Child Sex Abuse in Churches

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I wonder if there is something about the authoritarian mindset which is somehow not so tore up about all this.

Oh, definitely. It starts when other people are viewed as "other" without the "people" and goes downhill from there, and "othering" people is part and parcel of authoritarian systems.

Now, having said that, it's surprising how many hierarchies are authoritarian systems even if their stated mission would suggest otherwise!

It all comes down, IMO, to whether the system primarily exists to feed egos. If yes, it's going to be authoritarian; if no, it has a half life of about 2 years these days, in my experience, sadly.

not to put too fine a point on it, human nature sucks.

In some of these insular religious groups, parents don’t want to report and are discouraged from reporting because they don’t want the church (which they believe is “the Truth”) to look bad.

Its disturbing. I was raised Catholic. Two of the three priests from the church were run out for child abuse charges and allegations. So it was 66% were I attended.

Years later I was actually called to Jury Duty from one of the families suing the priest. I had to dismiss myself because there was no way i could be impartial. He was a child molester. I knew one of the kids he molested.

I just saw the results of the PA Grand Jury on this. I mean, just now. The AG for the State presenting the jury's findings.

My. God.

I have a question. Was pedophilia overlooked when the bible was written during parts where it tells you who and what not to have sex with?

Pedophilia can be found in any denomination to one degree or another. But what separates them pretty much into two camps is: church bodies and religions known for their openness don't try to hide the crime and are cooperative with law enforcement. Whereas those that are more closed and authoritarian try to hide the crime, protect the perpetrators, and slander the victims.

The Bible doesn’t mention pedophilia, but it’s squarely against bestiality. LOL

So priests are forced to suppress their sexual desires and after a period of time, it starts to take a toll on the priests' mental health to the point where their sexual desires start coming out in other odd behaviors. The lack of mention of pedophilia in the bible is their loophole to get their rocks off somehow.

The lack of a mention of pedophilia affects some smaller religions, too. It makes them unsure about how to handle cases of child abuse when it happens in their churches.

Have some common sense people! Follow mandated reporting laws (or report because it’s the decent thing to do!).

Romans 13:1

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

I'd have to "brush up" but I thought the Greeks were viewed negatively in part for their acceptance of pedophilia as a culture. I can't cite passages offhand but I seem to recall that....

No. That is not the case.

First:

I would assume that the Bible forbids any sex outside of marriage. So that would defacto forbid most child molestation.

An adult man cant have sex with an underage boy because that would male homosexuality which is expressly forbidden in Leviticus, and an adult man could have sex with a girl of any age -but only if he marries her- and stays monogamous to her for life (even if she is underage). If he doesn't marry her then its fornication -which is against the Bible. So if you followed the Bible you would not molest boys at all, and you would have to stop with the first little girl, and then leave the priesthood to marry that little girl, and then not touch anyone else (male female underage or not underage) ever again.

Second:

With one exception I have never heard of a pedo priests "use the Bible to justify it". Like the Mob laundering money they just do it in secret and hope to get away with it, and hope to never have to justify it in public.

Actually I do recall that there was one priest on Sixty Minutes many years ago who did try to use somekind theological argument to fend off accusations of hypocrisy . Some kind of thing about how when he did it "there was no passion involved. Therefore its not a sin". WTF?

But my theory is that the job requirement of celibacy attracts weird types who might already have pedo tendencies.

I’m not sure. Hopefully, someone will enlighten us. There are some scriptures that indicate that pedophilia (or at least extreme creepiness) is okay.

In Numbers 31, God directs Moses to have the Israelites go to war against the Midianites. In verse 18, he says that “only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves” (NLT).

The King James Bible refers to the young girls as “women children.”

There was, at times, sort of a mentor/mentee relationship between men and boys in Ancient Greece.

There were times when sex was included in that relationship.

Homosexuality is forbidden.

In the Old Testament, some men had many wives and concubines. In the New Testament, that sort of thing is discouraged, though.

Much of the Bible is contradictory, so people can pretty much take what they want from it.

I’ve heard people used the Bible as an excuse not to report abuse.

Deuteronomy 19:15 “One witness is not enough to convict anyone of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses” (NIV).