tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post16176194522800277..comments2024-03-27T08:40:31.785-06:00Comments on Clayton Cramer.: Spotlight (2015)Clayton Cramerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03258083387204776812noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post-82018979500583632602016-07-11T20:19:32.596-06:002016-07-11T20:19:32.596-06:00I remember when the extent of abuse became visible...I remember when the extent of abuse became visible in the 1970s and everyone was shocked at how common it was. When I lived in Sonoma County, one pedophile priest kept safe by blackmailing the bishop. He had proof the bishop was embezzling church funds.Clayton Cramerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03258083387204776812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post-65707989954248070772016-07-11T19:29:50.310-06:002016-07-11T19:29:50.310-06:00BTW, I don't think it was the gays at the Vati...BTW, I don't think it was the gays at the Vatican that were responsible for the problems in the US. The Vatican has a lot less power than people imagine. I think it was the factors mentioned before - not a conspiracy, but just a number of priests behaving badly, and some leaders doing the wrong thing either out of their own selfishness or because they truly believed that therapy and the Church's rehabilitation programs would actually work. Of course, the latter makes it easy for a leader to get out of doing what is right, so it is hard to know the relative weight of the two factors in any particular case.StormCchaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998174514362089471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2807403883562053852.post-48025380586067019722016-07-11T19:24:14.170-06:002016-07-11T19:24:14.170-06:00Reality did set in, strongly. If you put yourself ...Reality did set in, strongly. If you put yourself back into the '70s, child abuse was not the big deal it is today - it was mostly unmentioned because few knew that it happened. I'm glad you alluded to this this, society in those years was in a cult of psychology, where therapy could solve anything, and all psychological problems were malleable and a result of one's past. This, combined with the Church's theological belief in the power of healing, certainly misled Church leaders in their "treatment" of molesters. Of course, they knew that theological healing was not guaranteed. They knew less about the limitations of psychology, which turned out to be more of a cult than anything else.<br /><br /><br />The church is an old institution and changes slowly. And, like any church, it's leaders are human and sinners. There is no doubt that some actions be leaders were simply and totally very wrong, but that was not typical of the entire Church, contrary to what the media would have you believe. There have even been a few terrible popes. <br /><br />But, the Church has taken the brunt for a child sexual abuse scandal that is far larger outside the Church. <br /><br />That is not an accident. The Church stands for things that the mainstream media are against - morality, in other words. So, destroying the Church has been an important goal of the left (and thus the media) for a long time. The US Church also had a "purple mafia" that grew up in some west coast seminaries, an underground group of homosexual priests who convinced themselves that homosexual acts were okay with scripture. It was this sort of thing that led the Church to finally ban homosexuals from entering the priesthood, although there are still plenty in the priesthood who serve well and faithfully. Not all homosexuals fell to temptation.<br /><br />StormCchaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02998174514362089471noreply@blogger.com