Abuse hotline set up by Catholic Church in Germany melts down

reply to post by Max_TO


Kaytag I can pretty much assure you that God has nothing to do with religion period.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
reply to post by Aeons

 

Yeah you make good points... the number just looks too huge, especially for just one day.

They weren't all molested that day, though.

These are people who could range in age and potentially be bringing up abuse that occurred in the distant past in conjunction with those claiming abuse closer to the present or on-going.

Although it is shocking that so many called in at a glance, when looking at the numbers it isn't unlikely.

- A child is molested every two minutes.

- In the U.S. a woman is raped every six minutes.

- In places like India It is estimated that one of every three girls and one of every five boys before the age of 18 have been sexually molested.

- One in three Swazi women has suffered some form of sexual abuse as a child.

I could go on, but you get the point.

Now knowing that the Church has a deep history of such offenses and when victims are finally given a venue to discuss this, address any lingering issues or problems...especially anonymously...BOOM!

- Lee

Happy Easter! Looks like the catholic church has taken Jesus' words literally again. He died for our sins, future and past so no biggy, a few children raped it's OK, goes into the same forgiveness "account"

but seriously now, rape victims have a very hard time coming forward. and when you talk about male rape victims it's even harder to come out! because society thinks boys should be strong and not complaining like girls would do, just take it and become a man. and let's not forget to add that many of these people are facing pressures or threats to not come out with their stories, or even more threats after they come out (probably being called damn atheists, devil worshippers, liars, will burn in hell, etc just like some here on ATS are trying to call them)

and then there's the parents who turn a blind eye and dismiss these things as wild fantasy or just assume the kid is making up stories to avoid going to church activities. and of course there are the orphans who have no parents to complain to at all, they are in fact the property of the Church Corp...

yep the whole church thingy is just the devil on earth and trust me, this will go away, just like it did go away before. people don't want to believe that their spiritual guides are capable of these kind of things so they will be all too happy to forget because it didn't happen to them or their families and well it's just a few rotten apples anyway, who cares?!

sure one can dismiss child rape within the church as being just one of the many evils of society and present statistics of how many rapes happen anyway. yeah OK, but the church pretends to be god's embassy on earth, a place of sanctuary and mercy, not a dark dungeon of S&M orgies!

so yeah go on, donate money to "christian" organizations/churches/charities, i'm sure they're all doing the work of god on earth, making it a better place... one child rape at a time!

[edit on 4-4-2010 by DarkSecret]

So I just got to ask ....

Will anything come of this or will the Pope remain and we all forget about all of this once the next big news sweeps the MSM ?

I just don't see the Catholic Church dealing with this problem or making anyone pay .

Thousands of people phoning up on the first day, even if you cut this number by half it is 500.

Seems reasonable, where else could a paedophile do their dirty work and still get protection for their evil work in a modern society? -certainly not even prison.

reply to post by ladyinwaiting

To take advantage of a small children during the sexual anatomy discovery period is just wrong. WRONG. It's exploitation and punishable by law here in the US.

Agreed. I have no contest with this.

It damages the child, and studies have proven this beyond question.

I maintain that the main reason for "damage to the child" is not the act itself but the over reaction of those in the child's life and the rest of society here that increases the child's angst and worries; especially in the adult who has had society's reactions on his mind over time.

The intense negative reaction is what harms the child; otherwise this would be a universal phenomenon. It is not. Youth in the middle eastern countries do not grow up damaged. Only here. Figure out why.

So to say, it is not ours to speak up to the people of Afghanistan who are molesting children, is a cop out. We must teach, however, rather than destroy.

I have said sex with small children is wrong anywhere it happens. I have no quarrel with that. I don't believe that that sort of pedophilia is what is going on over there.

Originally posted by Max_TO
So I just got to ask ....

Will anything come of this or will the Pope remain and we all forget about all of this once the next big news sweeps the MSM ?

I just don't see the Catholic Church dealing with this problem or making anyone pay .

When I call for bringing about more honesty in this issue this is what I am talking about. Instead of going overboard in reacting emotionally and causing more harm to the people involved, the issue of sexual exploitation by priest needs to be dealt with head on.

Punishment is only one issue. What about prevention? Acknowledging and rectifying the consequences of not allowing priests to marry. Making not just the priests but the whole church hierarchy responsible for what goes on.

It is better that the issue is dealt with openly and honestly in terms of the church. Tone down the reactions around kids and focus on consoling and ensuring so they know they are and will be OK; otherwise we just make the problem worse.

That is not true.

It is often the case that people know that something isn't right, but that the LACK of societal care about it makes it unacceptable to complain about.

Those "middle east" people you are speaking of have been told it is normal. This is so normalized that the permenant physical damage done by having sex too early and having babies too early is ALSO normalized.

Having to push your vagina back up into yourself after a poop is NORMAL.

It isn't that they are damaged. It is that they are required to live in denial and acceptance, and not doing so is punishable. Denial of damage is not just encourage - it is REQUIRED.

Originally posted by wayno
reply to post by ladyinwaiting

 

To take advantage of a small children during the sexual anatomy discovery period is just wrong. WRONG. It's exploitation and punishable by law here in the US.

Agreed. I have no contest with this.

It damages the child, and studies have proven this beyond question.

I maintain that the main reason for "damage to the child" is not the act itself but the over reaction of those in the child's life and the rest of society here that increases the child's angst and worries; especially in the adult who has had society's reactions on his mind over time.

The intense negative reaction is what harms the child; otherwise this would be a universal phenomenon. It is not. Youth in the middle eastern countries do not grow up damaged. Only here. Figure out why.

So to say, it is not ours to speak up to the people of Afghanistan who are molesting children, is a cop out. We must teach, however, rather than destroy.

I have said sex with small children is wrong anywhere it happens. I have no quarrel with that. I don't believe that that sort of pedophilia is what is going on over there.

That is also not true.

The people who perpetrate sexual crimes in Afghanistan are IN CHARGE.

There are people complaining about it. There are people traumatized by it. There are groups fighting it. There are people who have approached the Western forces to ask them to intervene in it.

It is seen and recognized - and the only people telling you otherwise have an agenda.

Originally posted by wayno

Everybody just hold on a minute.

This thread is obviously seeping out of a modern American type prudish attitude.

To wit: Arab and Muslim societies are very fundamental in their religious taboos regulating behaviour between people. Yet, in the most militant of those very societies, like Afghanistan, there is an acceptance, albeit discreetly, of sex between grown men and boys as a natural part of growing up. They do not call it gay or pedophilia, but it is there.

No one in those very conservative religious societies is screaming about this.

Is this behaviour in the west's religious institutions really any different? Is it really the abomination people are making it out to be?

I am not trying to defend the church by any means, or the behaviour of the priests. I am 100% against the use of authority to hurt anyone. On the other hand, this kind of behaviour is pretty normal in a good chunk of the world, and has been for the entire of humanity's existence.

I don't think that anyone should be either surprised or outraged. Having said that, there needs to be a way of dealing openly and honestly with the "problem" and those who commit it. While it may have tacit acceptance in some societies it is not our norm and so something has to be done to bring honesty to the situation.

Those who think they are going to eliminate such bahaviour amongst men who have no access to normal sex are deluding themselves. Perhaps the best advice would be to let priests marry. *

[edit on 4/4/2010 by wayno]
* edit to add: and in the case of gay priests, marry a man.

[edit on 4/4/2010 by wayno]

reply to post by trollz



Here is what I was wondering, and I put a lot of thought into it before posting,

We know that pedophiles seem to put themselves in positions where they have contact with children,

Could the Catholic priesthood have been infiltrated?

And this represented only 1 country?

What more proof do we need people?

While a hotline is a great idea, having it set up by the church is like having the fox in charge of the henhouse.

We need independent agencies around the world to set up hotlines for this purpose and make sure that the caller knows that the conservation will be recorded.

While these consevations may be recorded, they will not necassarily be used in a court of law. But they should be used to help bring down this peadophile ring called the catholic church.



Peace

reply to post by wayno


The way the significant adult in the child's life reacts to circumstances of disclosed sexual abuse is a part of the child's reaction to it, of course. If mama starts screaming "you are ruined for life" then obviously the child is going to suffer from these type comments. That's a given.

But it's minimizing the entire situation, to reduce the damage only to the reactions of the adults.

All children are human beings, and as such we follow global development issues. Young humans are not physically or emotionally prepared for sexual activity. Anyone who tries to convince themselves otherwise, is being blindsighted by what the adult wants, not whats best for the child.

To maintain this stance is doing nothing more than rationalizing child abuse.

Wayno, I'm not saying that you approve of sexual activity with young children. In fact, you have stated you do not.

However, it is a disservice to this group of victimized children to pick and choose what you believe are the harmful effects without taking the full picture into consideration.

Children want to be loved and nurtured. They will at times crawl up into a man's lap, to be hugged, and to hug. A man with sexual acts on his mind, will misconstrue these type actions, by believing the child was making sexual advances towards him. This is a mistake.

This is seeing what you want to see, and believing what you want to believe. Rationalizing your own desires, while dismissing what is best for the child.

It is up to the adult to draw boundaries.

[edit on 4/5/2010 by ladyinwaiting]

reply to post by Stormdancer777


Of course it has Stormdancer. Just has boy scout leaders, coaches, and all professions who work with children have been. In any organization where volunteers are sought, one must do very stringent and rigorous background checks.

Like the "Big Brother" program. Child molesters ready to volunteer.

Before everybody starts flaming me, let me point out that the vast majority of these people are NOT child molesters. By any means. But when you have an agenda to molest children, you go where they are easily acceptable, and the molesters can of course, figure this out.

Originally posted by Kaytagg
One wonders why anybody would believe in supernaturalism or join a church, in the 21st century, at all.

Hey... don't bash "Supernaturalism" as it's supposed to be comparable to a "church" or any religious organization! I think "Life" is simply created and mainataned by supernatrual means as there are so little that we understand about our current world and even those understandings are mysterious to us.

Religion organizations are simply a tool to keep people in control by means of fear and taking away people responsibility away from them so that they can not be held responsible for their actions. "Do what you will, but as long as you accept "our" religion you're free of your sins"!

Originally posted by Stormdancer777
reply to post by trollz

 

Could the Catholic priesthood have been infiltrated?

Root of all evil can not be infiltrated, it is the way it is... by choice!