Somehow its an excuse - or presents a normative equivalent - that Catholic
> priests, local mediators between the laity and God - are no worse than the
> non-Catholic, non-priestly public in terms of their rates of pedaphilia?
> That their position of power and responsibility in the community isn't
> different than that of other individuals, other pedaphiles?
>
Yes, Alan, excusing and normalizing pedophilia is exactly what I am doing.
I really don't get your point here. Are you saying that you consider child molestation bad, and frown on it in any quantity? That just seems like an exercise in moralizing laziness.
Are you saying that the church should be free of pedophilia altogether? A capital good idea, but unlikely to happen soon in an organization with 1.147 billion members.
I could guess at what you mean, but my guesses would as likely be wrong as right (and everything that comes to mind is equally self-obvious). Perhaps you might just tell me?
> Is there an equivalent non-religious social hierarchy, over the last 50
> years (or far longer), that has done as much to suppress discovery and
> dissent and to displace responsibility as the Catholic hierarchy, where
> Ratzinger has long been a loyal, very conservative major player?
>
That must be a joke. Surely you've heard of the legal profession?
How do Ratzinger's loyalty and conservatism relate to the topic at hand?
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."