I would have thought that having a direct line to God would keep you from falling into these types of socially ok things (even though contrary to what he said, it was NOT ok in the 70s either!).
It certainly can't have anything to do with their rule of celibacy or anything. Nope--let's blame the flock who were following them. It's their fault!
We exmos must watch this closely. Since the Pope speaks for Christ and so does Tommy Monson, we might be expecting similar utterances since the apologists have already told us that God used King James language when speaking to Moroni AND Joseph Smith--you know, that's just how he talks, all consistent an' everything...
So we should expect Profit Monson to announce that the lies told by the GA's (Paul Dunn, et al) are actually the result of the environment of lies created by members lying at tithing settlement meetings and temple recommend interviews. A climate of lies, that's the ticket...the members created a culture of lies! And we, the longsuffering leadership, were caught up in it!
And the lies told by Joseph Smith (lying climate of the times)
Zeno Lorea Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do catholic priests become child molesters, or do > child molesters become catholic priests?
I genuinely believe that it's the latter. I've talked this over with a bunch of different people of different backgrounds, including a few Catholics. These pedophiles see the priesthood as a way to have access to potential victims. The same could be said about any pedophile that goes into any situation or profession just to have access potential victims.
Pedophiles also tend to have low self-esteem, say experts, so they aim for professions which bring prestige rather than money. In many societies, priests and teachers are well-respected, so those professions are attractive.
Sports coaches, for instance, are much less likely to do this for several reasons: it is not often a real profession (they have a day job); they work with larger groups of kids who train together, with very little of the one-on-one contact that spiritual counsellors have; they work with kids who are both mentally and physically stronger than average, while priests come in contact with the easy-to-manipulate softies; and last but not least, the kids have contact with eachother rather than with the coach.
I am a civil servant: I run a swimming pool and teach swimming lessons. I want everybody to take a soapy shower before they enter my pool (and afterwards if they want), but I never set foot in the boys' lockerroom. I want the boys' fathers, and the girls' mothers, to take turns attending class. If I hear a noise from my office I'll send a parent in.
But catholic priests? Well-respected role models in some places, with great authority that cannot be questioned since it comes from the big easter bunny in the sky. Recipe for disaster.
involved in sexual abuse. Several high profile incidents have occurred in the Canadian minor league hockey system and the United States swimming program. And I think those are just the tip of the iceberg.
A kid that is bigger and stronger than average is still a kid. For example, NFL wide receiver Laveranues Coles has come forward about being sexually abused.
The fact is, sexual abuse is and probably always has been rampant in our society. There are a lot of predators out there, and they definitely look for opportunities to gain access to kids.
Can't help but wonder--with all due respect--how a church whose supposed most holy and inspired people are celibate men can claim any kind of authority.
How exactly does a clergy comprised exclusively of men with abnormal sexuality (I consider celibacy abnormal) reflect reality for the other 99% of humanity? How exactly can these men be expected to understand or have any real insight into human relationships, sex or families?
It reminds me of the scene in "The Razor's Edge" when the young mother loses her husband and child in a car crash, and in the hospital the nun keeps shushing and trying to comfort her and telling her everything will be all right, and the woman screams, "You've never had a man inside you! You've never had a child inside you! Nothing will ever be right again! Leave me alone!"
I just reject the notion that God would give us love, sex, babies, fertility--the most sacred and miraculous aspects of our earthly life--and then require his most ardent and holy servants to reject those aspects. Doesn't make sense to me.
(And in a practical sense, of course men who have a healthy, normal desire for adult women are not going to join the priesthood in droves, so you're left with closeted gays and pedophiles. Not that I have a problem with gays or anything.)
First a disclaimer. I am not a Catholic. But I was raised one in the 1970's.
Celibacy is not a defining characeristic like brown eyes or beautiful singing voice or freckled skin. It is a chosen way of behaving.
Do not think for an instant that those non-gay, non-pedophiliac heterosexual male priests who are practicing celibacy are not struggling with their choice. They are. They are normal men and it is difficult for them to keep those vows. Think how difficult it would be for you to do so. The problem is that if they want to serve the Church as a profession, they are compelled to give up the chance at having a normal family life. The Church demands this of them. So, many men who would make good priests but can't give up sex, wife and family do not become priests. Only the most devoted of the heterosexual, normal men who want to become priests do so.
I can tell you that if my anecdotal experience being raised in the Catholic Church in the 1970's is any indicator, gay and pedophiliac priests are the EXCEPTION rather than the norm. I was regularly exposed to many, many different Catholic priests over that 10+ year period and I never felt that any of those men had gay or pedophiliac tendancies. Even reviewing my knowledge of these men after the fact, I still can't recall a single questionable experience.
Does that mean that there weren't pedophile priests in the Catholic Church during the 1970's (and every other time?) Of course there were. However let's keep in mind the stories we've heard of pedophilie priests. The typical story is of a kind of weird guy that nobody ever really felt comfortable around who, over 20 or 30 years, molested hundreds of children while having his tracks covered by the Church as he was shifted from one parish to the next.
Pedophile priests are rare and I'm certain the number is MUCH LOWER than even 5% of the priesthood. If it weren't, every Catholic you know would have somehow been "touched" by this problem and the Church would be completely bankrupt. There are 70 million plus American Catholics out there, people. That's a crapload of priests.
For the record, I don't understand why "gay" was even mentioned in this discussion. A gay man looking for sex partners is going to have a much easier time hanging out at the local gay bar than hoping the associate pastor in the next room of the parish rectory is going to be receptive to his advances.
And the daily experience of Catholics both lay and the clergy is not a scene from a movie. Personally, I think the above quote is preposterous. There are plenty of experiences I haven't had in life but that doesn't mean I can't empathize with another person who's suffering and give sincerely motivated comfort. And for that matter, no nun I've ever known would behave in that way when offering comfort to a grieving widow. (Read: the nuns I've known are a lot bitchier and no-nonsense and "lets-get-this-taken-care-of" and wouldn't sit and stroke shoulders and say "there, there" in a completely ineffectual way.)
why gays are mentioned any time pedophiles are. The poster here probably didn't mean to suggest that they are related, but all too often people tend to link them. They are completely different things. Being gay doesn't make anyone any more likely to be a pedophile.
When I first met one of my new neighbors who had moved here from an eastern European country stated that they never say any of "those pedophiles or gays over there." It was offensive that being gay was being compared to being a pedophile.
The most horrifying thing I've ever seen that has to do with the catholoc priest abuse is the documentary Deliver Us From Evil. The Catholic church actively covered up for and protected a pedophile priest who had abused dozens of children, and all the church did was protect him.