The Child Molester Scandal That Isn't: What the MSM Doesn't Report

  • Thread starter Thread starter MJE
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
bigjournalism.com/jhudnall/2010/02/13/the-child-molester-scandal-that-wasnt/#more-23122

Here is a quote from the article:

The Child Molester Scandal That Isn’t: What the MSM Doesn’t Report
by James Hudnall

According to a study she, Dr Carol Shakeshaft, did of abuse complaints against Catholic priests over a five decade period she concluded that “…the physical sexual abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests.”
Probably. Until recently, school systems seldom reported abuses to the police. As often as not, this was because the parents wanted to sweep the matter under the rug. The offender would not be terminated but allowed to resign or finish the school year. He would then hunt up another job in one of the more than 10,000 school districts in the country. Since schools always need teachers in August, the offender is almost always able to land a new job, as there is not central clearing agency. Even if he he/she has no references, the receiving district will accept a presentable applicant. The losing district if contacted with be uncommital as they don’t want trouble. The “army” of school teachers in the USA is about 3 million and unlike the real army has no central organization. Nothing like the Boy Scouts, for instance.
 
The Catholic Chruch has become a scaepgoat for this type of sin. It is not that the wrath of the community is undeserved, but to the extent that the wrath is projected onto the Church alone, the sins of the greater community remain hidden and unnoticed.However painful that this purging as if by fire of Catholics is in the short term, in the long term it is a good thing. Being cleansed of this sin puts us in a position of leadership as we tackle this sin in the society at large.

That is, if we don’t perish in the desert in the meantime, as is typical of goats sent out.
 
Notice the biased tone of this article. Her outrage should be legitimately at teachers who violate their position of trust through sexual molestation, not the unions and professional associations who fight to protect them during the judicial process. Sadly, for someone accused of sexual misconduct, their name is smeared forever even if innocent and they probably won’t get a job anywhere else. Is this really so different than a bishop removing an accused priest from service in a certain capacity during the investigation, yet continuing to pay for his living expenses?
 
The truly sad thing that I have never read in ANY article on this in the MSM:

Incidence of pedophilia are LOWER amongst the priesthood than the general population.

IE Priesthood is a POSITIVE selection device in this area, despite the psychological mumbo-jumbo attesting to why the opposite may be true (but actually isn’t)
 
Probably. Until recently, school systems seldom reported abuses to the police. As often as not, this was because the parents wanted to sweep the matter under the rug. The offender would not be terminated but allowed to resign or finish the school year. He would then hunt up another job in one of the more than 10,000 school districts in the country. Since schools always need teachers in August, the offender is almost always able to land a new job, as there is not central clearing agency. Even if he he/she has no references, the receiving district will accept a presentable applicant. The losing district if contacted with be uncommital as they don’t want trouble. The “army” of school teachers in the USA is about 3 million and unlike the real army has no central organization. Nothing like the Boy Scouts, for instance.
Not in my experience. Public school abuse is MANDATED to be reported to the authorities, and has been so for the past twenty-five years or longer. If not, administration or teachers can be dismissed immediately. Most states if not all of them, have similar laws on the books. And since 9/11, incoming teachers must be thoroughly investigated and fingerprinted with regard to their background.
 
The schools don’t hold themselves out to be the world’s supreme moral authority; teachers are not held out to be God’srepresentatives on earth. Of course there is a different standard.
 
The Catholic Church led by the Holy Spirit is the supreme moral authority. If you think this role sits elsewhere (perhaps your church) can you please advise where that is and why you think that to be the case?
 
One reason you don’t hear too much about molestation in public schools is that many school districts are legally protected against lawsuits or can be sued only up to specific limits. There’s no big money to be obtained by filing lawsuits, so most cases are settled quietly. In a small town near here, a female teachers aide, or paraprofesional, was recently charged with having sex with a 15 year old boy. That made headlines for awhile but not long. I’ve seen a few such reports on national news but it’s just not as big a story if there are no lawyers or big settlements involved.
 
The schools don’t hold themselves out to be the world’s supreme moral authority; teachers are not held out to be God’srepresentatives on earth. Of course there is a different standard.
When it comes to children’s welfare, we all need to be held to the same standard.
 
Not in my experience. Public school abuse is MANDATED to be reported to the authorities, and has been so for the past twenty-five years or longer. If not, administration or teachers can be dismissed immediately. Most states if not all of them, have similar laws on the books. And since 9/11, incoming teachers must be thoroughly investigated and fingerprinted with regard to their background.
What is required by law and what is the actual practice are two different things. The usual practice up to about ten years ago, was that if a male teacher hit on a teen age girl was that the teacher resigned and disappeared. This has after all never been an uncommon thing. Even today when it happens the police do not wish to pursue the matter unless publicity is brought to bear. Abuse Laws have become draconian and policemen do not like to enforce draconian laws, because they require more resources than they have. My guess is that they also don’t like dealing with educators since educators generally have a naive view of the law.
 
One reason you don’t hear too much about molestation in public schools is that many school districts are legally protected against lawsuits or can be sued only up to specific limits. There’s no big money to be obtained by filing lawsuits, so most cases are settled quietly. In a small town near here, a female teachers aide, or paraprofesional, was recently charged with having sex with a 15 year old boy. That made headlines for awhile but not long. I’ve seen a few such reports on national news but it’s just not as big a story if there are no lawyers or big settlements involved.
People forget that a public school district is a government agency.
 
What gets me is why anti-Catholics often like to accuse the Catholic Church of being a “pedophile church” or Catholic priests as being “pedophile priests” when there is just as much if not more sexual abuse in Protestant denominations.
 
What gets me is why anti-Catholics often like to accuse the Catholic Church of being a “pedophile church” or Catholic priests as being “pedophile priests” when there is just as much if not more sexual abuse in Protestant denominations.
Why, because the Catholic Church speaks out as the moral authority.

And when you step out and say that — you better make sure you and all those under you walk the talk.

It isn’t any different than when a policeman or judge goes bad – people expect more from them and they expect alot more from Catholic Priests.
 
Why, because the Catholic Church speaks out as the moral authority.

And when you step out and say that — you better make sure you and all those under you walk the talk.

It isn’t any different than when a policeman or judge goes bad – people expect more from them and they expect alot more from Catholic Priests.
Then we have the unfortunate fact that our bishops became lax in enforcing Church rules that limited the number of homosexual priests. That happened because many normal priests and seminarians abandoned the Church after Vatican II. There was an accommodation to the new sexual morality, even among priests, and abuses multiplied as they always have during other decadent times. Ironically, even as public opinion has accepted homosexuality as a bona fide behavior, it has been shocked by the so-called pediafilia among Catholic priests. The bishops have reaped what they sowed: billions of dollars in compensation to victims and a trashing of the priesthood.
 
Then we have the unfortunate fact that our bishops became lax in enforcing Church rules that limited the number of homosexual priests. That happened because many normal priests and seminarians abandoned the Church after Vatican II. There was an accommodation to the new sexual morality, even among priests, and abuses multiplied as they always have during other decadent times. Ironically, even as public opinion has accepted homosexuality as a bona fide behavior, it has been shocked by the so-called pediafilia among Catholic priests. The bishops have reaped what they sowed: billions of dollars in compensation to victims and a trashing of the priesthood.
I think that you are spot on there. Many seminaries became Catholic bathhouse in effect, with pederasty a normal behavior. Having sex with teenagers is just not that unusual in a hedonistic culture.

Public opinion may now be accepting of homosexuality as bona fide behavior, but that doesn’t mean people are willing to take a good hard look at what is normal behavior for male homosexuals emtails. They would be sure to become a little squeamish once they leave the bliss of ignorance.

Many decry the hypocrisy of the Church on the issue of sex. The thing is there are many in the Catholic Church who, like the larger secular society, simply do not believe in the sexual teachings of their church in the first place.
Marriage may be the hot politic issue for homosexuals, but it is really not the norm here.
 
Is homosexuality in the priesthood a Western thing? I haven’t seen or heard of any Asian, Arab or African “gay” priests. I have attended Mass in every corner of the world and haven’t heard a thing about pedophile priests from the locals. Many of the priests I’ve met are deeply religious. One of the Chaplains on my first ship when I was in the navy seen to be fairysh, but I don’t think he’s gay.,

A Vietnamese priest (a navy Chaplain) once told me that he believed the US pedophile problem was a result of priests allowing kids to sit on their laps, hitting or pinching kids in the wrong areas i.e. ears or butt. Kids grew up thinking that such behaviors were improper sexual touching. My dad, on the other hand, thinks it is about the money. We are easy scapegoats because we follow what Christ has taught us. Combine those with ambulance chaser-attorneys and you’ll have one big mess on your hands. MSM will feed on those sensationalized stories because it sells which encourages more people to come out claiming all kind of things.
 
Is homosexuality in the priesthood a Western thing? I haven’t seen or heard of any Asian, Arab or African “gay” priests. I have attended Mass in every corner of the world and haven’t heard a thing about pedophile priests from the locals. Many of the priests I’ve met are deeply religious. One of the Chaplains on my first ship when I was in the navy seen to be fairysh, but I don’t think he’s gay.,

A Vietnamese priest (a navy Chaplain) once told me that he believed the US pedophile problem was a result of priests allowing kids to sit on their laps, hitting or pinching kids in the wrong areas i.e. ears or butt. Kids grew up thinking that such behaviors were improper sexual touching. My dad, on the other hand, thinks it is about the money. We are easy scapegoats because we follow what Christ has taught us. Combine those with ambulance chaser-attorneys and you’ll have one big mess on your hands. MSM will feed on those sensationalized stories because it sells which encourages more people to come out claiming all kind of things.
Not so simple. The morale of the US priesthood collapsed after the “reforms” that followed Vatican II. Not until John Paul II gave young people a new model, a liberal-minded, joyful, masculine priest, has there been a comeback. This despite the indifferent of many bishops toward the recruitment of priests. I must say that I never understood the Reformation until I reflected on what happened during the '70s. Luther was, I think, shocked by the secularism in the Church, and he reacted by abandoning her. Which is why, I think, that so many Catholics turned to the evangelicals and fundamentalists.
 
Not so simple. The morale of the US priesthood collapsed after the “reforms” that followed Vatican II. Not until John Paul II gave young people a new model, a liberal-minded, joyful, masculine priest, has there been a comeback. This despite the indifferent of many bishops toward the recruitment of priests. I must say that I never understood the Reformation until I reflected on what happened during the '70s. Luther was, I think, shocked by the secularism in the Church, and he reacted by abandoning her. Which is why, I think, that so many Catholics turned to the evangelicals and fundamentalists.
Just a quick insert here. Not as many Catholics have left the Church for Evangelicals and Fundamentalists compared to the number of Protestants entering the Catholic Church. There is another thread on the Cath News forum that shows that the number of Catholics is actually climbing and the number of Protestant is declining, despite the bad press that the Catholic Church has received.

Also, from what I’ve seen, those Catholics who really understand the faith and the sacraments are not moving, even though they may be fighting mad about the sexual abuse scandals. It’s a testament of faith that we should imitate. I believe these are very holy people.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Then we have the unfortunate fact that our bishops became lax in enforcing Church rules that limited the number of homosexual priests. That happened because many normal priests and seminarians abandoned the Church after Vatican II. There was an accommodation to the new sexual morality, even among priests, and abuses multiplied as they always have during other decadent times. Ironically, even as public opinion has accepted homosexuality as a bona fide behavior, it has been shocked by the so-called pediafilia among Catholic priests. The bishops have reaped what they sowed: billions of dollars in compensation to victims and a trashing of the priesthood.
I’m sorry but I’m a bit confused by your post. Are you saying the reason Catholic priests are sometimes pedophiles is because they are homosexual?

Or are you saying there was a general relaxation of standards that allowed for homosexuals and pedophiles to become Catholic priests?

What Church rules limit homosexual priests? Would you please cite these Church rules?

What do you mean by “normal” priests and seminarians (the ones that abandoned the Church after Vatican II)?

When I read your post, I got the feeling you are blaming Vatican II and allowing homosexuals to become priests for the pedophile scandal. And I don’t know if that is valid and true. As far as I know, homosexuality and pedophilia are two separate things. I don’t know enough about Vatican II to make any statements about its role, but I am interested in knowing about these “Church rules.”

Thank you! 🙂

Ave Maria! Ora pro nobis.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top