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The Scandal Driving the Church Sex Scandal
American Thinker ^ | April 01, 2010 | Selwyn Duke

Posted on 04/01/2010 10:02:27 PM PDT by neverdem

We've all heard the story. Hundreds of young sexual abuse victims long afraid to come forward for fear of embarrassment and scorn, abusers escaping prosecution and quietly moving to different jurisdictions, authorities covering up the crimes to avoid scandal and litigation. It's a saga of grave, grave sin.

Of course, you would assume that I'm talking about the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal.

And you would be wrong.

I'm describing the situation in America's schools -- something that, although mirroring the problems dogging the Church, is strangely ignored.

Let's examine the similarities using statistics from the United States. According to the John Jay Report, 10,667 people made allegations of child sexual abuse (not all were substantiated) committed by priests between 1950 and 2002; according to an AP investigation, at least 1,801 educators committed sexual misconduct involving minors between 2001 and 2005. So the per annum tally is:

Number of people making allegations against priests - 205

Criminal educators - 360

Now, since it's logical to assume that numerous individuals made accusations against the same priests, the number of clerical transgressors is no doubt less than 205. Yet even if we use the 205 figure, the number of offenders appears to be approximately 76 percent greater among educators. But that doesn't even begin to tell the whole story.

While it's obvious that a certain percentage of cases must have gone unreported in both education and the Church, the latter has been subjected to intense media scrutiny while the former has remained off the radar screen. Thus, it's reasonable to assume that the percentage is higher in education. As to this, the AP tells us about a Congress-mandated study placing the number of students sexually abused by an education worker at some point between kindergarten and 12th grade at 4.5 million. Furthermore, the AP found that most of this sexual abuse is never reported and that even when it does come to light, often no action is taken.

Of course, the other side of the coin is that the number of teachers nationwide is greater than that of priests, so a raw-numbers analysis may be deceptive. So let's examine the rate. Wapedia reports the following: "A Perspective on Clergy Sexual Abuse by Dr. Thomas Plante of Stanford University and Santa Clara University states that 'available research suggests that approximately 2 to 5% of priests have had a sexual experience with a minor' which ‘is lower than the general adult male population that is best estimated to be closer to 8%.'"

Now let's look within the numbers, at the nature of the abuse and abusers. While we hear a lot of media reports about sultry female teachers seducing young teenage boys, the reality is that almost nine out of ten school offenders are male.It's also true that in the cases of both the Church and the schools, the abuse is, by definition, not pedophilia, as the abused were mainly adolescents, not children.

Here critics may point out that there is a difference: The abuse among priests is mainly homosexual in nature. This is true, but I can't imagine that it would bother the secular left very much. After all, this is the set that for years has maintained that there is a moral equivalence between heterosexual and homosexual behavior and that saying otherwise is bigotry. Unless they're now changing their tune...

Another similarity is the cover-up by school officials, who, as stated earlier, were motivated by the same priorities as the most remiss bishop: a desire to avoid embarrassment, scandal, and punitive court judgments. As an example, the AP presents the story of Gary Lindsey, an Iowa teacher who was fired from his first job for sexual misconduct but then allowed to work elsewhere for about thirty more years. During these decades, Lindsey transgressed against other students, dodging the hangman every time with the complicity of school administration. And his is no isolated case. In fact, the practice of transferring sexual predators is so common that it has become known as "passing the trash," and the abusers have been dubbed "mobile molesters."

Despite this, we currently have trash being passed daily -- it's called media reportage. Why don't we hear stories about people who believe that the schools should be defunded, or that parents should stop sending their children to them (similar things are said about the Church)? Why has the Vatican been placed in the unenviable position of having to defend itself with the "Look, others have the same problems" argument? Why does Rome have to take up the cudgels for itself and point out that its woes just reflect the wider society? It's because the media aren't doing their job.

...That is, at least, what their job should be. What some within the mainstream media see it as being -- to attack traditionalist institutions -- they're doing very well. 

The Church receives such disproportionate scrutiny for the same reason why the media will happily smear Pope Pius XII as a Nazi sympathizer when he was possibly WWII's greatest hero and why they paint the Crusades as imperialistic wars when they were but a defense against Muslim aggression: The media views the Church as an enemy. They despise its teachings on abortion, the all-male priesthood, and, in particular, sexuality. You see, if the schools taught such things, then they too would surely be in the crosshairs. But their embrace of all the left's favorite isms grants them great immunity.   

Now, this might be where I'm supposed to issue the obligatory statement about how we're all appalled by the sex crimes in question.

But it's not really true.

And what comes to mind is late Massachusetts congressman Gerry Studds. In 1983, it was revealed that he had had sexual relations with a 17-year-old male page, which, as ephebophilia (attraction to older adolescents), is precisely that of which many transgressing priests are guilty. And what was his punishment?

The liberals in his district reelected him six more times until his retirement in 1996.

By the way, some may point out that Studds' behavior was legal, as the age of consent in Washington, D.C. was 16. Of these people, I would ask: Are you equally charitable with priests who had "legal" relationships with teenage boys?

Then there is serial sex criminal Alfred Kinsey, the bug researcher-cum-human sexuality "expert" who ran a pedophile ring disguised as a research team. If you read the piece I wrote about him (and trust me, this one is worth the time), you'll find that his research included things such as encouraging pedophiles to continue committing crimes so that he could collect more "data." Yet there has never been a hue and cry for a pound of flesh from the Kinsey Institute; the University of Indiana in Bloomington, where the deviant plied his trade; or Paul Gebhard, a still-living Kinsey co-author and partner in crime. On the contrary, the left not only defends Kinsey, but it even lauded him in a whitewashed 2004 film.                   

So do the Church's critics really care about sexual abuse? Some do, for sure. But there's no doubt that many of those using the issue to attack the Church do not. And "using" is the key word. If they truly cared about sexual abuse of youth, they would take pains to emphasize that it isn't limited to the priesthood. Oh, I'm not saying that they would necessarily do this to defend the Church; they would do it to truly expose the problem. Instead, they're simply interested in exposing the Church to ridicule, and to this end, they use these abuse victims as a convenient vehicle through which to attack a hated adversary. This is typical of the left, which makes a practice of using people as human shields, props, and political hammers.

Of course, crimes against innocence are abhorrent, and those committing them should be rooted out wherever and whoever they may be. Likewise, those who knowingly and negligently facilitate their abuse must be punished harshly, and the incompetent should lose their positions. But this just states the obvious. If we really want to move toward a more sexually sane society -- get at the root causes, as it were -- then we must delve more deeply. 

We can argue about facts and figures. We can debate whether sexual trespass is worse in schools or in churches, and many will, no doubt, try to make the case that the secular world is a safer place. But of this there is no doubt: The social phenomena making us a more libertine and morally unmoored civilization are the handiwork of the left.

It was not the Church that sexualized society with Kinseyesque sex miseducation and prurient messages everywhere -- in movies, shows, music and on the Internet. That was leftist academia, Hollywood, and their brothers in porn. It was not the Church that expanded the First Amendment to include protection of obscene imagery. That was leftist judges. It was not the Church that spread moral relativism and its corollary, "If it feels good, do it," an idea that can find pedophilia no worse than peanut butter. That was leftist philosophers and the millions who wanted freedom to sin. It was not the Church that, reducing man to mere beast, found a basis for his behavior in the animal kingdom. That was leftist anthropologists and their acolytes. And it was not the Church that first subordinated punishment to "rehabilitation" and subscribed to slap-on-the-wrist pseudo-justice. That was leftist psychology. Of course, insofar as the Church has allowed itself to become infected with the spirit of the age, it is culpable. But know that it is the infected, not the infection.

As for the cure, the Church has done much in recent times to root out sexual abuse -- far more than the schools. Even closer to the point, its teachings provide necessary guide rails for man's sexuality. Yet critics call this age-old wisdom "antiquated." The left obviously prefers to take its lead from the Kinsey Distorts, Hugh Hefner, and Hollywood. But if the pleasure principle is going to be our master, then we shouldn't wonder why we're taking our children on a field trip through Caligula's court.

Contact Selwyn Duke


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: catholicchurch; churchsexscandal; homosexualagenda; moralabsolutes
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1 posted on 04/01/2010 10:02:27 PM PDT by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Isn’t it nice that the Leftistsscum media picked the Holiest Week in the Catholic calendar to smear Catholics?

I can’t wait to read about the Muslim atrocities committed arornd the world during Ramadan


2 posted on 04/01/2010 10:04:31 PM PDT by Columbia ("The Gem of the Ocean, The home of the brave and the free, the shrine of each patriotÂ’s devotion")
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To: neverdem

So keep kids away from teachers and priests; got it.


3 posted on 04/01/2010 10:04:59 PM PDT by Anti-Utopian ("Come, let's away to prison; We two alone will sing like birds I' th' cage." -King Lear [V,iii,6-8])
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To: sabe@q.com

“A Perspective on Clergy Sexual Abuse by Dr. Thomas Plante of Stanford University and Santa Clara University states that ‘available research suggests that approximately 2 to 5% of priests have had a sexual experience with a minor’ which ‘is lower than the general adult male population that is best estimated to be closer to 8%.’”


4 posted on 04/01/2010 10:12:13 PM PDT by Valpal1 ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.")
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To: neverdem; 185JHP; 230FMJ; AFA-Michigan; Abathar; Agitate; Albion Wilde; Aleighanne; ...
Homosexual Agenda and Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the homosexual agenda or moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic homosexual agenda keyword search
[ Add keyword homosexual agenda to flag FR articles to this ping list ]

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]

This is the article I've been waiting for. He doesn't mention some things (like the Lavender Mafia) or the fact that sexual abuse has way tapered off, details like that. But the most important points are all there. The hatred of Catholicism is what is driving the current load, not hatred of sexual abuse of minors. Maybe a very few critics are sincere, but if they mention nothing except the Catholic Church, they're just Catholic haters IMO.

5 posted on 04/01/2010 10:14:24 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Asato Ma Sad Gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya)
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To: ArrogantBustard

I don’t think you’re on either ping list, thought you’d like this article.


6 posted on 04/01/2010 10:15:11 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Asato Ma Sad Gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya)
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To: Columbia

If the abuse didn’t happen, it’s a smear.

If it did, it is not a smear.

Know the truth and it will set you free.


7 posted on 04/01/2010 10:16:09 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Valpal1

so? and why are you pinging me from thread to thread? Please stop.


8 posted on 04/01/2010 10:18:00 PM PDT by marajade (Yes, I'm a SW freak!)
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bttt


9 posted on 04/01/2010 10:18:45 PM PDT by Matchett-PI (Sowell's book, Intellectuals and Society, eviscerates the fantasies that uphold leftist thought)
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To: little jeremiah

Excellent article from beginning to end.


10 posted on 04/01/2010 10:26:01 PM PDT by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: sabe@q.com

Why to help you in your qwest for justice, of course.


11 posted on 04/01/2010 10:30:04 PM PDT by Valpal1 ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.")
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To: Valpal1

Again, please stop pinging me.


12 posted on 04/01/2010 10:38:09 PM PDT by marajade (Yes, I'm a SW freak!)
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To: ArrogantBustard

I’ve been hoping a summary type article would be posted that I could ping out. The attacks on Catholicism and the Pope have reached a deafening crescendo and I can’t stand to read any of them.


13 posted on 04/01/2010 10:52:02 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Asato Ma Sad Gamaya Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya)
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To: neverdem
There are between one million and one and half million K-12 teachers in the U.S. and about 46,000 Catholic priests.

But in making comparisons of cases of abuse definitions of what constitutes abuse matter greatly. Here from one of the studies referred to in the article are some pertinent comments on what is called abuse in the study:

“POLICY AND PROGRAM STUDIES SERVICE
Educator Sexual Misconduct:
A Synthesis of Existing LiteratureUsing the Ontario College of Teachers “Professional Advisory on
Professional Misconduct Related to Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct” (2002,
p. 2) as a guide, educator sexual misconduct in this review is defined as any
“behavior of a sexual nature which may constitute professional misconduct.”
(p. 1). Included in this broad listing are several types of conduct including overt
and covert actions:
• Any conduct that would amount to sexual harassment under Title IX
of the (U.S.) Education Amendments of 1972.
• Any conduct that would amount to sexual abuse of a minor person
under state criminal codes.
• Any sexual relationship by an educator with a student, regardless of
the student’s age; with a former student under 18; with a former
student (regardless of age) who suffers from a disability that would
prevent consent in a relationship. All students enrolled in the school
and in any organization in which the educator holds a position of
trust and responsibility are included.
• Any activity directed toward establishing a sexual relationship such
as sending intimate letters; engaging in sexualized dialogue in
person, via the Internet, in writing or by phone; making suggestive
comments; dating a student....

3.1.1.1 AAUW data and Shakeshaft secondary analysis. This
analysis used data collected for American Association of University Women in Fall 2000
by Harris International. Eighth through 11th grade students in the sample responded to a
survey administered by trained interviewers during English classes. The survey asked
students about their experiences of various forms of sexual harassment or abuse in
school using the question below. Students responded to each of the 14 types of sexual
harassment listed below by selecting one of the following frequencies: “often,”
17
“occasionally,” “rarely,” “never,” or “don’t know.” The 14 stems were developed by an
advisory panel of experts in the field of sexual harassment and correspond to behaviors
that legally constitute sexual harassment, abuse, or misconduct. The question focuses
on experiences that occurred in school. The gating question asked students to respond
to each type of behavior, no matter who the abuser had been. Follow-up questions for
each of the behaviors identified the role of the abuser (student, teacher, other school
employee, etc.) and the place where the abuse occurred. The question asked students
was:
During your whole school life, how often, if at all, has anyone (this includes
students, teachers, other school employees, or anyone else) done the following
things to you when you did not want them to?
• Made sexual comments, jokes, gestures, or looks.
• Showed, gave or left you sexual pictures, photographs, illustrations,
messages, or notes.
• Wrote sexual messages/graffiti about you on bathroom walls, in locker
rooms, etc.
• Spread sexual rumors about you.
• Said you were gay or a lesbian.
• Spied on you as you dressed or showered at school.
• Flashed or “mooned” you.
• Touched, grabbed, or pinched you in a sexual way.
• Intentionally brushed up against you in a sexual way.
• Pulled at your clothing in a sexual way.
• Pulled off or down your clothing.
• Blocked your way or cornered you in a sexual way.
• Forced you to kiss him/her.
• Forced you to do something sexual, other than kissing.”

Blocking someones way is not the same as anally sodomizing a seven year old boy.

Nor is signing a teaching contract a vocation from God.

14 posted on 04/02/2010 12:10:52 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: count-your-change
Nor is signing a teaching contract a vocation from God.

I think maybe if you polled the media behind this treatment they'd say teaching is a vocation from God and priest isn't.

15 posted on 04/02/2010 1:03:17 AM PDT by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: neverdem

Good stuff.


16 posted on 04/02/2010 1:24:31 AM PDT by Incorrigible (If I lead, follow me; If I pause, push me; If I retreat, kill me.)
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To: count-your-change
Do you have the questionnaire or study with questions asked of abuse victims re: priests?
17 posted on 04/02/2010 1:32:07 AM PDT by AliVeritas (Pray, Pray, Pray.)
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To: D-fendr
As a lawyer might plead, “Your Honor, How can my client get a fair trial with all this evidence against him?”.
18 posted on 04/02/2010 2:02:41 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: AliVeritas

No. Does one exist?


19 posted on 04/02/2010 2:06:22 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: little jeremiah
He doesn't mention some things (like the Lavender Mafia) ....

The "Velvet Underground" was what gay Hollywood called the Hollywood homo's of the 50's like Rock Hudson, Tallulah Bankhead, and Barbara Stanwyck ..... is that what you're referring to? Sounds like it might be different.

Now we've had for a dozen years Kevin Jennings, the alpha predator of all ephebophiles, kicking in the schoolhouse door.

20 posted on 04/02/2010 2:16:35 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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