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The reason Hollywood is supporting Polanski is the same reason the Catholic Church has trouble discipling the Church's Priests (and in this case a Bishop) AND why the Police have a hard time cracking down on their fellow police officers. The reason is simple, it is easy to attack someone you do not know, someone you oppose, it is hard to go after someone who has worked WITH you for years, whose world outlook is similar to your own and both of you are following roughly the same pattern of life. The Catholic Church has the same problem as the Police, and Hollywood (when it comes to Polanski), how do you get people to turn in their friends? Ask yourself the same question, if a total stranger came up to you and told you that your best friend (or someone you have worked with for 20 years and consider a friend) has committed an evil act (I am NOT going to define what that act it, I leave that up to you) will you confront him or her? If he or she denies the accusation, will you believe the stranger or your friend? Remember the only evidence we have is the word of the stranger AND your friend, who do you believe? Do you fall back on the legal argument that the person making the accusation has the burden of proof? Or do demand your friend disprove the accusation (And fall into the trap of trying to prove a negative).
As I said, Hollywood is having this problem now with Polanski. How can Polanski be a person who raped a 13 year old? Many people in Hollywood will view that (subconsciously) as how can someone accuse ME of rape (i.e identifying with Polanski leads to internalizing the defense to the accusation)!!
The Police fall into the same trap, they do NOT want their fellow officers to be brutal or corrupt for that would be like accepting that they can be brutal and corrupt. The same with Churchmen, it is hard for their fellow churchmen (and by that term I include churchwomen) to accept that one of themselves is committing an evil act. I should note this problem is NOT restricted to the Police, The Church or Hollywood, to a great degree we all suffer from this problem, who do you believe, a victim who you never meet or a person you have known for 20 years?
The Catholic Church, the Police and even Hollywood in the case of Polanski, all fall into the same trap of NOT wanting one of themselves to be evil. It is an easy trap for people to fall into and one we should all try to avoid, but lets accept the fact that people fall into it and people like this Bishop are able to abuse that trust. Such acts do NOT show evil on the part of the Church, the Police or Hollywood (Or any other group), all it shows that people are people and we have to have systems in place to make sure evil is kept in check.
This has nothing to do with religion, but has everything to do with how people look at their friends and co-workers AND how we deal with evil. We have to find ways to get people to turn in their friends AND to protect such people if the accusation is false. Would you turn in your best friend based on a statement from a stranger? Before you say yes, think about it, if you had NO solid evidence just the word of a victim would you turn your friend in on just a statement from the victim? Knowing that it will tear up his or her family EVEN IF THE ACCUSATION IS FALSE? When you first hear the accusation you can not tell if it is true or false, thus which way do you err? Do you err on the side of leaving your friend suffer from the FALSE accusation or do you err on the side of making sure the person who harmed the Victim is punished? Remember we are discussing situations where the evidence is just two people's word, nothing else.
Now when it comes to Polanski, he admitted to the act and agreed to leave the sentencing up to the Judge, and then skipped town. Recent statements have indicated that the Judge was planning a long sentence while Polanski expected probation. Supporters of Polanski have said the Trial Judge contacted the DA about the sentencing and as such was Judaical misconduct, but all he has to do is appear in Court and see what a new judge (the old Judge is long dead) would sentence Polanski.
Now I bring up Polanski and Hollywood NOT to argue his case, but to show that even Hollywood can suffer from the same problem that hit the Catholic Church in the US over the last 20 years (and the same tendency to protect one's own has long been an accusation against the Police). The problem is NOT the sex, but that people who work with the person doing a crime are unwilling to accept that the person doing the crime is actually doing the crime. That is how this man made it to Bishop, why Police get away with Police Brutality and why Hollywood is supporting Polanski.
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