I think a lot of the "quit bashing religion" crowd are missing the point. None of the atheists are saying this issue is exclusive to the Catholic church. However, what is rampant to the Church, and especially the clergy, is the rampant, widespread attempts to sweep the incidents under the rug. And this article represents a ridiculous attempt to marginalize an absolutely monstrous crime by making it sound commonplace.
Firefly, sorry to hear about your situtation. I would never assume to put myself in your shoes or question your motives as far as reporting the issue goes. That being said, I'm sure if your uncle had an extensive history of sexual abuse, with several different children, the matter would needed to have been handled criminally. It's also possible that you might have felt differently about reporting it to the police if you were worried about your uncle becoming a repeat offender.
I also don't really buy that the motivation behind these cover-ups is the protection of the children. The best way to protect these kids isn't to threaten them and their families, and move the priest to a different community where he can hurt more kids. The solution is to lock these sickos up and not give them the chance to re-offend.
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