Pope Francis reassures the faithful: Only 2 percent of Catholic clergy are pedophiles

[davidthegnome]

12. Hmm...

Not a major problem? You know, Mr. Pope, if 2% of Americans suddenly decided to just randomly start selecting people to shoot... if 2% of all Walmart workers decided to blow up the Walmarts they work in... if 2% of all school children decided they were going to cook their teachers for breakfast...

Well, that 2%, it can actually be a pretty big number, it can actually be a pretty major, pretty huge problem. Now, I don't know, Mr. Holy Man, whether or not your facts are really accurate, or based on anything more than guessing... or maybe even a questionnaire of the clergy.. but, 2%? Still a pretty big number. Still a number that could do all kinds of really bad things.

The marriage issue is a somewhat different kettle of fish. When I was a young boy, I thought about joining the Priesthood, there were things I liked about it - like the pretty dresses you guys get to wear, the candles, incense, pretty bells and the singing. I love, to this day, the sound of church bells ringing, though I don't hear them terribly often anymore. I thought about the vow of poverty - no big deal for me, I've lived in poverty before. I thought about the sermons, about comforting the suffering, I thought about all of the good things Jesus said we should do. I also liked the idea of people calling me Father, which is something I'm sure Freud would have had a field day with.

What ultimately convinced me not to join the priesthood were a few simple things. The Catholic church's condemnation of homosexuals, the Catholic church's demonization of women (going back many centuries) the fact that, there are Catholic saints that were bloody handed butchers, Inquisitors, crusaders and so on. Finally though... what really did me in was the idea that I could never have sex. Well, maybe I could, but I'd have to lie about it, hide it, maybe masturbate in a closet or something.

Human beings are sexual creatures, Mr. Pope. It's a part of our nature - and if there is such a thing as god (agnosticism, alas, the final nail in the coffin of my clerical ambitions) then God would not have made us such if God did not intend us to express, enjoy, and even thrive upon and within that part of our nature. Otherwise, God would have to be kind of a huge asshole - and I simply refuse to believe that about any theoretical higher being, no matter what the Priests or pastors say.

Sir... you are making an even bigger mess out of an already catastrophic one. When you downplay this issue, you insult the children and families who have suffered. You make mockery, make light of their suffering - even as you are a representative from the church which perpetuated it, attempted to cover it up, and ultimately buy it's way out of a global PR nightmare.

I suffered abuse as a boy. Without going into detail about the whats and hows and such... it was not a Priest that was guilty in my case. When I went to see a DA's assistant, she informed me quite seriously that, "This is not an offense against YOU. It is an offense against the state." You know, very few things in my life have ever made me anywhere near as angry or as upset as that comment did, and still does.

I had some hope for you, Mr. Holy Man... but I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that you're something of an idiot. I guess I can't really blame you, if I had spent so many years sexually frustrated, as part of a bigoted, ignorant organization of self proclaimed holy men... well, I'd be an idiot too.

Enough is enough. You are supposed to be representative of Christ, if you can't act like one, maybe someone else needs to do your job.