From Newsgroup: nz.politics
Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
Amusing tale ><https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/russian-shared-values-visa-draws-700-wes >terners-amid-culture-clash/SXEJRV6BBFB5RPG3KVJAFAGIWQ/> of conservative >Christian families from the US and elsewhere migrating to Russia, because >they feel their home countries are becoming too a oliberala and a
owokea .
Anybody else feel like joining them? You, too, could help raise the
average IQ in both your home country and Russia by moving there.
If God and the Bible didn't want white Christians to have sex with
children, why of why are so many Christian clergy and leaders full time Pedophiles?
The general consensus in the United States is that if it is religious, it
must be good. Criticism of religion is discouraged and stifled. It remains socially unacceptable to point out the main objections which skeptics and freethinkers have to religion: that it is both untrue, and harmful. Ironically, while criticism of religion rarely makes the mainstream, the slandering and scapegoating of atheists is so acceptable that polls have
shown that most Americans would not consider voting for an atheist for President. The public harbors illusions straight out of the stuff that made William Jennings Bryan such a successful religious demagogue. One of his typical statements was, oOutside of the church are to be found the
worthless; the criminal, and the degenerate, those who are a burden to
society rather than an aid.o
Christian religious indoctrination has taught believers that what makes you
a good person is what you believe, not what you do. oGet right with Godo
and everything else falls into place, is the fundamentalist view. In this black-and-white world, the good are the Christians who go to heaven; the
bad are the hell-bound unbelievers. While the more liberal branches of Christianity usually reject this simplistic bifurcation of the world and
this narrow understanding of morality, they too believe that being a
Christian is what makes one ogood.o Their benevolent view of Jesus and the parts of the bible they deign to acknowledge as relevant to todayAs world, does not permit exploration of the darker side of Christianity. History is replete with the recorded abuses and savageries of organized religion when
it comes to power. Human sacrifices to appease the gods. The Crusades. The Inquisition. The execution of millions of women under the direction of the bible. Pogroms against Jews. The Holocaust. Jonestown, Guyana.
Believers in our society are indoctrinated to ignore the bloody history of religion, and to pay effusive lip service to belief in God, Jesus, the
bible, and GodAs holy representatives on earth. Ordained ministers and
priests are omen of God,o oGodAs holy instruments,o a race apart, anointed.
It is then no wonder that clergymen who wish to misuse power and betray
trust are in a unique position to do so. Newspapers are full of reports of financial exploitation, sexual transgressions during pastoral counseling,
and what has surfaced since the mid-1980As as one of the most persistent public relations problems facing both Catholic and Protestant churches
today: the criminal sexual abuse of children and teenagers by ordained clergymen.
As British philosopher Bertrand Russell analyzed in 1916: o. . .
[Regarding] the convention that clergymen are more virtuous than other men. Any average selection of mankind, set apart and told that it excels the
rest in virtue, must tend to sink below the averageo (oReligion and the Churcheso).
Philosopher/theologian Martin Buber, in Good and Evil, made this insight:
oSince the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal oneAs evil from oneself, as well as from others, than to be a
deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture? .
. . . I do not mean to imply that the evil are anything other than a small minority among the religious or that the religious motives of most people
are in any way spurious. I mean only that evil people tend to gravitate
toward piety for the disguise and concealment it can offer them.o
Child molesters appear to gravitate toward careers which will shield and camouflage them, while at the same time providing access to victims. Robin Levett and Bob Crane write in ItAs O.K. To Say No!: oBecause the abuse of children is a sexual preference formed relatively early in life, some offenders consciously or unconsciously choose career paths that will bring them regularly in contact with children. Others may volunteer to supervise childrenAs sports or club activities. Many are highly respected members of
the community. Some are in positions of authority over childrenuteachers, doctors, police officers, clergymen, coaches.o
Professionals agree that pedophiles, sexual abusers of children, often seek out professions or activities which bring them into contact with children. Largely unexplored is the role Christianity may play in possibly molding criminal abusers. Researchers know that a typical child molester is a ogood Christiano and often a church-goer active in church activities. Why should this be so? Havelock Ellis wrote, oIn all countries religion, or
superstition, is closely related with crime.o It should not be surprising
that crime is connected to the religious mentality and its ideology: such beliefs as original sin, the sacredness of gruesome bible teachings and inflexibility of moral codes, the absolution of sin through confession, a
lack of personal responsibility for oneAs actions, and terrifying spectres
of a jealous god and evil devils.
Religious doctrine encourages power inequities toward women and children,
and such inequities invariably lead to abuse. Christian doctrine emphasizes submission and teaches the exemplary Christian to follow like sheep, and obecome as little childreno (Matthew 18:3). The classic Christian concept
that human nature is innately odepravedo and sinful may also be a self- fulfilling prophecy.
Does the Christian ministry attract sexual deviants, or mold them? It may
be an unanswerable riddle. When one looks at fallen televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, one may surmise that the more he ranted against the temptations
of pornography and illicit sexual relations, the more he was trying to overcome his own impulses, and fighting his own nature. Or one may
speculate that the deep sexual repressions of the fundamentalist religion, coupled with the unhealthy adulation he received as one of GodAs chosen, corrupted what was once an innocent nature.
In either case, the mixture of ministerial power with religionAs social inequities and repressive doctrines is demonstrably explosive.
One study released by Rev. Ronald Barton and Rev. Karen Lebaczq (March,
1990) for the Center for Ethics and Social Policy of the Graduate
Theological Union at Berkeley, found that a quarter of all clergy have
engaged in sexual misconduct.
Extent of the Problem
Studies about pedophiles (adults who prey sexually on children) have not investigated the extent of this crime within the ministry, or whether the ratio of pedophiles in the ministry is higher than that of comparable high- risk professions. Experts agree that the molesting minister is a subset of
the dangerous class of orespected members of the communityo who betray
their position of authority and trust by sexually assaulting children. Many warn that molesters are often ogood Christians.o
The social myth persists that a child molester is most apt to be of a low- class breed lurking in dark hallways, interested in abduction of children
he does not know. In fact, most sexual abusers of children are respectable, otherwise law-abiding people who cultivate friendly relationships with
their chosen prey, and may escape detection for precisely those reasons. Research agrees that the typical child molester is able to harm large
numbers of children without being caught, in part, because he has already established a trusting relationship, playing on childrenAs sense of
loyalty, vulnerability, shame, and naivete, and fortifying his power to silence them through bribery, coercion and violent threats. In the case of
a molesting man of the cloth, add to these threats the supernatural ones of GodAs wrath or hellfire.
The largest study of pedophiles was directed by researcher, physician and psychiatrist Gene G. Abel, M.D., of Emory University School of Medicine,
for the Antisocial and Violent Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. The landmark eight-year study revealed that, oMolesters
often become youth ministers, day-care workers, Boy Scout leaders,
teachers, Big Brothers and pediatricianso (Dr. Abel and Nora Harlow, oThe Child Abuser,o Redbook Magazine, August 1987). They add, oHe is often an active Christian who is involved in his church.o
AbelAs study discovered that 403 pedophiles had molested more than 67,000 children! Pedophiles who targeted male victims averaged 282 victims, while pedophiles who targeted girls averaged 23 victims. Other studies have uncovered more traditional findings of higher incidences of abuse of girls.
Some figures are available about ministers who are child abusers. The
Church Mutual Insurance Company, of Merrill, Wisconsin, which insures
46,000 churches, has seen about 200 claims against ministers for sexual
abuse of children in the late eighties. The company estimated that in 1990 there were as many as 2,000 cases of sexual abuse by clergy in the courts.
Jeffrey Anderson, a Minnesota attorney who specializes in sexual abuse
civil suits, was aware of more than 300 civil claims against Catholic
priests in 43 states through 1991, and has handled 80 cases himself.
Catholic reporter Jason Berry has tracked at least 100 civil settlements by the Catholic Church in the years 1984-1990, totaling $100 million to $300 million. Of course, many such civil cases are settled secretly.
Roman Catholic canon attorney Father Thomas Doyle has estimated that about 3,000 Roman Catholic priests are pedophiliac abusers of children (an
average of 16 priestly sex abusers per diocese).
Baltimore psychotherapist and former priest A.W. Richard Sipe, author of A Secret World: Sexuality and the Search for Celibacy, 1990, made a comprehensive study of the sexual conduct of priests. As a result of his study, HarperAs Index 1990 published this statistic: oEstimated chances
that a Catholic priest in the United States is sexually active: 1 in 2.o
Sipe studied 1,000 priests and 500 of their oloverso or victims. He offered this breakdown: 20% of priests are involved in sexual relationships with women; 8-10% in oheterosexual exploration,o 20% are homosexual with half of them active, 6% are pedophiles, almost 4% of them targeting boys. However, Sipes observed othe homosexual contacts are four times more likely to come
to the attention of parents or authorities, especially if the sexual involvement stops short of intercourse in heterosexual cases.o
The offices of the national monthly Freethought Today out of Madison, Wisconsin, receive three to four newspaper clippings per week from readers detailing a new criminal or civil court accusation against a priest or Protestant minister. It has surveyed reported cases in North America during the years of 1988 and 1989 and found 250 reported cases of criminal charges involving child-molesting priests, ministers or ministerial staff in the United States and Canada. Of the accused clergy, 75 were Catholic priests (39.5%), and 111 were Protestant ministers (58%). Also charged were one
Mormon clergyman, one occult minister and two cult ministers. Protestant
cases involved equal numbers of mainstream and fundamentalist/evangelical denominations. That study revealed no rabbis charged with child
molestation.
Although priests make up only about 10% of North American clergy, they were 40% of the accused, leaving the Catholic Church, which complains that the media are opriest-bashing,o with no grounds for criticism. With outcome unknown in about a fifth of the cases, the study found that 88% of all
charged clergy were convicted, with slightly lower conviction rate for priestsu81%.
A majority of cases did not go to trial, with 61% of accused reverends pleading guilty (53%) or no contest (8%). Three-quarters of all clergy who pleaded innocent were found guilty. About half of the Catholic priests pleading innocent were convicted.
The study revealed that Catholic priests were acquitted or dismissed of
child molestation charges at a higher rate than Protestant ministers. Similarly, Catholic priests received a higher rate of suspended sentences
when convicted, and when sentenced, spent considerably less time in jail Or prison. Seventy-eight percent of convicted ministers were incarcerated with sentences as brief as 30 days in jail to as long as three lifeterms. About
10% received probation only.
However, priests were incarcerated at a lower rate, with only 68.5% of convicted priests spending time in jail or prison. The average Protestant clergyman sent to prison received 11.5 years, while the average Roman
Catholic priest received only 3.6 years. Of the 21 priests sent to prison, none received a sentence higher than nine years. By contrast, of 58
sentenced Protestant clergy, 45% received ten or more years, including
three life sentences.
Almost twice as many priests received suspended sentences. Additionally,
one priest was given treatment only as a sentence and another was channeled into pretrial intervention with charges dropped upon successful completion.
Overall, 7.4% of the cases against Protestant ministers were dismissed and 4.7% were acquitted. Cases against priests were dropped at a higher rate of 12.5% dismissal, and 6.3% acquittal.
The very high conviction rate would indicate that prosecutors tend to
charge clergymen only when they feel very confident of the outcome.
In these cases, involving 190 ordained clergy and 60 nonordained clergy
staff, such as Sunday school teachers, crimes mainly occurred at church locations. One convicted priest molested victims just before giving Mass. Sexual abuse occurred at the sacristy, in the rectory or church van. About half of the clergymen were officially involved in youth functions. About a third were accused of molesting youths during camping trips, youth group activities, retreats and crusades. About 20% were accused of molesting children at religious schools, 21% at church homes for children or through foster care. Eleven percent were accused of abusing children during
counseling sessions exclusively, although other cases involved a counseling relationship.
Most ministers were charged with molesting at least four or five victims
but were believed to have assaulted many others. The sexual assault charges ranged from indecent touching to rape, sodomy, and child pornography. Much
of the abuse was long-term, with some children assaulted as many as 1,000 times. Included in the study were prominent clergy and evangelists who had made names for themselves through special ministries or ogood works.o
Charges for all 190 cases involved a total of 847 identified victims. Conservatively, according to speculations made by investigators, the 190 clergy had at least 4,000 other victims, for a low estimate of an average
of 21 victims each. These victims often were not included in charges for pragmatic legal reasons, because they had been molested in other
jurisdictions or times, or because the statute of limitations had been exceeded.
The profile of the typical clergyman charged with molesting children: a 45 year old man (ages ranged from 24 to 80 at the time of arrest), with four
to five named victims, most often boys in their early teens. Of all the accused, 37% involved crimes against girl victims, 58% male victims, 3.2% children of both sexes, 1% sex not specified.
Freethought TodayAs follow-up study of 1990 cases found one clergyman or church leader busted every three days for child sexual abuse. Two-thirds of these 106 perpetrators were priests or Protestant ministers. This study was concluded at a point where slightly more than a third of the cases were closed. Of those with final dispositions, almost allu98%uof the accused had been convicted. Only one of the closed cases had ended in a not-guilty verdict. The briefer study confirmed the earlier findings of a Catholic
versus Protestant double standard, with priests receiving lighter sentences than Protestant ministers, and nonordained clerical staff receiving by far
the heaviest sentences. Catholic priests accused in 1990 were prosecuted mainly for molesting boys, while about half of the Protestant clergy were charged for crimes involving female victims. Cover-ups were specifically
noted in newspaper reports in 38% of the cases, including many Protestant cases. Shockingly, 11 out of the 46 Protestant ministers charged in 1990
with criminal sexual abuse had prior convictionsunearly a quarter of the cases, all dating since 1985. Most of the men had received light sentences enabling them to return to the pulpit, and resume sexual abuse of children, quickly. Churches are not only failing to check ministersA records, but in some instances are knowingly hiring convicted child molesters.
The most blatant cover-up that year involved a Salvation Army minister who
was permitted to keep his job and was given continuing access to children after back-to-back arrests for sexually abusing children during bible
classes.
Defendants often unabashedly used their piety and positions to ask for (and sometimes receive) court leniency.
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