Sigh.
Most days, I feel like my faith in humanity and our basic goodness can't get much lower. And then there's today.
We did two stories today. The first is about a priest who has been removed from his parish for (allegedly) sexually abusing a boy decades ago. One of the parishioners said, "To me, we're all human. No one is above reproach. We all make mistakes."
Yes. We do all make mistakes.
I speed and I swear and I eat my feelings. I'm bitchy a lot of the time and frankly, I prefer my dog's company to spending time with most people. (You guys are great, but a lot of the others...)
I judge people and I tend to hold grudges.
I would be the first to admit that I make mistakes.
But I don't think my (reasonably) petty sins are the same as this guy's. I don't molest people. I don't ruin lives. And I don't think it's okay that he get the chance to keep hanging around young boys. They say that pedophilia is almost impossible to cure. I don't think it's okay to take chances with children. I just don't.
The other story totally breaks my heart. A 12-year-old girl was gang-raped by five teenage boys.
She may have been going to the park to have sex with her boyfriend, and the mother of one of the five boys kind of implied that if there was sex, it was consensual.
Here's the thing. She went to the hospital a week later and there was still evidence of forcible penetration and sodomy.
And I don't think any 12-year-old girls ask for rough sex, you know? Especially with five guys.
And I hate people who blame the victim. It doesn't matter why she was in the park or what she was wearing. She was gang-raped by five teenagers and that's what should be focused on.
She is 12 and her entire life is now going to be divided into before she was raped and after. And at 12 years, she has a very short before.
Comments
12?12? TWELVE?? That is my sons age! He is not even close to being ready for sex---either physically or mentally. I can't even begin to imagine that a 12 y/o girl would be, either. (I know *I* wasn't any where close at 12--shoot! I still thought most boys were 'icky'.)
No, I don't think a 12 y/o girl would willingly have sex with 5 boys at the same time. Even if she had issues stemming from previous problems. I hope she gets the help she will need in order to get past this and go on to have a semi-normal life. I hope those boys didn't do her any irrepairable harm. I'd like to just hold her in my arms and assure her that she is safe. poor baby girl
Lately, I've started reading the news again, and I've found it's just plain depressing.
Was this all local stuff? Not that it makes it any worse if it happens nearby. It's horrible all around. Having a 13 year old daughter, I couldn't imagine this happening to her.
I can see losing faith in humanity when you read this stuff. I do too. I have no words for the priest. I was raised Catholic and had to be under the control of a very very bad priest myself. He eneded up taking himself out of the priesthood before he was forced to leave. You are so right that our sins can't be compared to the sins of a priest who can destroy a girl or a boys life.
As far as the 12 year old girl goes... I just have no words. I can't imagine the horribleness of this situation. My brain can't even wrap itself around this. Something very silimlar happened to one of my kids - maybe I'll post about it. We use her story to educate young mom's but it's still hard for me to talk about sometimes. Maybe I will though.
Both of those stories... choices. Evil, ugly ones made by evil, ugly people.
Except that plumbers and bakers, etc, aren't held up as spokesmen for God, as authority figures to be obeyed, trusted and respected. The physical act might be the same, but the ramifications and damages are far worse.
As far as the 12 year-old...shit. That poor girl. And those teenaged boys--what the hell wires got crossed in their heads? I hope she gets the counseling and therapy she needs.
I make plenty of mistakes, too, but forgetting to empty the dishwasher or put out the garbage are simple mistakes. Like GB said, these are evil, ugly people making evil, ugly choices.
PERIOD.
And the rape- twelve isn't old enough to consent. That woman ought to be smacked. Hard.
One of the parishioners said, "To me, we're all human. No one is above reproach. We all make mistakes."
Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break. Asshole. We all make mistakes, mistakes have consequences and a courageous person owns up to their mistakes and makes amends.
This shit makes me so ANGRY.
**Hulk SMASH**
Oof. It drags you down doesn't it?
I was active in my church as a youth - lector, gopher, assistant - the whole nine yards. Years after I find out that our Monsignor had molested boys at that time -- kids I knew. The Church admin shuffled him away to an old-folks parish in Florida and covered it up for years. I've stopped going to Mass b/c I can't bring myself to support an institution that betrays such a fundamental faith and trust.
I have friends that say -- but you can help change it from the inside -- there are good people here. Yes, but the Catholic Church is not a democracy, so I can't vote out the dirtballs -- and I've seen no sign of change from Church administrators that they want to approach this problem realistically at all.
Sorry -- didn't mean to rant that much -- it just makes me so angry when people trivialize what's happened.