All of us, every single man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth were born with the same unalienable rights; to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, if the governments of the world can't get that through their thick skulls, then, regime change will be necessary.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
If We Are Unable to Bring the Full Weight of the Law to This, What Chance Do We Have With Islam?
Don't expect this to be a popular question, but asking it anyway.
This is true. However, I am referring to the reluctance to pursue legal action against church functionaries (especially high-ranking ones) who knowingly allow illegal acts of sexual assault to occur and then intimidate victims and their families into silence while taking steps to protect the criminals. Anywhere else that's called accessory to a crime. Just sayin'.
The Church's doctrine is innocent of condoning this abuse. The religion itself cannot be damaged by this, only the Institution.
Now if, for example, charges of abuse in the form known as "thighing" were brought against a Muslim imam, he might try to use fatwas condoning the practice as a defense -- with interesting results in any Western court of law. (And wouldn't that be fun to watch.) But no priest can ever do this.
The issue is, indeed, the conspiracy of silence. Justice for victims must come before any question of "embarrassment" to the institution -- or of "shaking the faith" of any of its members. Defrocking can be reserved for guilty verdicts, but the law must be informed of the crime and have access to the criminal for prosecution and there can be no issue of "special status" for the priesthood in this. A bishop who protects and shuttles around an abusing pedophile priest is as guilty of being and accessory to a crime as someone who lets their cousin the bank robber hide in the attic.
It would seem that if the Church had taken a no-tolerance stand on this from the get-go and handed over child molesters as a matter of course, they would have saved themselves all this trouble and money. But for some reason they seemed to think cover-ups, intimidations, and guilt-tripping the victims was the way to go. And no, "apologizing" to the Catholics of Ireland is not going to get Benedict anywhere at all. These people have been through it all and heard it all before. My Irish grandfather bailed out of the church about a century ago, though I never asked him why. But then, he was a very no-nonsense person about most things.
6 comments:
Revere Rides Again,
In all fairness at least the church does not openly condone pedophilia, unlike Islam.
This is true. However, I am referring to the reluctance to pursue legal action against church functionaries (especially high-ranking ones) who knowingly allow illegal acts of sexual assault to occur and then intimidate victims and their families into silence while taking steps to protect the criminals. Anywhere else that's called accessory to a crime. Just sayin'.
All in all, the Church has the same conspiracy of silence that Moderate Muslims demonstrate towards the Jihadis in their midst.
Benedict is not accmoplishing much by chastising the Irish church.
How about actually defrocking some Priests?
And, how about ensuring that they get prosecuted according to the law in their home countries?
Pastorius,
Those are some good ideas.
The Church's doctrine is innocent of condoning this abuse. The religion itself cannot be damaged by this, only the Institution.
Now if, for example, charges of abuse in the form known as "thighing" were brought against a Muslim imam, he might try to use fatwas condoning the practice as a defense -- with interesting results in any Western court of law. (And wouldn't that be fun to watch.) But no priest can ever do this.
The issue is, indeed, the conspiracy of silence. Justice for victims must come before any question of "embarrassment" to the institution -- or of "shaking the faith" of any of its members. Defrocking can be reserved for guilty verdicts, but the law must be informed of the crime and have access to the criminal for prosecution and there can be no issue of "special status" for the priesthood in this. A bishop who protects and shuttles around an abusing pedophile priest is as guilty of being and accessory to a crime as someone who lets their cousin the bank robber hide in the attic.
It would seem that if the Church had taken a no-tolerance stand on this from the get-go and handed over child molesters as a matter of course, they would have saved themselves all this trouble and money. But for some reason they seemed to think cover-ups, intimidations, and guilt-tripping the victims was the way to go. And no, "apologizing" to the Catholics of Ireland is not going to get Benedict anywhere at all. These people have been through it all and heard it all before. My Irish grandfather bailed out of the church about a century ago, though I never asked him why. But then, he was a very no-nonsense person about most things.
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