Europe rocked by child sex abuse revelations

[joe]

மதம் என்பது அது ஏற்படுத்தப்பட்ட நோக்கத்திலிருந்து விலகி மதம் என்ற நிறுவனத்தை காப்பதே நோக்கம் என்றாகும் போது இத்தகைய பரிதாப நிலை தான் ஏற்படும்.

Joe anNe

neenga enna solla vareenga, puriyala

English-la solli puriyallinna thamizh-la sollalam ..Thamizh-la solli puriyallinna enna pannurathu

[PARAMASHIVAN]

well - given that the vatican sits on top of a HUGE pile of money, most of which looted from the third world, through centuries of colonialisation, this issue will most likely bite the dust!

Isn't that what they have been doing for the last 300- 400 years, esp in indian sub continent?

Paramasivan,
As usual ,sampantham illama ethayavathu pesuRathu

what is the connection between East Indian Company and Vatican ?

East indian company english are catholics ?

are you saying that East indian company english aren't catholics?? Vatican’s are a different thing, what I meant was the spread of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent. Catholicism spread in Indian during 1800, I am sure many of Foreigners who were there, and including English had practiced Catholicism

And FYI, I only speak sampantham illatha vishaiyums in cricket threads, just to wind up the guys for a bit of fun :P .. I guess you have not read any of my posts in the sensible threads like, Indian history & culture, Misc threads, Current affairs and Indian food section.. oh well

[joe]

are you saying that East indian company english aren't catholics?? Vatican’s are a different thing, what I meant was the spread of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent. Catholicism spread in Indian during 1800, I am sure many of Foreigners who were there, and including English had practiced Catholicism

Raghu,
Seriously , study some facts before you come and argue

[PARAMASHIVAN]

are you saying that East indian company english aren't catholics?? Vatican’s are a different thing, what I meant was the spread of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent. Catholicism spread in Indian during 1800, I am sure many of Foreigners who were there, and including English had practiced Catholicism

Raghu,
Seriously , study some facts before you come and argue

sari sir google panitu varEn

[irir123]

paramashivan - i was referring to the spanish inquisition et al - the east india company came here for business to start with - we were lucky in that sense we did not have the spaniards or the portuguese colonising us

having said all of this - I personally dont like the extremely acerbic manner in which Dawkins and co are handling this issue

btw, regarding the right-wing in america - their perception and set of morals are so confusing as to be absolutely wacko! they simply do not like the idea of 'humility' which I believe is central to the heart of any theological perspective of any religion - for them its always "us or them" ! their assumptions of patriotism often dangerously overlaps with religious affiliation - not very different from our hindutva brigade's rants I might add

some of my democrat friends, are of the opinion that the central idea of christian theology has been so blatantly hijacked by the american right wing, that it is not christianity at all! all these are, btw, based on my understanding of the issue and need not be correct - i cud be wrong

[irir123]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-official.html

[irir123]

"The Vatican's reluctance to remove him from the clergy has put a former priest in the middle of the church scandal."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,6968798.story

[irir123]

its getting worse by the day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...k-blame-munich

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04...-child-molest/

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/04...abuse-scandal/

[irir123]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/236096

"We don't see vast difference in the incidence rate (of child sex abuse) between one denomination and another. It's pretty even across the denominations."

Sounds like a good reason to investigate them all!

even more horrifying is that, Insurance companies claim they dont charge a higher premium for incidences of sexual abuse of children by priests, coz statistics show that their abuse percentage is no different from others !!!!

and here is a comment from an atheist from Richard Dawkins' website: "Nearly two thousand years ago, some people say, a good man told one of his followers to establish a institution. That institution would show mankind the way to salvation. Through many, many centuries the successive leaders of that institution have influenced the world, in many ways. Some have been considered good men, others less so. Some have been political leaders, even heads of state. The institution these leaders have ruled over has tried to convince the world of its moral views through the work of cardinals, thousands of bishop, and countless priests. This infrastructure provides guidance to now over a billion followers. These followers are told of the soul, and how it can be stained by sin. They are told of the life everlasting, either in the grace of God, or the punishment of Hell. They are given instruction in the use of the sacraments to help them follow the right path during their time on Earth.

But now, nearly two thousand years later, some of the followers and supporters of this institution are defending its record on child abuse by saying that the ill-treatment, rape and torture of children is no worse than anywhere else. It is no better. It is no worse. And so, unwittingly, with such a simple statement they destroy their own foundation.

There can be no more damning statement about an organisation that believes it should have moral influence over the world than to say that it is of no consequence at all; it is irrelevant.

Because if the statement “it is no worse” is true, it can lead to only two conclusions. Either the goodness within the institution has been so finely balanced by the wickedness so as to cancel each other out, or, more likely, the institution has had no influence at all. None.

The conclusion would be farcical if the situation was not so tragic: those who are trying to defend the institution in this way are implying that in matters of morality, especially those which go to the heart of each family, the care of children, centuries of teaching, of preaching, of encyclicals, of confessions, of penances, of worship, of lives led in painful celibacy, of longing for heaven, of fear of hell, all have been wasted. Throw it all away, because children are still raped as much as anywhere else. But why should things stop there? Are such defenders insisting that the institution only fails with the sin of child abuse? Why should it be any more effective in preventing any other sin? if it can't influence those who would sin against children, how can it be trusted in any other area of life? I believe that religious institutions harbor positively harmful environments which foster abuse"