Posted on 04/04/2010 6:04:36 AM PDT by bronxville
Pedophilia Only a Catholic Sin?
It turns out pedophilia is an incorrect term, and Catholics aren't responsible for most of it.
Shockingly, AP breaks out of their typical liberal mold and reports Insurance companies shed light on extent of sex abuse in Protestant churches, that sexual abuse of minors has been rampant. But in their statement, they indirectly say members of the Catholic Church are not the majority abusers.
AP discusses the raw numbers from three companies that insure the majority of protestant churches in America (Church Mutual, Guide One, and Brotherhood Mutual), and typically receive 260 reports/yr of people under 18 being sexually abused. Compare that with ~228 credible accusations/yr against Catholic clerics since 1950 (documented abuse records).
Together with that information, it is known that the Catholic Church greatly outnumbers any specific Protestant denomination, and the data for Protestant churches is available only for the last seven years. Ever since the first sexual abuse cases had been reported, Catholics have had requirements: 1) police background check done on all volunteers--including priests, 2) a second person be present at all religious functions, and 3) all personnel involved with minors must take routine checks with "Protecting God's Children".
Without a doubt, sexual abuse of a minor is one of the most despicable crimes and sins that man can perpetrate. But predators seem to thrive in an atmosphere where the base congregation is one of the most trusted organizations that exist.
Philip Jenkins, in his 1996 book Pedophiles and Priests, [[link edited for length]], looked at the problem objectively and dispassionately. Jenkins (who is not Catholic) found that true pedophilia is extremely rare, and perhaps more common among Protestant clergy, and is even more common among married laymen.
He found that in most sexual abuse cases (under the age of consent), the behavior is actually a variety of homosexuality. This sexual attraction with very young men that combine the charm of boyishness with sexual maturity is actually called ephebophilia. Pedophilia is really a psychiatric term meaning sexual interest in children below the age of puberty.
Even a book review by William A. Donahue [Review: Pedophiles and Priests] reveals how accurate Jenkins is in his observations over the years. Deal Hudson makes 10 valid points about priestly pedophilia [link edited for length] no one should overlook.
True pedophilia (Leon Podles/ Clergy Sexual Misconduct: Just a Catholic Problem?) occurs most often within families. Celibacy removes most Catholic priests from those types of temptations, and clergy in churches that do not require celibacy have the same (if not worse) problems.
But it has been a media target for any child abuse. More so because many enjoy 'shooting down' something they believe to be "holier than thou". But the Episcopal Church has a comparable problem, and some of the worst abuse cases have been in fundamentalist and Pentecostal churches [[link edited for length]].
Up until the AP report, comprehensive studies were only done on the Catholic Church. The rate for school teachers, residential home-counselors, social workers, or even scoutmasters, never existed because they had no method of accounting for sexual abuse. But the recent AP investigation found more than 2,500 cases over five years in which educators were punished for actions from bizarre to sadistic. (Jacoby/Townhall) rightly states the same sort of outcry that came with Catholic sexual abuse has not existed with public school teachers.
It seems obvious that the legit but skewed condemnation of the Catholic Church is likely coming from the devil, himself. It's only logical his first and sometimes only, victim would be the church with the correct answers.
The problem of sexual abuse seems much bigger than the public will admit. And abuse from church organizations seems to be the minority. Reported sexual abuse seems only the tip of the iceberg. As despicable as Catholic abuse is, it is no where near just a Catholic problem. And finally, it seems as though the public has the wrong impression of who's responsible for accusations of ephebophilia.
And they don't seem to be able to know the differences in phobias, either.
Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net
“...which was the focus/body of the thread. Don’t you wonder why you’re not having a “PR nightmare” with so many Child Molesting Protestant Pastors?”
Two words: cover up.
Cardinal Bernard Law wound up in Vatican City for a reason Robby S.
Which has what to do with the Roman Catholic Faith bronxville?
A Editorial by some LSM writer means what, exactly?
If I did not think well of my fellow FReepers who are Catholic, I would take this effort as some sort of hit piece on the SBC.
Yes, he was bumped upstairs. Not because he was liable to criminal prosecution. If you think so you overestimate civil authorities who let the likes of Teddy Kennedy get away with killing a woman thru criminal negligence. People keep saying: should have turned them over to the cops. And you think that the cops wanted any part of them. Think “hot potato!” Think “Bill Clinton!”
Ain’t that the truth.
People keep saying things like this, and yet they won't do j*ck sh*t about what goes on in public schools every day. "Just kids being kids, nothing you can do about it."
FReepin hypocrites.
Very often in protestant churches the minister is fired or allowed to resign. The problem is solved for that congregation but they know very well that the minister will get hired elsewhere.
Wouldn’t be surprised. But the less organized structure of Protestantism means there isn’t an active attempt to move the pastor to another church. Not much help to the kids victimized, of course, but less organizational involvement in a coverup.
"Philip Jenkins, in his 1996 book Pedophiles and Priests, [[link edited for length]], looked at the problem objectively and dispassionately...."
The links are clickable in the original article, but not in the main body of your posted message.
My fault, I should have just gone straight to the article.
Thanks for your efforts and your research.
Let us all pray for each other: I mean Catholics, Baptists, people of all faiths. We are living in a dye-vat of corruption, this corrupt culture, and cannot pretend we are not picking up the stain.
God grant us clean hearts! Give us courage and fortitude! God have mercy on us all!
aMorePerfectUnion - “Two words: cover up.”
True - see articles.
padre35 - “A Editorial by some LSM writer means what, exactly? If I did not think well of my fellow FReepers who are Catholic, I would take this effort as some sort of hit piece on the SBC.”
padre, you asked for convicted Child Molesting Protestant Pastors. You have a problem with those I posted - there’s plenty more. The Pastors at SBC don’t appear to like it either but this information comes from a Protestant Pastor who wants to “shine a light” on the abuses and get something done about the predators within...certainly a good thing which appears to be greatly needed.
This is a letter from the Southern Baptist Convention to SNAP – not very hopeful - http://stopbaptistpredators.org/documents/Botoletter.pdf
Another one where they outline how they can’t be responsible...
“I know that this has happened on multiple occasions....” http://stopbaptistpredators.org/documents/Baptist_Letter.pdf
And here are just a few of the -
Convicted, Confessed, Credibly Accused Cover-ups:
“Clergy sex-abuse and cover-up scandal hits Southern Baptist flagship -
Bellevue Baptist is a flagship megachurch for Southern Baptists. It was long pastored by 3-term Southern Baptist president Adrian Rogers, and more recently, by Steve Gaines.
In 2006-07, it was mired in reports of a clergy child molestation cover-up.
Pastor Steve Gaines knew that one of his staff ministers had sexually abused a kid years earlier. What did he do? He kept quiet”...
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/scandals/bellevue.html
Assistant pastor guilty of sex abuse against son
By Hannah Elliott Tuesday, January 30, 2007
http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1763&Itemid=120
http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?s=5848132
Even his wife knew he sexually abused their son yet joined in the cover-up.
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
By Skip Hollandsworth
Texas Monthly
March 2008
“...Unlike some denominations, Baptist churches have no defined hierarchies and operate independently of one another. There are no rules, for example, requiring a church to inform the convention’s leaders that one of its pastors has been accused of misconduct.”
“In fact, to avoid defamation lawsuits, leaders of a church have an incentive to keep their mouths shut when it comes to questionable behavior among their clergy,...”
Just as they had been at Baylor and at First Baptist of Waco, the written complaints about his behavior were put in a file and, for better or worse, forgotten.”
“Even with so many allegations of abuse and assault on teens and young women, Matt was able to get still another job working with students. His position was funded by the Baptist General Convention of Texas. After his arrest on murder charges, Matt was suspended “with pay.”
“Matt also worked as a substitute teacher in Kerrville. He was teaching at a high school just before he was taken into custody.”
[Article is excerpted; to read all of it, subscribe at TexasMonthly.com.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/2008-03-01/feature-1.php ]
This sexual pervert Pastor got 65yrs for murdering his wife.
This is a very sad story -
...”In the aftermath, Diana lost everything family, career, home, health, even some church friends who couldn’t understand why she had her husband arrested and then divorced him: He’d said he was sorry and would never do it again; why couldn’t she forgive?”
“To some who scorned her, Diana committed the ultimate sin by suing the Southern Baptist Convention in Virginia, the organizational arm of her church (winning a $1.56 million judgment, then losing it a year later on appeal). She sued because church officials knew the oldest daughter, Renee, was being abused long before Diana did. One of them, according to Renee’s sworn testimony, told her to forgive her father and not tell anyone what he had done.”
“It was three years before Renee got the courage to speak up again. By then, her father had started in on her two little sisters.”
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/article/george_tom_wade.html
Jury recommends three life terms for ex-pastor
MARTHA DELLER
STAFF WRITER, FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
FORT WORTH, TX —
“Rejecting defense pleas for probation or a short prison term, a Tarrant County jury recommended that Larry Nuell Neathery serve maximum prison terms on 25 charges of sexually abusing five boys, virtually ensuring that the 56-year-old former Baptist pastor ends his life behind bars.”
“Besides being abused, she said, Neathery’s victims were ostracized by members of Westside Victory Baptist Church, where Neathery was pastor when the abuse occurred.”...
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/article/larryneathery.html
Plenty more here...
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/news.html
Comment by a prior President of SBC - Bobby Welch...
“We shouldn’t enjoy this Catholic mess too much. We’re waiting on the other shoe to drop, and when it does, don’t be surprised if there is more and more within our ranks.”
Also more cover-ups...
http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=7954
He’s talking like they actually “enjoy” our debasement. Sick! He’s correct when he states they need to be cautious in their joy.
I was in a hurry and not thinking properly. Sorry for the confusion - I should have linked them more clearly. :)
Forgotten Study: Abuse in School 100 Times Worse than by Priests -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2484819/posts?q=1&;page=101
I invited both posters to come here but...
Where does the Baptist buck stop?
Southern Baptists acknowledge abuse among churches
By Terry Mattingly
The clergy sexual abuse statistics were staggering.
Local reports from angry, hurt and humiliated laypeople were too horrifying to ignore.
So the assembled church leaders decided that they had to say something, they had to call for some kind of action because they were facing a nasty moral crisis.
“We encourage those religious bodies dealing with the tragedy of clergy abuse in their efforts to rid their ranks of predatory ministers,” said their June 12 resolution. “We call on civil authorities to punish to the fullest extent of the law sexual abuse among clergy and counselors. ...
“We call on our churches to discipline those guilty of any sexual abuse ... as well as to cooperate with civil authorities in the prosecution of those cases.”
Thus, the “messengers” to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention acknowledged that America’s largest non-Catholic flock has been hit by waves of clergy sexual abuse affecting untold numbers of women, men, teen-agers and children. The resolution, which passed with little opposition, called for “ministers of the gospel — whether they are pastors, counselors, educators, missionaries, chaplains or others — to be above reproach morally, both within the body of Christ and in the larger community.”
The intent of is clear. Yet this statement also demonstrates why it will be hard for freewheeling and autonomous Protestant congregations to attack clergy sexual abuse.
While news media have repeatedly focused on abuse among Catholics, Protestant insiders have also long known that many of their own clergy — especially youth workers and pastors who do counseling — were breaking the laws of God and man.
“The incidence of sexual abuse by clergy has reached ‘horrific proportions,’ “ according to a 2000 report to the Baptist General Convention of Texas. It noted that studies conducted in the 1980s found that about 12 percent of ministers had “engaged in sexual intercourse with members” and nearly 40 percent had “acknowledged sexually inappropriate behavior.”
Sadly, this report added: “Recent surveys by religious journals and research institutes support these figures. The disturbing aspect of all research is that the rate of incidence for clergy exceeds the client-professional rate for both physicians and psychologists.”
Where does the buck stop, when sexual abuse hits Protestant pulpits? The Southern Baptist resolution calls on local churches to discipline sex offenders. Yet the most powerful person in modern Protestantism is a successful pastor whose preaching and people skills keep packing people into the pews. Can his own church board truly investigate and discipline that pastor?
Once that question is asked, others quickly follow.
If the board of deacons in a Southern Baptist congregation faced an in-house sex scandal and wanted help, where could it turn? It could seek help from its competition, the circle of churches in its local association. Or it could appeal to its state convention. In some states, “conservative” and “moderate” churches would need to choose between competing conventions linked to these rival Baptist camps. Or could a church appeal for help from the boards and agencies of the 16-million-member national convention?
Everything depends on that local church and everything is voluntary. One more question: What Baptist leader would dare face the liability issues involved in guiding such a process?
“Just think of all the places where this process could go off the rails,” said historian Timothy Weber, dean of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary near Chicago. “One church would have to take the initiative to voluntarily report the information on a bad pastor. Then another church would have to voluntarily go through the process of asking for information so that they can screen a pastor that it is thinking about hiring.”
Some state conventions might have the staff and know how to create a data bank of information of clergy sexual abuse. But for Baptist leaders to do so, they would risk clashing with their tradition’s total commitment to the freedom and the autonomy of the local congregation.
“The fact is,” said Weber, “there is no Baptist clearing house for this information — anywhere. There is no one keeper of the files, nobody out there who has the power to intervene when something goes wrong and people start pointing fingers. There is no there, out there.”
http://www.leaderu.com/theology/southernbapt.html
A good confession also asking good questions. I wonder if any of them have been answered?
Read and maybe ping it out tomorrow. All these people slamming the Catholic Church and not ONE of them ever mentions Jennings and HIS agenda, HIS words, HIS example, HIS admiration for Harry Hays - the founder of NAMBLA, or GLSEN that Jennings founded and is in hundreds if not thousands of public schools in the US.
It’s hard to discuss this issue coherently, because (among other reasons) one “side” (the media) favors anything-goes sex with children. Another “side” is viscerally anti-Catholic and attributes all sin to the specifics of Catholic belief and practice, no matter how batty the logic for that is. Another “side,” which includes many reasonable Christians, is often unwilling to take a stand on chastity for everyone, because that’s so pre-modern.
But here goes: All sexual behavior apart from that of a married man and woman, engaging in the natural relationship particular to a man and woman (if you know what I mean) is wrong. Age, sex, occupation, etc., etc., doesn’t make the wrong, right. If we take a single step away from this categorical position, it is almost impossible logically to take a stand anywhere else, because all else is personal taste or the arbitrary and often contradictory rulings of law.
Well, gosh bronxville, I suppose I should then compare such accusations to collective guilt placed on Hebrews..
I’m quite happy with those criminal prosecutions, in fact I do think there should be more of them “if’ the malfeasance can be found.
However, and once again, pointing to the SBC with a j’accuse does not absolve the Catholic Church from their continuing alacrity in not dealing with their own issues.
And one still has not answered my query about a LSM article means what..exactly.
So allow my to amplyfy the question with “why would you view a LSM article involving the Catholic Church differently”?
It merely amounts to relativism on behalf of a 2,000 yr old institution.
“I’m quite happy with those criminal prosecutions, in fact I do think there should be more of them “if’ the malfeasance can be found.”
I just gave you the tip of the iceberg and you say “if”?
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