I have been giving some thought here lately to the problems of the Catholic church and their priests. Am I Catholic? No. Then why do I care, you might ask. Don’t know as I do really, but I do have some suggestions for them and their leadership.
I have never really bought into the idea that a grown man can, or even wants, to be celibate; regardless of his professed faith. It is unnatural and damned unhealthy. Men and women are designed for the propagation of the species. Sex is as much a part of people as spark plugs are to an ignition system. To ask a grown man to abstain for as long as he wears "the cloth" is not only unreasonable, it is just outright ignorant. Now forgive me if I step on any toes here, and forgive me of my ignorance of the Catholic religion, but who was the idiot that decided priests shouldn’t get laid? Being a horn-dog from way back, I cringe to think what these men must go through trying to keep "Mr. Happy" contained. These accusations of sexual abuse really begs a reassessment of the policy of no sexual activity for these guys. Letting men be men could possibly change the landscape of the priesthood for the better.
The other thing that concerns me is the fact that there is obviously no psychological testing for candidates for the clergy. I mean really, who decides if these folks get to put on "THE" collar? Another priest? Perhaps one with the same problem? There are evaluations for folks who become fighter pilots, for folks who become police officers, and for folks who drive nuclear subs. Why is there not an evaluation for the folks charged with the spiritual well being of their flock? I would think that such an evaluation could possibly weed out a good deal of the predatory personalities. I could be wrong, but has it even been tried?
Another thing that I haven’t heard anything about is the nuns. Are they having this type of problem with the sisterhood? Are grown women who wear the "habit" molesting little boys and girls because they have been told that they are not allowed to sexually relieve themselves? I am betting that they are and it just hasn’t come out. I will grant you that a woman can go considerably longer than a man can without sex. However, it eventually catches up to them too. Again, it just isn’t natural to keep folks from having sex.
One might argue that these folks voluntarily join 'The Church', and that it is their responsibility to conform to the standards that are laid out (no pun intended). I will concede that point. However, why is a church that preaches the spiritual and physical well being of people actively torturing the folks who have given themselves to the task? How can priests be effective sources of council for the faithful if they themselves have only lived half of a life?
I have spent a good deal of this rant talking about the folks that are asked to abstain in order to teach the word of God. The other side of this story is the children who are adversely affected for the rest of their lives by men, and possibly women, who are supposed to be there to love and nurture them. Child abuse in any form is horrid, but "men of God" sexually abusing children is so screwed up that I can't even think of an adjective to describe it. Perhaps, with a great deal of counseling, these kids might live a close approximation of a normal life; if they're lucky. The point is: this crap should have never happened to begin with.
I consider myself to be spiritual, but not religious. To me, organized religion, as an institution, is rife with inconsistencies, and rules with no purpose. It seeks to "guilt" people into doing what the church wants them to do. I have never agreed with the “fire and brimstone” approach to religion. Catholicism is replete with all of the above. In my personal opinion, it is time for 'The Church' to move into the 21st century and leave the ignorance of the past where it belongs…..in the past.