Priest

When I was a boy, my father taught me that you never speak ill of a man of God.

His object lesson came from the story of Elisha, the boys who mocked his bald head, and a bear that ate them up.

On December 14, 2002 Cardinal Bernard F. Law resigned his position as head of the Boston archdiocese because of public backlash from his blatant attempts to deny, then cover up, then apologize for his role in a widespread and growing sex abuse scandal.

Fuck him.

As of his resignation, there were more than 500 lawsuits pending against priests for a variety of sex crimes against children.

The Catholic church has spent an estimated 70-million dollars fighting them. Fuck each and every one of the men of the cloth that is guilty of those crimes. What goes through your mind as you stand in the pulpit to bring a message from God, knowing that earlier in the week, your penis was in some little boy's or boys private parts?I

In what special part of hell can I stand to pour accelerant on your piecce of the fire so your flames are hotter than mine?

I watched one of the NBC Dateline specials where they trick the pedophile men into showing up at a house to have sex with a child. It broke my heart that one of the predators that made his way to the candid camera setup was a Rabbi from Fairfax, Virginia.

Fuck him too.

Here’s where it starts to actually piss me off instead of just making me sad.

In every community there is an ecumenical council that encourages the ministers of various denominations to fellowship and create strong bonds between the clergy.

Where I’m from, we call that a fraternity.

I’ve been to hundreds, maybe thousands of church services, and I have yet to hear any real condemnation from the pulpit about the fact that their frat brothers have been using their penises to communicate with our little boys.

That’s diabolical.

I smoke, drink, and chase women sometimes. I’ve told some lies, and I’m pretty sure that technically, I cheated on my wife.

I've been a shitbag at times. There’s no question I’m a sinner--good heart and all.

Yet, I get an earful every time I darken the doorway of a church.

But right now,

somewhere a priest is molesting, harassing, or raping a little boy.I’m not against priests, but I AM against the rape of little boys. Meanwhile, the clergy is silent.I’ve decided there are only a few of possible explanations:

1 - They are unaware of the problem.

2 - They don’t care

3 - They don’t think it’s their place to say anything

4 - They condone the behavior.

My four year old knows better than to think any of those would be enough to excuse this type of behavior. MY FOUR YEAR OLD.

I have an extremist position about this, and I no longer care how it sounds. I believe that every preacher should start every sermon with a condemnation of the sexual abuse of our little boys. Instead they tell a warm-up joke, and offer a generic prayer.

This is one of those topics I could rant and rave about. I’ve chosen not to. The point makes itself.

And if you don’t get it, this entry isn’t for you anyway.

I don’t go to church anymore for a lot of different reasons, but I know some of you do.

If your preacher’s never mentioned it, would you ask him why for me?