teachings. We have read what Paul said in Romans about this matter.
66 posted on 06/15/2002 5:43:12 PM PDT by RobbyS
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To: RaceBannon
Well, I can tell you about a preacher in my home town back in the thirties who was caught doing all kinds of filthy deeds with his daughter but was allowed to slither away, because he had made a lot of good friends among his deacons. They even gave the guy a severance package, because, like Bill Clinton, he had charm galore and his chief accusor was thought to be a busybody. Afterwards, his wife left him, but never got a divorce(that I know about) and he was "called" to a new Church elsewhere. As for the cops, they wanted no part of this mess.
67 posted on 06/15/2002 5:51:04 PM PDT by RobbyS
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To: RobbyS
I can also tell you of a women in my church now that was grabbed by the priest when she worked in the rectory before she became a Christian, either way, that church that hid this man's sin should be burned to the ground! And any group of people that tries to defend this man or hide this man's sin should be avoided at any cost! You can be sure that whatever denomination he belonged to would not approve, yet I have never heard of a single instance of a Priest being arrested, yet in almost all the cases of abuse committed by Protestants, an arrest is made! Your story is not the norm for a Protestant, for the offender to get away with it, while it is almost expected for the RCC.
68 posted on 06/15/2002 5:58:09 PM PDT by RaceBannon
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To: Meletus
Such a listing is utterly irrelevant and malicious: "Blame the church"--even if the minister is no longer in the ministry...

Exactly my point. I am in no way minimizing the harm and trauma of sexual abuse. But there is another agenda lurking underneath the surface and it has nothing to do with the children.

69 posted on 06/15/2002 6:01:40 PM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: Enlightiator
Well not so fast, now! It's true that the RC church may have the biggest
problem with homosexual abuse, but in the Protestant churches have
more problems with 'married' clergy' and girls/young women. But no
matter, its all wrong whether it is with women or men! It's a sin and a
crime especially if it is done by force.

And another thing, this brings up the subject not many mention, and
that is the laypeople. The media and others, make out like it is priest
and bishop vs. laypeople. Lay people are just as likely to commit these
crimes and sins. They are also just as likely to cover up for, and 'circle
the wagons' around the perpetrator. In some, a charismatic pastor gets
a free pass by the congregation; and victim gets blamed.

I really wish some of you that are bashing RCs would do more looking
around yourselves a little bit. Do you ever wonder if it could be happening
where 'you' go to church? In any case, you need to find out first, before
you continue to bash the RCs. We are all Christians, and we need to stop
finger-pointing, and stick together!

70 posted on 06/15/2002 6:01:50 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: big'ol_freeper
Interesting. What denotes a "bible" church (which accounts for half the cases)? From the list it appears to be mainly borderline cultish groups (polygamous mormon offshoots, Jim Jones style groups, etc.). I'm not surprised they have a high number of sex abuse cases (the more absolute one's power over the innocent...), but I question how much they reflect on mainline Protestant churches.
71 posted on 06/15/2002 6:09:47 PM PDT by pragmatic
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To: RaceBannon
Excuse me, dear hypocritical one! It's just as wrong if
it is done with young girls and women, isn't it? No wonder
no one is hearing about 'other churches', having any problems,
because all the media talks about is the RC church scandal!
Why don't you wake up?
72 posted on 06/15/2002 6:13:08 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: Enlightiator
The source for the 70 cases per week is the Christian Science Monitor as stated in post #27.
73 posted on 06/15/2002 6:17:07 PM PDT by big'ol_freeper
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To: RaceBannon
Did you read that above? It says the Protestant ministers are abusing
teenage girls and women, and sometimes boys! Sin is sin, and scandal
is scandal! You have no right to be judging anyone anyway! Who do
you think YOU are! You can't stand to admit it, can you? It's not mere
adultery! It's no use trying to point anything out to you. Your mind
is so narrow, its almost closed!
74 posted on 06/15/2002 6:20:28 PM PDT by dsutah
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To: Conservative til I die
So, what is the point? Everybody does it so it is alright? I don't believe anyone has accused the Catholic's of being the only denomination with sin among the Clergy. THe anger is over how people in high places who could have purged the church of the abusers, chose instead to shift the perp to other places where the innocent and unsuspecting were easy new victims.

The bull session in Dallas, has failed to properly address the problem. One strike should be retroactive all the way beck to the beginning of the Church. Any still alive regardless of rank or status, should be removed from the Priesthood. They should be forgiven if they have truly repented and changed their ways and remain in the church as lay members, but to remain in the heiarchy and leadership in any form is an insult to their victims and the members in general.

I lost my posting priviliges for three days a while back for being accused of bashing Religion. I hope that it is obvious to every fair minded person that I am not bashing Religion-I am bashing those who are trashing religion.

Few expect Cleric's of any religion to be perfect, they too after all are human-we just expect them to set the example. If they are too weak to set a proper example, we just expect them to admit it and demote themselves to the ranks of us who are unworthy to lead, but can recognize a true leader whom we seek to be as much like as we can.

75 posted on 06/15/2002 6:21:16 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: RaceBannon
Most scandals are handled covertly, because they cause embarassment to the institution. If a clergyman has no superiors to which to complain, then they must go to a board/congregation, which as often as not will be divided. Not even small Baptist churches like the wash their linen in public and you can be sure that their will be no paper trail to follow if there is no bureaucracy to write the documents. More often than not the perp will be allowed to sneak away.
76 posted on 06/15/2002 6:25:05 PM PDT by RobbyS
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To: patrioticduty
I am sorry, but the Roman Catholic Church is a papal insurrection, blasphemous and heretical against the Body of Christ. It is an enemy to the Body of Christ. We, the followers of Christ and His Father (not the Goddess and the Pantheon of Pagans),associate with the Papist Vatican at our own risk, that of blasphemous Sin.

Since your reply #21 to me was deleted, I have taken the liberty of reproducing it here. Obviously, someone thought it was inflammatory while I was away at church. I do agree with you on one thing, however, that is, You are sorry!!

77 posted on 06/15/2002 6:28:10 PM PDT by johniegrad
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To: dsutah
It is easy to want to bash the bigots who are taking advantange of the painful crisis the Church is going through to advance their sectarian agenda against Mother Church. They combine the evil truths that have come out about what happenned in the church with various legends and misunderstandings by themselves and the media. Nonsense linking these offenses to Church teachings, nonsense like the idea that this is a problem of pedophilia, rather than of pederasty, nonsense linking these crimes to celibacy (when the problem is LACK of celibacy).

We have to face the fact that there are many so called Christians who enjoy seeing other Christians suffer for their faith, as we are sufferring for ours now. It is fairly obvious that the media is turning the same eye on Protestant sins that they have been placing on Catholic sins, all in furtherance of the anti-Christian mission of the media. They have even starting to expose the pedophilia of the school systems, as CNN did this morning. I trust that we will not react to these future attacks on the Protestants with the gloating we are seeing from SOME Protestants here. Just as I did not use the discovery of scandals among Fundamentalists and Evangelicals a few years ago to further a Catholic agenda against them, but recognized the media attacks as part of the Cultural Wars, of the sinful against those who strive to oppose sin.

78 posted on 06/15/2002 6:29:31 PM PDT by Lucius Cornelius Sulla
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To: F.J. Mitchell
The real shortcoming of the new policy is that it has no teeth. MAYBE Keating will have the nerve to call a spade a spade and shame those bishops who have failed to complay with earlier policies and who probably will try to avoid implementing the new one. The problem of the bishops is not a lack of policy but a lack of will or, in the case of some, a lack of faith. Sin ub a priest/bishop I can accept; infidelity and disobedience I cannot.
79 posted on 06/15/2002 6:31:24 PM PDT by RobbyS
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To: Blue Screen of Death
You are so right, they have richly inherited jail time. But we were warned in Proverbs 7 that this would be the latter day church.
80 posted on 06/15/2002 6:35:57 PM PDT by MissAmericanPie
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