According to the largest research project conducted to date, child molestation by Catholic priests is the fault of Hippies. But who really expected otherwise?
Among liberals and non-believers, the general consensus of what caused the Catholic Church’s sex scandal points to the institutional structure of the Church, e.g. forced celibacy or an all-male priesthood. But a new study claims it’s something even weirder than a lifetime of consciously avoiding sex—it’s the 60s.
This morning, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, published the findings of its four-year long, $2 million research project looking into the causes of the Catholic Church’s decade-long sex-abuse scandal. It’s important to note that this “research study” was conducted with data provided by the Church, and the study itself was mostly funded by the Church. Prepare for the kind of objectivity you’d find only in Fox News.
John Jay claims the sex scandal is only a temporary problem, due partly to the influx of poorly trained priests into seminaries. The rest of the blame goes onto the prevalence of “deviant behavior” like the sexual and drug experimentation during the 1960s and 70s, claiming that priests who entered the seminaries in the 80s were much less likely to commit acts of molestation. Free love and reefer cigarettes made countless priests commit sex crimes—that totally makes sense, right?
In addition—and this is probably the weirdest part—only five percent of the priests found guilty of touching little boys were defined as pedophiles. Well, that sounds a little misleading. I probably should have mentioned that for the purposes of this study, the definition of pedophilia was changed. While most researches claim that making sexual advances on a child under 13 years of age is a sign of disorder, the John Jay study sneakily changed it to “under 10,” leaving out a large number abuse cases.
David Clohessy, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, shows this is nothing but spectacle:
“Predictably and conveniently, the bishops have funded a report that tells them precisely what they want to hear: It was all unforeseeable, long ago, wasn’t that bad and wasn’t their fault. It gives bishops even more reasons to avoid what they desperately want to avoid—questioning celibacy, married priests, secular laws, serious reforms or their own virtually limitless power as kings in a medieval monarchy.”
Now we just have to wait for the study explaining the causes of decades of cover-ups and silencing of the victims of Catholic sex abuse.
"We think in generalities, we live in details"
Re:child molestation by Catholic priests is the fault of Hippies
« Reply #1 on: 2011-05-19 03:54:03 »
[Blunderov] Such an expensive study and yet they could not find the funds to devote to the examination of a control group.* How about those of that generation who did not go into the Catholic priesthood? Do they abuse pre-pubescents to the same extent? Somehow I doubt it.
(Why does nobody ever offer to pay me 2 million pounds to do shoddy studies that could be done on the back of an envelope? I could use the money. Grrr.)
*Priest from a succeeding generation do not, of course, qualify as an appropriate control group. Educated people know this and are not fooled.
PS. If there were so many hippies in the Catholic priesthood then where are the drum circles? Eh? Eh?
"Cartman: Yeah, you know, I had a guy in Jackson County. He had a drum circle in his backyard. It turned into a drum circle four miles in diameter."
[Fritz]The study as you pointed out [BL] ignores the pre-hippies roots of the Church, when alter boys had much fewer options and little time for drumming circles and 'organs' ruled