Thursday, April 15, 2010

Two Catholic Speakers Demonstrate Catholic Cognitive Dissonance

Archbishop Migliore's recent UN speech is indicative of why many NGO's think the Vatican needs to have it's mike turned off--permanently.

Catholic pro-life leader demands protection for abused, pregnant girls
CNA STAFF, Apr 14, 2010 / 10:09 pm (CNA).-

The chairwoman of Alliance for the Family, Christine de Marcellus de Vollmer, denounced the media push to decriminalize abortion in Latin America by using the tragic cases of young, pregnant sexual abuse victims. She then called on politicians to adequately protect and show solidarity with such girls and their unborn children.

Speaking with CNA, de Vollmer referred to two specific cases: one of a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Recife, Brazil, and a similar case in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, one of the 18 Mexican states that has enshrined protection of the unborn into law.

Christine de Vollmer began by explaining the need to "powerfully raise our voices so that people do not fall prey to this malicious information. We are obviously in the midst of a campaign to legalize ‘therapeutic abortion’ in cases where the life of the mother is ‘at risk.’ We know that this step always leads to the legalization of all abortions."

She explained that the “girls are not the primary concern of promoters” of therapeutic abortion. “It is obvious that their priority is the legalization of abortion.” For evidence to back her claims, de Vollmer said, “a clear sign of this pro-abortion priority” can be found in Recife and Quintana Roo, two places that have been “recent battlegrounds in the fight to legalize abortion, and its promoters want to clear the path by using these extreme cases.”

De Vollmer said it is necessary to provide adequate explanations in order to confront the fallacies of the abortion lobbyists and feminists that are being promoted by the media (even by some Catholic media). (Parentheses are CNA's little editorial addition--Media bashing being the in thing at the moment. I'm not bitching, just observing because I do it all the time. But then I don't claim to be media outlet. Now I' bitching.)

She noted that the first explanation has to do with the term “rape.” “We here in Latin America know well that we are not dealing with rape (in these cases), but rather with something worse and more common—and which perhaps we don’t want to face—which is this tragic promiscuity.”
(No, what you don't want to face is the culture of 'machismo' so you call this promiscuity, essentially blaming the girls' mother and leaving the male out of it.)

De Vollmer said that in these situations, “everybody lives in the same little house and sleeps in the same bed. And of course all kinds of things happen there, unfortunately including to children. As the bodies of these little girls are stimulated, they begin to ovulate and become pregnant at some point. It is not 'rape.' In fact, it's something much worse and more endemic."

The second fallacy of the feminists is the use of the word, “stepfathers.”

“They aren’t stepfathers. They are simply men who live in the home with the mother and her daughters, oftentimes for just circumstantial reasons, without any serious commitment,” she underscored.

De Vollmer also told CNA, “We need to look at the entire social reality of the abuse of so many little girls. We must not fall into the ‘false compassion’ and reductive reasoning of the promoters of abortion. They want us to pay attention to the little girl only when she is already pregnant in order to give her what they are selling: abortion.” (No they want her mother to have the right to control her own reproductive choices so sex isn't forced on her daughters.)

“It would be more objective, engaging, and caring to prevent or correct the very common situations of promiscuity and danger of so many young girls before its too late,” she added.

This problem “exists not only in Quintana Roo and Recife. This abuse will not be stopped by legalizing abortion. On the contrary, it will increase because among other things, the visible consequences (of abuse) will be taken away,” De Vollmer said.

“The suffering of these girls and their unborn babies is a call to solidarity,” she continued. “They need special psychological and medical care and perhaps the option to give these children up in adoption.”

“We must expose this and clarify that these conditions must be addressed by politicians and the Church, rather than only paying attention when the girl gets pregnant,” she underscored.

“Politicians must not rend their garments over these pregnancies when they turn a blind eye to the abuse that goes on daily. If they do nothing to stop this abuse, it can only end in pregnancy,” she said.

“This is not ‘a medical opinion’ or a ‘medical case’,” de Vollmer stressed. “It is an eminently social and humanitarian issue, and humanity cannot save itself by killing its weakest members.”


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This is a pretty interesting argument Mrs. Vollmer has going here. First and foremost it seems to me she is doing a great deal of verbal semantics to avoid using the words, 'rape', 'incest' and 'protect the girl's life'. It is not step fathers, it is opportunistic men. It's not rape, it's promiscuity due to close quarters. Combating these pregnancies is not about the very real danger to the lives of ten year old children, it's about giving mothers special care and more options for adoption.

Therapeutic abortions then are just a 'commodity' abortion interests are selling. It has nothing to do with a real medical diagnosis. Kind of like tacos.

And of course, there is no mention of the very real poverty and over population this is all a product of, and certainly no mention of sex education, female empowerment or God forbid, birth control.

I will say this much though, it is refreshing to hear at least one Catholic pro life voice that understands we need to address some real life issues besides the legal prohibition of abortion. Not surprisingly this voice is female. Because our male leadership was in front of the UN saying this:



Vatican diplomat: Plunging birthrates are part of economic crisis
April 15, 2010 - Catholic World News.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, told a UN commission on April 12 that the world’s nations need to confront the problem of plunging birthrates in order to help solve the international financial crisis.
“As this Commission on Population and Development convenes in the midst of an ongoing economic and financial crisis, we would do well to listen to a growing opinion among economists that demographic trends are part of the problem and cannot be overlooked as an important part of the solution,” he said. (Like with Cardinal Bertone, we are not told who these experts are. For all I know they could be white eugenics proponents.)

“The demographic crisis that in a few decades has brought down annual population growth rates from 7% to below 1% in many parts of the world, in tandem with the aging of the population, has resulted in devastating effects for the economy and governance.” (Maybe using Pope Benedict's gay logic, we should get rid of the idea of marriage with all it's benefits for non procreative old people. Apparently they are a threat to world peace.)

“The correction of the population deficit with constant immigration does not seem to resolve the problems even in the short term,” he continued. “The same demographic policies that caused population growth rates to plunge to unsustainable levels need to be reviewed and redesigned along with appropriate social policies to encourage births. (What areas of the world is he referencing?)

Noting that two million women suffer from obstetric fistulae and that 800,000 people die annually from malaria, Archbishop Migliore also called for a greater attention to prenatal and childhood health care. (Hooray, another call for health care for women and children. Of course, it only comes after a call for women to get with it and get pregnant.)


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I have spent a great deal of time lately on the clerical abuse crisis and our gutless or corrupt male leadership, but the real truth is, Catholicism as we currently experience it does the bulk of it's human damage to women and children.

It is this constantly repeated drum beat of pro creation and pregnancy at all costs that harms the most people. It's the root cause for the situations described by Christine Vollmer. It's the prevalence of the cheap labor markets excessive population promotes that keeps the wheels of western economic interests running. It's the lack of education in these populations that keeps guys like Migliore in their finery and it's their wealthy supporters whose pockets are lined by this poverty. We know that about Latin America too.

We also know, when the other side of the Church talks about these issues and their root causes, they are hung out to dry by the Migliore's of the Church and sometimes assassinated by the supporters of the Migliore's.

And it's the male Migliore's of the Catholic world who keep the female Vollmer's of the Catholic world from uttering the birth control words.


32 comments:

  1. Exactly Colleen!!!

    I thought Vollmer's choice of words "promiscuity" as being the problem a whitewash. She would promote abstinence only, but that is totally unrealistic when males abuse the females on a daily basis. The males needs are more important than the females needs according to the Church. Girls and women are not entitled to anything in the world but poverty and bearing children to do the work of their slave promoters, with no voice, allowed no conscience, in the Church or at home but to be submissive and take abuse. She is in effect saying the cause for unwanted pregnancies is due to the girls & mothers actions of immorality. No mention of the males at all and their immoral acts and attitudes, as you bring out, the machismo, which the Church hierarchy sanctions and promotes.

    Keeping people victims and making them poor and dependent is the policy of the Church now in alignment with the wealthy. The wealthy are the most immoral people on the planet right now, but the Church does not speak about that because the Church represents the wealthy more and more in their dogma and politics and bank accounts. The faults of the world fall onto poor little girls who are raped and their mothers whose only desire is to provide for their child and keep them safe and alive. The Church, we know, does not protect its own children nor care for the mothers in the Church.

    The Church has no credibility in teaching about sexual behavior or morality. The sexual abuse of children and young adults by Catholic priests and the many Bishops who let them continue these immoral acts cannot be overlooked or ignored as if it did not happen.

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  2. Historically, in the church, women have been viewed as the seductresses, tempting saintly men. It's no different now - as far as the prelates can see. Except the women are refusing to be labeled as such. Those who have a choice that is - which does not include rape as a form of political violence in third world countries and women as chattel for men in other third world countries.

    The church is maintaining this low status for women - instead of challenging it as Jesus seems to have done.

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  3. OT - but a wonderful letter posted as a blog at TPM - for why a young man has given up on the RC. Eloquent. Spiritual. Profound.

    http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/z/i/zipperupus/2010/04/gaudium-et-spes.php?ref=reccafe

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  4. Why are clergy, of all the churches, even the ones with married (even re-married/divorced) clergy disproportionately gay?

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  5. TheraP, the link you provide and the writing within it are TRUE. It really captures a lot of how I believe and feel about the Church right now.

    The Church in the US is forming a fascist dictatorship in this country. It has allied itself with money. It does not ally itself with Christ. It does ally itself into political causes to defeat any ideas of freedom of conscience and religion.

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  6. I totally agree with this man's view: "Therefore, it is in great sadness that I repudiate the Church as unredeemably corrupt and I declare myself free from her obligations as described in Dignitatus Humanae:

    "This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits."

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  7. Brad, studies indicate that gay men are disportionately represented in all the service fields. Some people see that as proof of effiminate qualities in gay men. I choose to put that a little differently. They are more empathic and spiritual--and also psychic.

    The TPM link is very good and I suspect speaks for a lot of good Catholics who now find themselves opting to be good Christians.

    Thought for the day: Catholicism lost a lot of Catholic lives and material wealth to Communism, but it lost it's spiritual soul when it CHOSE of it's own free will to actively cooperate with fascism.

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  8. On a theoretical level, one could possibly see the moral reasoning for approving of the use of birth control within marriage - and disapproving of it for those not wedded.

    But they are not even cogitating that far!

    The Vatican is the 'Church of NO(!)' just as their virtual stepchild/political arm in the US, the Republican/Teabagger/FAUXnews establishment is the 'Party of NO (!)'.

    The reasoning is....absent. It is simply fiat. "Do as I say because I say so". With a rationale provided by professional churchmen with more theo-logical holes in it then Swiss cheese!

    There is no compassion for couples who simply cannot afford to feed a(nother) child. Nor for those who wish to prevent the spread of deadly disease between them.

    And then the absolutely incredible Cognitive Dissonance of the words of these two paid shills - against the demonic background of child sex abuse by PRIESTS & BISHOPS.

    It is Denial gone wild, made all the worse by the fact that for these two, 'the poor' are an abstract concept. A mere talking point....if that. The literal thousands of victims of abuse (living & deceased) are even more abstract, almost to the point of a theoretical construct.

    They perceive neither as reality; they perceive neither as real human beings.

    They perceive neither as their 'brethren'...the 'neighbor' whom Christ teaches us we must love & pray for. And in whom Christ truly is; as when we love & serve others, we love God.

    When we do as these two do....we do the opposite. Indicative that they do not believe in Christ.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  9. Anon, of all the mental verbal gymnastics Vollmer engaged in the one that makes your point is referring to 10 year old children as 'mothers'.

    To me that is exactly like saying 10 year old boys are consensual sexual adults.

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  10. Religious Tolerance:

    Age of priests:
    There is some evidence that the average age of a diocesan priest today is 62 years and the average religious priest is 68 years old.

    Seminary enrollment:
    "The massive drop in the number of seminary students (From 39,638 in 1966 to 4,826 in 1999.) One source says there are fewer than 4,000 in the year 2002."

    Statistics found on"
    http://religioustolerance.org

    Hmmm. Just based upon the statistics alone the Church doesn't have more than a few years to change or die.

    p2p

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  11. I'm trying to find the average age of a Cardinal. It appears there are 199 of them and it appears that the average age is about 79. If anyone else has statistics please help out.

    My purpose in presenting demographic data is that there is a generational phenomenon too. At least half I'd be willing to wager were ordained pre-Vatican 2.

    p2p

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  12. "http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/z/i/zipperupus/2010/04/gaudium-et-spes.php?ref=reccafe"

    ## What some people seem not to understand, and he seem to, is that the Church, which is called to witness to the Good News of the Kingship of God, is able to become an enemy of this Giod News.

    This possibility is terrible, horrible, and frightening - that does not make it impossible. And this scandal looks like an example of it.

    Problem is, that the Church has no capacity for seeing itself in this way - which may have something to do with its very strong emphasis on the visible institution as the guarantor of the Gospel content. The Protestant priority is the way around - the Church is true to God only in so far as it reflects the Gospel.

    This has enough implications to fill a book. IMO, the Church needs to become more Protestant, in certain ways, if it is to be Catholic & Christian.

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  13. So many thoughtful comments. And I love the thought for the day.

    Yes, fascism has been a soul-killing alliance. Then again, cooperation with any state - entwining itself with Rome, for example - is not a good thing for the 'People of God' - Jesus made that pretty clear. His Kingdom was not of this world.

    As for that wonderful TPM blog, "Zip" is a wonderful writer and thinker. I honestly had no idea of his deep immersion in understanding what I have to term "The True Faith" till this blog. But it seems to me he has a far better grasp on what the Church is called to be than most bishops, cardinals or popes. If you've lost someone like him (and many of us), then all you're left with are Uriah Heep-like people, obsequious, devious, grasping, secretive, manipulative, sadistic. It is a sad commentary ... after so many centuries.

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  14. Colleen -

    A good source for up to date Church stats:

    http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/

    Any factual stats about every bishop & diocese are there for the looking. Including contact addresses, websites, & key events in their careers.

    Time spent researching there can prove to be quite educational....

    Now a general - and rather hard hitting - question:

    Several prominent non-Catholic public figures, such as Richard Dawkins & Christopher Hitchens have called for the arrest of Mr. Ratzginer. In particular pointing to his planned visit to the UK....where the Irish are a very short hop away (and quite angry at him).

    My opinion: 'yes'.

    They have now had months, years, decades & (literally) centuries to reform the sexual deviancy of their clerics & prelates. And seem not to be interested in morality - except as they define it.

    It becomes more apparent daily that the Vatican & Ratz himself are 'as guilty as sin', knowingly & intentionally. To deny this at the present juncture would be to deny overt reality.

    God has repeatedly asked the Vatican to repent & reform. At LaSalette, Fatima & Akita to name the most famous instances. Rather then obey God, they either ignored (or edited) the messages, or turned them into money making tourist traps. God very specifically told them how to avoid WWII & all that has followed - if they would obey Him.

    They refused. Like Pharoah, they hardened their hearts.

    Pope John XXIII did the only reasonable & responsible thing he could do once pope - and having read the famous 3rd Secret of Fatima:

    He called the 2nd Vatican Council. TO reform the Church after the mind of Christ. And, knowing what was to come, to 'strengthen what remains'.

    We all know what happened to V2, due to the subterfuge of elements linked to Opus Dei.......we can also clearly see their hand in the current Damage Control Mode.

    Were the Vatican truly of Christ & serving God, Josef Ratzinger would be immediately stripped of office & ALL ecclesial function, escorted to the border of the Vatican City State.....into the waiting arms of civil law enforcement. Along with certain key Prelates.

    If you disagree with this then consider this: do you REALLY think that God is going to allow this to continue?

    God will allow them to go unto destruction...one way or the other. You may safely bet on that.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  15. Anon, I've said for three years that this scandal would not come to an end unless Interpol was involved and allowed to pursuit the evidence where ever it led. I consider clerical abuse a world wide criminal conspiracy and I don't care what the rational was in the minds of those who participated in it.

    I just don't think this will ever happen because too many governments and wealthy individuals/corporations are vested in seeing the Vatican continue to stand and deliver for them.

    Just the intelligence apparatus alone has to be phenomenal when you consider the amount of information coming into the Vatican from dioceses and missionary congregations on the ground. I imagine that kind of information is a valuable commodity in some circles.

    Then there's the Vatican bank, extradition laws in Vatican City, access to embassies etc etc.

    And one of the major cogs I see that keeps this all in tact is celibacy. Take that away and the gay closet and you lose a lot of leverage for blackmail and extortion.

    And finally, the whole theological structure is predicated on validating authority figures, not by demonstrable competency, but by symbolic position---male of course.

    For these reason I doubt we will ever see the Pope or a Cardinal in handcuffs.

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  16. Colleen -

    "For these reason I doubt we will ever see the Pope or a Cardinal in handcuffs."

    You may live to be surprised....

    I agree with your very correct analysis of the vast structure, influence & interrelationship with secular elements. Those elements are what has enabled it to function (with impunity), as those collaborative elements are 'getting something out of it'.

    Yet, ponder this:

    "..all nations have drunk the wine of the wrath of her fornications; and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have made themselves rich by the power of her delicacies...."

    Who?

    "..the great harlot whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication..."

    Who?

    "..and the woman was seated upon the scarlet colored beast....clothed round with purple & scarlet and gilt with gold, and precious stones, and pearls; having a golden cup in her hand full of the abominations & filthiness of her fornications....drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of martyrs of Jesus....and she has much glorified herself & lived in delicacies......"

    Who?

    "...and in her was found the blood of the prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth..."

    Who?

    "You serpents; generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?......behold, I send to you wise men, scribes & prophets whom you scourge in your synagogues & crucify & persecute from city to city, that upon you shall come all the just blood ever spilled upon the earth....."

    What will happen?

    "Babylon the great is fallen, because it has become the habitation of devils & of every unclean spirit.....for her sins have reached unto heaven.....render unto her as she has rendered unto you, double her cup...as she has glorified herself so much torment & sorrow give unto her.....therefore shall her plagues come in one day..."

    What will happen?

    "..and the kings of the earth...and the merchants...who have committed fornication with her shall weep when they see the smoke of her burning.....the mighty city, for in one hour is her judgment come....Alas! That great city which was clothed with fine linen & purple & scarlet, and gilt with precious stones & pearls. For in one hour are so great riches come to naught...."

    It should not be necessary to indicate that the woman sits on 7 hills, nor that she is clothed in Prelates robes/colors.

    A careful reading of Matthew 23 in conjunction with Revelations chapters 17-18 goes into these details.

    The 'handcuffs' will come. Whether they are on living bodies or corpses is another issue.

    God is not mocked; nor will He allow this travesty 'in His Name' to continue.

    It is for this reason that we are warned in Rev. 18:4..."Come out from her, my people; that you not be partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.."

    In other words: believe in God....in the (true) core of the Catholic Faith......NOT in the Vatican or its Administrators.

    Anon Y.Mouse

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  17. "The second fallacy of the feminists is the use of the word, “stepfathers.”


    “They aren’t stepfathers. They are simply men who live in the home with the mother and her daughters, oftentimes for just circumstantial reasons, without any serious commitment,” she underscored."

    ## Which does not say much for the power of Catholicism to lead to a changed life. A Christianity which allows one to continue in sin, is not much of a Christianity.

    What sort of Christianity allows clerical paedophiles to continue in evil ? How is a Church that allows that, rather than rebuking and correcting it, Christian in any sense worth discussing ? How ?

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  18. Anon Y Mouse - I often receive this type of vision of its destruction, and am led to believe through scripture that God will not allow this to keep going on and the finger of God points to the image of destruction.

    I don't know how much time there is. God is patient, but as you say "God is not mocked; nor will He allow this travesty 'in His Name' to continue."

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  19. What a wonderful work group this blog has become. Butterfly, I loved your comments especially the first one. TheraP, thank you so much for the reference from Z. This letter is the Holy Spirit speaking to us. Colleen, Your thought for the day reminds me of the point my daughter brought up several years ago while she was studying for her MD at a Jesuit institution. She seriously questioned the motives of JP the great in an ethical paper that she submitted for some class work. I thank you all for feeding me. I have been a bit out of sorts and busy with family concerns to write, but as I have been predicting for years, the implosion of this leadership structure is irreversible. These old men do not have the breadth and depth of character to prevent further damage or to repair their erroneous beliefs and structure. The value of the Vatican is that of a museum. Please keep your minds working as these small faith groups are what we have to replace the loss of the wonderful priests and nuns that were true shepherds to the world, but rudely ignored by Father Ratzinger for years. YOu are doing a wonderful job and this type of movement will continue to spread, as the People of God retake Christianity. Let us remember the words of Mohandas Gandhi “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” This is particularly true of the clerics but we must nourish one and other or it will also be true of a blinded us.

    Let us follow the loving Christ and his two greatest commandments. dennis

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  20. Agreed Dennis. One of the real joys for me personally through this entire cleansing has been the comments section of this blog. I have been challenged and given much insight.

    Chardin's concept of the noosphere seems to be coming to fruition. I believe the more people believe in it's truth, it's power to reform will explode. In the meantime, the spotlight must be kept on the Vatican. Either we Catholics and our supporters force peaceful, repentant, transformative change, or God will. Ultimately it's about love, service, and solidarity. It's not about TRUTH founded in unaccountable authority.

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  21. What do you all make of this (from Newsweek in the last day or so):

    "While research shows that 99 percent of sexual predators who abuse children are men, the bigger point is that it's rarely a stranger who is a threat, and all children may be at risk. Allen puts the national rate of abuse at about one in five girls and one in 10 boys, while Smith says her review of the data puts it closer to one in three girls and one in five boys. In any case, there's no arguing with Smith's assessment that the "behavior is profoundly widespread."

    Abusers are typically trusted family members—fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, uncles—as well as friends, neighbors, teachers, coaches, youth-group volunteers, doctors, or priests, ministers, or rabbis. If we are to learn anything from these disturbing stories of sexual abuse by priests, it should be this: it's up to parents and schools to make sure our kids know that adults stand ready to protect them against those who would prey upon them. We need to make it clear to children that they can talk to us or another trusted adult about any situation that doesn't feel right to them. And no one—no one—is beyond suspicion."

    Full article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/236489

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  22. Work-group is right! I've had the same feeling!

    Proud to be among you!

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  23. Colleen & Butterfly -

    "In the meantime, the spotlight must be kept on the Vatican. Either we Catholics and our supporters force peaceful, repentant, transformative change, or God will."

    Therein lies the key to understanding prophecy: What God has foretold shall come to pass. The precise MANNER of it fulfillment & the SEVERITY thereof is entirely conditional on men's response.

    Note that I said: "The 'handcuffs' will come. Whether they are on living bodies or corpses is another issue."

    God has repeatedly put the Vatican on notice that He is unhappy with them & what they have done 'in His Name'. That they should voluntarily repent & reform. Again & again He has requested this.

    Again & again they have both ignored & refused the request.

    God has had enough. It's 'GO time'. The clock has been ticking & they have remained deaf to it. or if you prefer the allusion to the 'sand in the hourglass being nearly gone'....

    They refused he gentle requests of God & of numerous holy men & women He sent bearing this message.

    So now they are exposed before the world as liars & destroyers of souls. Yet they persist in Denial & ignoring the screaming reality that their house of cards is about to crumble.

    If the child caught in the act with cookie all over him would only ADMIT his wrong, you would then be loving & lenient on him, as a parent.

    But if the child lies, denies painfully obvious reality - with cookie all over his face, clothes & hands - and does so repeatedly, despite your pleas for honesty & obedience.....you are not going to be lenient with him.

    Neither will God be with the men in the pricy robes & pointy hats.

    ....with cookie all over them.

    Anon Y. Mouse

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  24. The execution of prophecy is always in man's hands first, because this is a world of consciousness and free choice.

    When not enough of humanity choose to take up that cross and make the choice to confront evil, God will act. It is after all ultimately His plan. We have the choice to assist Him or not.

    Or as Jesus, God's Son taught, we either learn to trust in the power of Love and live it's dictates and there by convert others to love, or we suffer the consequences of enslavement to those who have chosen to follow their love of power. It's a pretty straight forward choice.

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  25. "In any case, there's no arguing with Smith's assessment that the "behavior is profoundly widespread."

    Mark, I wouldn't begin to disagree with Smith's assessment. What I wish we could determine with any confidence is whether the current statistics are the result of changes in reporting and definitions, or changes in actual behavior.

    Sexual abuse amongst males in spiritual or clerical positions has always been high and depending on culural specifics will engender higher incidences of abuse with boys. Just as incidences of serial predatory abuse is more prevalent in institutions like orphanages, juvenile penal programs and schools for the handicapped. Now we're seeing sexual abuse reports increase in nursing homes and other facilities who care for the aged. It's really about power and power over others, and we shouldn't lose site of that.

    That power dynamic is also why women and mothers have enabled so much abuse to go on in families, or turned blind eyes to what was, in many cases, glaringly obvious.

    My question is will men who really care about this issue be willing to stand up and deal with it. Or will they leave it to victims and women?

    I think we know what the Church's position is, which is why one rarely hears anything from the pulpit about the contribution of the inadequate power distribution in the theology of marriage and towards women. We do hear plenty about the sins of feminism and abortion.

    The clerical abuse crisis is symbolic of many things and one of them is the rot at the core of Catholic theology of gender. This is also one of the core reasons gay males are also targeted. They threaten this theology.

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  27. "My question is will men who really care about this issue be willing to stand up and deal with it. Or will they leave it to victims and women?"

    Well said and directly applicable to another issue: abortion. Women wouldn't seek abortions if they weren't pregnant and didn't want to be. Women don't get pregnant by themselves (Pace Mary Daly).

    I don't mean to be crude, but the first way to reduce the number of abortions is for men to stop thinking with their johnsons. Its a puzzle to me, as a conservative Catholic, why we don't confront this issue directly. The answer, I think, is that men won't speak about it and men won't listen.

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  28. I wish I could remember where I read this Mark, but one guy maintained that the whole sexual theology as it pertains to men and control of their johnson is to make them fear pregnancy, not actually integrate any control of themselves.

    He wrote this is why boys become attractive to priests because the truly horrid sin to an immature priest is to get a girl/woman pregnant. Boys can't get pregnant.

    I would hate to think there is truth in this, but I kind of think there is too much truth in it. Birth control then becomes a bad thing because it removes the fear of pregnancy and abortion becomes the last ditch act for a failed strategy.

    The problem is if fear of pregnancy is the driving force for sexual continence, it is no wonder we have no respect for pregnancy. It's tough to have respect for a situation one is afraid of and that's true for both men and women.

    We have got to do something about our sexual theology which replaces fear with honor and respect. It has to include men and take sexual expression beyond fear on the one hand and expressions of virility on the other.

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  29. Men and women can & do fear pregnancy. I can imagine some good reasons for this fear, healthy reasons.

    But an on-going issue for men is sex without responsibility, sex without annoying & unwanted consequences. The attitude behind this issue distorts everything it touches.

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  30. boys and little girls don't get pregnant

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