I largely concur with MZ’s thoughts on the issue. He claimed he would regret the post. Well, I am going to go a lot further than he did, so my regret will probably be proportionately greater!
This is a truly poor judgment, reflective of a prevalent anti-Catholicism that has never been too far below the surface of American history. It is an example of vengeance trumping justice, of the punishment not fitting the crime. It is an example of emotion trumping reason, and when I say emotion, I mean not only the outrage over child abuse, but barely-concealed glee brought on by kicking the institutional Church in the butt. If you can’t see this, you are not looking very clearly. America has always had its witch hunts, all the way back to Salem. It’s yet another peculiarity of the culture. It was communism in the 1950s. Today, the Catholic Church stands in. I do not see much difference.
Let me address a number of points about the sex abuse scandal, that have been simmering on the back burner.
First, ephebophilia is not pedophilia. While an inappropriate relationship between a priest and an older (sexually mature) teenager is sinful and a betrayal of trust, it is not the monstrous crime that is pedophilia. In the witch hunt, not only are these distinction blurred, but we even hear of cases of sexually activity between priests and adults — all passed off as one and the same “Catholic church sex scandal”. Let’s get some perspective here, and let’s focus on the real crimes (and I’m not downplaying them by any means).
Second, is there a greater propensity to abuse children among Catholic clergy than among other clergy, among the prominent professions, and within the family? I seriously doubt it. And yet, while the media will give front page coverage to even the vaguest accusation against a Catholic priest, other abuse is simply not newsworthy. The media tends to create its own meta-narratives, and never deviate from them. Just look at the one-dimensional approach politicians, who can never shakes media-generated pre-conceived notions. For the media, child sex abuse is synonymous with Catholic priests just as the only people that go missing in America tend to be attractive white girls. In fact, most child abuse in American society takes place behind the closed doors of the family home. It is barely acknowledged, never mentioned. Ironically, priests are well aware of this from the confession box. In one sense, the Catholic church may be a scapegoat, in the traditional sense of the word, taking the blame for other’s failings, distracting attention from the real problem.
Third, many on the right have seized on this witch hunt to target another scapegoat — or rather, a scapegoat within a scapegoat — homosexuals. Let’s be clear, homosexuality is not to blame, and the fact that most of the abuse took place with boys rather than girls is not a result of homosexuality. Pedophilia is a sickness that is actually more common among heterosexuals. Are there causes? As the John Jay study noted, most of the abusing priests had personality and behavioral problems. In the past, some insular aspects of seminary formation may have led to unhealthy sexual side effects — this is especially true of Ireland, infected by Jansenism for so much of its history, and from where the sex scandal first broke. The key issue is psychology, not sexual orientation.
Please do not get me wrong: the systematic cover up of child abuse was shameful, and there needs to be accountability. And the victims deserve reparation. But this judgment does not serve justice — instead it lines the pockets of predatory lawyers while taking resources away from the institution which is happens to be the largest provider of education, health care, and charity in the world. The anti-Catholicism is manifest.
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