Is the media anti-Catholic?

[Veritas]

Teachers do not put themselves on moral pedastals like the priesthood does. Hypocrisy sells better, so that is what they go with. The local butcher cheating on his wife is not nearly as intriguing as Jimmy Swaggart doing the same.

Lousy excuse. Moral standing has nothing to do with it. The vast majority of sex abuse happens in families. Should we just ignore it because parents don't put themselves on pedastals?

There are over six million teachers in the US and only about 410,000 Catholic priests in the entire world. So, let's not try to mislead by misusing statistics.

The Catholic Church made this problem into a super scandal.

When teachers are caught, they get prosecuted and fired. You rarely see adults coming out with disclosures of being sexually abused by teachers decades ago.

Do some research, or read the links before commenting. This is completely false.

Public school teachers have a better union.

And there you have it!

 

[Veritas]

The media has been anti-RCC for a long time. It has nothing to do with the sex-abuse scandal.

Correct.

Therefore, the media is anti-Penn State because they covered it, correct?

That's not what he said.

 

[IanCG]

That's not what he said.

Than he's inconsistent.

 

[variant]

Just like the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, if this incident got reported, how many incidents go unreported? Remember, it took years of coverup from the top down before anyone said anything about Penn State.

The cover-up is the story.

The systematic protection of pedophiles in the priesthood or the protection of a football coach by the Penn State administrators and coaches.

We all know that pedophilia happens. The actions that got media attention were when supposedly upstanding people in our society cover up the actions of pedophiles when it suits them.

 

[keith99]

You mean public schools like Penn State?



Priests were also moved around by Catholic officials as part of a cover up. That is why it was reported on so heavily.

Moved around and put back in positions where they had major contact with children who became the next set of victims.

I at least would see things in a totally different light if molester priests were moved to a position where they would have little to no contact with children. Then I would have thought they were at least trying to balance the problems created because often these things were found out during confession.

Instead the Church chose a path that not only coverd up abuse, it helped provide access to future victims. Those higher up who should have been protecting the flock instead sacrificed the children to protect the wolfs. That is what made it a story worthy of ongoing coverage.

 

[Harpuia]

When a county public school system starts intentionally putting known rapists back, in groups of several at a time, so that they can prey on the next set of child victims (or worse pretend like it's never happened), they'll get the same coverage as the Catholic Church and Penn State.

And I can guarantee you, Penn State did not get "some" media coverage. There was enough negative press to sway the NCAA to give PSU everything short of the death penalty. Four years no postseason, recruiting reductions, the list goes on.

 

[Loudmouth]

I at least would see things in a totally different light if molester priests were moved to a position where they would have little to no contact with children.

Or if catholic administrators immediately kicked them out of the priesthood and cooperated with police to put these sexual predators behind bars. If this happened then we would be applauding the Vatican. Sadly, the exact opposite occurred. The Vatican chose to protect its image by hiding the scandal and exposing more children to known sexual predators. Now we have people bad mouthing the press because they dared to protect other children from being victims.

Instead the Church chose a path that not only coverd up abuse, it helped provide access to future victims. Those higher up who should have been protecting the flock instead sacrificed the children to protect the wolfs. That is what made it a story worthy of ongoing coverage.

Don't forget, the child molesters are the victims here because the media is anti-Catholic.

 

[metherion]

Yes. The media is anti-Catholic, and has been for a very long time, way before the sex abuse scandal. The Catholic Church has been one of the things you could normally get away with bashing for many years, and there are whole sects of American Protestantism (and probably other non-American Christians) who outright declare in pretty much every forum they can that the Roman Catholic Church isn't actually Christian.

Yes, the sex scandal was an absolutely horrible abuse of power, on all levels, and nothing short of a public defrocking of all the priests involved and a full Papal order for all bishops and others involved to open the records to the police in their respective countries, and turn themselves in, and plead guilty without wasting the time and money on a trial, should be considered a proper punishment, IMO.

And while what happened in the Church was absolutely horrid, it does seem to me that Catholic child abuse scandals are over-reported when compared to instances of other faith leaders' child abuse scandals.

ETA: And yes, I am aware of that the extent of abuse cover-up in the Church is far different from the normal town parish or whatnot, which is a differentiating factor. And no, I am not saying the media is anti-Catholic because of the coverage of the sex scandal. I am saying it has had in the past and has now in the present an anti-Catholic bias, and that may be what leads to relative over-reporting of Catholic abuse compared to other abuses. Not a SUPER STRONG CATHOLICS ARE EVIL BLARG bias, I'm not some crazy beating on the drum of HOLY COW I AM BEING PERSECUTED, but still a bias.

Metherion

 

[Verv]

The media is anti-Catholic because they want to break scandals against anyone that makes it look bad.

It really isn't that great of a national news story if a teacher molests a kid in Wisconsin. It sounds too much like a boring story of some other molestation unworthy of national news.

But a Priest? They really shouldn't be doing that. So it does become a big deal.

For the same reason the Penn State thing was famous.

 

[Loudmouth]

Yes. The media is anti-Catholic, and has been for a very long time, way before the sex abuse scandal. The Catholic Church has been one of the things you could normally get away with bashing for many years, and there are whole sects of American Protestantism (and probably other non-American Christians) who outright declare in pretty much every forum they can that the Roman Catholic Church isn't actually Christian.

I really don't see the Great Schism being played out in the media anymore. If this was early to mid 1900's you may have a point, but by and large the American populace has really moved past the whole Protestant v. Catholic thing, at least in my view.

If anything, the media is anti-authoritarian. If someone is in a position to tell people what to do then the media has them in their sights. As far as the American public goes, religious figures still hold a lot of authoritarian sway so they are targeted by the media in the same way that pop stars and politicians are.

Yes, the sex scandal was an absolutely horrible abuse of power, on all levels, and nothing short of a public defrocking of all the priests involved and a full Papal order for all bishops and others involved to open the records to the police in their respective countries, and turn themselves in, and plead guilty without wasting the time and money on a trial, should be considered a proper punishment, IMO.

And while what happened in the Church was absolutely horrid, it does seem to me that Catholic child abuse scandals are over-reported when compared to instances of other faith leaders' child abuse scandals.

Imagine if the RCC was proactive. Imagine if they did just the opposite of what they actually did. Imagine if they turned child molesters over to the police even in cases where the police would have never found out. My own personal opinion is that the media would have cast the RCC in a very positive light. They would have reported that the RCC really was looking out for the well being of its congregation, and of society in general. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking on my own part, but perhaps I am not too far off the mark.

 

[Yoder777]

Timebomb at Elm Guest House: Pop stars, a bishop and a top politician appear on a list seized by police investigating child abuse at the London hotel in the 1980s | Mail Online

The massive amount of coverup involved in the British pedophilia scandal shows what people should have known all along, that it was practically all institutions of society, not just the Catholic hierarchy, responsible for covering up sexual abuse.

 

[IanCG]

Timebomb at Elm Guest House: Pop stars, a bishop and a top politician appear on a list seized by police investigating child abuse at the London hotel in the 1980s | Mail Online

The massive amount of coverup involved in the British pedophilia scandal shows what people should have known all along, that it was practically all institutions of society, not just the Catholic hierarchy, responsible for covering up sexual abuse.

Don't be mad at the Catholic church, everyone abuses children and covers it up!

 

[AceHero]

Perhaps the media wouldn't be perceived as "anti-Catholic" if the Vatican wasn't so pro-celibacy.

 

[seeking Christ]

There are over six million teachers in the US and only about 410,000 Catholic priests in the entire world.

That means 1 Priest per Parish, with an average parish size of about 2,500. I think your # is low.

 

[iluvatar5150]

That means 1 Priest per Parish, with an average parish size of about 2,500. I think your # is low.

Nope, he's right.

-Dan.

 

[Sistrin]

Don't be mad at the Catholic church, everyone abuses children and covers it up!

That isn't what Yoeder said, you have twisted his meaning to suit your deflection. Yoeder is correct, pedophiles permeate all segments of society, they work together to accomplish their sick goals, and they cover for each other.

The question everyone should have been asking when the Sandusky story broke was how could he get away with this activity, which included using university sports facilities to prey upon children, for so long without many other people covering for him? The answer is he couldn't, many at the school knew and were either complicit, participatory, or simply covered it up.

Again, the Boys Town scandal, which implicated Barney Frank, is a perfect case study of how pedophiles work and how those who cover for them think.

 

[variant]

That isn't what Yoeder said, you have twisted his meaning to suit your deflection. Yoeder is correct, pedophiles permeate all segments of society, they work together to accomplish their sick goals, and they cover for each other.

The question everyone should have been asking when the Sandusky story broke was how could he get away with this activity, which included using university sports facilities to prey upon children, for so long without many other people covering for him? The answer is he couldn't, many at the school knew and were either complicit, participatory, or simply covered it up.

Again, the Boys Town scandal, which implicated Barney Frank, is a perfect case study of how pedophiles work and how those who cover for them think.

We already knew that pedophilia happened elsewhere.

This doesn't make the media anti-catholic for reporting what the catholic church did.

 

[DarkManX1]

It's the job of the media to report the news. People love it when moral leaders fall short. People love it because they can watch the news and say "well I'm not as bad as that guy and hey he's a priest!" Teacher sex scandals get coverage too, but really the comparison is lacking a little. Teacher's aren't bastions of morality and aren't celibate. However, regardless of whether it is a priest or a teacher child abuse is an atrocity. Both deserve to be treated like trash by the media.

 

[Erth]

Yes, most of the media are slightly anti-Catholic, in my opinion. They have this love/hate relationship with Catholicism. However, misinformed or otherwise twisted puns at Catholicism, and at Christianity generally, are not unseen in a lot of media. Since there is no news content in them, it is only reasonable to think that there is an anti-Christian sentiment behind them.

 

[morningstar2651]

The media is anti-Catholic for over reporting the priest scandal while under reporting cases of sexual abuse in other institutions, such as public schools. Remember, less than three percent of priests have been accused of child molestation, which is less than that of public school teachers.

In my view, it's more like they sensationalize the priest scandal because they are anti-Catholic and want to find a way to discredit the Catholic faith. The liberal bias often found in the media would cause them to under report sex abuse cases in public schools, given how favorable liberals are of the public education system.

So you're saying the media shouldn't report as many pedophile priests as it does? Should it turn a blind eye to them? Why? Because you're Catholic and it makes you uncomfortable?

I think it reported on the pedophile priests just the right amount.