For several years I’ve expressed, on this website or another, objections to many conditions (deportations of innocents, defense budget exploitation, some aspects of air traffic management, failure to capitalize on opportunities for advanced warning of earthquakes or infrastructure failure, high-level misrepresentation of satellite navigation, … ). August 2018 news has produced a whole new level. This will focus on church crime.
I’m proud to be a Christian. In the past I was proud to be a Catholic. My reason for remaining “RC” now is historical: a timeline reaching all the way back to year one AD. Crises have occurred along the way (with the Inquisition usually cited as “exhibit A”) but modern times bring a much bigger calamity.
Page 30 of a 2005 book “Nuts & Bolts of Christianity” included this excerpt:
“I frankly question the judgment — and competence — of the whole hierarchy. My denomination lost a giant amount of credibility in the Christian community. How many centuries it would take to regain that is anyone’s guess.” That was thirteen years before the full extent of corruption became clear.
Outrageous insanity connected with abuse of children and adolescents defies attempts to explain or even describe it. Instead I recently suggested this: Let the Catholic church divest all financial assets, give proceeds to victims of abuse, and declare bankruptcy. Seeking advice from others I was cautioned: Creating that vacuum could enable even worse control. OK, granted — but the suggestion at least highlights the severity. Only extreme action can begin to exorcise this critically wounded institution. Moral authority, shattered over decades, is now nowhere in sight.
Authority also betrayed elsewhere (public schools, University coaches, movie moguls, gymnasts’ doctors, … ), though very real, won’t reduce the severity here. Restoration will require something akin to breaking down and starting over from scratch — followed by flawless performance over a very long time. Anything that drastic will produce a ton of objections (e.g., “it’ll destroy the church”). No, it won’t. Christianity began from square one, surviving with benevolent people coming out-of-the-woodwork from all directions, lifted up by Divine power. Not by money, which appears to have been a destructive influence; funds urgently needed for helping the destitute are now targeted by lawyers. Deny those lawyers access to the funds; steer payments to victims instead. At least something can then be salvaged from this disaster.
Thousands of innocents contributing to constructive church efforts justifiably found a way of life within. Their stable world was unfortunately invaded by monsters from a hideous swampland. No doghouse is too small for them; let civil authorities decide their fate. Suffering of innocents along with the guilty is of course regrettable, even tragic, but also inescapable; it happens no matter what is decided.
With no easy ways past this man-made ruin, I can say only that restoration will demand a clear drastic beginning followed by slow consistent progress. Apologies for not knowing a more definitive answer.
