tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post4926428185415928034..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Wednesday Horror: The Exorcism of Emily RoseSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-36476200615878198322018-10-17T15:46:37.082-05:002018-10-17T15:46:37.082-05:00There are a number of things I can forgive in the ...There are a number of things I can forgive in the world. When it comes to this particular issue with the Catholic Church in specific (we'll get to what I mean by that in a second), I have two issues.<br /><br />Before I start, I should say that I don't think that Catholicism or the priesthood specifically attracts pedophiles. Maybe it does--I haven't seen any numbers on that, but I would be shocked if that were the case. That a certain percentage of priests are pedophiles is true, just as a certain percentage of dentists, veterinarians, and mayors are pedophiles. I'd bet it's pretty much the same percentage all the way around, give or take. <br /><br />The first thing is this--as an atheist, I am frequently asked how I can possibly be moral without God. More frequently I'm simply told that I cannot be moral--that by virtue of not believing in a god I must therefore be essentially a demon. Well, if the church is supposed to make us better, why doesn't it? I mean, there is not a world-wide, fabulously wealthy atheist organization that uses a part of its proceedings to shelter pedophiles, keep them from being prosecuted, and giving them new victims on the regular. If religion is supposed to ennoble us, why didn't it in this case?<br /><br />Second, barring that, the problem isn't that the pedophilia happened. I mean, yes, that's the problem, but again, there is a percentage of every field and locale and generation that will be aberrant in this way. It's the cover-up that is so distressing. It's the revolving door that continued to put these predators in new places without warning. If a pedophile priest was found out and the Church led the charge to have him put away, I would applaud them. They didn't. They used their money, their influence, and the credulity of millions to protect themselves. And I'm not sure I can forgive that.<br /><br />The Catholic Church is a ready-made boogeyman for this. Other churches are not much better. This is a problem that is rife amongst Protestant churches as well, but since they tend to be more independent and not part of a world-spanning network, it's easier to ignore. Anyway, Protestants and atheists don't tend to get possessed. Must be something in the holy water.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-24398169308278647752018-10-17T15:20:53.550-05:002018-10-17T15:20:53.550-05:00These days, though, it becomes increasingly more d...<b>These days, though, it becomes increasingly more difficult for me to take seriously the Catholic Church as the good guys.</b><br /><br />Ha! Good point. My own experience among the Catholics has been generally positive, and I'm convinced that, among the priests, there are plenty of good eggs out there. That said, there's overwhelming evidence that the Church harbors and protects much more than a tiny minority of twisted individuals, and that a pervasive institutional rot reaches deep into the Church's core. Movies like "Spotlight" might be the true horror films, come to think of it, especially once you start pondering the sheer scale of the problem. And it doesn't seem that the current pope is all that motivated to do anything about the situation. (Which, of course, doesn't make him all that different from previous popes.)Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.com