Priests & Pedophilia: What Authoritarian Religion, Families & Schools Have Wrought

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Posted by Tikkun Daily at 10:59 am
March 30, 2010

Priests & Pedophilia: What Authoritarian Religion, Families & Schools Have Wrought
By Harriet Fraad, crossposted from Tikkun Daily.

Harriet Fraad is a psychotherapist committed to radical social-structural change.


The newspapers are full of the latest priestly sex abuses. This is an on going story. Within the last year, mass scandals have erupted in Brazil, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria. and the United States. Figures from the John Jay School of Criminal Justice estimate that since 1950, an estimated 280,000 children have been sexually abused by Catholic Clergy and deacons.

How has this happened? Why does it continue?

Pedophilia certainly is a familiar problem for the Catholic Church. Father Thomas Doyle, a priest, and Richard Sipes and Patrick Wall, former monks, wrote that the Catholic Church has recognized the problem of abuse by priests for 2,000 years. Their acclaimed book, Sex, Priests and Secret Codes (2006), was based on the Church’s own documents.

Now the scandal is at the Pope’s door in Germany. After all, he was the Cardinal in charge of approving a known pedophile, Father Hullerman, who had been convicted in court where he admitted getting young boys drunk, watching pornography with the boys and then molesting them. The priest was released from court in the care of the Church. He was sent to a psychiatrist for treatment. The treating psychiatrist reported that Father Hullerman was an unrepentant alcoholic pedophile who showed no willingness to change his alcoholism or his pedophilia. Within five days of the beginning of Hullerman’s treatment, the Pope approved moving Father Hullerman to a new parish with access to children There he molested more boys. He retired in peace without serving time for his documented crimes. He is no exception. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/03/30/priests-pedophilia-what-authoritarian-religion-families-schools-have-wrought/

[MountainLaurel]

1. Thought this was fairly spot on

I remember reading an interview with a convicted pedophile who said he would watch the interactions of neighborhood kids with their parents to choose his victims. He always picked the kids with very strict, authoritarian parents because he knew they wouldn't tell: Those kids had been taught to always obey an adult and would be too afraid of getting into trouble.

[Shallah Kali]

3. this reminds me of a blog I recently read y a woman raised in a quiverfull/gothardite home

Part 11 - Perfect Victim
Self Control vs. Self-indulgence
Instant obedience to the initial promptings of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:24–25) - Bill Gothard
http://razingruth.blogspot.com/2010/03/part-11-perfect-victim.html

btw the duggar family are gothard followers that appear to not, at least publicly, appear to be as into the level of physical punishment that blogger's parents were.

[MichiganVote]

2. Not every pedophile has an entire wealthy church to entitle them to our kids.

[harry_pothead]

4. When you shame a child from birth and teach them to blindly follow authority no matter what,

you get a child who a pedophile authority figure can abuse with impunity. IMO Religious authoritarianism as a WHOLE is to blame for these tragedies.

Not to mention that the abuse perpetuates the cycle of shame and authoritarianism.

[anachro1]

5. Let's take another look at this...

Could it be that we have all along we have been misunderstanding the TRUE purpose of religion? Maybe child sexual abuse was such an original and natural facet of early christianity, that it is perpetuated simply because child rape was normal back then.

This has to be the only reason they move their offending priests around like strategically placed chess pieces. F%%k a few children, then move the priests to another neighborhood, so they can f%%k a few more.

This is the only reason I can think of why priests appear to ADORE raping children. Sort of a little 'treat' or or morsel of flesh they can still allow themselves to indulge in? Like a piece of candy they can mindlessly pop in their mouths?

I realize my premise may sound offensive to some, but this seems to be the only reason the church keeps consistently supporting AND covering up these, by now, thousands of priests, who have been implicated over the past 50 or so years.

Was child rape the norm in the time of christ? We already know how much the old testament devalued women and children.

Seeing how the bible openly states in Genesis 19:8, they thought nothing of whoring one's daughters off to houseguests & such, and slavery being the norm of the day, it would make sense that back then there would have been no boundaries on little boys either. Bought and sold like chattle.

Maybe one of the unspoken of (nowadays) traditions back then was that priests preferred young boys, and they have been simply keeping this one tradition alive ever since. That would explain the church's consistent reluctance to finally address this one issue. Maybe with no access to little boys, the church would simply dissolve for lack of clergy?

AND no more money as well?
Inconceivable!

At what point does the church STOP shielding these criminals, or are they hoping to silently approve of their actions forever?

[Hestia]

7. They'll stop shielding criminals when it really hits their bottom line or have to start selling

the Boticelli and Michaelangelo sculptures to pay for the lawsuits.

[pleasureteacher]

6. Christian Pedophilia

Yes, the same religion that constantly preaches bigotry against gays, that Jews killed Jesus (Jesus was a fairy tale), the same religion that was forced upon African-American slaves, and which has brainwashed the world, still dominates America. And the so-called "infallible" leader of the Catholic church, the pope, is still in denial over the latest allegations of some 200 deaf (non-hearing) adults who were at the time "molested by a certain priest at a Catholic school for the deaf. Now nice. The very same church that claims homosexuality is the cause of all evil. Yet gays, Blacks and others still support those bastions of hatred every day! I don't get it. End hatred by ending religion!