Which came first the priest or the child rapist?

Ireland has recently become the scene of the latest Catholic church child rape scandal. The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has recently discovered there to be a history of official cover-ups of pedophiles within the Irish Catholic church dating back to the 1930s. Furthermore the Irish government made a deal with the church to cap their losses at $175 million, and in the process use taxpayer money to pay for the sins of the child raping priests.

This is by no means a new phenomenon, it has been exposed so many times that it almost begins to dull the senses. It seems as though where ever one finds the Catholic church one is sure to find child rapists hiding in the shadows of its luminous steeples.

Such constant pedophilism begins to raise a question; Is one more likely to become a child rapist by becoming a priest or is the Catholic church simply providing a safe hiding spot for those who would otherwise be unholy pedophiles. Which comes first the priest or the child rapist?

Yet this seems to be a question Church officials do not seem to be interesting in investigating. Some have avoided the topic altogether, such as Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor who has insisted on an unfounded attack against those who do not share his superstitious belief system.

From the Times article, Archbishop of Westminster attacks atheism but says nothing on child abuse:
At the installation of the Most Rev Vincent Nichols at Westminster Cathedral, his predecessor, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, described a lack of faith as “the greatest of evils” and blamed atheism for war and destruction, implying that it was a greater evil even than sin itself.

Others such the American-based Catholic League spokesman Bill Donohue have attempted to downplay the scandal. Choosing not to show empathy to those who have been wronged and instead focusing blame upon the media. His statement is included in entirety:

Reuters is reporting that “Irish Priests Beat, Raped Children,” yet the report does not justify this wild and irresponsible claim. Four types of abuse are noted: physical, sexual, neglect and emotional. Physical abuse includes “being kicked”; neglect includes “inadequate heating”; and emotional abuse includes “lack of attachment and affection.” Not nice, to be sure, but hardly draconian, especially given the time line: fully 82 percent of the incidents took place before 1970. As the New York Times noted, “many of them [are] now more than 70 years old.” And quite frankly, corporal punishment was not exactly unknown in many homes during these times, and this is doubly true when dealing with miscreants.

Regarding sexual abuse, “kissing,” and “non-contact including voyeurism” (e.g., what it labels as “inappropriate sexual talk”) make the grade as constituting sexual abuse. Moreover, one-third of the cases involved “inappropriate fondling and contact.” None of this is defensible, but none of it qualifies as rape. Rape, on the other hand, constituted 12 percent of the cases. As for the charge that “Irish Priests” were responsible, some of the abuse was carried out by lay persons, much of it was done by Brothers, and about 12 percent of the abusers were priests (most of whom were not rapists).

The Irish report suffers from conflating minor instances of abuse with serious ones, thus demeaning the latter. When most people hear of the term abuse, they do not think about being slapped, being chilly, being ignored or, for that matter, having someone stare at you in the shower. They think about rape.

By cheapening rape, the report demeans the big victims. But, of course, there is a huge market for such distortions, especially when the accused is the Catholic Church.

Poor little Catholic church, always getting picked on.

This comes after a time in which the Pope had recently appeared in Africa telling huge crowds condom use increases the chance of contracting HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile back in Ireland, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern is attempting to pass an anti-blasphemy law which will make it illegal to say mean things about another’s belief system. Free speech is to be eliminated in the fear that someone might get their feelings hurt.

It may be hard to decipher which came first, the priest or the child rapist, but there remains little doubt these degenerate predators have found a home in the arms of Catholicism. Now more than ever is the time for blasphemy, which truly is a victimless crime.