Originally posted by C Hess
Tell that to a certain portion of catholic priests. 😕

Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

if (hypothetically) the religion had a higher percentage of evil men than existed outside of the religion should we still blame evil men or should we blame the religion......or do both share the blame?

Originally posted by Suzianne
Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

If you can't blame religions for the bad things its members do, the religion
can't take credit for any good it might do either.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

Can I blame the religion if it hides the evildoers from the authorities and moves them to another parish so they can start molesting a new crop of kids? 😕

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
Can I blame the religion if it hides the evildoers from the authorities and moves them to another parish so they can start molesting a new crop of kids? 😕

I worked at Ampelforth priory (it teaches children from 4 to 18 mostly borders) in north Yorkshire most of the catholic preists were pedos and were recalled to rome no charges were made there is now only 2 left teaching and when they retire proper teachers will fill their positions the point is the church(religion) hides its dirty washing so the religion is as much to blame as its flock.

Originally posted by Suzianne
Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

Sonship: Yea, we're all somewhat crazy. But there is a salvation from our damaged
minds if we come to Jesus the Savior. Christ is sobriety. Christ had a perfectly normal
mind.

Presumably those catholic priests I mentioned had already turned to jesus, them being
catholic believers and all?

Originally posted by Suzianne
Evil men often use religion to cover their crimes.

Blame the evil men, not the religion.

So about executing someone just for being gay.

Do you blame the men?

Or the religion?

Originally posted by C Hess

Sonship: Yea, we're all somewhat crazy. But there is a salvation from our damaged
minds if we come to Jesus the Savior. Christ is sobriety. Christ had a perfectly normal
mind.

Presumably those catholic priests I mentioned had already turned to jesus, them being
catholic believers and all?

I understand that child molesters will pretend to be priests to get to their victims. They don't care about the faith at all. I get that those actions are not exactly in the spirit of the religion, and I differentiate them, to a point, from actions taken by the religion.

But the religion is still on the hook for A) creating a climate that permits frequent abuse, and B) sheltering the abuser once they become aware of his activities. What they ought to be doing, aside from the obvious step of handing the accused over to the authorities to stand trial, is compensate the victims. The abuses, while perhaps not directly sanctioned by the religion's leaders, nevertheless occurred on their watch, under their organization's name. They should feel responsible for them on that level.

They should also re-examine the settings that led to abuse, and take the necessary steps to curtail it as much as possible. Interaction with minors should always be in the presence of multiple people.

I know of people outside the church who work with children, and they ALWAYS meet with the kids in a public place, which is quite sensible. The church should start learning this type of 'common' sense as well.

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
They should also re-examine the settings that led to abuse, and take the necessary steps to curtail it as much as possible. Interaction with minors should always be in the presence of multiple people.

Your entire reply is both excellent and considered, I agree with just about everything you
wrote, so that's a rec for you friend (for whatever it's worth).

Just one question: how do you know these child molesting priests don't believe in jesus?
Maybe they're struggling with their dark impulses, and pray to jesus every night to find the
strength to resist?

Originally posted by C Hess
Your entire reply is both excellent and considered, I agree with just about everything you
wrote, so that's a rec for you friend (for whatever it's worth).

Just one question: how do you know these child molesting priests don't believe in jesus?
Maybe they're struggling with their dark impulses, and pray to jesus every night to find the
strength to resist?

Some of them probably believe in Jesus, with varying degrees of fervency. One can be fighting themselves and yet still get into the priesthood with the primary motivation of finding victims. Sometimes the good part of ourselves ends up watching from the sidelines as the bad part makes all the key decisions.