...they hate 'cause they jealous.
(Note: it's not that I've nothing else to say; it's that I've already said it, so why shouldn't I have some fun with it?)
Update: finally, something to respond to.
No remorse, no concern for the victims, no outrage at the abuse by priests that are supposed to be serving God, no outrage at the cover-up by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church which allowed the abuse to continue, no concern about the outrage to the Lord.
I was outraged when outrage was due. Indeed, I knew one priest personally who was charged for abuses that happened...back in the 70s, if memory serves. Truth be told, he wasn't the best pastor to begin with, and the charges evidently proved to be true. I think he was defrocked. I also, however, knew another priest who was all but ruined by false charges brought against him...that taught me a valuable lesson about critical thinking.
So yes, at one point, years ago, I was outraged. That time has passed; I am instead glad that the current Pope was also the man who wanted harsher punishments -- including defrocking -- leveled against those priests found guilty of abuses. I am instead glad that the Church has taken a more pro-active role in making reparations and penance for the actions of a relatively small sub-section of its priesthood (less than 2%, I should point out). I am instead glad that the Church is now the organization with the most pro-active response policy regarding cases of sexual abuse, at least in the U.S. if not elsewhere in the world as well.
And yes, I'm glad that these priests are being brought to justice. Is that justice late in coming? Yes, in the secular sense -- God's justice will, of course, bide its time, and that is what really counts. But it's good that something is happening in the temporal realm as well.
I might point out, too, that I have now pointed out, more than once, that non-Catholic Christian pastors are much more likely to be sexual abusers than are Catholic priests; about 1.7% of priests in the U.S. have been implicated in abuse scandals, while upwards of 10% of Protestant/non-denominational pastors have similarly been implicated.
And here's the rub: most of those ministers are also still in ministerial roles, and have not been disciplined. Nor has this particular scandal had much attention in the media. Nor have many of the perpetrators been brought to justice. If the False Witness Union wants to feel outrage at something, maybe it could spare an hour's outrage for those pastors, and an hour of remorse for their victims.
Only an ad hominen attack for daring to point out the truth. No "Where's The Fruit D?", no one is jealous of pedophile priests, we are saddened by their abuse and hypocrisy.
If this were really a truthful statement, the person making it would be working to draw attention to, and in due season clean, the numerous grape juice stains on his own house's white living room carpet, rather than commenting about the unkempt appearance of my house's doormat.
As it is, though, I was talking about Eucharist.
They claim the power to forgive sins while participation this horrible sin.
Again, about 1.7% of priests in the U.S. have been implicated in an abuse scandal of one kind or another. Yet recent statistical evidence suggests that between 10% and 23% of all clergy, of every denominational stripe, has engaged in sexual impropriety of one form or another.
23% of evangelical ministers admitted to sexually inappropriate behaviour during the course of their ministry, and 12% admitted to sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse (Christianity Today USA "Conduct Unbecoming to a Preacher" - 10 Feb 1992). Tim LaHaye noted a survey that showed 33% of evangelical ministers admitting to sexually inappropriate behaviour, with 13% admitting to intercourse with a parishioner(LaHaye, Tim "If Ministers Fail, Can They Be Restored?" - Zondervan, USA, 1990).
Seventy percent of Southern Baptist ministers in 1993 knew of other ministers who had sexual contact with someone in their church. Twelve percent of Protestant ministers surveyed in 1988 had had intercourse outside of marriage, and 30% of those relationships were with someone in the congregation. Nearly 40% of the ministers surveyed by the Fuller Seminary in 1984 reported that they had had sexual contact with a church member. Nearly 13% confessed to sexual intercourse with a congregant. This behavior is so widespread that Church Mutual Insurance Co., the leading insurer of worship centers in America, receives on average of four or five claims of clergy abuse a week. (Centre for Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, Seattle).
So tell me...2-5% (total rates for Catholic priest sexual misconduct reported) versus 40%. Or let's compare apples to apples: 1.7% of Catholic priests accused of abusing a minor, versus 10% of Protestant/evangelical ministers. Who is really leading their flocks, and who is really victimizing them? And where's the outrage, I ask?
And note that these stats are from objective, third-party agencies, not agencies with axes to grind, staffed by "former Catholic priests" making silly claims about 50% of Catholic clergy breaking their celibate commitment.
"Where's The Fruit D?"
His words and attitude reveal his heart.
We could do a survey...but I don't think I can post polls on this blog here.
Whatever. I try and approach each issue, each discussion, with faithfulness and wisdom. I try and leverage both in the pursuit of what is genuinely true. Sometimes people respond to that, sometimes they don't, and all I can hope is that I do not give in to temptation or fall into error. I'm not always as humble as I could be, but neither do I claim to be able to arbitrate between who is Christian and who is not, or between who is saved and who is not. I claim no knowledge about the inner workings of the heart of any other GS user...unlike some others.
And tellingly, if I want to address a user directly, I call him by his own name, or a short permutation thereof, rather than invent a string of successively less meaningful pseudonyms for him.
I also seem to have taken on the role of "punching bag" to a certain extent; it would appear that the CWU has all but forgotten Theo, in favour of venting their frustrations at me. I like that; Theo needs the break, and I certainly don't mind the heat.
Also, I allow comments. That's a measure or two more brave than some people I could name.