Today on the blogosphere and from blogger friends as well, I've been reading about, Roman Polanski and the outrage his arrest has gone around the world and back. Father James Martin penned this blog post at America asking the question, what if he'd been a priest, how would he be treated then? I thought it was interesting question to ponder. I also admit last night I asked the same question in my head too, "what if he was wearing a collar?"
I wish I had the energy to extrapolate a bit more with my own thoughts, but I thought I'd share. I haven't kept up with my online subscription of the magazine, looks like I've missed some good stuff.
Still, all I can say is that there is no excuse for sexual abuse of children. I find it totally outrageous and immoral. On Saturday I have to give the students a presentation on abuse, both sexual and physical. I suppose it's good that we are educating our children but it makes me sad that we have to do this as well.
8 comments:
That was a great post by James Martin, SJ. He is one of my favorite priests that are out there representing the church.
The whole abuse scandal remains an issue for the church and you as a catechist understand this.
I love Father Martin's writing and appearances. He is a wonderful priest and you're right, a great representative of the Church today. I really wish we had more priests like him out there speaking out.
The abuse scandal makes me angry, sad and defensive all at the same time. Saturday will be an interesting day. I definitely will have to pray about it and for help to get through it.
In as far as it's possible for any of these Hollywood defenders of Polanski's to ruin their careers (maybe it isn't possible these days), I think Whoopi Goldberg just ruined hers with "I don't think it was rape-rape..." Rape-rape? Is she serious??
Jeff,
Whoopi just lost all respect from me. "Rape, rape?" What kind of lunacy is that?
Then the feminists who have come out to defend him astonish me. Ok, Woody Allen's defense doesn't surprise me but still, it's just outrageous. He did flee the country pending sentencing. It's not like he was an alleged rapist who left to avoid capture. He fled before he had to pay the price of his crime.
Following the Polanski news is like watching a train wreck. Andrew Sullivan has been posting the best stuff.
Oh my God, have mercy on us all. This is INSANE.
This seems more like the plot of a failed movie than real life. I am speechless.
He DRUGGED her, he had sex with her, she was 13.
Questions? God help us all. I have yet to read Sullivan, I guess I will do that next. I am aghast.
Fran,
Here is a piece at Salon.com my friend posted on Facebook talking about how people seem to have forgotten the fact that he did really rape the girl.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/09/28/polanski_arrest/index.html
And here's the Andrew Sullivan post in case you haven't found it yet.
He's posted a lot about it today.
Using the Holocaust to defend Polanski: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/09/crimes-to-the-grave.html
This is the first one he posted. (I think. It's the first I saw).
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/09/roman-polanski-raped-a-child.html
As a former abused child (not by an outsider, but by my own family), I can tell you that it may be sad that you are educating children about abuse, but it is important. You are doing them a great service. I wish someone had educated my siblings and me as a child. I wish we could have found someone whom we felt even cared back then. Times have changed. Thank God that they have!
Elizabeth,
Thank you for your comment. I'm sorry you had to go through that experience. It makes me so mad that we have to talk about this stuff because the world isn't perfect.
I, too, think it's a good thing to talk to the students about. I'm glad they've changed too. I'm a bit nervous about the class because I think I might be leading it on my own this time, but the video we have is really outstanding and I'll do my best to facilitate a dialog with the students afterward. If I can be the one person a child can trust, I will be happy to be that person.
Post a Comment