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To misquote Euripides: Alas, ill-rule in Christendom.

If you were thinking that the ongoing (and systemic) sexual abuse in the “Catholic” Church was a product of a misguided policy of clerical celibacy, think again.

As it turns out, the Southern Baptist Church, the US's largest Protestant denomination, has the same problem.

Particularly disturbing here is the fact that both churches have routinely acted to protect the organizations themselves rather than the victimized. Equally disturbing is the routine failure of both organizations to report sexual criminals to secular authorities. Christians have a long history of thinking that they're above the law.

One point is only a point. Two points make a line.

Christians of the world: the rest of us are really starting to wonder if this kind of thing is built into your religion.

Abuse of power—and, in particular, sexual abuse of power—is not, of course, only a Christian problem. Given power, human beings have demonstrated again and again their capacity to abuse that power, and by male human beings, alas, such abuse is all too often enacted sexually.

That's why societies—and religions, in particular—need built-in checks and balances.

My “crime” was walking while gay.

The car slowed as it drove past. Two guys leaned out of the windows, wolf-whistled, and shouted out sexual comments in my direction.

They were clearly not gay. This was not real desire, however swinishly expressed.

No, their intent was to humiliate.

Because, of course, the worst thing that you can possibly do to another man is to treat him like you would treat a woman.

Gods, I thought. So this is what women put up with.

That abuse of power and concomitant sexual harassment are societally endemic should surprise no one.

Media moguls, executives, and legislators are (finally) getting some well-earned comeuppance. Calls for the resignation of abusers are, at long last, being heard from every quarter.

I say, let's start from the top: with the Abuser-in-Chief and the Chief Justice Abuser.

Jewish leaders speak about the need to protect trans lives. Native Americans protest the appropriation of artifacts from their culture. And Chinese and Taiwanese scholars mourn the loss of a Confucian philosopher from among their number. It's Faithful Friday, our weekly segment on faiths and religious communities from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Recently I saw Spotlight, the movie. Set in 2001-2002, the film chronicles how the Boston Globe's team of investigative reporters revealed the pattern of child sexual abuse rampant among Massachusetts' Catholic priests — and the Boston Archdiocese's systematic cover-up.

Early on, the film gives us psychotherapist Richard Sipe. He's been braving the Church's opposition and documenting this pattern for decades. He cites one aspect of the problem's origin: the secretive atmosphere surrounding priests' sexual activity.

Sipe estimates that, at any point in time, about half of all priests are engaged in a sexual relationship, despite their vow of celibacy. Given the film's timeframe, Sipe's "metric" indicates that 6% of all priests are molesting children. With further research, Sipe later revised that figure to 9%.

Recently I also read Margaret Starbird's book, Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile (Bear & Company, Rochester, Vermont, 2005). Another of her books on Mary Magdalene, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, was a central, inspiring resource for me back when I was writing The Woman's Belly Book.

Starbird presents a convincing argument that Jesus, being Jewish and according to Jewish custom, would most likely have been a married man. His partnership with Mary Magdalene as wife, consort, and colleague would have testified to the wholeness, and sanity, of creation.

Starbird links the Church's 12th-century rule of priestly celibacy with its denial both of Mary Magdalene's relationship with Jesus and of the Sacred Feminine:

In the aftermath of scandals involving Roman Catholic priests, people are now, for the first time in centuries, seriously asking, "What else did they forget to tell us?" Because the current crisis of confidence in the Catholic hierarchy is directly related to this hierarchy's dissociation from the sacred feminine, the relationship of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is entirely relevant to the problem. Enforced clerical celibacy, after centuries of devaluing the feminine half of creation, was mandated in 1139 when an edict by Pope Innocent II forced married priests to abandon their wives and children. (p. 150)

Absent Magdalene, insanity arises in a multitude of forms.

Spotlight shines the light on one form of insanity: Nearly one in ten Catholic priests have engaged in sexually abusing children.

Lesson 2: How to Recognize the Warning Signs of an Unsafe Group.

The intent of this post is to contribute to the discussion on how to have a safe community. 

Recently the pagan community has been discussing this topic as a result of publicity over the arrest of Kenny Klein, a news story summarized here: http://wildhunt.org/2014/03/allegations-emerge-after-pagan-author-charged-with-possessing-child-pornography.html 

Some posts by pagans and heathens either in reaction to the news or about how to have a safe community: 

Do I Have to Have Sex to Be a Witch? http://www.witchesandpagans.com/pagan-culture-blogs/thea-s-inbox/let-s-talk-about-sex.html
The Community Reacts to Kenny Klein http://www.witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/my-take-on-the-kenny-klein-affair.html 
Secrecy http://www.witchesandpagans.com/pagan-studies-blogs/witch-at-large/the-tyranny-of-secrecy.html 
Evil Thrives on Secrecy http://www.witchesandpagans.com/pagan-culture-blogs/gael-ur/evil-thrives-on-secrecy.html 
Abuse creates spiritual taint (contains some foul language) http://krasskova.weebly.com/blog/a-conversation-with-kenaz-filan 

There are some legitimate traditions that have hierarchies, and there are some traditions that reserve certain secrets and mysteries for higher levels of the group. Because there are such traditions, it’s hard to tell from the point of view of a prospective student whether the existence of levels and secrets indicates an established tradition or a means of dangling a carrot in front of the student to get student to keep doing what Bad Teacher demands. If one of the things student is expected to keep secret is that Bad Teacher is getting sex from student, that’s a clue that things are not well. 

Trigger warning: sexual harassment, abuse

 

...

I was just in a rather dispiriting discussion of sexual predation in the Pagan community, sparked by an interesting piece in the Wild Hunt. The article was good. which is more than I can say for some of the discussion that followed. 

    The piece was about the decline of nudity at Pagan events and the reasons for it.  But much of the discussion shifted to the related but different issue of why many women felt uneasy or defensive when sky clad at such events.  Despite all the energy and more than a little venom that accompanied that discussion, one important issue remained unaddressed.