(no subject)

[fpb]

To judge by my f-list and other Catholic bloggers I have seen, Mary Eberstadt's article on First Things about the vindication of Humanae Vitae has made more waves than anything in years. I suppose that is because it goes further than most Christians had been thinking of going. While most people are aware that abortion is at least controversial, very many outside the Catholic Church do not give contraception a second thought, and even many Catholics, especially of the older generation, imagine that the matter is settled and over. However, the evidence is that it is not. Mary Eberstadt's article was not the only one to say the same thing, and to judge by the reaction, it addresses a mood that is definitely growing among Christians, let alone Catholics. And since Christians and Catholics do not live in a vacuum, it is finding unnoticed echoes even among the ordinary secular types.

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

The earliest case of sexual abuse by a priest that I am aware of dates to 1325 AD, and I suggest that you consider what philosophical pederasty really amounted to in Athens and similar places long before that. Pederastic inititation of youths is common in several societies, as every anthropologist knows. Where there are fair young bodies, there is temptation. Child abuse is not more flourishing among priests than among schoolteachrs, scoutmasters, social workers, parents and foster parents, and orphanage workers. If anything, it is less so - if the statistic that up to 8% of American state school teachers have at some point been involved in sexual relations with minors is true. Even so, there was a definite spike in homosexual abuse by priests in the seventies and eighties; the reasons for this are cultural and, if you remember what the seventies were like, not too difficult to understand.

I am afraid you are grossly wrong about the history of contraception. Since antiquity saw nothing sacred about children (consider the vile practice of infanticide and exposure, which Spartans and Romans looked on with definite pride - even Tacitus considered it positively disgusting that Jews never, for any reason, killed their children), your whole argument about homunculi and such falls flat. There was no taboo on abortion, though the act itself was difficult, and contraception was frequent and regarded as useful. Juvenal points out that a childless old man or woman with a large inheritance to hand on are in a very advantageous position, and people will compete for their favours. Other Roman writers confirm this picture, and agree that widespread contraception and unnatural sex led to the extinction of most of the famous families of republican Rome.

correct three times.

[fishlivejournal.livejournal.com]

Sadly, you are quite correct about child abuse, it has a long and horrible history.

And of course, you are quite correct, the priesthood is only one of the avenues that child molesters take in their search for victims. Any role giving them a position of power over children will be sought - I have been peripherally involved in the battle to keep them out of the Scouting movement. I did not intend to imply that this is unique to your priesthood; still, given media emphasis I can see that I should have been clearer in stating this.
Sadly though, it is going to keep getting worse within the priesthood, as other opportunities are closed off, especially as media coverage makes the priesthood seem more tempting to child molesters looking for something to exploit. And protesting media bias won't change this, quite the contrary. The only solution is a combination of constant vigilance and the ruthless and public punishment of those caught.
That 8% figure is probably far lower than the actual figure. The major problem with fighting child abuse is that people don't realise how big the problem is.

Finally - yes, the Pagan world was nauseating. Replace 'anyone with a conscience' with 'any Christian or Jew with a conscience'.

Re: correct three times.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Just one thing: if other avenues are closed off - and the complete lack of any real punishment in the teaching profession suggests otherwise - why should you assume that the priesthood would remain open? The same pressures, mainly bad publicity, apply, and some, such as predatory lawsuits, apply a lot more (since, under American law, you can exact a lot more from the Church than from a public school). What is more, you seem not to consider that the priesthood is a hard profession to enter - including the equivalent of a degree course as well as several levels of assessment - and that the Pope has made it very clear that seminaries and other institutions are expected to positively reject unsuitable candidates.