"No seriously, ask my wife. This is how far she makes me stay away from her at all times." |
Like most American Catholics, I have followed the recent sex scandals in the Church with profound sympathy for victims, revulsion over priests who prey on minors and frustration at the absence of hierarchical leadership. Unlike most, I have been visited by the gift of hope; for I see in this fall an opportunity for ecclesial rebirth and a new evangelization of America. This "new evangelization," advocated strenuously by Pope John Paul II, has the potential for restoring confidence in the priesthood while empowering all American Catholics.
The most obvious change must occur within American seminaries, many of which demonstrate the same brand of cultural liberalism plaguing our secular universities. My hope was rekindled last week as our American Cardinals proposed from Rome an "apostolic visitation" of seminaries emphasizing "the need for fidelity to the Church's teaching, especially in the area of morality." It is an arduous task. However, the Pope made it clear last week that he expects the strong appeal of the Cardinals to be followed by decisive Episcopal action.
It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning "private" moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.
So men who are forced to remain celibate for their entire lives, and then left alone with young, easily manipulated children are only taking advantage of them because of liberal attitudes in the world? WTF?
Now as those of us with a working intellect well know the Catholic priest sex scandals were NOT contained in Boston, and in fact turned out to be a world wide phenomenon that often went back for decades. It even poisoned the lives of native children living in the remote villages of Alaska.
Just a few days ago the frothy mixture was asked about his contention that liberals were responsible for man on boy sex in the Catholic church. He did not respond well.
This is the kind of bullshit blame game that these morons engage in all of the time, when they are around like minded individuals who will not call them out on their scurrilous claims. So of course now that Santorum has, what he believes, is a chance to get the GOP nomination he does not want to talk about the ignorant stuff he happily talked about in the past.
As a matter of fact Santorum's obsession with all things sexual, has started to cost him support with the very demographic that he is relying on to carry him into the White House. The Conservatives.
The GOP’s problem is that such talk alienates many voters who support the party out of fiscal conservatism but who would not appreciate Rick Santorum meddling with their sexual freedoms, thank you very much. If the Republicans want to deny Barack Obama a second term, they can’t afford to lose any of these voters.
There are a fair number of Republicans, not to mention Republican-leaning independents, who don’t care so much if Billy loves Bobby and is allowed to marry him. They realize the military hasn’t imploded post the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. So Santorum’s boast that he would restore the ban doesn’t exactly thrill them.
They realize that abortion rates have plummeted in recent decades and have little interest in reinstituting a nationwide ban on the procedure.
They’re not obsessed with the fallacy that women having access to contraception has undermined American families. And they don’t buy into a brand of Christianity that consistently reaches to promote the Founding Fathers as Bible-carrying apostles for Jesus.
Hmm it looks like many on the conservative side have decided to grow up, but little Rickie is still stuck in an adolescent fixation on all things sexual.
I think that most of us well realize that those who constantly promote themselves as better than others and seem to believe that they are surrounded by sexual deviancy, are in fact projecting their own frustrating desires from deep within their closet of denial.
So the question for any good reporter, in my humble opinion, should be, what is Rick Santorum hiding?
Because I think that many of us believe that it is definitely something.
Gee no wonder Sister Sarah likes him so much.
Back in the late 50's early 60's,my family had a cabin in Jemez, NM. There was a Catholic retreat called the Servants of the Paracletes. It was rumored to be for priests in need of a retreat- alcoholism was what we were told. My siblings and I were warned by my parents and other Jemez residents to STAY AWAY from those priests. We were just told they had troubles. Some years later, it came out that the Servants of the Paraclete's was where they sent all the pedofile priests!. Yep, even wayyyy back in the late 50's and 60's, the Catholic church was aware of this problem. So were Jemez residents. It shocked the hell out of me that Catholic friends I knew growing up in Albuquerque knew NOTHING about that retreat. It was a dirty little secret.
ReplyDeleteHe believes priests, are affected by culture and that when culture is sick, every element within it becomes infected?
ReplyDeleteWhat is infected is a church requiring men to be celibate, period. Paul the apostle taught in the NT that, as it would give more freedom for men to travel and spread the gospel, that it was a choice that each one should make. He made it clear he knew that it was not a good thing for men to "burn" and force themselves to abstrain, but rather each man made his choice. Paul, described how it was easy for him to remain celibate. There was never an order or any command by Jesus for his apostles to remain celibate. In fact, the wives were there, participating. Peter had a wife, so did most of the 12.
The very culture of greed and corruption that can (hopefully not everywhere) poison is the very one that Rick Santorum might very well embrace as he'll be tempted far and near with offers and backroom deals, which could taint his soul. Will that be the liberals fault too?
First of all, the "recent" Catholic priest sexual scandals aren't "recent". The only thing recent about them is the have recently been brought to light. They were covered up for decades, and the victims were too embarrassed to come forward because of the stigma attached to these acts.
ReplyDeleteWith our new found openness and the taking away of the shame of being a victim and placing it where it belongs, on the perps, Victims are no longer afraid to come forward.
The ironic thing about Santorum's comments is that these acts were mostly perpetrated in that conservative time, BEFORE the sexual revolution.
Rick
Given Santorum's overwhelming obsession with fornication we should consider ourselves lucky that he never joined the priesthood.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to bomb Iran on Jan 30, 2013... vote for Rick.
ReplyDeleteIt's so like a "conservative" to assume that the bad thing only just started yesterday. I'd bet real money that the church has been a haven for pedophiles for a VERY long time.
ReplyDeleteSantorum should really study up on the early popes and see what kind of debauchery they reveled in.
I'm with you Mr. Gryphen! I think there is a sick and highly perverted man behind the fake Christian wizard.
ReplyDeleteHere's my thought on all of this.
Perhaps the most difficult thing for Xtians to do is realize in their adult lives that they have been lied to and manipulated all these years about the very thing that has been the center of their core. Similar to the Southern white population. To have photos and hear stories of generations of slave owners and well-to-do'ers in the family only to know, post Civil War, that they don't get a turn to oppress -- that's got to hurt deeply. Add to that the realization that they are no longer considered superior. Now you've got some basis for rage against the machine.
I get it.
Everyone on the right blames the liberals for everything that is wrong in this country. When all else fails, blame the libs.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Santorum, he is an asshole. He talks this talk about small government but wants the government knee deep in peoples personal lives, especially their sex lives.
Anon@7:16,
ReplyDeleteIf you want to bomb Iran, vote in any Republican (except Paul), not just Santorum.
That little bastard really believes he's qualified to moralize to America when he's ready to let pedophiles off the hook by suggesting it's the fault of liberals?
ReplyDeleteSome people will sink to any level to raise their ideology. I would like to know how liberals influenced devout Republican Jerry Sandusky to molest trustinhg children and devout Republican Joe Paterno to cover those monstrosities up.
Oh, that video clip did my heart good. Thanks for posting it, Gryphen. It is so refreshing when "family values" politicians are called on their bullshit.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that Santorum is basing his response on a Catholic book called "Good-bye Good Men" that advances EVERY POSSIBLE EXCUSE for the Catholic hierarchy to wiggle out of any responsibility for the abuse. In this book "Homosexual = Pedophile".
The author interviews candidates that were tossed out of seminaries, and not surprisingly, most of them say they were unfairly given the boot because they refused gay advances.
It would have been a much fairer book had the author gone to the seminaries for their explanation. I doubt any of the ex-candidates would admit they were dumb as a rock, and lacked the social skills to get along with anyone who didn't comb their hair in the approved direction.
The bishops in charge absolutely had the power to immediately transfer abusive priests to remote monasteries and have them grow vegetables for the rest of their miserable existence. Well, they FAILED.
As for Santorum, I think he is so far in the closet that he can't see the door. I expect him to be very, very depressed as he gets older, and wonder why his life sucks so much, even if he achieves financial success.
Every day brings a new gem from this turd. Dig that grave wide and deep, Santorum.
ReplyDeleteHere ya go, Ricky: http://armchairsubversive.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteTo IM readers: this blog lays out very starkly how so many pedophiles hide behind the Republican Party's unearned reputation for being that of "family values" proponents.
It's not a pleasant read, but it's one that needs to be thrown right back at rightwing bastards like Rick Santorum every time he opens his mouth to lecture America.
+1 for Rick at 7:10am. Strongly agree.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that Rick's kink is cross dressing. I can seriously see him prancing around the bedroom in the wife's undies when he's home alone. It's a disturbing image but not half as disturbing as him sitting in the Oval Office.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the celibacy was originally advocated in the Church for having a cadre of priests (and nuns and monks) who would not demand wages. Also they could be shipped from place to place with no family ties. Apparently the no meat on Fridays was instituted to help the fishing industry.
ReplyDeleteThe priesthood abuses have been going on since the dark ages. The Borgian popes made some of the goings on today look like child's play - no pun intended. If Rick thinks he'll get away with blaming liberals for his sick priests he's going to have a huge backlash, as if he's not going to already. Good post.
ReplyDeleteKnowing a couple of men who were abused here in the '60s, I wonder if Mr. Santorum might have been, as well. His relentless identification with the church and his relentless focus on sex does raise questions about why he is so angry and defensive. Anyone, like Santorum, who wants to establish a theocracy, doesn't belong in power in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI guess that the Penn State scandal was the result of Librul Football Policies, right?
ReplyDeleteSantorum is certainly no student of history. Sexual abuse within the Church goes back through the ages. Apparently, he hasn't had the time to view the mini-series The Borgias.
"Hmm it looks like many on the conservative side have decided to grow up, but little Rickie is still stuck in an adolescent fixation on all things sexual."
ReplyDeleteHe's obsessed with wrestling as well. Mmmmmm, those hot oiled bodies writhing around on the floor.... such proximity.... and grunting.... just the thought of it sends ricky running to the confessional hoping to find a glory hole.
Keep this asshole away from the White House!!! No wonder he wasn't re elected in his state!
ReplyDeleteLook at all the revelations of pedophelia in the orphanages in Ireland years ago. I agree that Santorum has a problem with this entire subject, he "doth protest too much" With the numerous problems facing the country, why is he choosing to attack people for their sex lives? Too bad these conservatives do not spend as much time on fixing the job market, or the financial institutions as they do on slamming our President and his wife. Santorum is heading for a major fall once his private life is revealed, but I doubt that anyone will be surprised.
ReplyDeleteMy sense of intellectual smell is detecting that this whole thing with Santorum, is another "bait'n'switch" tactic, by Republicans.
ReplyDeleteIn order to get the lunatic fringe that has taken over the heart of what used to be "conservatism" to get in line behind ROMNEY, we are to go through yet one more phoney candidacy by another clown like this.
When more of his craziness starts to make it that BACHMANN seems sane by comparison, the Fox-instructed nation will feel defeated enough to go along with the NEW demand: to back Mittens the Robot...as the ONLY hope of beating Obama.
This has either been orchestrated by a savvy Republican brain trust, or else God is having a really good time, screwing with these idiots. One or the other, no room for any other conclusion, now, is there?
Paul told the Jews tonquit practicing The Laws, but nowhere in the Torah does it say that after the Messiah comes will The Laws be discontinued.
ReplyDeletePresent Day Catholics are not the Cathics who supported unions decades ago, who fought for social change. Now they have morphed into Evangelicals with a greater understanding of Mary.
O/T but still hilarious!!
ReplyDeleteTODD GOES ROGUE ON $ARAH!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/todd-palin-endorses-newt-gingrich/
TODD PAYLin endorses a serial adulterer and philandering old man named NEWT GINGRICH!!!
I would think that Todd is going rogue, OR that this is $arah's way to f*ck up the race to nomination by injecting chaos into the NH primary.
What a trainload of sh*te, these Paylins put out
lol funny!
Is it true that Todd Palin just endorsed Newt Gingrich?
ReplyDeleteTodd Palin just endorsed Gingrich. It's a lead headline in red on Drudge right now. ABC posted it 29 minutes ago.
ReplyDeleteWHY IS THIS NEWS?
O/T apparently Toad Palin has endorsed Newt!
ReplyDeletehttp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/todd-palin-endorses-newt-gingrich/
Santorum (yuck!) is unelectable even within the GOP. He is a sanctimonious asshat clown whose supercilious pronouncements are dripping with contempt for the consensus views of his fellow Americans. He is a hyperpious asshole and an arrogant fuck.
ReplyDeleteAnon @ 6:53,
When the Catholic priest sexual abuse scandal broke, it did so first in the Servants of the Paracletes retreat in Jemez Springs. I live about 30 miles or so from there. That facility was a dumping ground for the human refuse of pedophile priests. Santa Fe diocese Archbishop Michael Sheehan - much to his credit - refused to be part of the coverup and helped to expose the scandal. If it had not been for him, the scandal would have remained secret at least for awhile longer.
And dumbass Santorum thinks that liberals are to blame.
O/T:
ReplyDeleteToad Palin has endorsed Newt Gingrich.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/todd-palin-endorses-newt-gingrich/
Ya'll should check out the comments on Twitter RE Todd Palin's endorsement. The Toddster is trending and people are having a field day. It's hilarious.
ReplyDeleteGee, will we get to hear who the rest of the Palin klan endorses?
ABC needs to be smacked for covering this nonsense like it's news.
Keep making your "Google" name proud, Mr. Santorum.
ReplyDeleteThe forlorn swimmers in the Kiddie Pool are going nuts since TAAHD announced that he's endorsing the Newtster. Remarks are ranging from the depths of utter despair to soldiering on with the "Draft Sarah" movement; that it's a "chess move" by the Queen (since SHE hasn't endorsed anyone); and the VERY unfortunately put: "At this point we may just be fooling ourselves. I guess I will get behind Santorum..."
ReplyDeleteUh, okay. As long as he doesn't get behind you...
(Sorry--that was just too easy!)
Todd Palin, the purse whisperer endorses Newt "the cheater" Gingrich! Oh, this is too good :}
ReplyDeleteAnd the grifter's contract with Fox News comes to a wig toppling halt in 3...2...
We must pause to remember that both Rick Santorum and Stephen Colbert are Catholics. Proof positive that God farts when s/he laughs.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBeing apparently an old school Catholic, I don't doubt that Santorum lays a lot of blame on the liberal, secular environment in America for the church's problems. If it were not for the liberal, secular environment in America, victims of the church would have had no one to turn to who was outside the Church's power, just as they had no one to turn to for centuries before that. Santorum, like the church's power elite, see clearly that those damn liberals created a huge PR problem for the church and cost it a lot of money, and more going forward.
ReplyDeleteOdd isn't it - every time tyranny and repression are disrupted there seems to be some damn liberals to blame for it. And yes, Rick, we liberals are relatively moral - and exceedingly so relative to the power structure of your church and those who defend it as moral and shield it from accountability for its clear pattern of criminal conduct.
I agree with a few previous commenters that it is frustrating and bizarre that conservatives go on and on about personal responsibility. But when a conservative does something wrong, it's not their fault.
ReplyDeletePoor people? Their fault. Catholic Church covering up pedophilia? Oh, NOW it's the culture's fault.
We're not dumb, Scamtorum. We're not falling for it.
I haven't read the comments yet, so someone may have already pointed this out, but Rickie's take on the abuse scandal is the sanctioned explanation (excuse) made by the Vatican. They issued a statement - this summer, I think - that said the profligate ways of the 60's and 70's created an atmosphere of tolerance for all kinds of perversions. Of course that is bullshit, but I can see that RS as a staunch Catholic would follow the voice of the Papacy.
ReplyDelete~physicsmom
Anon (first comment) spoke about the Jemez NM retreat. I had friends who went to school in Jemez 30 years ago and they told me the same thing.
ReplyDeleteSo, the wonderful "holey" fadders have been running quite the racket for a LONG TIME!
It's not the liberal's fault; ya;ll are surely foolin' yourselves.
IF there were, say, a nation-wide child-care organization, say, "Tots-R-Us" or something...
ReplyDeleteand it was found that many of the men working there were molesting the children...
and that once they were caught, "Tots-R-Us" simply moved the offenders from city to city so they could brutalize the children again...
and again...
and again...
Would Rick Santorum blame the culture?
Or would he prosecute the sons-a-bitches that were raping the children?
Apparently, if they were Catholic, he'd make excuses for the rapists and then blame someone else.
I say ONE time - ONE offense - and your church organization loses it's tax-exempt status forever and every adult involved goes to prison.
How interesting that Rick ("I proudly nominated my fellow friend from Pennsylvania Jerry Sandusky for a "Congressional-Angels-in-adoption-Award") Santorum should publicly claim that clerical pedophilia is the fault of outside-the-cloister, living-in-another-city, liberals. Has poor Rick never traveled to a third-world country where catholic seminaries are reaaaaaaaaally conservative, and where clerical pedophilia is even more rampant????
ReplyDeleteWhat are the underlying things that might motivate him to have such an obsession with anal sex? What might be behind his vigorous promotion of invasive governmental supervision over consensual adult activities, whether same-sex or hetero (by forbidding couples from using birth control or forming same-sex unions, and by criminalizing miscarriages and abortions)? What might be behind his ongoing, and curious, deafening silence with respect to rape, child pornography, and pedophilia? Why does he bombast almost exclusively against long-term, monogamous, adult same-sex relationships, but almost never against same-sex one-night stands (consensual or non-consensual)? Most important, why has he, TO THIS DAY, never opined negatively and publicly about the horrific sexual scandals (pedophilia, rape, adultery, pornography, prostitution, you-name-it) within the church?
This man needs psychological and spiritual help, NOT an elected office. He is using America as his combination psychiatric couch/seminary application, and listening to his hypocritical (and curiously nosy) moralizing tells me much more about him than he realizes.
A few years ago I read a biography of the Marquis de Sade. It's a lengthy tome but fascinating, and it makes quite clear that pedophilia has been and integral component of the entire culture of the Catholic priesthood for centuries. It's not an aberration, no recent or local.
ReplyDeleteI always figured they pretty much blame the Joos. Funny... Turns out I wasn't far off the mark...
ReplyDeletePedophiles seek situations where they have access to isolated, trusting children. The Catholic Church supplied institutional support to pedophiles for centuries.
ReplyDeleteRick Santorum is making a feeble attempt at re-writing history for his own self-promotion. He's way too stupid to run a country. And he insults our intelligence with his twisted babble.
He is simply vile.
ReplyDelete"Pedophiles seek situations where they have access to isolated, trusting children. The Catholic Church supplied institutional support to pedophiles for centuries."
ReplyDeleteYes, anon., this is exactly right.
Rick Santorum is just the latest in a long line of anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-reality neocons. Nothing new or surprising here, this man is a laughable stooge, a dopey, horny square that makes me ashamed to be male. Can you believe that there apparently is a woman who consented to have sex with this goober. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteCan you say "reaction formation"?
ReplyDeleteAmen to 11:41
ReplyDeleteOne strike, you lose your tax exempt status.
The fish (Catholic Church) stinks from the head down, they KNEW for ages this was going on, and shuffled the offenders from city to city, state to state, country to country.
Google him, Google him often.
Ricky most definately is hiding something, Rachael went after him tonight on her show, confronted him during a radio interview.... shoulda seen the look on his face.... gulp... a homosexual liberal with a mic! Run, Ricky, Run!!!!!