Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You know, I was an abused child during this time. Not by priests, but by a neighbor. I was told not to say anything.
Said neighbor walked around looking in windows: was anything said to him? Nope. We were told to close our curtains.

Truthfully, the church did nothing less than the rest of society.

This is very powerful and true. Sadly, many people are obsessed with blaming only one institution rather than solving the problem and changing societal attitudes overall.

I don't necessarily agree with you but the "rest of society" isn't professing to speak for God like the Catholic church does. "The rest of society" isn't trying to convince us that it holds some moral majority and that we should follow it's rules because it is governed by the Holy Spirit. People hold the church to higher standards than the rest of society because the church DEMANDS THAT WE DO.

But I can't convince you.

Anonymous wrote:The difference is the church did nothing about the priests raping the children. It did everything it could to protect the child rapists. It put in a system to help them. Please show me a school district that upon learning of a pedophile moved them to a different school instead of prosecuting or firing them.

Yea and the US had slaves and blacks were sent to different schools than whites. All supported by you.

Give me something current were my Church/pastor/school is doing this?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.

You're like a simpleton. What a stupid comment.

I think child rape is wrong. If that makes me a simpleton so be it.

Whatever else you are, you're such a sock puppet. You've claimed 21:58 as yours, also posts that follow this one are undoubtedly yours.

I hope you'll excuse the rest of us for forming the following picture of you in our minds: bitter, friendless individual who lives in a filthy efficiency apartment and whose only connection with the outside world is spewing your hate and rage on the internet. Am I right?

The difference is the church did nothing about the priests raping the children. It did everything it could to protect the child rapists. It put in a system to help them. Please show me a school district that upon learning of a pedophile moved them to a different school instead of prosecuting or firing them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Really, what does it tell you. That some of us are willing to stick around and NOT stand for it. Walking away does not fix anything. We are working for change. What are you doing?

I am doing my bit by:
a) not raping children
b) not entrusting my children to priests who are not allowed to have normal sexual relations and are therefore much more willing to rape children.

You better start homeschooling. Priests, boy scout leaders, coaches, teachers, uncles, none of these are in your child's life?

Read the relationship forum, few people are in normal sexual relationships, not that that is what causes rape. Rape is NOT a sexual act.

Anonymous wrote:The Catholic church needs to allow priests to marry, ordain women priest and purge remaining gay pedophiles from the priesthood.

Instead they're focusing their efforts on gays and contraception

PS: I would argue all pedophiles should be purged, not just the gay ones

The Catholic church needs to allow priests to marry, ordain women priest and purge remaining gay pedophiles from the priesthood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Really, what does it tell you. That some of us are willing to stick around and NOT stand for it. Walking away does not fix anything. We are working for change. What are you doing?

I am doing my bit by:
a) not raping children
b) not entrusting my children to priests who are not allowed to have normal sexual relations and are therefore much more willing to rape children.

If you read the reports on child rape and child abuse by the catholic church, and emerge from that as as a supporter of the catholic church, then I take my hat off to you. Your ability to suspend rational judgement is truly remarkable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.

You're like a simpleton. What a stupid comment.

I think child rape is wrong. If that makes me a simpleton so be it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.

You're like a simpleton. What a stupid comment.

I left the Catholic Church because I do not want to be part of an organization that is okay with priests raping children. What part of that makes me a simpleton?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.

You're like a simpleton. What a stupid comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.

Like having your tax dollars go to an institution which supports child rape? Which is what your tax dollars do!

The entire organization of the Catholic Church supports child rape as much as the entire organization known as the public school system.

Not hard to understand. Catholic or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not excusing the priest scandal at all-- but somehow we forget that there is a higher percentage of pedophile/child sex abusers in our public schools and no one shines a light in those people at all.

Cite?

This article also speaks about how teachers and administrators hide the abuse. Sound familiar?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102100144.html

Again, does not excuse the Church at all but there is a much bigger problem which people don't seem to want to acknowledge.

Thanks, PP. Everyone should read this article if they really care about the issue of the abuse of children and are not here just to bash. Read it and then let's stick to constructive comments. Is that too much to ask for on DCUM?

Apparently. See the previous post (although I have to say, the haters are so crazy, that post could easily be a sock puppet). Nobody is excusing the Catholic hierarchy, but it would be wrong to either taint every Catholic with that brush, or to ignore the more systemic problems in our society.

(I'm not Catholic, FWIW)

Anonymous wrote:I find it telling that the catholic response to this horror is to try to argue that everyone else is abusing kids and covering it up. Tells you all you need to know about the institution and its supporters.

Agreed. I could never be part of an organization that supported child rape.