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A Rebuttal on the RapeChrists
Apr. 13th, 2011 04:51 pmhttp://www.catholicleague.org/nytstraighttalk.php
The Catholic League decided to publish the following as a full page ad in the NY Times today, in response to a recent spate of articles on, what else, sexual abuse in the church in Europe and the US. Catholic League President Bill Donohue, a particularly strident defender of the church, has strongly admonished papers like the Boston Globe and the New York Times for 'demonizing' the church, and making it clear that it is not pedophilia that it the problem with the church, but homosexuality, since most of these cases involved teens and young men being sexually abused or assaulted. In fact, some of them can't be said to have been unwilling.
"The refrain that child rape is a reality in the Church is twice wrong: let's get it straight—they weren't children and they weren't raped," Donahue writes. "The Boston Globe correctly said of the John Jay report that 'more than three-quarters of the victims were post pubescent, meaning the abuse did not meet the clinical definition of pedophilia.' In other words, the issue is homosexuality, not pedophilia."
In fact, he strongly insists that most of the accusers are likely fraudsters, looking to make a buck because the Catholic Bishops have been too quick to settle cases. You know, those well documented campaigns of vilifying accusers coordinated by the church and reported by the Globe in 2002? Outliers, obviously.
Finally, and guys, this is just my favourite part, liberal ideology is really to blame. "What accounts for the relentless attacks on the Church? Let's face it: if its teachings were pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and pro-women clergy, the dogs would have been called off years ago."
*ahem* First let me pass on a very loud 'Fuck you' to Bill Donahue and the Catholic Church for good measure.
The reality is that the institutionally sanctioned sexual abuse practiced by priests of the Catholic Church relies on a foundation of trust to take place. Power via position and trust via the institution itself is where the massive issue resides. All of this nonsense about the levels being lower than teachers and such, and even worse, the fact that it employs a 'these guys are worse' justification is simply attempting to muddy the waters. Here's the simple issue. The Catholic Church knew they had serial rapists and sexual abusers in their ranks for decades, and actively shielded them from prosecution while mobilizing immense resources to defame and discredit their accusers, even when they were aware of their guilt. More importantly, in most cases it placed sexual predators back in environments in which they had unrestricted access to new victims and ignored those offenses. That is why the Catholic Church hugely deserves to be taken out behind the woodshed and beaten into a bloody pulp. That is why the whining about being singled out and the thin, insincere apologies are not sufficient contrition for the Church's actions in protecting and through inaction, promoting a clerical culture that accepts rape and sexual abuse as a right for priests and Catholic officials.
The Catholic League decided to publish the following as a full page ad in the NY Times today, in response to a recent spate of articles on, what else, sexual abuse in the church in Europe and the US. Catholic League President Bill Donohue, a particularly strident defender of the church, has strongly admonished papers like the Boston Globe and the New York Times for 'demonizing' the church, and making it clear that it is not pedophilia that it the problem with the church, but homosexuality, since most of these cases involved teens and young men being sexually abused or assaulted. In fact, some of them can't be said to have been unwilling.
"The refrain that child rape is a reality in the Church is twice wrong: let's get it straight—they weren't children and they weren't raped," Donahue writes. "The Boston Globe correctly said of the John Jay report that 'more than three-quarters of the victims were post pubescent, meaning the abuse did not meet the clinical definition of pedophilia.' In other words, the issue is homosexuality, not pedophilia."
In fact, he strongly insists that most of the accusers are likely fraudsters, looking to make a buck because the Catholic Bishops have been too quick to settle cases. You know, those well documented campaigns of vilifying accusers coordinated by the church and reported by the Globe in 2002? Outliers, obviously.
Finally, and guys, this is just my favourite part, liberal ideology is really to blame. "What accounts for the relentless attacks on the Church? Let's face it: if its teachings were pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage and pro-women clergy, the dogs would have been called off years ago."
*ahem* First let me pass on a very loud 'Fuck you' to Bill Donahue and the Catholic Church for good measure.
The reality is that the institutionally sanctioned sexual abuse practiced by priests of the Catholic Church relies on a foundation of trust to take place. Power via position and trust via the institution itself is where the massive issue resides. All of this nonsense about the levels being lower than teachers and such, and even worse, the fact that it employs a 'these guys are worse' justification is simply attempting to muddy the waters. Here's the simple issue. The Catholic Church knew they had serial rapists and sexual abusers in their ranks for decades, and actively shielded them from prosecution while mobilizing immense resources to defame and discredit their accusers, even when they were aware of their guilt. More importantly, in most cases it placed sexual predators back in environments in which they had unrestricted access to new victims and ignored those offenses. That is why the Catholic Church hugely deserves to be taken out behind the woodshed and beaten into a bloody pulp. That is why the whining about being singled out and the thin, insincere apologies are not sufficient contrition for the Church's actions in protecting and through inaction, promoting a clerical culture that accepts rape and sexual abuse as a right for priests and Catholic officials.
