Monday, April 3, 2006

Child Abuse or Religious Rights?

We sometimes forget that the world is made up of customs and religions different from our own region. Every once in a while someone comes along and reminds you there are differences, sometimes, huge differences.

The other night I met some people that reminded me of one of those differences. At first it was mild amusement, and then shock. I happened across two girls that were raised in Catholic schools. The scandals of the church has reached every one of us. We know of the wide spread abuse of boys in the church, but what of the girls?

The church, it seems, has a different idea for the punishment of girls and boys. Boys are often whipped or expelled, while girls seem to have only one punishment, kneeling. You might think kneeling is a light punishment. One example of which I know, a girl was forced to kneel for three days in front of the Virgin Mary statue. A day in this instance was from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with only the usual school breaks, dinner etc…

If a parent did this to a child they would be arrested and incarcerated for child abuse. Some might compare it to “timeout”. I don’t think so. It is pure and simple abuse.

What I want to know, when are the churches going to be held accountable for their misdeeds? It seems never. Child abuse is prevalent in churches and no one cares. If it’s done in the name of God, it’s okay to do?

I understand so few in the mainstream media are afraid to speak out about the churches. Either they are so brainwashed or they just don’t have the nerve. It's time someone spoke out and called for the Catholic Church to account for its actions. The rape of young boys has been pushed to the back burner. How much more is hidden behind those ornate doors?

No comments:

Post a Comment