I'm not sure what to think about this one. See, this is one of those gray areas. The gops should have a difficult time with this, seeing that this is sexual morality verses frivolous lawsuits, a champion cause of the gop and the US Chamber of Commerce.
I think, though, that I'm going to have to side with the church on this one. It is utterly riduculous that a person should come forward 35 years after they have been molested in search of "justice." Justice in these cases usually means money.
The Church could end it's problems by coming up with a training program that is taught to kids about how to report these things. That way, some idiot won't one day come to the "realization" at age 45 that he was molested when he was ten, which has caused all of his problems in life, even though he couldn't remember it for 35 years. Unfortunately, any talk of sex around children is a no-no to cons, so any training program that could be taught in Catholic schools or in CCD classes would never fly with sheltering parents. So Catholics have put themselves into a quandary. Do they open up and start a discussion on sex with their children, or do they continue to keep their mouths shut and let their kids get molested?
This question is black and white to me.
I can tell you as a woman that was molested, it is not easy to come forward & report these things.
ReplyDeleteSometimes there are threats of family harm & sometimes it is simple manipulation of a young child that carries on for so long that by the time a person gets beyond the mental hold the abuse has on them & finds the strength to talk about it, it can be years. That timeline doesn't factor in the "shame time" that a person goes through once they realize that it was a seduction of the worst kind & felling like a fool. I could go on & on but you probably get my point. I think the churches should pay dearly because they knew & tried to cover it up.
Thanks for your comments. I wish that there would be some sort of pressure force within the Catholic Church to bring about change so we wouldn't have to worry about getting government involved in Church matters.
ReplyDeleteThe new Pope is not going to help matters with his ultraorthodox stance on matters. It is up to the people, who aren't subjects in the papacy's dictatorship, to be a driving force for change. I think a priest would be a good leader in the cause.