Hot N Bothered said:
A lot of Scout troops are sponsored by churches. :shrug:
The Catholic Church here in Mechanicsville sponsors the local Boy Scout troop.
As far as priests being pedophiles, I think there are a number of things that lead to there being more among priests then in the general population. For one thing, the Catholic Church (and churches in general) have very rigid rules about sexual behavior. Anyone who deviates from the norm is considered evil. But, good devout Catholics have a solution, give up sex of ALL kinds and become a priest or a nun. This is considered a perfect solution for homosexuals as well as pedophiles (I am NOT saying they are one and the same) In fact, homosexuals who choose the priesthood are highly respected by the most devout of Catholics. The feeling is, these men subverted their "unnatural" urges and redirected their energies to a more positive area. Other denominations, who don't require celabacy don't have that option, because even a minister is expected to be married.
The problem with pedophiles is, by definition, they are incapable of supressing their deviant urges. And because the Church is about forgiveness, all the offending priest has to do is admit his sin and swear never to do it again and they are given a second chance. Many of these offenders are sincere in trying to behave themselves, but they often fail. The main problem is when the Church forgives them again and again, without ever making them truly repent and face the consequences of their actions. THAT should be their penance, not a bunch of Hail Marys and a relocation.
When my brother was 13 and going through the process of confirmation in the Catholic Church, they required a service project. (This was long before it was required in school) So, a bunch of boys, including my brother, got together to do some planting and other manual labor around the church, under the supervision of a junior priest. Well, after a couple of hours, this priest decides they've had enough and load all the boys into his car and head to the Farmer's Market to hang out and look around. I think he bought them ice cream and sodas. We all thought this was a little wierd, but didn't make a big deal of it. We figured that as a young priest, he wanted to score points with the younger parishioners. It didn't occur to us that he just wanted to score.
He was transferred shortly after that, without notice. Just *poof* and he was gone. Several months later he was arrested and defrocked for child molestation. It was revealed at that time, that it wasn't the first time he was arrested.
