More from Michael Voris
As I mentioned yesterday, Archbishop Dolan believes the New York Times has an anti-Catholic agenda, seen in its highlighting of the clergy sex-abuse scandals. You may be surprised to learn that Michael Voris would vehemently disagree. In fact, Voris believes the media is an instrument of God's will in the world, and that the New York Times reporting can be seen as part of the divine plan. What is the divine plan, you ask? Well, let Michael explain.
In other words, God is using the media (which, I am sure he would argue, supports The Gay Agenda) to expose and undermine The Gay Agenda! Very clever, I must say.
In all seriousness, one of the things I find sort of interesting (and troubling) about this line of response to the sex abuse crisis involves the focus on the distinction between pedophilia and ephebophila. The argument is that while pedophilia is its own separate dysfunction, ephebophiliac attraction to adolescent boys is a "normal" product of at least male homosexuality (thus, that's why we can't have homosexuals as priests--too big a risk). If that's true, then either a) heterosexual attraction (and, presumably, sexual activity) to opposite sex adolescents is equally "normal" (as in, it is the norm), or b) there is some additional level of depravity in homosexual persons that goes beyond simply same-sex attraction that would make them more likely to have sex with the young. "B" has some disturbing theological consequences, while "A" takes us to a cultural conversation about ages of consent that few are really willing to explore. It is perhaps worth noting also that U.S. law makes little if any distinction between pedophilia and ephebophilia.
For what it is worth, I think the undiscussed element of all of this is the impact of the unprecedented numbers of people that left the priesthood in the 60s and the 70s to get married. If we assume prior to this period the percentages of gay/straight priests was reflective of the general population (I think that likely under counts the pre-Vatican II percentage of gay priests, but whatever), and then a bunch of straight priests left, it is not surprising that those that remain are disproportionately gay. In my experience, there is (or, perhaps, was) something of a gay subculture in seminaries and among priests, though it was far less monolithic and goal-oriented than is portrayed by people like Voris.
In other words, God is using the media (which, I am sure he would argue, supports The Gay Agenda) to expose and undermine The Gay Agenda! Very clever, I must say.
In all seriousness, one of the things I find sort of interesting (and troubling) about this line of response to the sex abuse crisis involves the focus on the distinction between pedophilia and ephebophila. The argument is that while pedophilia is its own separate dysfunction, ephebophiliac attraction to adolescent boys is a "normal" product of at least male homosexuality (thus, that's why we can't have homosexuals as priests--too big a risk). If that's true, then either a) heterosexual attraction (and, presumably, sexual activity) to opposite sex adolescents is equally "normal" (as in, it is the norm), or b) there is some additional level of depravity in homosexual persons that goes beyond simply same-sex attraction that would make them more likely to have sex with the young. "B" has some disturbing theological consequences, while "A" takes us to a cultural conversation about ages of consent that few are really willing to explore. It is perhaps worth noting also that U.S. law makes little if any distinction between pedophilia and ephebophilia.
For what it is worth, I think the undiscussed element of all of this is the impact of the unprecedented numbers of people that left the priesthood in the 60s and the 70s to get married. If we assume prior to this period the percentages of gay/straight priests was reflective of the general population (I think that likely under counts the pre-Vatican II percentage of gay priests, but whatever), and then a bunch of straight priests left, it is not surprising that those that remain are disproportionately gay. In my experience, there is (or, perhaps, was) something of a gay subculture in seminaries and among priests, though it was far less monolithic and goal-oriented than is portrayed by people like Voris.
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