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But priests aren't supposed to be like all the other males, right?
You said you aren't condoning it, but it does seem like your suggesting that because a portion of the general population statistically abuses children that a portion of the priesthood will too. I'd think they'd be held to higher standard and their faith would prevent such atrocities.
You're missing my point, and I'm not sure whether or not that's intentional.
Like it or not, pedophiles unfortunately exist - in all sorts of careers and situations, including but not limited to Catholic and other Christian organizations. THEY SHOULDN'T EXIST ANYWHERE and sexual abuse shouldn't be enabled in any circumstances, but we live in an imperfect world unfortunately.
There are many scenarios (see below link) in which children are, unfortunately, at much more risk than others. Actually kids are in more danger going to school or spending the night with relatives than they are going to church activities. Priests Commit No More Abuse Than Other Males
Because they're not really "pro-life" they are pro-birth. Any respect they have for life ends the second the child is born.
I am sick of this frickin' cunnard by the left. THis is totally false, but choicers refuse to accept the truth that there are thousands of charitable non-profit (read PAID FOR BY PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES) organizations that provide housing, medical care, job training and parenting classes for unwed pregnant women who do not chose murder over life and/or adoption.
Stop with the lies and stop with the hate towards women who support other women by helping them deal with their responsibilities instead of lying to them to get them to mutilate and kill their offspring!!
You're missing my point, and I'm not sure whether or not that's intentional.
Like it or not, pedophiles unfortunately exist - in all sorts of careers and situations, including but not limited to Catholic and other Christian organizations. THEY SHOULDN'T EXIST ANYWHERE and sexual abuse shouldn't be enabled in any circumstances, but we live in an imperfect world unfortunately.
There are many scenarios (see below link) in which children are, unfortunately, at much more risk than others. Actually kids are in more danger going to school or spending the night with relatives than they are going to church activities. Priests Commit No More Abuse Than Other Males
But Uncle Joe who sneaks into your room at night isn't broadcasting the word of god on daily basis, nor being exposed to it, again on daily basis. I would assume such exposure would stem evil. But hey, I ran screaming from christianity ages ago, so things may be different now.
I am sick of this frickin' cunnard by the left. THis is totally false, but choicers refuse to accept the truth that there are thousands of charitable non-profit (read PAID FOR BY PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES) organizations that provide housing, medical care, job training and parenting classes for unwed pregnant women who do not chose murder over life and/or adoption.
Stop with the lies and stop with the hate towards women who support other women by helping them deal with their responsibilities instead of lying to them to get them to mutilate and kill their offspring!!
When a lot of the people who call themselves pro-life, are the same ones degrading anyone on government assistance, or receiving help from anyone other than themselves, it's hard to remember there are good people on the other side.
Just to clarify - and not to condone the Church or ANY other organization for covering up sexual abuse - it has been determined (and that's difficult) by several studies that the incidence of pedophilia (this does not include other forms of sexual abuse) in the general population is somewhere between 3-5 percent of the male population. The Catholic Church's incidence of sexual abuse (not limited to pedophilia) is about 4 percent of the clergy. Like I said, this includes other forms of sexual abuse, not just pedophilia. How many men are paedophiles? - BBC News
Thanks for posting the stats. However, I find little comfort in them as I have higher expectations of priests than of the general public.
The church leaders moved pedophiles around, hid them, and treated their victims shabbily.
The Catholic church is not occupying the moral high ground here. Where they find the gall to tell woman what's moral and what isn't remains a mystery.
I'm not sure how the Catholic church keeps its tax-exempt status as it clearly is in violation of IRS laws for tax-exempt status. They are obviously politically active in getting legislation passed and openly campaign for politicians.
Look, I'm not going to argue back and forth about abortion. Here's my belief system. I believe that human life starts at conception. That's my belief and it's never been disproven - just argued back and forth, but never disproven. Therefore, the very idea of abortion as a form of oopsie birth control absolutely appalls me. Please note that I do believe that there are exceptional cases when abortion could be justified, but those exceptions don't account for the hundreds of thousands of abortions that are performed every year in this country.
To me, it is a holocaust of horrific proportions. That is my belief. I understand that others don't agree with me. I also understand that I probably won't be able to convince them to believe me, and that they will probably not be able to convince me that human life - that indescribably precious gift of human life - does not begin at conception.
So that's why I generally don't debate abortion, even though I have very strong opinions about it.
You are not alone in your beliefs. I was brainwashed about abortion for many years and I regret believing the lies about "it's a choice," "it's your body," "it's just a blob of cells, you know, like a tumor."
I experienced a true pivot point in my thinking and I understand that the only way that abortion will ever end is to work to change the hearts of people and to provide them with the truth about what it means to abort a fetus.
That said, I strongly advocate against any federal or state funding for abortion. I support the abundant availability and ease of access to birth control as well as the availability of counseling and REAL family planning that is available at any Pregnancy Crisis Center that is focused on the health and wellbeing of women and their children.
But, I completely agree with you that there is no way to calmly discuss this issue with anyone who equates abortion with a choice or a "reproductive right."
But Uncle Joe who sneaks into your room at night isn't broadcasting the word of god on daily basis, nor being exposed to it, again on daily basis. I would assume such exposure would stem evil. But hey, I ran screaming from christianity ages ago, so things may be different now.
I am not condoning pedophilia by any group - just being intellectually honest about it and realizing sadly that pedophilia exists in every society, and basically every group and profession. Sad but true.
And many kids are at a higher risk than others - in settings other than church related activities.
Thanks for posting the stats. However, I find little comfort in them as I have higher expectations of priests than of the general public.
The church leaders moved pedophiles around, hid them, and treated their victims shabbily.
The Catholic church is not occupying the moral high ground here. Where they find the gall to tell woman what's moral and what isn't remains a mystery.
I'm not sure how the Catholic church keeps its tax-exempt status as it clearly is in violation of IRS laws for tax-exempt status. They are obviously politically active in getting legislation passed and openly campaign for politicians.
Well, I'm not Catholic and I'm not going to debate about or get into defending the Catholic Church - I'm just pointing out that pedophiles are unfortunately present in all walks of life. And there are many settings that put kids at much higher risk than church activities.
You are not alone in your beliefs. I was brainwashed about abortion for many years and I regret believing the lies about "it's a choice," "it's your body," "it's just a blob of cells, you know, like a tumor."
I experienced a true pivot point in my thinking and I understand that the only way that abortion will ever end is to work to change the hearts of people and to provide them with the truth about what it means to abort a fetus.
That said, I strongly advocate against any federal or state funding for abortion. I support the abundant availability and ease of access to birth control as well as the availability of counseling and REAL family planning that is available at any Pregnancy Crisis Center that is focused on the health and wellbeing of women and their children.
But, I completely agree with you that there is no way to calmly discuss this issue with anyone who equates abortion with a choice or a "reproductive right."
I actually do think that there is a way to calmly discuss the issue and that is to focus on pregnancy prevention rather than the options a woman has when faced with an unwanted pregnancy. People who talk about reproductive rights want to see all children welcomed by loving, prepared parents. People who are anti-abortion don't want to see anyone take the life of a fetus.
The natural common ground is the prevention of unwanted pregnancies.
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