who am I to judge?

Professor Leon Podles, who wrote a book about the terrible abuse of boys and young men in the US Catholic church, comments about the crisis in the UK Anglican church, which has recently admitted it had a similar problem.

Asked by Fiona Scolding QC, lead counsel to the Anglican investigation, whether attitudes towards homosexuality affected the way Ball was treated, he said that church figures didn’t want to be “seen to be judgmental about people’s sexual activities”.

 and then the good professor notes:

 And, in case anyone has not noticed, Pope Francis, despite his rhetoric, has been much more tolerant of sexual abusers and their enablers than Pope Benedict was.After all, Francis’ most quoted quip is “Who am I to judge?”

The problem is not the temptation, but that, given a "green light" by society, people will act on their impulses, rather than refrain and play by the rules.

This non judgemental approach is mainly giving a green light to sexual predators, but it could apply to other sins.

I noted this in my previous post about the increase in "pay back" killings in the Philippines, because folks who couldn't get justice figured they now had permission to commit a similar crime to get "justice".

similarly, one reason that corruption is so common here is that "everyone does it" and no one actually gets condemned for it (either in public opinion or by the civil authorities.)

As for the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church: having lived in the Altoona area where abuse was covered up, and after reading numerous articles in our local Catholic newspaper  on the wonderfulness of the church's openess to the gay lifestyle, it made me wonder if the Sandusky horrors at Penn State were overlooked out of a similar compassion.

from bishop's accountability org:

Testifying before the public school board in State College [Penn.], he (i.e."Dr. David J. Brown, a clinical psychologist who screens candidates for the Diocese of Altoona) argued on spiritual grounds for legitimizing homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle in the public schools there.

Brown told the board that he was ‘appalled’ that the school district had excluded known militant homosexual speakers from Penn State University from making presentations to teachers at in-service day workshops. Brown was referring to speakers who are on record as promoting homosexuality as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ and who are either homosexuals themselves or homosexual advocates."

in that case, like the scandal of the local bishops, it was a  local lady attorney who pushed the case, which was delayed by politics but eventually went to court.

The point is that, if you know of a crime, do you report your friend for it? Yes, if you think it is serious.

but of course, it's easier to just go along with public opinion and not stick your neck out and maybe get fired or worse, go to jail for a "process crime".

If the church you attend, and the people around you think what was done wasn't a big crime, or that the actions should be forgiven/overlooked/not prosecuted because the perpetrator is such a nice guy and he did so many good things in his life, it sends a message to society that sins/crimes against the innocent are not a big deal.

I am most familiar with the US scandals, but rumors say a lot of churches here have a similar ticking time bomb waiting to go off,  including here in the Philippines.

Some estimates show 2 percent of priests are pedophiles, but most "abuse cases" are actually homosexual activity with teenaged boys, as was shown and romanticized by a recent Hollywood film.

This isn't just about those nice friendly priests who hit on altar boys, but about Bill Clinton, Trumpie boy, Hillary, half of the Hollywood elite, and of course Teddy Kennedy.

true, if you point fingers, you will find it is a common "sin", but my point is that there is a difference between a person who falls and repents his actions and tries not to repeat the offense, or a person who pretends he did nothing wrong and continues to do the same thing to the next victim.

Heck,in our family we have a guy who periodically goes manic and molests the male staff, and defends his actions by saying it was consensual, not workplace sexual harassment, and anyway, God made him that way, so who am I to judge?

Well, thanks, Pope Francis.

I'm okay, you're okay, and the real sin is destroying the environment by using airconditioners. Right.

Maria Goretti, call the office and explain to the Pope: #me too.