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 Pedo Statute of Limitations: RCC wants it kept!
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  01:23:31  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The Connecticut Legislature wants to remove the statute of limitations from pedophilia laws. As PZ Myers snarks, it's not NAMBLA that wants to maintain the limits, but the Roman Catholic Church.

It seems the Church objects that making pedophiles prosecutable for their lifetime would cost the Church big bucks and "undermine the mission of the Catholic Church". Now we know that organized pedophilia is part of the Church's official mission:
Hartford, Connecticut (CNN) -- A bill in Connecticut's legislature that would remove the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases has sparked a fervent response from the state's Roman Catholic bishops, who released a letter to parishioners Saturday imploring them to oppose the measure.

Under current Connecticut law, sexual abuse victims have 30 years past their 18th birthday to file a lawsuit. The proposed change to the law would rescind that statute of limitations.

The proposed change to the law would put "all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk," says the letter, which was signed by Connecticut's three Roman Catholic bishops.

The letter is posted on the Web site of the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference, the public policy and advocacy office of Connecticut's Catholic bishops. It asks parishioners to contact their legislators in opposition of the bill.

The "legislation would undermine the mission of the Catholic Church in Connecticut, threatening our parishes, our schools, and our Catholic Charities," the letter says.


. . .
Did I not remark recently upon the self-destructive PR of the Church?

Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.

Edited by - HalfMooner on 04/12/2010 10:27:22

filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  02:16:41   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The authority of the Church has been in gradual decline for many years and the Bishops view this as yet another attack on that authority. I find their squeals of anguish amusing.

Whenever you can, choose your battles carefully, as a wiser man than they once said. This is one of those that they can't win and should have avoided altogether. Or better yet, come out in support of the legislation. That way, they would not appear, at least, to be coddling pedophiles, whatever the outcome of the vote. As it is now, either way, the old farts who hang out at the courthouse will nudge each other in the ribs with bony elbows and chuckle nastily about men in dresses, and speculate upon which Bishop has performed the most buggery.

An overdose of religion tends to make lots of people stupid and this is yet another example.




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  02:57:02   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message  Reply with Quote
From the CNN article:
The bill has been revised to address some of the church's concerns about frivolous abuse claims against it...

"They were worried about frivolous lawsuits and so we made the bar high," Bye said...

The bishops' letter raised concerns that the bill would allow claims that are 70 years or older, in which "key individuals are deceased, memories have been faded, and documents and other evidence have been lost." The letter said that the majority of cases would be driven by "trial lawyers hoping to profit from these cases."
That's what I figured. The best possible reading is that the Church is worried about 60-year-olds who are looking for a payout, whether they'd been abused or not. It's not like there aren't lots of people willing to abuse the courts when it looks like there's free money on the line. That's the threat to the "mission" of the church: the emptying of its coffers by the unscrupulous.

On another note:
The Catholic archdiocese of Hartford also published a pulpit announcement on its Web site, which was to be read during Mass on Sunday, urging parishioners to express opposition to the bill.
Shouldn't such brazen political speech be grounds for stripping the Church of its tax exemption? Not like that'll happen, but still...

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  03:50:46   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Dave, I feel the inherent difficulty in proving in civil court an old, old case should by itself sufficiently protect the Church from the unscrupulous. But it's more than reasonable that even elderly abuse victims have a recourse, though it be a slim hope for them. As it stands, even overwhelming evidence of pedophilia must be ignored in such cases.

Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
Edited by - HalfMooner on 04/12/2010 03:51:18
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  06:22:11   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The bill also has the provision that:

anyone older than 48 who makes a sex abuse claim against the church would need to join an existing claim filed by someone 48 or younger. Older claimants would need to show substantial proof that they were abused.

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
Edited by - Ricky on 04/12/2010 06:22:24
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 04/12/2010 :  07:28:39   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Well, I posted that at Coren's column. We'll see how that goes.


>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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