I'm sorry, but the "they do it too" line won't fly. It's not about the relative numbers of molesters in different professions; I think we're all agreed that even one is too many. Rather, it's far more about what is done about these people when their offences come to light. The church has a history of protecting them even from investigation, denying them at the very least the opportunity of clearing their names. Priests have been moved around anonymously, to other areas with potentially fresh victims. A few years ago the catholic church in Ireland passed an edict, essentially prohibiting priests from discussing these matters with the authorities, meaning that every single Irish priest was suspect in the public mind, innocent or not.
Look at the furore that blew up over here with Operation Yewtree and the so-called disgraced BBC personalities. Can you imagine what would have happened if it been decided to keep it an internal matter, with super-injunctions preventing even the fact that people like Jimmy Savile were being questioned let alone found guilty? Auntie Beeb would be torn apart faster than you can say "owzabout that then"
Look at the furore that blew up over here with Operation Yewtree and the so-called disgraced BBC personalities. Can you imagine what would have happened if it been decided to keep it an internal matter, with super-injunctions preventing even the fact that people like Jimmy Savile were being questioned let alone found guilty? Auntie Beeb would be torn apart faster than you can say "owzabout that then"
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
