This is the Easter weekend: the most holy in the in the Christian calendar. Holier than the Christmas celebrations even, because -if research serves me right- what now passes as the Christmas holiday, was originally a pagan holiday co-opted by Christian tradition(s). Research even goes as far as suggesting that December 25th is nowhere close to the day or season of Christ’s birth.
Many believe that Easter celebrates the period when Christ rose from the dead (for reasons nebulous to non-believers of course), and is the most important aspect of the ideology. In Christian theology, it is supposed to be symbolic of a major sacrifice made for the eternal redemption of believers. In a country like this -which claims to laud religious freedom- people are entitled to their religious beliefs. As such, protections of these beliefs are enshrined in the constitution, and have been upheld by the highest court of the land (Supreme Court) many times over, but sometimes you wonder why most people refuse to objectively analyze the things they claim to believe in.
Look; I am not too religious anymore; my departure was in the making since way back to my childhood: back then I semi-suffered through a pretty intense religious upbringing. Even now, I still think that kids should have some religion in their upbringing; while at the same time, I despise religious proselytizing. Go figure that out!
I remember attending the Roman Catholic (RC) church many times, despite being christened an Anglican (English Catholic). When I found out how and why the Anglican religion came into being, I started to have major issues with this whole “religion” thing, but it didn’t stop me from attending the churches of different denominations. In fact, that was quite pleasurable -all in all- because I became an observer of sorts. I started reading and researching religions, and have continued this trait through most of my adult life. I find the topic itself (religion), rather fascinating -albeit scary at times- when all the implications of its influences are permutated for full consideration.
In the study of human history and its overall general development, religion is the most prominent phenomenon in terms of shaping one’s world view. In turn, your world view shapes your perceptions, and further still, your perceptions shape both your reality and your responses (behavior). So don’t underestimate the influence(s) of religion: even in today’s world, where we are supposedly more informed and enlightened than ever before -given the exploding advancements in communications technology.
All this brings me to the current crisis in the Roman Catholic Church and the tepid responses to it (in general) from church leaders. Ostensibly, they appear not to get it; do they?
To me, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church are living in an alternate reality: a reality vastly different from the one that most sane humans live in. And yet, the same could be said for most of the overly-zealous religious people nowadays; and by this I can single out the terrorists who (twice) destroyed parts of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. I surely don’t think they have been heavenly rewarded, to eternally enjoy the pleasures of 72 virgins each: for what I deem were crimes against humanity. To me, they didn’t get it either. And that’s what I mean when I say that one must always try to objectively examine some of the things one claims to believe in.
In the past two decades or so, there has been a spate of allegations that RC priests had indulged in a pattern of sexual abuses against minors, all over the USA. Countless lawsuits were filed as time progressed and RC officials kept settling out of court at record rates -much to the financial detriment of the church itself; and much to the chagrin of many in its faithful flock. Just keep in mind however, that the Roman Catholic Church is still a multi-billion dollar international entity.
Looking back now, I can recall hearing about sexual abuses in the clergy long before I was a teenager. Conversations I have had with people way older than me, paint a similar picture. You can conclude that from my personal observations as a layman, this type of clerical misconduct (and blatant law breaking) is at least a century old.
Now, remember that the most dominant church in the history of human development has been the Roman Catholic Church; and at one point in time there was an orchestrated effort (semi-successful) to dominate the world with this one religion. Allowing the church an existence of say two thousand years or so, one can speculate that this kind of unlawful behavior cannot be restricted to the only the 20th and 21st centuries. So ponder this for a minute and visualize the potential damage done to humans over time. The dichotomy created here is so profound that words can’t even begin to describe it.
When the reports of pedophilia, heterosexual and homosexual abuses (and the like) by RC priests, started to trickle out of both the law courts and the courts of public opinion in the USA, many RC adherents in this country (and abroad), minimized it as merely abuses from an overly-litigious society. But as time went on, no one could deny that overall, this was worse than an epidemic: especially when evidence of these abuse patterns started to be irrefutable. And further yet, when evidence of cover-ups was unquestionable.
Some have concluded that we have only hit the tip of the iceberg here. Many believe that the overall cover up by RC officials has been centuries in the making; especially now when this epidemic of clerical misbehavior and blatant lawbreaking has spread all across the world.
Apparently, there isn’t a country in the world, wherein Roman Catholicism has taken roots over time, where allegations of rape, statutory-rape, coercion, sexual molestation, duress, pedophilia and the like, haven’t come to the surface at some point in time -despite extensively orchestrated cover ups by RC church officials. And when you multiply this by years over time, one can only conclude that countless RC officials have been perpetually breaking the law all over the world for ages.
Laws protecting kids from sexual oppression and such is pretty much universal, but do not think for a minute that adults weren’t victimized also; they were. Many women, who came to priests looking for marital, spiritual and/or sexual advice, were often exploited in their vulnerable states. One can only imagine how many people of both genders have simply refused to come forward for reasons we can all fathom. I can assume that one can realistically multiply the number of recorded legal claims against the church by the thousands who remained silent; especially when you make an international calculation. Do note that there aren’t many countries which socially/financially reward legal action against the Roman Catholic Church. Plus, there are countries where the church’s influences permeate and even transcend the legal structures.
Let me qualify this article by adamantly stating that I believe this type of behavior is not unique to the RC church. I believe that near all religions cover up bad behavior (sexual and otherwise).
Recently the buck has come to a stop at the Vatican, and now we hear that the Pope himself may have been directly involved in cover-up (s). Who knows what else lurks out there for investigative journalists/reporters to uncover. It is quite possible that the worst is yet to come for Roman Catholics.
Even the responses from the Vatican had been called into question, by one as notable as the Archbishop of Ireland. In a recent sermon he opined that the response(s) from the Vatican has/have been woefully inadequate. He has since been chastised by many for his comments, but Lord knows he is quite correct.
What RC sympathizers don’t get is this. Whenever children are abused and adults are made aware of it, the legal and moral responsibilities of those adults are to protect the children from further abuse; and by aiding, abetting and concealing such abuse, one has surrendered both the moral and legal high ground. Once the moral high ground has been surrendered, then one’s credibility comes into question.
You don’t cover up vile criminal acts; you don’t. That is indefensible on any planet. In my opinion, the RC church is guilty of crimes against humanity, and in time they will pay even heavier tolls than they have paid so far.
Look; I haven’t even scratched the surface of this issue, so stay tuned-in folks.