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Re: well said...

Posted by Donna on March 09, 2004 at 08:40:29:

In Reply to: Re: well said... posted by Mike J. on March 08, 2004 at 21:08:32:

: 80% of the abuse cases in the national reports just published from 1950 to the present were committed by homosexual males against 11-17 year old boys. Even Andrew Greeley admitted as much.

--Which doesn't answer the question I asked. I'm not arguing with the actual numbers either. I'm challenging you to think about what the numbers mean.

--Do you think that homosexuality, by itself, indicates that a man is prone to sexually abuse another? The question is relevant because national statistics show that the vast majority of incidents of sexual abuse overall (outside of the church) are perpetrated against girls by heterosexual men. Therefore, if homosexuality was a dominant contributing factor to the incidence of sexual abuse, it would carry over into the national statistics as well. It doesn't.

--The fact that out of the total number of priests accused of sexual abuse the majority were found to be homosexuals doesn't prove that there is a greater risk of sexual abuse associated with homosexuality. It proves that there are a greater number of homosexuals in the priesthood than you might have thought and that's about it.

--If you want to prove that homosexuality is a significant contributing factor to sexual abuse, you would have to a) find out the total number of homosexuals in the priesthood; b) determine the total number of homosexual priests who have abused and compare it to the number of homosexual priests who have not abused; c) do the same calculations for their non-homosexual counterparts and compare both sets of numbers. In addition, the results would be meaningful only on a percentage basis UNLESS it could be determined that the ratio of homosexuals to heterosexuals in the priesthood mirrored national averages.

: By the way; nice move by the researchers to go back to 1950 to cover their post VII tracks. In the Archdiocese of Seattle the vast majority of reported abuse cases occured in the 70s and 80s.

--"Reported" would be a key word here. Anyone who had been abused in the 50's as a child or teenager would now be over 70 years old and the whole idea of "reporting" abuse is a fairly new one. Unless you have a list of reported cases prior to 1950, there is no conclusion that can be drawn. If you look at national rape statistics, you will see the same increase in "reported" cases which is simply due to the growing willingness of victims to formally file a complaint and not due to any increase in the actual crime.

::Then an effort can be made to eliminate pedophiles and anyone else who presents a potential hazard to kids.

--And THAT is the only thing that should be considered, but it has not been proven in any way that a homosexual is inherently hazardous to anyone.

Replies:

Re: well said... Mike J. 18:35:34 3/09/04 (15)
- Re: well said... Gabby 18:36:06 3/14/04 (0)
- Re: well said... Paedophilia has NOTHING to do with homosexuality. 20:50:05 3/13/04 (5)
  - Re: well said... Donna 11:10:42 3/14/04 (4)
    - Re: well said... Agreed. 15:19:45 3/14/04 (3)
      - Thank you...Re: well said... Randy (the heretic) 08:18:42 3/17/04 (1)
        
        Re: Thank you...Re: well said... I had to be. 13:54:28 3/17/04 (0)
      - Re: well said... Donna 21:52:10 3/14/04 (0)
- Re: well said... Donna 05:48:48 3/10/04 (7)
  - Re: well said... Mike J. 18:28:47 3/10/04 (6)
    - Re: well said... Donna 21:31:47 3/10/04 (5)
      - Re: well said... Mike J. 00:02:23 3/11/04 (4)
        
        Mikey, consider this test Wag 14:43:58 3/13/04 (0)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 08:08:00 3/11/04 (2)
        
        Re: well said... Mike J. 18:29:31 3/11/04 (1)
        
        Re: well said... Donna 20:27:40 3/11/04 (0)

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: : 80% of the abuse cases in the national reports just published from 1950 to the present were committed by homosexual males against 11-17 year old boys. Even Andrew Greeley admitted as much. : --Which doesn't answer the question I asked. I'm not arguing with the actual numbers either. I'm challenging you to think about what the numbers mean. : --Do you think that homosexuality, by itself, indicates that a man is prone to sexually abuse another? The question is relevant because national statistics show that the vast majority of incidents of sexual abuse overall (outside of the church) are perpetrated against girls by heterosexual men. Therefore, if homosexuality was a dominant contributing factor to the incidence of sexual abuse, it would carry over into the national statistics as well. It doesn't. : --The fact that out of the total number of priests accused of sexual abuse the majority were found to be homosexuals doesn't prove that there is a greater risk of sexual abuse associated with homosexuality. It proves that there are a greater number of homosexuals in the priesthood than you might have thought and that's about it. : --If you want to prove that homosexuality is a significant contributing factor to sexual abuse, you would have to a) find out the total number of homosexuals in the priesthood; b) determine the total number of homosexual priests who have abused and compare it to the number of homosexual priests who have not abused; c) do the same calculations for their non-homosexual counterparts and compare both sets of numbers. In addition, the results would be meaningful only on a percentage basis UNLESS it could be determined that the ratio of homosexuals to heterosexuals in the priesthood mirrored national averages. : : By the way; nice move by the researchers to go back to 1950 to cover their post VII tracks. In the Archdiocese of Seattle the vast majority of reported abuse cases occured in the 70s and 80s. : --"Reported" would be a key word here. Anyone who had been abused in the 50's as a child or teenager would now be over 70 years old and the whole idea of "reporting" abuse is a fairly new one. Unless you have a list of reported cases prior to 1950, there is no conclusion that can be drawn. If you look at national rape statistics, you will see the same increase in "reported" cases which is simply due to the growing willingness of victims to formally file a complaint and not due to any increase in the actual crime. : : ::Then an effort can be made to eliminate pedophiles and anyone else who presents a potential hazard to kids. : --And THAT is the only thing that should be considered, but it has not been proven in any way that a homosexual is inherently hazardous to anyone.

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