Sexual Abuse & The Church

Sgt. Joe Friday of the old television series Dragnet often dealt with women very anxious over recent crimes. To calm them down and get the truth out, he routinely remarked: “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts.” I think that intermixed with the hysteria over sexual abuse within the Catholic Church today someone needs to calm people down and get the WHOLE truth out, just the facts. And I have asked some well-known authors to do just that, to get the facts out. To date they have not responded to my request, and perhaps they never will – they are busy people, it is a big job, and they may have other priorities, but I feel very strongly that there is someone who will eventually tell the whole story, and tell all the facts. It is a story which is needed by mankind now, not to get a better view of the Catholic Church or “evil” priests, but for mankind to get a better view of itself.

Someone lays a belt on a table asks: “What is that for?” Most people would say to hold up their pants, but there might be some who, beaten often as children, might say it was to hurt people. Same fact; different answers. Talking to only one or the other, you may get a distorted view as to the purpose of a belt, versus its possible uses. My own youth had such a distortion in it. I never played with any type of toy guns, or toy soldiers. It was forbidden. As I grew up I learned that my dad had been one of a handful of soldiers from his company to come home from WWII; he had had enough of guns in his life. I came to understand his view of guns, but mine forever has a slight taint to it, an inclination to think that guns are bad – but of course that is not their purpose, what they are for. To understand some facts, you need to get broader views, and context. I believe the story of sexual abuse and the Catholic Church has had some facts laid on the table, but I don’t think the whole story has been told of what happened and why. And, perhaps more importantly, how we should view these events today.

This week a high-ranking church official offered to resign because he had slapped some boys thirty years ago. Some in society were branding him “evil” for doing this. Ridiculous!! If this were a punishable offense, then all the religious and lay people teaching in my elementary and high schools, all the parents of children there, and all their hundreds of thousands of alumni need to be in jail for tolerating and encouraging such “evils”. I still recall some of the pains I felt then, but today I know, believe, and understand the deserved punishment and shame which should go along with actions which disobey the rules – both legal and moral. And I am a better man, and the world a better place, for that wisdom.

Below is the letter I sent to some writers. If you know of anyone who would dig out the facts and publish the truth in these matters, I think the world be better place.


Do You Have Another Book In You?

I don’t think the press is getting the full story. In fact, I’m not sure it ever has throughout the years of pursuing priestly scandals and lawsuits. I think there may be a story there which needs to be told.

“Priests prey on kids”, “Extend liability laws (– only for these crimes, only for the Catholic Church)”, and “We must protect our kids”. Kids, priests, Catholic Church. What is missing here? Of all the thousands of cases brought forth, of kids being molested, isn’t it odd that no parent knew it was going on? Of all the thousands of cases, isn’t it odd that no parent reported it to the police department?

I strongly suspect that in the era of free love, free sex, in the 60’s and 70’s that virtually all young people in our society were caught up in the emotions of the time, including religious, secular, governmental, and political groups. I wonder what is the rate of sex crimes in other religious groups, in schools, in parental incest, in cults – then and now. I suspect there was a large spike. I wonder of the parents who found out their kids were molested, how many agreed a proper action was transferring the priest, forgiving his sins, and getting him counseling – I wonder how many major psychologists and educators thought this was the proper solution. I wonder how many of the parents who found out their kids were molested called the police, and the police and parents agreed – and perhaps major law firms agreed – that legal action was not appropriate, after all it was a church. What I’m getting at, was the cover-up perhaps not a crime of the priest and certain bishops of the Catholic Church, but rather a conspiracy of police, parents, lawyers, sociologists, priests and church – and if so, why are no parents being prosecuted, no police being sued, no lawyers being disbarred. Not deep enough pockets? I wonder the background of the legal firms pursuing these lawsuits, are they specialists in finding deep pockets?

I’m not thinking a book needs to be written absolving priests or the Church of anything, I am thinking that the whole story needs to be told.

I originally began thinking about this aspect of the story when I read a local newspaper story about a brewing problem in our local school district. A black member of the school board was protesting that a black history class was going to be offered, which was largely prepared by and to be taught by a white teacher. The black person said that the white person could not adequately teach the course. I opined to the local newspaper that what was the name of the course? If it was a history course, history is facts. It is not views of one side of an historical event or the other. Ideally, from my point of view, it goes lightly on the views of the historical personages or else the history course easily becomes a political course – and I KNOW for a fact how weak current high school graduates are in knowledge of history facts. I noted that if it is a black culture course, then perhaps a black person would be better to view black views of history then, and evolving to now. If it really was a black history course, then regardless of black views then or white views then, these were historical facts which should be taught by any competent historian, who knows the facts, white or black. After my letter hit the paper, some comments were made and the controversy died down.

I think something similar has gone on, unchallenged, with the sex abuse controversy. One side is presenting “facts” of history with current viewpoints, not the viewpoints of the times.

One more example: Glenn Beck showed a tape recently of a gathering at Madison Square Garden in 1939. A full house. A major political rally. It was the American Nazi Party. In 1939, Nazi’s were a social cause that many believed in, but looking back now, it was an evil one. But that’s not what was thought in the late 1930’s by many Americans.

So, sir, do you have a book in you on this topic?

Anyone?