Letter To The Editor, Argus Press
November 26th, 2005 | by christine |This letter was submitted by Kevin Brown:
I just woke up from my Saturday nap to read the Argus Press and thus, Tony Hornus’s ridiculous “In Our Opinion” entitled “The Vatican Toughens its Position On Gay Candidates for Priesthood”. It continues to amaze me that our local little publication feels the need to engage in discussion that 1) it knows nothing about and 2) has little or NO impact on our little community.
If you missed the piece recently on NBC’s Dateline: “Catching potential Internet sex predators” turn your TV on to MSNBC or go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9927253/ and read the story. The issue of sexual child abuse has NOTHING to do with one’s sexual orientation. Watch “CSI SVU (Special Victims Unit)” or ask any big city prosecutor. IT IS ABUSE and it is about control, not sex. MOST of the men caught during the Dateline show and most men caught abusing children, boys OR girls, is HETEROsexual. And sick. The Dateline episode showed a Rabbi, a Special Ed. teacher, AN EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN that tried to meet young boys via the internet for sex.
This is similar to a story last summer about the Shiawassee County Park just south of Oakley, on M 52. It discussed the “gay” men that used to (maybe still do?) go to that park to solicit other men for sex. The difference is that the Dateline story and “th’s” had to do with men and boys, not men and men. The truth is that ALL of the men that seek clandestine sex, either with boys or other men, are HETEROsexuals. The reason they do this, in my opinion, and backed up by statistics is precisely because of “opinions” like th’s and the Catholic Church’s AND the military for that matter! If you force a behavior to be hidden by
condemning its practice, then you are going to get “clandestine” and people getting caught acting stupidly.
The Catholic Church (I know because I was raised RC AND knew a priest in our very own little burg that got caught - and reported by ME - going after boys) has known for CENTURIES that there were problems with priests and illegal sex with minors. BECAUSE they will not allow priests to marry OR be open about their love for another human being, REGARDLESS of gender!
The military has lost a LOT of qualified men and women since “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy went into effect. Other countries with openly (NOT flauntingly - there IS a difference) gay militaries and churches with openly gay ministers have a lot less problems and a lot more open discussion of who and what is actually the cause of child abuse. As a gay veteran, who hid my sexual orientation and as a former catholic, I have some experience of which I speak. I don’t believe “th” served in the military and I know for a fact he did not grow up Roman Catholic.
An argument that has gone on in the RCC for years has been that of a CELIBATE priest counseling prospective married couples and those already married. Without having experienced being married or having children, it is ludicrous for them to try and understand or counsel problems related to either…. AND there are probably a few exceptions, where good priests do a fine job. The so-called “Conservative Right” wing of so-called “Christians” blame openness on declining church participation.
I believe that it is more likely closed-mindedness and burying heads in sand to reality that keeps people from attending church that is out of touch with reality. And that is just MY HUMBLE opinion. Feel free to
join me on ShiaNet’s Open Forum: http://www.shiawasseechamber.org/cgi-bin/forum/shiaopen.pl or email me: kevinb at chartermi dot net to open a dialogue about this or any other subject. I welcome the conversation!
Kevin Michael Brown
