From: icon@proto.COM (The iconoclast)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Clergy Sex Abuse
Keywords: sex abuse clergy insurance
Date: 28 Nov 90 00:58:37 GMT

Further evidence for my claim that religion is harmful.  Of course
there are those people that claim evidence is of no value when
studying things of faith.  I guess that's why the faith has to be
blind...

From the October 1990 issue of "The Secular Humanist Bulletin".
I quote:

            A New Endangered Species: Clergy Sex-Abuse Insurance

        Sex-abuse lawsuits against clergy have grown so numerous that
        many insurers no longer write policies to cover such liabilities.
        Others have drastically limited the coverage they offer.  "Today
        the number of credible sexual abuse and misconduct cases is
        astounding," said John F. Cleary, general counsel for Merrill,
        Wis.-based Church Mutual Insurance Company.
            The _Los_Angles_Times_ reported that about 2,000 sex-abuse
        lawsuits are now in the courts.  Studies by several Protestant
        denominations have suggested that about 10 percent of U.S. clergy
        engage in sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to adultery
        and pedophilia.  Meanwhile, according to New Orleans author-
        investigator Jason Berry, Catholic authorities have quietly
        settled more than 100 sex-abuse cases, paying out from $100 to
        $300 million to complainants.

End quote.

Another a useful reference on this topic is "Betrayal Of Trust -- Clergy
Abuse Of Children" by Annie Laurie Gaylor.  In that book the author
quotes studies and other authors who claim that religion is to blame for
the sexual abuse behavior because of the attempt of religion to repress
the natural sex drive.  The sex drive resurfaces in less visible and
less social acceptable behavours.  Example: Gene Able, M.D. findings
include this fact about the typical child molester: "He is often an active
Christian who is involved in his church.  He never assaults children he
does not know; he only chooses children with whom he can first build a
trusting relationship."  Other researchers quoted came to similar
conclusions.

Further supporting evidence for this theory is a 25 year study by A. W.
Richard Sipe, a priest-turned-psychologist, who told an American
Psychological Association forum that 20 percent of priests he has studied
were practicing heterosexuals, 10 to 13 percent were active homosexuals,
and 6 percent were involved with minors.

This last item was also from the October 1990 issue of 'The Secular
Humanist Bulletin'.

--
icon@proto.com   | Just say NO to religion. -- Religion and recreational drugs:
uunet!proto!icon | Both harmful, both habit forming, and both should be LEGAL.